Torchwood: Exit Wounds (2x13)
Apr. 6th, 2008 01:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fajrdrakoI can't write much but I at least want to say something about Torchwood now rather than later.
I watched Torchwood at 7 a.m. yesterday, staying awake through the whole thing despite the painkillers I'm taking for my broken foot. They make it hard to stay awake for a whole hour at a time. The interesting story helped.
About which I can think of many things to say, the first being: aieeeaii. "Aieeeaii" in a good way.
Two significant aspects are things I thought I'd never see on TV. They totally floored me they were so unexpected and brilliant. But First, the part I thought was odd, and this was maybe because of the pain pills and my less-than-normal powers of concentration or following a story, but it felt as if it started out as one story and then became another completely different story.
The story it looked as if it would be: confrontation between Captain Jack Harkness and his old lover/enemy, Captain John Hart, holding Cardiff hostage in their battle. (A straight parallel with the Doctor/Master situation in "The Last of the Time Lords".)
The story it became: Grey's vendetta against Captain Jack, with the Torchwood Team heroically saving Cardiff and paying the necessary prices.
Captain John really didn't have anything much to do with it at all. Which in a way was a pity, because he's such a good character, but in a way... it's good because it leaves him free for later stories. Oh, I hope!
What I most loved? Penance. I was floored. Because in any other story we'd be thinking and saying, "what happened to Grey wasn't Jack's fault", and I was thinking that, weren't you? But Jack saw right through all that as a smokescreen: it didn't matter whether it was his fault or not, that wasn't the point, the point was taking responsibility, and he took it without hesitation. Two thousand years of penance. An act of expiation all the more remarkable in its spiritual extremity.
And yes, we've seen Jack paying for his various sins over and over. The sin of almost killing mankind in "The Empty Child". The sin of being a con man. The sin of his friend's torture and death, the sin of letting go of Grey's hand, and so on. The redemption theme. And Jack has paid the price over and over: dying for the Doctor in "The Parting of the Ways", dying for mankind in "End of Days", and so on. Just as the Doctor in Doctor Who series one had his own redemption story: he killed his own race (and symbolically his past) in order to destroy the Daleks, and then offered his race, himself, Jack, mankind and the future as sacrifice in "The Parting of the Ways".
I love redemption themes.
This totally took me by surprise: that Jack's triumph came not by fighting Grey, but capitulating to him, forgiving him, loving him, and essentially putting another 'mercy killing' to Torchwood's credit.
As heroic figures go, Jack's is not so much the obvious contemporary superhero or action hero - he's a medieval martyr. It has nothing to do with justice or even atonement, because the wrongdoing was not his own - but in a mystical sense, there was a spiritual price to pay.
So: who'd've thought Jack could outdo his messiah resurrection act from last season? But he did. Wow.
I am so impressed. It's just a whole different level of emotional perception and thought than I've ever seen on any TV show - even Doctor Who. And all part of a plot that was a bit of a mess, or at least confusing, or maybe that was just because of my pain pills....
The other thing I loved: that it ends with Jack holding, loving, both Gwen and Ianto. Appeals so much to the romantic in me.
...So maybe PC Andy and Rhys will actually join Torchwood now there are places vacant? Though what they seem to need are a technical genius and a superlative doctor. I could choose Martha for the second role.
Dare I hope that Captain John will return to Torchwood, since he seems to be in no hurry to leave the present time? and he still loves Jack? I am now completely confused by his story: was what we saw in "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" all an act set up by Grey? Is John really crazy and homicidal? The events in "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" make perfect sense if you assume Grey was forcing John to do everything he did and John was trying to sabotage Grey - even to the point of John trying to kill Jack as another mercy killing to keep him out of Grey's vengeful hands, and in saving the Torchwood Team when he could have killed them.
I am not convinced. It could be that John was crazy and on drugs, and was cured somewhere along the way. It could be that I missed some story point. I'd like to know. As it was, his departure was somewhat ... anticlimatic. And enigmatic. I couldn't read Jack's attitude to him at the end: anger? forgiveness? mistrust? indifference? Whatever it is or was, it's clear John is not, like Gwen and Ianto, in the charmed circle of those Jack loves.
I thought there was no structure to this story, and not much coherence, but it was powerful - and so much better put together than "End of Days". How many times has Jack lived through 1941 now?
Whose exit wounds does the title refer to?
Oh, dear, I should say something about Toshiko and Owen. I'm not sure what to say. I liked their deaths. Toshiko brave (physically, emotionally and spiritually), Owen redeeming himself with both kindness and courage. I'm glad Owen is gone, frankly, because I don't know where I'd want them to go with the character. In series 1, I didn't like him, but he had fascinating character development and was always interesting. In series 2, though I sometimes liked him and sometimes hated him, his character was all over the place - from mild-mannered dweeb to smart-ass to dead guy to heartbroken fiancé and respectable doctor - never settling on one thing.
Gwen: superb. At her best, or at least, the way I like her best. Glimpses of what she could be. Loved it when she asked Rhys to marry her again. And loved Rhys... He used to be the perfect boyfriend. Now he's the perfect husband.
I love it that they're not doing the obvious.
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Date: 2008-04-06 07:57 pm (UTC)I'm not sure how I think about it myself as I don't make that kind of parallel until someone else points it out - I'm usually trying to think out how it would work. But your explanation of the penance concept makes it make more sense to me and I like the idea of Jack having medieval attitudes in a way despite being from so far in the future. I admit I think the tactically sound ending would have been to kill Gray, but I can also see why Jack can't.
My explanation for how it worked is that Jack really didn't die that often. I figure once he'd used up all the air available, there would be none to get to his brain when he revived so he probably wouldn't regain consciousness after the first one or two. So he spent the two thousand years hanging around in the dark on the other side, and it's entirely possible time passed differently there - that's the only way I can explain why he didn't go utterly insane!
I liked how they twisted the expectation so that it wasn't John driving the action like everyone had assumed it would be. I think that in KKBB, John was acting on his own volition though - I've been trying to remember if we ever saw his right wrist in that, but even so I think he was genuinely messed up and out of control and following his own selfish ends in it. My own theory is that John rescued Gray before KKBB, lapped up playing the hero for a bit and then they split up while John was pursuing his own goals (presumably Gray was looking for Jack). John met up with Gray again after KKBB, probably so he could gloat about having one up on Jack still, then let slip he'd run into Jack - at which point Gray went postal and John realised he was in very deep shit and had to reevaluate some things, like how far he would really go and how he did feel about Jack.
Jack's attitude to John at the end is interesting. I think he probably still doesn't want him around but I think he is grateful and likely trusts him a little more - just not enough to want him to stay. They've definitely left it open for a return though, and that is cool.
All I have to say about Toshiko and Owen is that I cried my eyes out and between them Naoko and Burn broke my heart. *sniff* I was expecting one of them to die, but I never thought they'd have the nerve to kill them both off at once so it was a real shock.
part 1
Date: 2008-04-06 09:29 pm (UTC)I certainly did. Liked it much more than "End of Days", for example, though there were things about "End of Days" that I liked very much.
There seem to be many people out there who didn't
I wondered if that would be the case. I suspect the Tosh and Owen lovers (or the Tosh/Owen lovers) didn't like what happened with them. I am a Tosh lover, and was not unhappy with her fate. But it does make me want to write some Tosh-based fic - or at least finish the stories I'm already working on.
I've seen a few comments that loathed the martyr/messianic Jack.
I totally adored that. In "End of Days" it didn't work as well for me - it seemed more of a joke or a game - admittedly the kind of game I like to play, but what's the fun if the people writing it don't take it seriously? In this case, I thought they really were getting the point, and making a point, and it's one seldom made in literature of our century. So I loved it.
But your explanation of the penance concept makes it make more sense to me and I like the idea of Jack having medieval attitudes in a way despite being from so far in the future.
We really don't know much about the 51st century and I like it that our view of it is so sketchy. What we know about it doesn't add up, but of course it doesn't - if we only knew a handful of facts about 2008, how would we make sense even of our own countries, let alone the whole planet, or a universe full of planets? But traditionally the ideas of 'what the future will be like' in science fiction is to either make it 'futuristic' with space ships and high-tech stuff and very science-based (like Star Trek or Doctor Who) or to make it like us, or like us at some point in our history - Planet of the Apes included. Anyway, it seems to me that this approach is both psychologically and historically plausible, and makes for some really interestingly original storytelling.
Anyway, I'm big on love and forgiveness as concepts too.
I admit I think the tactically sound ending would have been to kill Gray, but I can also see why Jack can't.
Well - there was a sort of symbolic death there, I thought. Which leaves the field open.
Re: part 1
Date: 2008-04-07 07:14 pm (UTC)Me either. I always think I'm going to hate it when someone is killed off that I like, but usually in the shows I watch they do the death well enough that I don't - I feel gutted, but I can still enjoy the show and the drama. The only time I can think of that I really hated and was so furious about was in Highlander: Endgame, and that was because it felt like a betrayal of the character in the way it happened.
I thought Tosh had an amazing death, and Owen too. So though it hurts, I don't hate it.
We really don't know much about the 51st century
True, and I also like that. Though Jack's attitude may also be as a result of the things he has lived through as much as his cultural upbringing. Interesting now that his tarot card was so clearly a knight in armour.
Re: part 1
Date: 2008-04-07 07:28 pm (UTC)Yes. And it has seemed likely to me for some time that Tosh was slated to die this year - I'm not sure exactly why I thought that; maybe a sense that they didn't know where to go with the character. If it was up to me she'd have got her own show with a title something like "The Adventures of Toshiko, Hot Bi Alien Catcher" but I could tell they weren't thinking along those lines.
The only time I can think of that I really hated and was so furious about was in Highlander: Endgame, and that was because it felt like a betrayal of the character in the way it happened.
I don't remember much about what happened in Highlander: Endgame. I don't even remember who died. Was it Connor Macleod?
The TV death that I felt was an abominable betrayal of both character and show was that of Krycek in X-Files.
I thought Tosh had an amazing death, and Owen too. So though it hurts, I don't hate it.
I agree. I love the scene where he was railing against death.
Though Jack's attitude may also be as a result of the things he has lived through as much as his cultural upbringing.
He certainly does seem to be a 'think for yourself' kind of guy, even though he has modelled so much of his attitude on that of the Doctor - but always, always in his own way. I'm sure he has picked up all sorts of things - widsom, philosophy, patience - in his time travelling. More than he even realizes, I think.
Interesting now that his tarot card was so clearly a knight in armour.
Oh, yes - how true! I hadn't made that connection, but it's true, and I love it.
part 2
Date: 2008-04-06 09:29 pm (UTC)You make it sound kind of like the Phantom Zone. Which works in context, too. Yes, I was wondering how the waking/breathing thing would (or wouldn't) work. Reminded me of a story I once read where an Immortal from Highlander, probably Methos, was kept underwater for a long time. He couldn't die but he couldn't breathe or live, either.
I was actually thinking more along the lines of spiritual exercises for sense deprivation - monks meditating silently in the dark for long periods of time, that sort of thing. Time is relative. Certain spiritual exercises, they say, transcend time. Just another way of looking at it.
Either way, the point is that by embracing the torment, Jack overcame it.
Your explanation of what happened with Captain John makes a lot of sense, and fits what we've seen - at least as far as I remember.
John realised he was in very deep shit and had to reevaluate some things, like how far he would really go and how he did feel about Jack.
There's an idea I like - and I hesitate to call it an implication, because that would mean they meant me to think it, but it's a possibility - that John kicked the drug'n'murder habit after "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" when he saw how Jack had grown and how he had a good life and was reminded how much he loved him. Making Jack the inspiration for the changes in John, parallel perhaps to the machinations of Grey trying to manipulate John to harm Jack.
I think he probably still doesn't want him around but I think he is grateful and likely trusts him a little more - just not enough to want him to stay.
Maybe Jack thinks that John is finding his own path and will come back when he's ready. Maybe he thinks Torchwood (meaning Gwen and Ianto) aren't ready for John. For various reasons I'm sure it'd be awkward for him to have Ianto and his ex both on the premises together - though it might be fun to see. But as it stands, John is problematic for him, and I think it's a mark of trust at least that he thinks the problem of John can be shelved for a bit while he sorts out other things.
They've definitely left it open for a return though, and that is cool.
I would dance in joy if I could.
All I have to say about Toshiko and Owen is that I cried my eyes out and between them Naoko and Burn broke my heart.
Their acting was wonderful. Good dialogue, too. I had wondered if they would kill both but I didn't really expect it. I thought maybe Toshiko would die and Owen would become alive again. But... no.
Re: part 2
Date: 2008-04-07 07:20 pm (UTC)What's that then? I like the spiritual exercise idea, and the idea that by choosing his fate and embracing it Jack is less adversely affected by it. I've seen that suggested other places as well.
that John kicked the drug'n'murder habit after "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang" when he saw how Jack had grown and how he had a good life and was reminded how much he loved him. Making Jack the inspiration for the changes in John,
Ooh. I like that idea. And it fits with the idea of Jack is to John as the Doctor is to Jack, rather than John being Jack's Master parallel. And as
Re: part 2
Date: 2008-04-07 07:33 pm (UTC)In DC comics it was a place of punishment, usually, though not always.
I like the spiritual exercise idea, and the idea that by choosing his fate and embracing it Jack is less adversely affected by it.
I like that too.
And it fits with the idea of Jack is to John as the Doctor is to Jack, rather than John being Jack's Master parallel.
Exactly: preferable in all ways. It even leads me to the conclusion that perhaps Jack, not knowing what John is like now, is simply leaving him freedom to find himself and prove himself. Not judging at all.