Torchwood: Small Worlds...

[fajrdrako]

Captain Jack Harkness meets up with some elementals.

I though this was a well-crafted episode, but I wasn't as emotionally involved as last week.

The best things were:

1. The relationship between Jack and Estelle. Very reminiscent of Highlander, but also dissimilar and (so typical with this show) not emotionally simple or straightforward. What was it Jack said - "a lot of promises were broken in those days"? Made me take a deep breath.


2. Gwen's place being trashed. Scary.


3. The intriguing scenes of Jack in Lahore in 1909. A quick look at wikipedia doesn't tell me about any particular wars in the Punjab in 1909; so why was Jack there, why then? Just hanging out with the British army? Was this about the diamond scam, and if so, why was Jack feeling responsible for his soldiers?


4. I see considerable discussion about Jack's timeline. It is still unclear whether he was dashing back and forth in time either as a con artist or a Time Agent, or living an extended life in immortal form, with changes in identity or location from decade to decade. The difference between the Doctor Who pattern of story, or the Highlander pattern. I find this intriguing, and I'm in no hurry to find out the truth. I become increasingly curious as to how old Jack actually is, and how many years have passed for him since The Parting of the Ways.


5. It is interesting that Jack is becoming more and more forthcoming to Gwen about his past, or at least about pieces of his past. His relationship with Estelle, for example.


6. I'd have called the fairy-creatures 'elementals' myself. The "Mara" Jack talked about are described in Wikipedia here. As often happens in this show, certain elements of the mythology made me think of Neil Gaiman.


7. I liked Estelle. She reminded me of Ten's comments in the School Reunion episode of Doctor Who about the difficulty of watching those you care for age and die.


8. I like the moment between Jack and Ianto, and its various implications - though others don't seem to have thought it was as ambiguous as I did. Jack, I think, is trying to make peace with Ianto. Ianto is still distressed, but coping. Or am I wrong? I don't like Ianto as much as many viewers seem to - but he does have an interesting role, and I can't predict where they're going with him.


9. Captain Jack's nightmare led me to wonder: does he not sleep because he doesn't need to, or does he not sleep because he is afraid to?


10. I loved it that Jack sent Jasmine to live with the fairies. It was her choice, after all. I like Jack with children, just as I liked the Doctor with children.


11. Not as sensuous as some episodes. I've come to hope for scenes like the gun scene, or the Gwen-snogs-the-alien scene. Ah well.

Comments

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

I think it was, according to the PDF on the web site, because of the fact that he wasn't with the team when the accident with the Chosen One happened. Which doesn't help in referencing Pre- or Post-Doctor Jack, but it makes sense to me.

[cupati.livejournal.com]

From what was said in the ep, it implied that not all of the rest of the carriage were either [perhaps that's just me]. I need to go see that pdf.

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

Most of them weren't directly involved in the incident, but the PDF (http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/torchwood/5lahore-letter.pdf) implied that Jack wasn't even with the group - he was far enough that his - 2IC? - wrote him a letter.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

As usual, we don't have a lot of information, but I think what we have supports that at least as a good working theory.