Torchwood: From Out of the Rain (2x10)

[fajrdrako]

As I watched "From Out of the Rain" it kept reminding me of "Small Worlds" in ways I couldn't quite define. The same mood, some of the same images - and yes, it turns out that both are by P.J. Hammond. I liked this one better than "Small Worlds", though - I quite loved it. I'm not even sure I can explain why.

I had rather expected that they would play some of the old circus tropes, the evil clowns and the kidnapped children, the freak show and the magic. But no. I'm not even sure whether the Ghostmaker and the Mermaid were essentially evil - they were mythical creatures interfering in time and space.

I particularly enjoyed the direction - has Jonathan Fox Bassett directed a Torchwood episode before? I don't think so. I loved some of the cinematography, like the scene of Pearl kneeling in the dry swimming pool, splashing herself with water from a shallow bowl.

I think a lot of those images will stay with me for a long time - including the repeated image, on film, of Captain Jack shooting himself in sepia tones, over and over.

What was Captain Jack doing there? Not working for Torchwood, presumably. Unit? Did Unit even exist then? No reason it should, but I don't know. Not the Time Agency: he was already immortal. And by the same token, it was post-Doctor. Interesting.

There was a lot of Jack and Ianto being together in this episode, and I saw almost Jack/Ianto sexual vibe. If Gwen hadn't made her joke about 'that's what they're calling it' I might have forgotten these two were sleeping together. When I saw Jack with the Doctor and Rose in "Boom Town", I thought: "These people love each other." When I see Jack with Ianto, I think - they have great banter, they work well together, but - the don't touch, they don't hug or kiss or speak personally and privately, they don't move into each other's space when they're alone together, they don't seem hyper-aware of each other - all the usual slash indicators are missing. Why?

Not that I mind. I just wonder. When Jack's love for Captain Jack Harkness was so viscerally and visibly intense, and his rapport with Captain John Hart was so punchy, and his relationship with the Doctor so intensely devoted - why is there so little here with his boyfriend?

Other things I liked about "From Out of the Rain":

• scenes from the 1920s
  
• a historical sensibility - old film, heritage buildings
  
• Owen, Gwen and Ianto going to a movie together - but why didn't they invite Jack? Or Rhys?
  
• the fact that Owen's undead state is taken as a given
  
• the costume of the circus people
  
• the way their nature and origin and the source of their breath-containing magic powers were not explored
  
• the scene of Ianto running with the vial
  
• the scene of Jack reviving and holding the child
  
• the pacing
  

I really, really liked the ambiance here. It seemed evocative without being strained, eery without being scary - quite otherworldly. Surreal.

Comments

[gypsylady.livejournal.com]

I liked Ianto running, too. He doesn't run like Jack or Owen. He seems more natural, less wound up when he runs.

I've noticed that they don't play with the Janto relationship unless it's relevant to the plot. It's a little uncomfortable for me sometimes. I keep expecting, bracing myself, for a touch, even just a tap on the shoulder to bring one or the other's attention to something and it never happens. But it's like, unless they're BEING boyfriends at that moment, they keep apart. Might be a work thing?

The Night Travelers seemed to be of this world, although from outside it. Not aliens, but not part of the real world. I like that they're examining the paranormal along with the alien.

By a similar token, why didn't Gwen's new marital status figure into this at all? I'm sure it was because they didn't want to make a continuous big deal of it but there should have at least been someone (Ianto or Owen would have been good for this) calling her Mrs. Williams.

But this ep had such a nice vibe to it, not the usual frenetic Torchwood vibe, but a nice one that made me happy.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I liked Ianto running, too ... He seems more natural, less wound up when he runs.

If you ignore the action in "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" (in which I thought Ianto was pretty much useless, from an action point of view), I like Ianto best when he is in action - running in this episode, using the taser in "Meat", and so on. And the running here. He's good in action scenes, now they've let him play hero sometimes.

I've noticed that they don't play with the Janto relationship unless it's relevant to the plot.

Which is... unconvincing... to my eyes. As if they sometimes love each other and sometimes don't. I can't even argue (as I've heard some say) that it's sex without love, because we've seen loving moments (should I cite "Adam" again?) in non-sexual situations; but always ambiguously, or in situations which prove Jack's is shared by the whole team.

Fine by me, but then, what are we left with for the Jack/Ianto relationship? Not much!

In series 1, I thought I saw more love on Ianto's part than Jack's. Now I think I see Jack being more loving and Ianto being more flip. But basically I don't know what I'm seeing, or what I'm supposed to be seeing.

Not aliens, but not part of the real world. I like that they're examining the paranormal along with the alien.

I like that, too.

why didn't Gwen's new marital status figure into this at all?

I had the impression that this was one of those episodes that could have been slotted in anywhere in the continuity of Torchwood, any season. Ianto and Jack might be lovers, or not. Gwen might be married, or not. In fact, her comment about "what they're calling it" could have been a last-minute addition to make it look as if it fit into this season, since it came from nowhere in particular and had no follow-up. Not even a smile between Jack and Ianto, even when alone.

Might be a work thing

I can't believe that Jack would be inhibited by the CCTV, or work ethics. He was happy to flirt with Martha - at least a little bit, in one episode!

But this ep had such a nice vibe to it, not the usual frenetic Torchwood vibe, but a nice one that made me happy.

I agree. Despite all the above, I found it a pleasure to watch. A sort of digression from the real Torchwood story, maybe, but not an unpleasant one.

[jackarono.livejournal.com]

I get that weird "not" sense too-- Ianto and Jack just don't seem like they're connected to each other. They don't touch or even refrain from touching. They actually react like... coworkers. Jack actually touches the other teammates more, but it's not like he's afraid to touch Ianto-- it's as if that's not part of their relationship. Very weird, since we know Jack is a touchy sort, and we've seen him very touchy with John Hart.

I keep coming back to -- Jack thinks Ianto is right for him, so he pursues it, but he doesn't FEEL it. And Ianto has some agenda we don't know yet. Is that possible, that Ianto's agenda is the big reveal at the end of the season?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Ianto and Jack just don't seem like they're connected to each other. They don't touch or even refrain from touching. They actually react like... coworkers

Yes. They work beautifully together and I love that - but in some shows where colleagues work beautifully together, I think "that's slashy!" and this isn't. No vibes.

it's not like he's afraid to touch Ianto-- it's as if that's not part of their relationship. Very weird, since we know Jack is a touchy sort, and we've seen him very touchy with John Hart.

It does seem strange.

Jack thinks Ianto is right for him, so he pursues it, but he doesn't FEEL it.

Maybe. Maybe he thinks it's what Ianto needs?

And Ianto has some agenda we don't know yet. Is that possible, that Ianto's agenda is the big reveal at the end of the season?

Maybe. That at least would make sense of it.

Why have an omnisexual hero if he acts celibate even in the private company of his lover?

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

Ianto has some agenda we don't know yet.

I get the feeling that Ianto had an agenda, but blew it by falling sincerely and deeply in love.

The Agenda might be revealed in "Fragments", yes?

[ceindreadh.livejournal.com]

I think I was so happy to see Jack and Ianto on screen together that I managed to overlook how unboyfriendlike they were acting with each other. On the one hand, it's good that they're behaving professionally, that they can 'dabble' together and still be able to do their jobs. On the other hand, it was such a waste of good screentime. I mean, I don't need for every other comment from them to be innuendo, but there could have been a least a little reference to their relationship - whatever exactly it is - and would it have killed Jack to have given Ianto a hug at the end?

(It does make me wonder if the scene John Barrowman referred to in is autobiography was originally from this episode and just got cut for time)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think I was so happy to see Jack and Ianto on screen together that I managed to overlook how unboyfriendlike they were acting with each other

Yes - they have a nice fluidity and understanding together. I love they way they interact. It just seems... rather too impersonal, for two people who have had sex and anticipate having more sex.

it's good that they're behaving professionally, that they can 'dabble' together and still be able to do their jobs.

Yes, but I'd like like to see more warmth, or even just mutual awareness.

On the other hand, it was such a waste of good screentime.

Yes.

would it have killed Jack to have given Ianto a hug at the end?

I don't understand why he didn't. A few episodes ago I was speculating that it was because they were keeping their affair totally secret from the rest of the team, and they were good at covering - but it's clear now that this isn't the case.

It does make me wonder if the scene John Barrowman referred to in is autobiography was originally from this episode and just got cut for time

I thought he meant the "I'm a monster" scene in "Adam".

[janne-d.livejournal.com]

I was disappointed with it - it felt very anticlimactic and, despite Ianto going all teary-eyed which seemed to come out of nowhere anyway, the team seemed very disconnected from what was going on so the urgency was lacking. It started creepy but ended up as less than the sum of its parts for me.

And like you said, why is Ianto going to the cinema with Owen and Gwen and Jack doesn't even know where he's gone? The Jack/Ianto this season is making less and less sense as they go along.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

the team seemed very disconnected

I would agree with that. I would go so far as to say that it could have been any team in any TV show - or an episode of The Outer Limits or something. It didn't have any of the things I love Torchwood for - the only thing that tailored it to Torchwood was the inclusion of Jack in the pictures of the past, and that just seemed anomalous. If Jack had some story about how he was there because he was sleeping with the boy/girl team of trapeze artists, it would have seemed more in character. But working for some unidentified organization - ? It sounded very un-Jack-like to me - puzzling rather than unconvincing, but also sort of pointless.

This all makes it very surprising that I enjoyed it despite all that. It's the kind of TV I don't usually watch or like. And I don't imagine I'll watch it over again much - I don't often watch "Small Worlds" either, despite the nice scenes between Jack and Estelle.

Ianto going all teary-eyed which seemed to come out of nowhere

I didn't understand that. No one seemed way out of character to me as they did in "A Day in the Death" but no one seemed particualarly in character, either.

It started creepy but ended up as less than the sum of its parts for me.

That might have been because of the total lack of cause and effect, and the rather unconvincing resolution. They destroy them by filming them? And they knew they could? I shrug. I don't mind that kind of flimsy logic in the least, but it doesn't enhance things, or strengthen the story.

The Jack/Ianto this season is making less and less sense as they go along.

It's making no sense at all. I'm starting to wish Jack had some random boyfriend or girlfriend (preferably boyfriend) who isn't in Torchwood so we could see him acting like a lover with someone, in a way it just isn't happening with Ianto. We know they're having sex - er, dabbling - because we are told so. Otherwise? I wouldn't have a clue.

I'd think they were only pretending to have an affair, except that if it were a deception, it would be more convincing.

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

like the scene of Pearl kneeling in the dry swimming pool, splashing herself with water from a shallow bowl.

If I saw it correctly that was the lid of a wheelie bin.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Ah - that's what it was!

Good scene.

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I just adored this episode!

I'm a film- and movie-house-geek myself, and I DO believe in the magic of old images, so it spoke very directly to a major part of my brain. With Ianto I say "...so beautiful..."

I loved watching the kid editing with the old Steenbeck. :-)

I loved the travelling show; beautiful and weird and twilight, just as it should be. Not evil, I thought; just feral. The Ghostmaker was superbly creeptastic.

For the Jack/Ianto relationship issues you raise... I'm sure I saw a different episode! After watching it I thought "here it is at last --they're a couple. They are in love." My heart just about busted out of my ribcage. I found them incredibly (or I should say credibly) intimate.

They did make fairly intimate physical contact, which I haven't seen anyone mention. When Pearl sees Jack filming and he and Ianto move to flee, Ianto has his hand on Jack's hip, and it's still there as they run out of sight behind the curtains.

Of all the episodes, I really felt this in my heart as the best Jack/Ianto time ever. I was totally melted.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I just adored this episode!

I'm so glad - because I loved it too. Remember how I said last week that "this isn't what I watch Torchwood for?" I was thinking that the things I like were the personal interactions and the warmth between the characters and the personal arcs, but obviously it isn't just that - this episode didn't have that either and I loved it anyway. For it's mood. It wasn't random: there was something almost poetic about it in a "Fleurs du Mal" creepy sort of way.

I loved watching the kid editing too. And I'm not even an old-movie-house geek, but it's all positive connotations.

The travelling show, the whole concept of Night Walkers - I don't even have much sense of what they are or were, but that's okay, that's great, it makes them all the spookier.

I found them incredibly (or I should say credibly) intimate.

Oh - good! You inspire me to watch it again to see if I can see it. Because, believe me, I'd love to see it - !


They did make fairly intimate physical contact, which I haven't seen anyone mention. When Pearl sees Jack filming and he and Ianto move to flee, Ianto has his hand on Jack's hip, and it's still there as they run out of sight behind the curtains.

Did I miss that? Okay, a very good reason to watch again!

Of all the episodes, I really felt this in my heart as the best Jack/Ianto time ever. I was totally melted.

Aww. I am so glad. Becuase without that, I wonder what's up with them. My favourite Jack/Ianto moment so far was the kiss on the forehead in Adam, which was just so tender and sweet.

[gypsylady.livejournal.com]

Okay, that does it! After reading all of this, RTD is going to get a Very Strongly Worded Memo from me about this relationship bullshit.

Technically, I'm going to write one and think about sending it. I'll probably post it somewhere. But THIS MUST BE CORRECTED!!!!! It's obvious that Jack and Ianto are in some kind of relationship, and from the looks Ianto tends to give Jack it's obvious that he's got strong feelings about it, but Jack doesn't seem to be reciprocating the way one would expect him to be. Especially after the "I came back for you" scene in KKBB (yes, he then amended it to be "all of you" but then he asks Ianto on a real date and comments made prove that this relationship then took off. Again, probably.)

IMNSHO, Ianto may have had an agenda in initially pursuing Jack, especially since he (Ianto) was in possession (as it were) of this half converted cyber-being that he still thought was the love of his life, and he NEEDED to have access to the Hub and what Torchwood Cardiff contained in terms of alien and advanced tech to keep her alive (again, as it were.) But he stayed after Lisa was finally a done dead deal, and we're given to believe this was because of his feelings for Jack.

I need to stop rambling along now. Lunch is over and I need to go find my apple. But I WILL be writing that strongly worded memo any minute now. Okay, any day, probably. Maybe next week. RTD kind of intimidates me. I think I'll write it tonight and share it with friends only. Yeah, that's the safest route....

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

RTD is going to get a Very Strongly Worded Memo from me about this relationship bullshit.

Hee! Memo power!

from the looks Ianto tends to give Jack it's obvious that he's got strong feelings about it, but Jack doesn't seem to be reciprocating the way one would expect him to be.

Hmm. I tend to put it the other way round - it's obvious that Jack cares, but Ianto isn't responding they way one would expect.

he stayed after Lisa was finally a done dead deal, and we're given to believe this was because of his feelings for Jack.

His comment in "Adam" that Jack gave meaning to his life would tend to support that. But they've never made the direct connection; we have to guess from context ... nor have they ever featured a direct statement of love from either Jack or Ianto to or about the other. Why not?

[(Anonymous)]

May I come in and play? First time ever posting on LJ, but I so had to respond to this post. This is why I hate the retcon scene in Adam. During it, Ianto's verbal assertions and Jack's physical (touching, caressing and kissing) reaction screamed of the unspoken love they have for one another, but with the retcon, it became, once again, a secret to be kept from the other. One to be covered up by the use of sexual innuendoes and flirting as evidenced by the following morning when Jack summoned Ianto to his office to return his diary.

It seems they are both afraid to trust each other with how they truly feel. Shagging? Yes. Their hearts? No.

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

Another thing! A mystery; a very tantalizing one.

Old Lady to Ianto: They touched you, I can sense it. They touched you as they passed you by.

Wut dat mean? They'll never pursue that idea, but it's spookeh. Is Ianto now connected somehow to them? Or temporarily wearing a bit of an aura?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

they'll never pursue that idea, but it's spookeh.

It is.

I thought she was referring to the shadows in the movie theatre. They could have 'taken' Ianto then, but didn't.

Why not?

[raissad.livejournal.com]

the way their nature and origin and the source of their breath-containing magic powers were not explored

You are going to love Hammond's Sapphire & Steel then. Sapphire and Steel attempt to explain themselves at different points, but you can tell that making the effort annoys them. Like the Doctor, they are otherworldly corrective forces. Unlike the Doctor, however, they only pass for human, because it's logistically necessary, not because they have any natural affinity for our species, per se.

Steel is "cold as steel," except with Sapphire, over whom he's whipped and codependent. Think of them as alien Bennet and Claire, only with sex involved. As with Small Worlds and From Out of the Rain, S&S eps. tend to have bittersweet endings. Order comes at a price, and disorder has it's own beauty.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Think of them as alien Bennet and Claire, only with sex involved.

Oh my goodness, they sound wonderful!

As with Small Worlds and From Out of the Rain, S&S eps. tend to have bittersweet endings.

I like that - usually.

Must find this show!

[atheneunknown.livejournal.com]

When Ianto, Gwen and Owen went to the movie, and they were running through the rain Ianto gave a smile when he saw the building. The smile melted me entirely. So nice to see that man smile in a non pervy way. I think that maybe the first time we've ever seen Ianto really unguarded. I loved the episode for that, and so much more.

I loved the relationship between the Ghostmaker and the Mermaid. So co-dependant and lovely.

I loved how it looked too. All around loved the episode.

The whole Jack/Ianto distance thing has me clammoring for an explanation and I don't have one. Can't say I'm fond of that, but you are right. After the Jack/Gwen-ness that was 'Something Borrowed' I really didn't like the lack of affection between them. Even when they were alone in the theatre, Jack didn't so much as put a hand on Iantos shoulder to comfort him.

The scene where the team watched the old movies, Owen smiled at something that was said. I'm not remembering it now, probably due to the amazing amount of cold meds in my system. But that smile was brilliant. I really do enjoy the fact that they've effectively castrated Owen, its made him so much easier to like.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Ianto gave a smile when he saw the building. The smile melted me entirely. So nice to see that man smile in a non pervy way. I think that maybe the first time we've ever seen Ianto really unguarded. I loved the episode for that, and so much more.

I loved that, but I want to see him smile like that for Jack.

I loved the relationship between the Ghostmaker and the Mermaid. So co-dependant and lovely.

I loved that, too.

I really didn't like the lack of affection between them.

I don't think it's so much lack of affection as lack of demonstrativeness - to the point of strangeness.

Even when they were alone in the theatre, Jack didn't so much as put a hand on Iantos shoulder to comfort him.

I wish he would. I wish they'd touch more. Just casually.

But that smile was brilliant. I really do enjoy the fact that they've effectively castrated Owen, its made him so much easier to like.

That is so very true - death becomes him in a way living never did.

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

This smile?

I no longer have a heart. It went chasing after that smile and I haven't seen it since.

And Owen's smile was amazing: just a happy, relaxed, nonsnarky, genuine smile.

[gypsylady.livejournal.com]

And here is my Strongly Worded Memo

MEMORANDUM

TO: MR. RUSSELL T. DAVIES, ESQ
FROM: A WHOLE LOT OF CONCERNED FANS
SUBJECT: IANTO NEEDS LOVE, TOO
DATE: 3/17/2008
CC: ANYONE ELSE INVOLVED IN THE WHOLE TORCHWOOD UNIVERSE THAT NEEDS TO BE CONSULTED

MR DAVIES, SIR:

It has come to our attention that a beloved and admired (from many angles) member of the cast of characters that makes up the (dysfunctional) Family of Torchwood has been getting, let us say, short shrift in the getting love department. While it is clear that he is being called upon to be the dark, angsty member of the team at the moment, and thus obviously wide open for the hurt end of hurt/comfort, we’d like to point out that there has to be comfort in order for there to be hurt/comfort.

Now, it’s fine that Ianto doesn’t get mauled and thrust (ooooh, did I say that?) up against the wall at every conceivable opportunity, as that would make for boring television after the first two or three (four…five…twelve…what was I saying?) (ah, yes) repetitions. But the occasional snog, at least, seems not too much to ask. Or at least let someone (named Jack) goose him once in a while.

What we are saying, sir, is that if Jack doesn’t lay one heart-rending kiss on Ianto by the end of episode 11, you, sir, will be getting an even more strongly worded memo from A Whole Lot of Concerned Fans.

And if an "I love you,"or at least a "see you later" doesn’t come up in conversation between Ianto and Jack sometime soon, further intervention may be called for.

On a whole other front, how about Jack visiting Sarah Jane? Or Sarah Jane visiting Torchwood? Talk about a smackdown! Come on, the fans would eat it up.

Really. Trust me.

Signed
One of the concerned fans

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I love it!