Torchwood: Sleeper...

[fajrdrako]

Loved it. Edge of seat. Didn't bite my fingernails, which shows massive self-control. Would have liked more personal focus on Jack, but it was fun to see him in professional mode here.

1. The Torchwood version of a Skrull invasion. I like it. I like it that Beth was sympathetic and heroic.



2. Jack was mostly in soldier mode, and maybe a little under-characterized. Which I didn't mind in the least. He looked good. I couldn't take my eyes of his forearms. Oooh.


3. How long has Jack been back? How long since Captain John Hart left? Jack seems to be reestablished as being in charge, with Gwen as a scond in command - or was I reading that into the show?



4. Nice too to see the team being efficient, honest, and working well together. How I wanted that last series! Now I have it, and it makes a world of difference.



5. Ianto! James Moran gave him such delightful dialogue. Keep it up, Ianto baby, I begin to see what Jack sees in you. ("And I thought the end of the world couldn't get any worse.") All that mischievous playfulness, courage and clever comments.
   
   So I find myself wondering where Ianto's head is now. Is he over the anger and fear we saw last week, or hiding it? Is he giddy because Jack is back? Is he showing off, to get Jack's attention? Is he having sex with Jack again, or hoping to? How long till they tell us? Meanwhile... seems to me the field is open for lots of interpretations.



6. Again, Toshiko was sharp with the technology. Right on top of it. I begin to be convinced she's as good as her advance billing.



7. Gwen. Adorable. My Gwen-love continues.



8. No PC Andy. No Rhys. I missed them. And there was a murder: shouldn't Kathy Swanson have been on the scene? (Sulk.)



9. Scariest moment: when Beth killed her husband. I didn't see that coming.



10. No snogging. Pity. No Captain John: pity about that, too.



11. Loved the scene where we got a good look at Jack's cleaned-up desk. I was afraid at first that the TARDIS-embryo was gone, but no, it's still there - I guess Gwen kept it because she didn't know what it was and it reminded her of Jack. And she knew he'd want it there if and when he did come back. I didn't notice the binoculars or the 3-D glasses, are they still there? I did notice the televisions from "The Idiot's Lantern".



12. I continue to quite like Owen this season. It's somewhat scary.



13. They put Beth in morgue-drawer 007 too, just like Suzie and Jack. Seems the people they put there never stay put. Maybe they should check it out, or rename it "the resurrection chamber". And wasn't Beth frozen in the same freezer/cupboard that Gwen and Owen were in in "Cyberwoman"?



14. I assume there will be a sequel to this story - more alien sleeper agents will turn up? We didn't learn the aliens' name, did we?



15. Have Ianto and Jack had their date yet? I want to see it!



16. Gwen's mother is alive. I'd wondered.

Comments

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

2) I was a little surprised at his manner, actually, and was trying to remember if he's actually this much of a hardass most of the time.

No. Jack is not a hardass at all. But he is a soldier and has been so from a young age, and he can be tough if he needs to be, especially is he is frightened. He doesn't like hurting people and charming them, or seducing them, is much more his natural style than intimidation. But he's also very, very good at putting on a facade and he knew charm wouldn't do it this time. Notice the whole "was I convincing?" conversation with Ianto.

Jack is basically a marshmallow, but he isn't weak, and he can play 'scary' quite well when he thinks he has to. I think he cared about Beth at least as much as Gwen did, but he knew what the stakes were and he was sure she was an alien - because he'd seen these aliens, and their methods, before. Or at least knew of them.

And this is the sort of thing he's here to save the Earth from.

part of my frustration is that he was clever and playful, but I didn't see any courage

Hmm - I don't remember why I said "courage". My frustration with Ianto is still that he seems younger than he should - though clever enough - and not very deep. ("Emo" does note equal deep, at least, not so far.) We shall see. I think at the moment Ianto is playing the role of Jack's anchor, emotionally speaking.

NOT ENOUGH IANTO!!!

And not enough Ianto snogging Jack.

she was definitely sexy when she was doing that, too. Or maybe I just have a competency kink ; )

Well, she was, and so do I have a competency kink. And an intelligence kink. And a scientist kink. It's like when Reed Richards discovered the Negative Zone when I was ten years old: I fell in love. Toshiko begins to awaken the same reactions in me.

I was irritated when she was basically lying to Beth, telling her it would be all right, when it *wouldn't*.

I really liked that. It was part of the good cop/bad cop thing. And Gwen does that, anyway. (Cf. her conversation about it with PC Andy in "End of Days".) For me, it adds a bit of dissonance to her character that I like. Gwen's dishonesty is part of the appeal for me - which is weird, because I hate dishonesty - but it keeps her from being 'the nice girl' all the time, adds something to her character in the same sort of way Owen's bitchiness adds to his.

Maybe the set designers only made one that actually worked?

Seems likely. And its a convenient central placement for scene composition. And I suppose that once Jack got up and walked away, 007 was empty and available again...

Given how chipper and light-hearted Ianto is, I'm assuming that whether or not they made time for a date, Ianto and Jack are screwing regularly.

Nice thought. I'll buy that happily. Fine by me.

no one else is commenting on it, so I imagine they've gotten used to it.

I haven't yet figured out whether the others are in the know or oblivious. My guess is 'oblivious' (mostly because i'd like to see a scene where they find out, either collectively or individually), but I don't think the show has given us a clear indication either way.

When Ianto had that circle with an antenna? wtf? Ianto seemed to be a little angry at something, and Jack was kinda like, oh great, gotta deal with *you* now, and I don't mean sex. Thoughts?

You mean, besides, "aww, don't they look cute?" Let me think it over and see if I can come up with a good interpretation. At the moment, I really don't know....