Torchwood: To The Last Man...

[fajrdrako]

Well... I'm sure everyone who has seen it can guess which part of this episode I liked best. Reactions, reflections and some happy squeeing:

1. 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.



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."



3. 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.



4. 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.



5. 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.



6. I didn't understand the title. Could someone tell me why it's called "To The Last Man">



7. 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.



8. 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.



9. The fact that he was killed by a firing squad - seemed particulary sad. I loved it that Tosh didn't tell him about that.



10. 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.



11. The scenes where they were wandering around the hospital looking for ghosts were delightfully spooky. Especially Gwen's scenes.



12. 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."



13. 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.



14. 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.



15. 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.



16. 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".



17. Was it just me, or was Jack looking particularly good in this episode?



18. 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.

Comments

[puritybrown.livejournal.com]

I think they deliberately made Tommy very ordinary, right down to his name -- they didn't call him "Tommy Atkins" because that would have been too obvious, but just calling him "Tommy" marks him as a sort of Everyman soldier -- a stand-in for every man who served King and Country during World War I.

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.

[isagel.livejournal.com]

With Owen, my impression was that Tosh's situation reminded him of his own affair with Diane, and this was what caused him to be softer around the edges.

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.

My google-fu is strong.

[vervassal.livejournal.com]

'To the Last Man' is a military phrase used of "Last Stand" situations when appearances are bleak.

[omnivorously.livejournal.com]

1) : D : D : D

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 ; )

[sizequeen.livejournal.com]

Was it just me, or was Jack looking particularly good in this episode?

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.

[amadyce.livejournal.com]

They had cryogenics in 1918? Woo, that's some fancy Rift-flotsam! Or did Jack build it all for them?

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.

[amadyce.livejournal.com]

I really like Owens progress and I think it makes sense as far as the episodes go. I think the writers might have thought they went a little too far in making him unlikable in S1, but the story with Diane and then Combat, and then Owen going bonkers and shooting Jack, only to be forgiven, I think all of that has started to mellow Owen and its showing now this season. I really like how his arc is developing.

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.

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

Owen was so snarkless I wasn't sure it was him. He was nice to Toshiko - and protective of her.

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.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Dad noticed, but I didn't, a goof in them describing Tommy as "a private officer" instead of "a private soldier". Did they goof, or is it his 73-year-old ears mishearing?

[raissad.livejournal.com]

This was my favorite ep. so far. Once you watch Sapphire & Steel, you're perceptions of the story may change, as TTLM was very S&S.