Torchwood: still more thoughts on "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang"

[fajrdrako]

Talk about "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" with spoilers and quotes.



1. Jack's Wristband

One of the things I really missed in series 1 was the use of Jack's wristband. I loved that very much in Doctor Who - especially the way it could project and illustrate things.

Obviously the Vortex Manipulator part of the mechanism is disabled, due to Time Lord autocracy. Obviously also the phone-message part works, since Captain John could use it. Which I think is unutterably cool. Makes me hope Martha Jones will use it to contact Jack. Probably not, but I live in hope.


2. If you meet a Blowfish in the road

I am unclear about the role of Mr. Blowfish. Had Captain John followed him to our present? How did he come to be in Cardiff in our time, with Captain John's device in his pocket? Had he stolen it from Captain John? Seems too much of a conincidence that he, and Captain John, and the device, and Captain Jack, all ended up in the same time and place...

So we assume it's not a coincidence. Take the device as the item-in-common. Perhaps it's trans-temporal aura created a time-beacon that brought Jack back to that point after he left the Doctor. (We saw him walking across Roald Dahl Plas at the end of "The Last of the Time Lords", in daylight, as if he was going to Torchwood. Perhaps he went to Torchwood and the others were out. Perhaps he had a shower, caught up on things a little before going to see what was happening...)

Then Captain John was going after the device, which meant following Blowfish, which meant turning up in Cardiff at the same time. At which point his scanners immediately detect a human from the future (just as Jack quickly detected Rose in 1941 London) and analyzes it as his long-lost lover and renegade colleague, Jack.

That makes sense to me, if it fits canon. But it brings me back to question #1: who the heck was Mr. Blowfish? He seemed to know all about the Torchwood team, including Jack's role, before Jack ever arrived. Since Captain John didn't know anything about Torchwood, he couldn't have got the information from him. Since the woman Captain John murdered didn't know about Torchwood either... who was Blowfish? Why did he have the puzzle-piece John needed? That was booby-trapped to set him up?

What am I missing?


3. The Time Agency

The Time Agency begin to look mighty strange. We've only met two of their agents: the good one (Jack) went rogue and preyed on the others, the bad one (John) is into sex, drugs, and murder. What is the Time Agency supposed to be doing, anyway? It sounds so respectable, but then its operatives turn into out-of-control pirates. Did it fall apart into chaos?

These questions (unlike the Blowfish one) are meant to be rhetorical, since we have no information. But comments and speculation are welcome.


4. More good lines

With countless still to pluck out and smile, but this morning these caught my fancy:

"Which artery do you normally sever?"

and Captain John calling Ianto "Eye Candy" as if it were his name. And the way Ianto glared at him when he did so. Which is probably why he did it again.

Comments

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

1) Not only does the voice mail work, but it's BIGGER than Capt. John's! XD XD XD

2) I wonder myself about how that Blowfish knew all about everybody. Somebody called it an Exposition Fish, which I like. :-)

3) It was probably a strip club or something. Back in my home town, there was one called the Library, so you could say "I'm going to the Library for a while" and sound innocent. I'm sure "I'm having a meeting with the Time Agency" sounded just as good.

Along with the WTF was it FOR, I also wonder just how many people were in the Time Agency to start with? If there were ten thousand and it's down to seven, that's a lot different than if it were ten and it's down to seven.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

but it's BIGGER than Capt. John's! XD XD

'Course it is! It's Jack's!

I wonder myself about how that Blowfish knew all about everybody.

"Telepathy" is one plausible theory I've heard, but I'd like to think he was sent or planted by someone. Maybe he was a rehab parole office chasing after Captain John - and did his homework really well.

It was probably a strip club or something.

Yes - what a perfect theory! It fits everything we know! There's something a little like "restaurant at the end of the universe" about it, which is utterly charming. A cross-time strip club, saloon and gambling establishment - wouldn't that just suit the talents of both Jack and John? With the logo/motto "Girls! Girls! Girls! Boys! Boys! Boys!"

I also wonder just how many people were in the Time Agency to start with? If there were ten thousand and it's down to seven, that's a lot different than if it were ten and it's down to seven.

So true! We know there were a thousand employees at Torchwood, and they're now down to five, and a strange man in Glasgow. I wonder what the Time Agency was at its height? Counting the bouncer and the barmaid?

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of the Blowfish as some kind of rehab parole officer, or bounty hunter even.

So true! We know there were a thousand employees at Torchwood, and they're now down to five, and a strange man in Glasgow.

Five at TW3, and the strange man in Glasgow, but there were a handful of survivors from TW1 too.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

bounty hunter even.

Perfect! I can just see him as a bounty hunter. Yup, I like that theory.

there were a handful of survivors from TW1 too

Quite a few - but they were disbanded pending a government enquiry. Torchwood 1 itself was dismantled. So I was counting all of Torchwood 1 as defunct.

(If I had any decency I'd quote my official source on that. A Declassified or a Confidential? Something on the website? Damn... can't recall. I only recall that it was, in one way or another, more or less from the lips of Russell T. Davies, so I took it as true.)

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

I thought the blowfish was an other conman (more smalltime), man of miscellaneous crimes (like stealing cars). Bit of a hacker maybe (perhaps a telepathic hacker, ie with the ability to hack into computers and complex machines by mental powers)?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

If he was a conman, why did he come through the rift with the device in his pocket? Do you think he stole it from Captain John?

[grenacia.livejournal.com]

I think blowfish and John were working together, but blowfish was an undependable screw-up (fall through the rift, steal a car and get caught, etc.). And I think blowfish was telepathic.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Works for me. That explanation would fit everything we see.

[omnivorously.livejournal.com]

So why was he doing coke, stealing a car, and not really looking for John? And didn't he come through before John?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, he came through before John, possibly looking for the cannisters. Perhaps he thought he was going after the diamond that didn't really exist? If he'd got the story from Captain John - say, in a bar - that would make sense. He thought he could scoop him on the payoff, not knowing it was really a murder set-up. Then he got carried away and stole the car, got high on coke, etc....

No. Damn. None of that explains how he knew so much about Torchwood.

And when in the space-time continuum did he find such an ugly tie?

[louiex.livejournal.com]

Re: the blowfish

Considering the familiar way that Captain John spoke to him, I almost thought that perhaps they were secretly working together the whole time. It could explain how the Blowfish got his subscription to 'Everything you need to know about TW Weekly' with the 'How to incite Ianto Jones to shoot you' special on page 16! Then that would make John's act about not knowing the team be a good one to solidify his innocence in helping out his former lover's dying request as I doubt a man like him goes into any situation blind, he seems the type to like to know as many cards in the deck as possible leaving Jack's anti-splat powers to be the ace he wasn't expecting.

Ianto? Oh that entire episode was just fabulous with his reaction shots. The lines? Superb as always but something I've always really loved about GDL is the non-verbal reactions he gives to situations that aren't necessarily involving him (which I think is why the camera often shoots to him quickly for the reaction to show the audience). Consider how many of John's throw away teasing lines were left for Ianto to roll his eyes at or scoff or.. consider possibly :D

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Then that would make John's act about not knowing the team be a good one to solidify his innocence in helping out his former lover's dying request as I doubt a man like him goes into any situation blind

Hmm. Good point. My first thought was that Blowfish and John were working together; then I dismissed it because Blowfish seemed to know all about Torchwood, and John didn't. In fact, they seemed to have totally different sets of knowledge: Blowfish knew Jack was gone, John expected him to be there.

But we can't believe anything John says, and we know his innocence was an act anyway.

something I've always really loved about GDL is the non-verbal reactions he gives to situations that aren't necessarily involving him

Yes. He's so very good with that. Reactions which manage to be both subtle and intense. How does he do that?

Consider how many of John's throw away teasing lines were left for Ianto to roll his eyes at or scoff or.. consider possibly :D

Jack likes to get Ianto to... imagine possibilities.

[toraks.livejournal.com]

The Blowfish thing was strange all around. I didn't know that he wasn't a well known repeating character, so wasn't surprised he knew everyone. Besides, I didn't, so that was helpful. :-)

On the other hand, how did he know all that? Perhaps he's just been dogging the team for weeks/months by then?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The Blowfish thing was strange all around.

It was. When it happened, I assumed it would be explained, or didn't need to be. Random obnoxious sentient landfish falls through the rift, gives Torchwood trouble - no problem there - but he knows all about them, and then turns out to have a connection with Captain John, and has Captain John's pyramid thingummy in his pocket. So: connections.

And we will see Captain John again, so the story isn't over yet. Maybe the explanation is yet to come. Or maybe we're to assume that he was a random lackey of Captain John, sent to research Jack and his team before Captain John arrived.

I thought he character design was terrific, anyway.

[omnivorously.livejournal.com]

So, which episodes of Dr. who does Capt. Jack, and Torchwood 1 backstory, appear in? And could I watch those without watching previous Dr. Who episodes?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

So, which episodes of Dr. who does Capt. Jack, and Torchwood 1 backstory, appear in?

Those are two separate questions. The story of Captain Jack and the story of Torchwood are separate until we actually get to the series Torchwood, where Captain Jack turns up in the Cardiff branch. And we haven't seen him at that point for about 140 years.

The introduction to Captain Jack Harkness is in Doctor Who, series 1 (2005), episodes 9 and 10, entitled "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances". Highly recommended. You wouldn't need any Doctor Who background for these, I think; just to know that the Doctor is an alien time traveller and adventurer, and Rose Tyler is his human companion from London c. 2006.

Jack's story continues in the three episodes following: "Boom Town" (when he is in Cardiff with the Doctor and Rose), "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways". Events in "The Parting of the Ways" are central to Jack's storyline.

Jack does not appear in any episode of series 2 Doctor Who. But Torchwood is mentioned in each episode, sometimes significantly, sometimes not. It's actually first mentioned in "Bad Wolf", now I think of it. But just the name, no explanation. We see the original foundation of Torchwood by Queen Victoria in series 2, episode 2, "Tooth and Claw" - though I wouldn't particularly recommend that one.

The only one that features Torchwood in a major, significant way is the final two-part story of series 2, "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday". It still isn't important for its Torchwood information, but the event that happens in that story - the Battle of Canary Wharf - is significant for a lot of the background of what happens in Torchwood.

Following me so far?

Jack's story picks up again with series 1 Torchwood, then follows over to series 3 Doctor Who for three episodes (11, 12, and 13) entitled "Utopia", "The Sound of Drums" and "The Last of the Time Lords".

Then we get second series Torchwood.

If you're confused by continuity or character issues, just ask me to explain. I don't know a lot about the old Doctor Who episodes but I know the new series very well.

[omnivorously.livejournal.com]

That's clear, and thank you so much! By series 2, you mean the 10th Doctor, right? Just checking. Why don't you rec "Tooth and Claw"?

I'm gonna end up a Who fan ...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

By series 2, you mean the 10th Doctor, right?

Yes, the first series with David Tennant as the Doctor.

I just don't think "Tooth and Claw" is one of the best stories, though it has good moments. It has a werewolf chasing people around a Victorian castle in Scotland... it isn't bad by any means, just not one of my favourite episodes.

I hope you do end up a Doctor Who fan, because then I'll have someone else to talk to about it!

[ridikuluss.livejournal.com]

John said to the (dead) blowfish lying on the autopsy table, "you had to go and steal a car". That tells me they were in cahoots, but that's as far as I can get with the theory. Awww bummer- need to watch the episode *again*!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure whether watching again solves that little mystery. Perhaps they were in cahoots, but one of them double-crossed the other, or tried to?

[ridikuluss.livejournal.com]

I just watched again, and it occurred to me that this was a trap by that woman, but the blowfish had one of the important pieces in his pocket. They must have been working together, and for some reason the fish got there ahead of John. Hmmm..

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Maybe they didn't know exactly when John would turn up.

Maybe the woman sent Blowfish to plant the cannisters? And he hadn't got around to planting the pyramid yet when he took his joyride and Torchwood caught up with him?

[magika83.livejournal.com]

I like to think of the Time Agency as something like the ChronoGuard from Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books. From Wiki: "The ChronoGuard, or the Office for Special Temporal Stability. Responsible for policing the timestream, dealing with Anomalous Time Ripplation and repairing paradoxes and timephoons." Sort of like a time police, making sure no one messes with time (for instance stopping people trying to go back in time to change things). Why all the agents (well, two of them anyway) go rogue, on the other hand, is something I have to think about some more.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Nice analogy - and an interesting question. And why did the Agency want to steal Jack's memories?