Torchwood: Captain Jack Harkness...

[fajrdrako]

Loved episode 12, "Captain Jack Harkness", with a passion. I'm sure I'll think of many things to say about it later. Meanwhile: it's my favourite episode of Torchwood yet. The best things were:

(1) Our Jack kissing Jack Harkness. And the whole relationship.
(2) Ianto shooting Owen (oh so very satisfying!)
(3) Bilis Manger - cool character. Is his name an anagram?
(4) The suspense and tension.
(5) The warmth between Jack and Tosh, and the fact that he actually confided in her - told her some of the truth about himself.

I have a horrible chest cold and so can't stay up to watch "End of Days" even though I'm eager to. I need medicine and bed. Aching all over. Luckily I enjoy anticipation, not to mention delayed gratification.

Wish I had time to watch "Captain Jack Harkness" again. I think I might watch it again before seeing "End of Days", partly because I want to see it again so very much, and partly because once I see "End of Days", then the first series of Torchwood will be over and I don't even know how long I'll have to wait for series 2.

Comments

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

Our Jack kissing Jack Harkness. And the whole relationship.

Yes! I loved it!

Ianto shooting Owen (oh so very satisfying!)

Extremely satisfying. I was so pleased that Ianto actually went through with it. I knew it wouldn't work, but still. Owen so had it coming.

Bilis Manger - cool character. Is his name an anagram?

I'm no good at those, but from what I've seen, no one has yet been able to make one that makes any sense. *shrug*

The warmth between Jack and Tosh, and the fact that he actually confided in her - told her some of the truth about himself.

I loved how close they were. No, Jack didn't tell her everything, but he told her enough. And she didn't mention any of that to any of the others. I really loved Tosh in this episode.

partly because once I see "End of Days", then the first series of Torchwood will be over and I don't even know how long I'll have to wait for series 2.

Oh, I know what you mean. I'm sad it's over (for now!) too. However, "End of Days" was FABULOUS. You'll really love it, I think.

Hope your cold gets better. Get some sleep!

[majkia.livejournal.com]

i cannot believe that one idiot on the torchwood yahoo group commented he thought the kiss was a 'mistake.' Uhm, it wasn't as if there wasn't an entire episode about lesbian sex. He hasn't figured out that these folks aren't conventional yet? Poor dear.

[cyberducks.livejournal.com]

He is not the only idiot out there - over at OG the moron fanboys are going on and on about the RTD gay agenda again....

[cyberducks.livejournal.com]

Those cruel teasing writers! The first series is over and we still know nothing about Jack's missing two years. Or have more than conflicting hints about Jack's timeline...

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

Will get back on Captain Jack when I see it, but...

*hugs* Get well very soon!!!

[msilverstar]

yay!!!!!!!!! I was hoping you'd enjoy it :-D

[fadryn.livejournal.com]

You SO need to watch 'End of Days'. I sqeeed so much at the end it was unbelievable!

[firko.livejournal.com]

I loved 'Captain Jack Harkness' too - the writer (Catherine Tregenna who also wrote 'Out of Time')has a real grip on the characters in Torchwood and what makes them tick.
The Ianto/Owen fight was great and had been brewing for a long time.
Tosh was really thrown by whole would-the-real-jack-harkness-please-stand-up thing, but Torchwood!Jack was able to reassure her that even though it's not his name, he is still the same person and in fact has the same values as the real Jack. When she told him how proud real Jack would have been that he had taken his name... well, I was a puddle on the floor.
The only thing I didn't like - the salute at the end. Felt like overkill to me.

I understand you wanting to draw out the end of the series, but I'm dying to know what you think of 'End of Days'!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Catherine Tregenna ... has a real grip on the characters in Torchwood and what makes them tick.

Yes, she does. Suddenly they are so clearly in focus. All of them. They should have had her writing much earlier!

The Ianto/Owen fight was great and had been brewing for a long time.

I loved it that it was Ianto who stood up to Owen, who tried to stop him. The "tea boy". Heh.

When she told him how proud real Jack would have been that he had taken his name... well, I was a puddle on the floor.

My goodness yes. Me too.

I'm dying to know what you think of 'End of Days'!

Despite what I said, I am also dying to see it. Torn two ways. I'm planning to watch it tonight. Maybe after a second viewing of "Captain Jack Harkness".

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You squeeed at the end. Huh. That makes it even harder to wait. (Do I really, really have to go to work today?) Because I'm living in fear of spoilers, I really must watch it as soon as possible. Yeah, tonight.

Right after I watch "Captain Jack Harkness" a second time.

(Love your icon.)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I certainly did. Oh my goodness. That was so... so beautifully romantic. So full of Jack at his best. It featured Tosh and Ianto. And it featured Owen at his most interesting, and Gwen doing what she does best - pursuing a mystery and not giving up.

It also seemed so fitting that the man whose name our Jack had stolen so long ago turned out to be someone he could admire and love.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the get-well wishes. I'm still coughing painfully but able to function... and I slept well, which helps.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they love to tease. I was pleased that we did get a little more about Jack's past - Jack's real past, presumably - in "Captain Jack Harkness", in his story about his friend who was tortured. I wondered who the terrible enemy was and I was tempted to guess...!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The kiss was brilliant.

We know that.

Sure, there are people bound to not like it, but the world has been catering to them for centuries.

I'd like to think this show will do them good but some people just can't get past their prejudices.

One of the things I love so much is that Jack himself, despite all the pre-publicity about omnisexuality and John Barrowman's jokes, is about loneliness and love, rather than being about sex. Not that I've anything against sex, you understand, but this is more than I ever dared to hope from a TV show.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

All I can say it, hail the RTD gay agenda and long may it thrive!

[firko.livejournal.com]

I look forward to hearing your thoughts - and I forgot to say get well soon!

[majkia.livejournal.com]

oh yes, I totally agree. Jack is alone in the world and his misery with regard to that is what is so moving.

And it is amusing to me that we see everyone else on the team shagging, but the most we've seen of him is just a kiss.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The themes of loneliness, death, and love are carried right over from Doctor Who and just expressed in somewhat different ways.

it is amusing to me that we see everyone else on the team shagging, but the most we've seen of him is just a kiss.

Yes. For a long time I have found that frustrating. Now I think it's brilliant, strategically and thematically.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thank you - I'm working on it. Vitamin E, hot tea, and Tylenol. Not to mention good television to look forward to tonight.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

We get the double-bill on TV tonight! I am so looking forward to it!
(BTW: do drop in at Oltramar - recent anniversary posts... Squeee!)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

What fun. I've only seen the first half of the double-bill and it reduced me to happy sentimental goo.

Will visit Oltramar a.s.a.p.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I was so pleased that Ianto actually went through with it.

Mew too. It sort of compensated for the time he was about to try to shoot Jack in Cyberwoman and failed. Not that I wanted him to shoot Jack, but I don't want Ianto to consistently fail either, especially in the macho stuff.

Owen so had it coming.

Egad yes. "Tea boy". Faugh.

I'm no good at those, but from what I've seen, no one has yet been able to make one that makes any sense. *shrug*

Maybe just an alien name.

I really loved Tosh in this episode.

I have loved Tosh all along, but here she had a chance to be herself, and be a strong part of the story. She was resourceful but not superhuman. She was compassionate to Jack, as he was to her. It was perfect.

Hope your cold gets better.

My office-mates sent me home. I can now lounge on the couch with chicken soup and tea and watch Torchwood.

[puritybrown.livejournal.com]

When TW!Jack stopped dancing and turned to go, I actually yelled at the television "Oh for God's sake kiss him goodbye, at least!" And I was with friends at the time. If I had been alone, bats would have died from the force of my squealing when they finally did kiss. Because, wow.

Re Bilis Manger -- apparently Bilis is a figure in Welsh mythology, a god of the underworld. Don't know about "Manger" (other than it being French for "eat").

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

"Oh for God's sake kiss him goodbye, at least!"

I was sure he was going to. He needed to! I needed him to! And it turned out to be a very nice kiss indeed. Such a beautiful episode.

Having seen "End of Days" now, I can see the value of Bilis' being an underworldly god and messenger.

[lilithlotr.livejournal.com]

I started watching the final two episodes at midnight last night. Thought maybe I'd stop at one, but couldn't. Just brilliant. I was beginning to wonder if spinning off Jack wasn't a mistake, since I hadn't liked him nearly as well in Torchwood as in DW, until this.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thought maybe I'd stop at one, but couldn't.

It was great the way the one episode flowed into the next. I wouldn't have stopped last night except that I was feeling ill.

Just brilliant.

Yes.

I hadn't liked him nearly as well in Torchwood as in DW

Well, he'd lost his spark - he'd lost so much. I still loved him, but felt often frustrated by the ways in which he'd changed, or the ways in which we were being given so little of him.

until this

I feel as if we're back full circle - and back to where we ought to be.

[elebridith]

There's not much to say here - brilliant, perhaps? *g*
Re1: Yes, yes, yes.
Re2: More yes's *g* And it's certainly not the first time Ianto uses a gun - he's quite comfortable using it! I can't remember if he has one in "Countrycide", but when he says "I was aiming for your shoulder", I believe him completely - not just a lucky shot!
Re3: Bilis. Wow, very creepy! If I remember correctly, he had very creepy eyes and no eyebrows - that was also used in LOTR for Grima Wormtongue, and I find it extremely irritating - you know the face looks wrong, but you can't place what it is. At least I couldn't... Cool effect, and so easy to do.
Tosh - I had to grin. How convenient that for this job she wore a dress that managed to blend in quite easily :-) But once again she proved her value and that she's a smart thinker.
Fantastic episode.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, 'Captain Jack Harkness' is still my favourite Torchwood episode, and the best.

I like it when Ianto shoots effectively. (Which is one reason it annoyed me so much in 'Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang' where he didn't shoot the Blowfish.) I also like the mental image of Jack teaching Ianto to shoot.

Bilis is probably my favourite Torchwood villain. I hope we see him again some time. He was in one of the books, Twilight Streets, but not so interesting there, I thought. Possibly because we didn't get the visual effect.

It's fun to see Tosh play an important role here, and with Jack. I always like it when Jack and Tosh interact together and I wish it happened more often.