Torchwood: To The Last Man...
Jan. 31st, 2008 09:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fajrdrakoWell... I'm sure everyone who has seen it can guess which part of this episode I liked best. Reactions, reflections and some happy squeeing:
- Okay, cutting to the chase, I loved the Jack/Ianto kiss. That is what I've been wanting since "They Keep Killing Suzie". Or maybe since the "sexual harrassment" line. Perfect. Okay, the scene could have gone on longer. But I was happy with it. And Jack and Ianto were happy with each other.... Happy, happy smile. They kissed so nicely, and I loved the way they were touching each other.
Not only were they snogging, they were talking. And being affectionate. And showing... that they like each other; the whole conversation added up to Jack saying how glad he is to know and love Ianto. - Owen was so snarkless I wasn't sure it was him. He was nice to Toshiko - and protective of her. Is this Owen, or a skrull impostor? He sounded most like himself when he said, "I didn't think you had some weird fetish for defrosted me."
- I thought that in Doctor Who, the episodes written by Helen Raynor in series 3 were the worst of the year. She did a much better job here - good characterization and a nice atmosphere, though not as witty or snappy at any point as "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" and not as thoughfully introspective as "Sleeper". The plot was very predictable: was there a moment of surprise in the whole episode? I don't think so. But... I'll forgive a lot for that kiss.
- I like Ianto's teapot. Or... Torchwood's teapot. White. A nice shape. Perhaps Toshiko picked it out, she has a nice eye for shapes - you can tell from her home.
- I really got a kick out of seeing the things on Jack's desk. Like the embryonic TARDIS, still there. And seeing the Time Agent wristband still on Jack's wrist.
- I didn't understand the title. Could someone tell me why it's called "To The Last Man">
- Loved the 1918 scenes and the high-tech Torchwood stuff. And seeing the people working for Torchwood at that time. They had cryogenics in 1918? Woo, that's some fancy Rift-flotsam! Or did Jack build it all for them? Seems unlikely that he was at Torchwood then, but...? The box that would only open at the right time was an interesting thing, too.
- The relationship between Tommy and Tosh was delightful. Is Toshiko supposed to be the same age as Naoko Mori - 32? I liked the way she felt so conscious of her 'older woman' status with regard to Tommy, while he didn't care. I as glad he got sex with her before he went back to die. And I think Jack approved of that... I couldn't help thinking of his advice to Captain Jack Harkness to "lose yourself in your woman because it might be your last chance".
This being said, I thought Tommy had a very ordinary personality. Almost dull. No reason he should be extraordinary - but I felt his loneliness and Tosh's compassion rather than any sense of real love or passion between them. Though Tommy's story was very sad, I didn't feel a sense of connection to him. - The fact that he was killed by a firing squad - seemed particulary sad. I loved it that Tosh didn't tell him about that.
- It was fun to see Tosh having fun, and nice to know that despite misgivings about the world that she has voiced in the past, she still has her sense of optimism.
- The scenes where they were wandering around the hospital looking for ghosts were delightfully spooky. Especially Gwen's scenes.
- When Tommy asked Tosh if she had a boyfriend, I really, really wanted her to say, "No, but I had a girlfriend for a while last year. It didn't work out."
- I liked Ianto's line "Nothing changes," as a contrast to Jack's "Everything changes." I love the show's perspective of historical time projected both into the future and into the past.
- When Jack said to Ianto, "Would you miss me?", was he just fishing? Or was it that he wanted to get Ianto talking about their relationship? He surely knows how Ianto feels about him. But maybe Ianto has been shy about talking about it lately, given his awkwardness in "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang". Are we to assume they've already had their date? Or many dates? I find it difficult to guess the passage of time in this show. How long was Jack gone? How long has he been back? No clue.
- In the continued absence of any evidence either way (as far as I can see), I conclude that the other members of the Torchwood team still don't know about the relationship between Jack and Ianto.
- I like Tosh's place. Very neat, yes. Very Japanese looking, but vaguely British too. She wasn't wearing that gorgeous dressing gown she had in "Greeks Bearing Gifts".
- Was it just me, or was Jack looking particularly good in this episode?
- There seem to be a lot of objects in the Hub that look more like art than technology. And there is some very interesting lighting.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 03:07 am (UTC)Ianto seemed a lot more sober this episode, almost to the point of grimness. I am reminded of his line "All those young soldiers!" from "Captain Jack Harkness". The idea of soldiers sent off to die seems to affect him in particular.
Jack's "Would you miss me?" seemed half-joking -- the kind of question you could answer sarcastically or seriously, depending on your mood -- and Ianto was in a mood to be serious. I think Jack was not so much fishing as trying to figure out what Ianto was aiming at with his own question.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 04:04 am (UTC)His moods this series have been interesting. Fraught and defensive and angry in "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" - thrown for a loop, I think, by Jack's reappearance and his jealousy and dislike of Captain John, prehaps also by his (more subtle) jealousy of the Doctor.
In "Sleeper" he was clever and sharp and hyper and helpful.
In "To The Last Man", much more sober - that's a good word for it - and thoughtful. I think Jack's return has made him do some serious introspective thinking. Rather than just reacting to Jack, he seems to be cultivating their love.
I think Jack was not so much fishing as trying to figure out what Ianto was aiming at with his own question.
Yes, and that's been in keeping with his reactions to Ianto ever since he came back - not pushing things, feeling his way, letting Ianto set the tone.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 03:13 am (UTC)I think Jack quite genuinely says "Would you miss me?" as a joke, and has the air knocked out of him by the brutal honesty of Ianto's reply. Jack is always so smooth and glib about flirting, treating it as a favourite game, and it somehow always seems to punch him in the gut when suddenly it's serious. Not that he doesn't have serious emotions, but he treats them with such lightness - probably to be able to bear them - while Ianto cuts right through all that and demands that they say what they mean, no fooling around. He wants to know how Jack feels, and he wants Jack to know how he feels, and I think the bluntness of that is a bit overwhelming for Jack. Maybe it's that Ianto has seen so many of Jack's flirting games and figures that he deserves the curtesy of being treated differently. And I love that. It's a sense of "You went a way with someone else and left me here. If you want me to do this with you again, we're bloody well doing if for real." No more being the part time shag.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 04:00 am (UTC)Yes, there were definite parallels. Not just the Owen/Diane affair but the Jack/Jack affair. Lucky Owen got a whole week with his lover.
I think Jack quite genuinely says "Would you miss me?" as a joke, and has the air knocked out of him by the brutal honesty of Ianto's reply.
That's a good answer - all the better because Jack has been treating Ianto carefully, using humour to overcome the awkwardness between them on his return, and then using honest when the humour either fails or succeeds to get a reaction from Ianto. Here, Ianto skipped a step by going right to the honest talk - indicating, I hope, a greater trust in Jack.
Jack is always so smooth and glib about flirting, treating it as a favourite game, and it somehow always seems to punch him in the gut when suddenly it's serious.
I think Jack uses humour and a light attitude because love means so much to him - he's very vulnerable to its effects.
he treats them with such lightness - probably to be able to bear them -
Yes, exactly. His attitude to the Doctor illustrates this nicely!
He wants to know how Jack feels, and he wants Jack to know how he feels
This makes Ianto seem more mature here than he usually is. Stronger, too.
Maybe it's that Ianto has seen so many of Jack's flirting games and figures that he deserves the curtesy of being treated differently. And I love that.
Yes, and maybe he just feels that between each other they can be honest, and should be. It's interesting that they were not only talking about their feelings for each other, but about the reality of Jack's life - about his relationship to his own time and his feelings about being displaced in time. This is something Jack doesn't talk about - last season, he wouldn't even admit that he was displaced in time, except to a stranger - John Ellis - and even then, he didn't say when he was from.
No more being the part time shag.
I think it has been clear for three episodes now that Ianto wants more than that, and it's wonderful to see. It's also wonderful to see Jack's reaction - responding to the love, not just to the playfulness.
As if Jack were actually in more of a shell than Ianto ever was. And is breaking out of it.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 05:06 pm (UTC)I would love to have you expand on this a bit.
By way of example, the most serious personal conversation they ever have happens when there's a huge safety door between them. Jack's in the radiation chamber and the Doctor is safely on the other side of this huge barrier.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 05:31 pm (UTC)I wasn't so much talking about conversations between Jack and the Doctor, though I think we see more substance in their conversations in the first few minutes of "The Doctor Dances" than we do between Jack and Ianto through all of series 1 Torchwood.
But no, I was talking about attitude. "Utopia" and "The Sound of Drums" are a good examples - eveything Jack is talking about he treats lightly enough, but it's all of hte utmost importance to him and he still shows it - "Why did you abandon me on the Game Station? Is that prejudice? I rebuild Torchwood in your honour." Everything Jack says to the Doctor is honest (since "The Empty Child") and he listens carefully to everything the Doctor says, and never forgets it. It may sound like light banter and mutual teasing in "Boom Town", and it is, but I think it all goes soul-deep.
The door of the radiation chamber in "Utopia" is no doubt a barrier, because the Doctor at that point needs a barrier with Jack. Jack is doing his best to tear down the barriers, and prove himself. How? Well, he teases the Doctor about the situation, flirts with everyone in sight, and when faced with personal danger, starts to take his clothes off.
Works for me.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 06:35 pm (UTC)It may sound like light banter and mutual teasing in "Boom Town", and it is, but I think it all goes soul-deep.
Nerrrr, I have to rewatch it. Can't remember.
flirts with everyone in sight, and when faced with personal danger, starts to take his clothes off
That's our boy! Bless.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 06:46 pm (UTC)I would have trouble believing that it's not the case. Just look at how happy Nine is when he's around. Look at the way he allows him free range with the TARDIS innards. I think that's gotta be love.
I can't prove it: it's a visceral impression. It's what I see in the episodes when they are together.
but not with Ten
I have... problems with that, too, especially ater "The Last of the Time Lords" - which is why I was ranting after that episode aired. (Links to rants available on request.) And a lot of my interpretation prwill depend on what happens when/if they meet again. My interetation as to whether and to what extent Nine and Ten have the same personalities colours my interpretation as well.
I would like to think that Ten loves Jack and Martha too. I can interpret it that way, but I'm on thin canonical grounds.
I do think there's enough canon to establish that Jack is - if not someone that Ten truly loves - a valued and trusted friend. So why did he sabotage the Vortex Manipulator? I have a few theories, but they are just theories - no canon to back them. Yet.
My google-fu is strong.
Date: 2008-02-01 03:47 am (UTC)Re: My google-fu is strong.
Date: 2008-02-01 03:52 am (UTC)Re: My google-fu is strong.
Date: 2008-02-01 04:02 am (UTC)2. Owen was so snarkless I wasn't sure it was him. He was nice to Toshiko - and protective of her. Is this Owen, or a skrull impostor? He sounded most like himself when he said, "I didn't think you had some weird fetish for defrosted me."
I noticed that, too, and it was only after someone reminded me of Diane/the season finale that the new, gentler version of Owen made sense. I wish they'd shown his motivations more clearly; he could have mentioned Diane, at the very least. His newfound sensitivity does make sense for his arc, but there's still a teeny gap between S1 Owen and S2 Owen.
And, yeah, I miss the snark too. I keep waiting for him to go all mean again.
Ianto? I think I liked him better when he was all silent and mysterious. He seems more immature in this season, which is a big contrast to efficient S1 Ianto.
Other than that, thumbs up!
Re: My google-fu is strong.
Date: 2008-02-01 04:10 am (UTC)I was wondering that. If we find a source or a quote, it might illuminate the whole episode.
His newfound sensitivity does make sense for his arc, but there's still a teeny gap between S1 Owen and S2 Owen.
There is. He hasn't had a strong role in this series yet - not one that examines the new Owen - and I'd like to see a but more focus on his redefinition of himself. He's had a few magnificent moments - the best being, I think, when he drew Jack aside for the blood trick in "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang". His kindness to Tosh this week was also delightful to see. But - I want to see the edge still there; I don't know how to assess or trust this newer, gentler Owen.
He seems more immature in this season, which is a big contrast to efficient S1 Ianto.
Yes, I've been thinking the word "immature" a lot in connection with him, too. I thought he was immature last series as well, but - there's something about the way he seems torn by his emotions and either suppresses them or explodes with them that make me think of him as a teenager, which he isn't. He's an intelligent and experienced adult. It's very nice to get more insight into his relationship with Jack; I hope this continues.
"To the last man"
Date: 2008-02-01 04:34 am (UTC)"There is no other course open to us but to fight it out. Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight on to the end. The safety of our homes and the Freedom of mankind alike depend upon the conduct of each one of us at this critical moment."
The specific application is that Torchwood are (ab)using Tommy in the same way that Haig used the British troops; the leadership of the British Army in that war is generally agreed to have been abysmal, resulting in the unnecessary loss of many lives. Tommy is understandably sceptical of Torchwood's desire for him to play the hero, since they're feeding him the same kind of line Haig was feeding his troops -- the difference being that in this case, the stakes really were as huge as they were claimed to be.
Re: "To the last man"
Date: 2008-02-01 04:36 am (UTC)Poor Tommy: he was quite right, everyone wanted to use him. But he was a hero, and his life had more meaning that it might ever have had. It was certainly different: How many people get to see most of a century one day per year?
Re: "To the last man"
Date: 2008-02-01 04:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 05:29 am (UTC)2) Owen is Making An Effort To Be Nice, at least to Tosh. I think he really does like her, but he's only good at picking ppl up in bars and inadvertently falling in love. But he's smart enough to know that intense snark won't do him any good with Tosh, and he doesn't want to hurt her feelings. He's not very good at Being Caring (in comparison to Jack), but it's still a tremendous improvement. I'm excited for him, actually. And unlike Jack and Ianto, Tosh and Owen are both in a very similar place, in terms of emotional experience.
3) Well, I was wondering if Tosh would pull some kind of impulsive Gwen trick; very relieved that she didn't.
4 and 5 and 18) I should pay more attention to the background. Embryonic TARDIS? I didn't miss the wristband, what with the kiss with Ianto if nothing else, but why wouldn't Jack wear it?
8) I think Tommy worked, in the story. Ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances who has to do something hard. I really liked his instant connection with Tosh, how he trusted her - and in many ways, she's the most trustworthy one on the team, which I like to see as a Tosh thing instead of a Model Minority thing. Tosh wouldn't have left a team she was leaving without a word of warning or explanation - she'd at least have arranged some kind of message, should she be unexpectedly called away.
The position Tosh was put in was interestingly difficult, underlying plot was solid if unspectacular.
10) Misgivings?
11) Actually, I wondered why Gwen was acting like a stereotypical Person in a Haunted, who is surprised and confused by the ghosts, when she was expecting to see ghosts and when she's seen weirder and more threatening things, and acted much more calmly. Gwen was blah, except for her frozen boys line ; )
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 02:06 pm (UTC)Does he like her enough for them to be a viable couple? I still don't (even potentially) like the pairing enough to be hoping for that, but I like to think that I will be open-minded enought, if it comes to that, to give it a chance. And I hope also that if they go that way, they write it with enough skill to convince me, rather than just throwing them together and letting them go for the sexual relationship because "no one else understands what our lives are like".
Meanwhile, it's an interesting friendship to watch.
it's still a tremendous improvement. I'm excited for him, actually.
Owen himself is a fascinating case in character development and storyline. I don't feel that Toshiko has grown or changed since the beginning of the series, which is too bad.
Embryonic TARDIS?
Yes. That's the raised plate of something yellow that is always on Jack's desk, usually off to his left. It's a kind of coral that, in 500 years, or so, he will be able to start "carving" into a TARDIS core. So they say. I happen to love that detail and have a small obsession with it - I keep making sure it's still there. Yup. Thank goodness Gwen didn't throw it away - I wonder if she knows what it is or might become.
I think Tommy worked, in the story.
Oh, yes. I had no probelm with it.... Just if the story had a problem (and I'm not sure it did) it was that it was a little too bland, and a less ordinary Tommy might have pulled me in more.
Tosh wouldn't have left a team she was leaving without a word of warning or explanation - she'd at least have arranged some kind of message, should she be unexpectedly called away.
Oh, yes. Tosh is very reliable that way. And clever at finding ways.
Misgivings
I can never quite decide if Tosh is an optimist or a pessimist. She has a nice speech to Mary in "Greeks Bearing Gifts" about loving the human side of the aliens that she meets. (I don't suppose her relationship with Mary made her feel better about that, in the long run.) But usually Tosh seems a little down to me. I'd have to think to come up with concrete quotes to illustrate what I see as her pessimism.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-05 02:08 am (UTC)re: optimism or pessimism
Working with computers has always provided Tosh with a strong center to her life, but I wonder if she has anything else to anchor her - both Jack and her job are causes of unsteadiness, I think, though with the potential for being catalysts for growth. That email she never sent to her aunt, on the website, her Japanese heritage isn't giving her much to draw from, these days. She might have worshipped her grandfather as a child, most likely still loves him, but he can't do anything for her. Maybe it's more useful to think of her in terms of being lost. She does well under pressure, which indicates that at least she doesn't have one of those unuseful imaginations which come up with worst case scenarios, like mine does, instead of helpful plans. Maybe she gets pessimistic when she isn't thinking utterly about the job. You need to be a workaholic, at Torchwood, but probably she takes it too far and doesn't spend time processing.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-05 03:01 am (UTC)I agree. And I totally love the unpredictability.
I'd want to write about Tosh.
Me too. Sometimes I have a crush on her. Sometimes I don't. (I never have a crush on Owen.) I would still love to see a Tosh/Gwen relationship, preferably on screen, but acceptably in fanfic, and I'd write it myself again except that for some reason I can't. No good ideas. Which is a pity.
That email she never sent to her aunt, on the website, her Japanese heritage isn't giving her much to draw from, these days.
Good point, and it doesn't give her much guidance in the matter of aliens or men from the future. And I can't think of anyone less like the archetype of the ideal Japanese male than Owen.
Maybe she gets pessimistic when she isn't thinking utterly about the job.
I think she thinks about the job too much - because when she stops thinking about the job, which she really does love, she gets lonely.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-06 02:10 am (UTC)"And I can't think of anyone less like the archetype of the ideal Japanese male than Owen."
Heh, no, not at all. Ideal bad boy, though. I think he's adjusting to Tosh's expectations for a (male) significant other, he's trying on courtesy ...
no subject
Date: 2008-02-07 03:14 pm (UTC)I can't see them as dysfunctional at all - I think they'd be adorable, and ver good for each other. Can't get my brain around any negative take on it.
Good luck to Owen with the courtesy thing!
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 05:47 am (UTC)No, it's not just you. JB's face looked tighter around the jawline and his hair was a shade lighter. Maybe he lost a little weight or had some subtle work done? Either way, he looked fantastic.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 12:25 pm (UTC)Whatever he's done, I like it!
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 06:23 am (UTC)I believe Tosh said that Torchwood had acquired alien cryogenics back then.
embryonic TARDIS
What is that and where was it?
In the continued absence of any evidence either way (as far as I can see), I conclude that the other members of the Torchwood team still don't know about the relationship between Jack and Ianto.
I think everyone's pretty aware of what's going on between them at this point. Owen already guessed or found out they were shagging last series and they all saw them snogging in End of Days after Jack came back to life. That's why Gwen was smiling at Ianto when when they were looking at the photographs of 1918 Torchwood and commenting on how the boss then and the boss now were good-looking. Kind of teasing him. Also, Eve Myles has said in an interview that Gwen knows what Jack and Ianto are up to.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 02:48 pm (UTC)It'a a raised plate of yellow stuff, always on Jack's desk, seen to the left-hand side of Jack's desk - his left, our right. You can see it clearly in this screencap (http://torchwood.time-and-space.co.uk/coppermine/displayimage.php?album=73&pos=1315), under Jack's lamp. I suspect the lamp has light that helps it to grow.
And since I love the idea, I've been wanting to make an icon of it, so I did:
How do I know this is a TARDIS, you ask? Before Torchwood started there was a "Radio Times" article in which they showed the set and details of the Hub, identifying things - like the televisions in Jack's office, which we had previously seen in the Doctor Who episode "The Idiot's Lantern".
Owen already guessed or found out they were shagging last series
You think? I interpret his "teaboy" comment as implying that he didn't know. But he'd guessed what Ianto wanted, if not what he had.
they all saw them snogging in End of Days after Jack came back to life
Granted, that was a clue, but it was more of a quick kiss than a snog. Still. It was a nice quick kiss.
Eve Myles has said in an interview that Gwen knows what Jack and Ianto are up to
Ah! Okay, that convinces me. I will have to rethink. So even when she had that conversation with Jack in "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" she knew about him and Ianto. Hmm. No apparent jealousy. Good! Maybe there's hope for them all.
Though I was sort of hoping for a "Gwen finds out" scene. On the other hand, I like the sense that a frienship has developed between her and Ianto.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 07:35 pm (UTC)Not so much the teaboy comment, but this:
Ianto:"Jack needs me."
Owen:"In your dreams, Ianto. In your sad wet dreams, when you're his part-time shag maybe."
My interpretation was that Owen knew thay were shagging, but didn't think the relationship was serious enough for Jack to need Ianto. Owen was comparing his relationship with Diane to Ianto's realtionship with Jack, and finding Jack and Ianto's inferior.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 07:57 pm (UTC)Either way, the upshot is the same - Owen has a hint of what's going on between them, at least potentially, but underestimates Ianto's importance to Jack.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 11:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-02 01:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 06:37 am (UTC)Ianto's arc can also be explained nicely. He was obviously still sore in KKBB about Jack disappearing and then finding out he'd run to find his mysterious 'doctor'. But the Capt. John comes in and it seems that Jack is renewing ties with him in some way. I'd be a bit pissed and unsure of Jack's in tentions too. Fortunately Jack makes himself clear in the office scene. Though I thought his behaviour in Sleeper was a bit over the top, my theory is that he'd just gotten laid and was particularly upbeat that day. I mean it might have been the first time he'd hooked up with Jack since before he disappeared! Maybe a few months! I'll forgive his OOC silliness for that. *wink* By the time 'To the Last Man' happens he's evened out a bit. Though in the first scenes where they're explaining who Tommy is to Gwen, he's a bit peppy.
I think Ianto is understandably grim thinking about Torchwood operatives dying young. He was one of the few survivors of the Canary Wharf battle and I'm sure many of his colleages, including Lisa, died as a result.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 02:53 pm (UTC)Jack does make himself clear in the office scene, and I liked the way Ianto reacted, and the "Is that a yes?" "Yes! - Yes."
Though I thought his behaviour in Sleeper was a bit over the top, my theory is that he'd just gotten laid and was particularly upbeat that day.
Works for me!
Since we don't see a lot of Jack and Ianto together alone, we have to do some 'filling in the blanks'. I can't help feeling that they still have some mutual readjusting to do on 'flexibility' issues. Or put another way: how will they each react when Captain John shows up again, or the Doctor? I wonder if we'll see that.
And if Gwen's marriage to Rhys should fall through, will Jack feel himself free to romance Gwen?
Yes, Ianto probably saw a lot of his Torchwood colleagues die young. Including Lisa.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 07:49 pm (UTC)Hmm, I think Jack is taking deliberate steps to pursue Ianto, and not Gwen. I know a lot of people were put off by the scene in KKBB with Jack and Gwen, but I never saw it as Jack trying to put the moves on Gwen. Remember, from Jack's perspective, he's been gone at least a year, and missing his team terribly. I think he's a little giddy just being back, but they're all still pissed off. Sure he has more of an intimate bond with Gwen than some of the others. But I think that's why Gwen is giving him such a hard time in that scene. Telling Jack that if he hadn't run off he wouldn't have missed what was going on the their lives, specifically Gwen's engagement.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 08:10 pm (UTC)I think Jack loves the whole team, but he's only having sex with Ianto.
I don't know if that will change.... and I love not being able to anticipate.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 04:15 pm (UTC)I can't remember which episode it was, but there was a commentary with Burn where he said something along the lines that he thought Owen liked Tosh and that they were friends. There are some canon indications of that - they go out for a drink together in Ghost Machine, there's the photo of them in Greeks Bearing Gifts that Tosh has and the card she kept which suggests that they were close enough prior to S1 for him to know her birthday and actually make an effort about it. But of course the focus during the series was on Owen and Gwen interacting and on him spiralling down into a bad place so they never really showed anything else - or possibly they became more distant because of those things - and I think that is a shame because it would have given more continuity with where Owen is now. Oh, just thought of another thing - Tosh knows Owen and Diane had an affair and that he's upset when Diane leaves, but Gwen has no idea - an indication Owen mentioned it to her, or just that she knows him better than Gwen? /rambling.
I think also that the situation reminds Owen of Diane and that's why he's so low key snarkwise. /rambling (for real now)
I like Ianto's teapot.
I failed to notice the teapot, but Tosh's place was fantastic. Perhaps she got rid of those dressing gowns after Mary?
I thought Tommy had a very ordinary personality. Almost dull.
Hmm, I can see what you mean. But I did really like how he called Tosh a daft lass and called her on Torchwood being the only thing in her life. Showed he was paying attention to her.
I thought the whole firing squad issue was very interesting. I was surprised Jack told her about it to begin with, but then I realised that he had to - she would have found out easily enough afterwards and it would have been a betrayal not to give her that knowledge. I think it also showed his trust in her to do the right thing and see the big picture - and I'm not sure he would have had the same trust in some of the rest of the team to take Tommy home with them and bring him back in the morning, knowing that they were sending him back to die. Interesting similarities between Jack in CJH and Tosh here really.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 09:17 pm (UTC)And so far, they've set up things I thought I wouldn't like, like the Gwen/Owen affair, and I ended up liking it very much indeed. I should have a little faith.
I like the idea that Owen is compassionate enough to see the parallel with his relationship with Diane.
I was surprised Jack told her about it to begin with, but then I realised that he had to - she would have found out easily enough afterwards and it would have been a betrayal not to give her that knowledge.
He felt she needed to know the whole picture and had the maturity to deal with it. Which she did.
Yes, I also like the similarity with Captain Jack Harkness. Sometimes something feels like a choice and it really isn't a choice at all.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 08:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 09:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 09:17 pm (UTC)