Review of 2.07 "Dead Man Walking"
Wow. That was completely freakin' creepy!
I'll leave plot summaries for others who have done good jobs on them, and focus on some thematic elements.
Every episode so far has had Jack making a major, major decision, followed by the team dealing with the consequences. Sometimes the choice was easy, such as allowing Tosh to send a psychic projection to Tommy, and sometimes, such as with the alien whale, the choice was extraordinarily difficult. When Jack used the second glove to restore Owen from death, he made a profound decision based entirely on emotion. He even said so himself in the jail cell, when he admitted he wasn't ready to say goodbye. (That scene was beautifully done.) Just like marriage, procreation, or far-reaching legislation, making massive life-altering decisions in haste and without careful thought beforehand is a bad, bad, bad idea...the saying "marry in haste, repent at leisure" has been around for several hundred years for a reason! Jack of all people should have known better than that, given what Rose did to him in haste. That said, Jack being rash and Jack finally broke into the open the thing we've all been watching since the beginning of S1. The parallels between Jack and Owen have been discussed many times over. Owen is Jack-lite, and this episode really hammered that home.
Jack and Rose is an imperfect comparison. Rose tethered Jack to eternal life. Jack tethered Owen to life-in-death that may or may not end soon. In the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Death and Life-in-Death play chess for the Mariner's soul, and the mariner was clearly more terrified of being a living dead man than merely dead. Owen is a living dead man, and clearly terrified of it. He is facing an existence that will suddenly end, where the simplest pleasures that he enjoyed will never again be his to enjoy, where even the people he loved will forever see him with suspicion and a touch of fear. On top of everything, Owen had to endure the horror of having Hunger use his body and soul as a conduit for its murder spree and stain his hands and soul with the blood of twelve people. Unspoken in the last scene between Owen and Martha, when they are discussing whether his life will end in 30 years or 30 minutes, is that the life he is presently "enjoying" (and I mean that in the loosest possible interpretation) is the stolen life of the twelve that died. Under that prickly shell he wore most of the time, Owen is a very kind and compassionate person, and every death he had to take (like the whale) distressed him deeply. Knowing that he is feeding off the lives of people who died because of the way he is must have shattered him inside.
But you know something? The pale, conduit-for-a-monster, life-in-death Owen is something spectacular. It would have been very, very easy for the authors to make him a monster. (Looks like they do that next episode.) He could have been just another soulless beast, Spike before he was ensouled. Instead, he is every inch the hero. He jumps at the chance to help fix the mess he finds himself in, destroys the glove himself, saves Jamie, grapples with Hunger, and then demands that Jack face the consequences of his rash actions. Owen wasn't always like that...he admitted fault for opening the rift and letting the black death patient (CJH and EOD) but he did not stop to face the consequences of his actions. Here, he not only is accepting the consequences of Jack's actions but making Jack accept them too. That's hard-core stuff. It's also some fairly powerful (and ambitious) writing on the part of the authors, and I think it's pretty exciting.
Before Jack met the Doctor, he was a complete and utter bastard, careless, manipulative, ready to destroy all of London for a few cheap bucks. In case we needed a reminder of how bad Jack was, we had John come visit in KKBB. He was saved, restored to honour, and utterly damned by the Doctor. Much later he ended up sacrificing himself to save Cardiff at the hands of a demon. Owen, before Diane, was a lonely, abrasive, manipulative, verging on abusive character (look at what he did to Gwen in Cyberwoman) who could be a nice guy if he wanted, but seldom seemed to want to. Jack is Owen's Doctor, turning him into a hero, forgiving him for unleashing destruction Cardiff in general and Jack in particular (Jack, who "regenerated" after Owen shot him), then damning him to eternal existence because of a hasty decision. I'm sure this was deliberate--there was a certain element of deja vu in watching Owen fight Hunger. In fact, it looked suspiciously like Jack fighting Abbadon, right down to a person who loves Owen standing by in terror and impotence (Tosh instead of Gwen) as Owen sacrifices his person to a demon.
So what does this mean for the next episode in particular and the rest of the season in general? Bear with me, because this is going to be a long and winding road.
Think of Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Harry is a hero in the classic sense, and we know that from Page One of Sorceror's Stone. He fits all of the elements of the classic "Hero Arc": Miraculous birth or origin, difficulties encountered in a growth period, a moment that defines the hero for what he (or she) is, an older/wiser mentor who must die or otherwise be removed from prominence, a herculean task of some sort, followed finally by ascension into the elite (or gods). Most readers of Harry Potter kind of cottoned on that Neville was the spiritual awkward little brother of Harry...he was first thought to be a squib, was the nerdy kid nobody wanted to sit next to on the train, looked to Harry as a friend and mentor, became the leader of the suddenly outlawed and underground Dumbledore's Army, stood up to torture and persecution, and seized Gryffindor's sword to destroy the final Horcrux. Neville, after living in Harry's shadow for 8 years, suddenly joined the elite ranks of Harry, Ron, and Hermione as heroes. We knew it was coming. Then--and this is the important part!!!--Harry married Ginny, had three kids, and settled down into a life of normality. Neville kept up his studies and became a professor at Hogwarts, defying his humble origins and being a hero and mentor to the next generation. Once Voldemort was gone, Harry settled into the "mundane" life atop Mount Olympus, whilst Neville picked up the banner and ran.
See where I'm going with this?
Jack is a god within Torchwood (and precious close to a god in what we would refer to as real life). Jack, after reaching the top of Olympus, has carved himself out a niche as the administrator and manager of Torchwood. Occasionally he plays the Big Hero (notably with Abbadon), but by and large it is everyday stuff. Kind of like Harry being happy poppa. Owen is now where Neville was just after he lopped off Nagini's reptilian head. He is standing on the very peak of greatness, and now after suffering the consequences of Jack's divine decision (because really, isn't bringing someone back from the dead the action of a god?), he must choose what to do next. In the trailer, we see that Owen isn't content to rest upon his laurels and do nothing...but the trailer is quite ambiguous as to whether he uses his divine powers (he's now semi-immortal, like Jack) for good or for ill. If he uses them for good, well, Owen Harper, Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, Owen Harper. I can easily see Owen sacrificing himself for once and for all in order to save the universe, going out in a blaze of glory like Eugene in Random Shoes. If he goes mad and uses his powers for ill (and in classic mythology, having a mortal suddenly ascend or aspire to immortality did occasionally go hand-in-hand with madness), well, the team will either eliminate him quickly or he will become the enemy for the rest of the season. I have a strong suspicion (speculation alert!) that Owen is going to turn into an avenging angel, saving 12 lives of ordinary people in Cardiff in order to pay back the blood debt he owed. Either way, it's a very intriguing development, and very interesting that the elements around which the entire season 1 AND season 2 story arc developed were all caused by/started by/directly related to Owen!
Now onto miscellaneous commentary.
Martha Jones. She is Owen's doctor (not Doctor, just physician) and the midwife to most of the scenes showing Owen dealing with the work-related aspects of his new form of existence. Like recommending that he be locked up, holding him during a seizure, or explaining that he may or may not have much time to live. Looking at the whole view, she is the only one who can do this--she is a doctor, but she is also the only one with whom Owen has no relationship outside of pure work. Owen shuts Gwen down at the resurrection scene ("I only have two minutes!"), Tosh is another doctor but she is too emotionally tied up elsewhere, Ianto and Owen and Jack and Owen don't have that kind of relationship. Ianto and Owen have a purely professional relationship going on...they are comfortable working with one another and trust one another, but they're not going to be drinking buddies anytime soon. Jack can't do it, because he is a combination father/big brother/boss, and it's just not a role he can play. Only Martha has the detachment, professional qualifications, and let's face it, the obvious friendly rapport to be the bearer of that kind of bad news. Small role, yes, but critical. Side note: Freema Ageyman is BEAUTIFUL.
Loved the scene between Jack and Owen in the cell. It was really gross but really funny AND really sweet at the same time...teenage boy humour meets deep discussion. Both Burn Gorman and John Barrowman did a fine job in there...could have been overacted, but they kept a delicate touch to it, just enough that you felt the sadness without being suckerpunched by it. I liked how the scriptwriters used Proust (and reading vs. dating) as a way for Jack to open up to Owen on the consequences of immortality and simultaneously allowed the viewers to see that even in life-in-death, Owen is still just Jack-lite.
I also loved the scene between Owen and Gwen. Gwen's famous compassion came through--she was clearly hurting for Owen--and there was definitely a bit of the lost lovers between them. Whatever they had for however long it was, it wasn't just some casual shag. We knew that in Countrycide, that Gwen was there for a comfort-f*ck, and there was some true affection between them. Owen might not do apologies, but he did regret there.
The scene with Owen in the pub was creepy. It was meant to be creepy.
Overall, it's a nice setup to what will probably be something very interesting. Were there plot holes? Yeah. Were there awkward bits? Yeah. Did Martha's prosthetics suck? Yeah. But really, I don't care. There was SO MUCH good stuff in here that I am willing to ignore it.
I'll leave plot summaries for others who have done good jobs on them, and focus on some thematic elements.
Every episode so far has had Jack making a major, major decision, followed by the team dealing with the consequences. Sometimes the choice was easy, such as allowing Tosh to send a psychic projection to Tommy, and sometimes, such as with the alien whale, the choice was extraordinarily difficult. When Jack used the second glove to restore Owen from death, he made a profound decision based entirely on emotion. He even said so himself in the jail cell, when he admitted he wasn't ready to say goodbye. (That scene was beautifully done.) Just like marriage, procreation, or far-reaching legislation, making massive life-altering decisions in haste and without careful thought beforehand is a bad, bad, bad idea...the saying "marry in haste, repent at leisure" has been around for several hundred years for a reason! Jack of all people should have known better than that, given what Rose did to him in haste. That said, Jack being rash and Jack finally broke into the open the thing we've all been watching since the beginning of S1. The parallels between Jack and Owen have been discussed many times over. Owen is Jack-lite, and this episode really hammered that home.
Jack and Rose is an imperfect comparison. Rose tethered Jack to eternal life. Jack tethered Owen to life-in-death that may or may not end soon. In the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Death and Life-in-Death play chess for the Mariner's soul, and the mariner was clearly more terrified of being a living dead man than merely dead. Owen is a living dead man, and clearly terrified of it. He is facing an existence that will suddenly end, where the simplest pleasures that he enjoyed will never again be his to enjoy, where even the people he loved will forever see him with suspicion and a touch of fear. On top of everything, Owen had to endure the horror of having Hunger use his body and soul as a conduit for its murder spree and stain his hands and soul with the blood of twelve people. Unspoken in the last scene between Owen and Martha, when they are discussing whether his life will end in 30 years or 30 minutes, is that the life he is presently "enjoying" (and I mean that in the loosest possible interpretation) is the stolen life of the twelve that died. Under that prickly shell he wore most of the time, Owen is a very kind and compassionate person, and every death he had to take (like the whale) distressed him deeply. Knowing that he is feeding off the lives of people who died because of the way he is must have shattered him inside.
But you know something? The pale, conduit-for-a-monster, life-in-death Owen is something spectacular. It would have been very, very easy for the authors to make him a monster. (Looks like they do that next episode.) He could have been just another soulless beast, Spike before he was ensouled. Instead, he is every inch the hero. He jumps at the chance to help fix the mess he finds himself in, destroys the glove himself, saves Jamie, grapples with Hunger, and then demands that Jack face the consequences of his rash actions. Owen wasn't always like that...he admitted fault for opening the rift and letting the black death patient (CJH and EOD) but he did not stop to face the consequences of his actions. Here, he not only is accepting the consequences of Jack's actions but making Jack accept them too. That's hard-core stuff. It's also some fairly powerful (and ambitious) writing on the part of the authors, and I think it's pretty exciting.
Before Jack met the Doctor, he was a complete and utter bastard, careless, manipulative, ready to destroy all of London for a few cheap bucks. In case we needed a reminder of how bad Jack was, we had John come visit in KKBB. He was saved, restored to honour, and utterly damned by the Doctor. Much later he ended up sacrificing himself to save Cardiff at the hands of a demon. Owen, before Diane, was a lonely, abrasive, manipulative, verging on abusive character (look at what he did to Gwen in Cyberwoman) who could be a nice guy if he wanted, but seldom seemed to want to. Jack is Owen's Doctor, turning him into a hero, forgiving him for unleashing destruction Cardiff in general and Jack in particular (Jack, who "regenerated" after Owen shot him), then damning him to eternal existence because of a hasty decision. I'm sure this was deliberate--there was a certain element of deja vu in watching Owen fight Hunger. In fact, it looked suspiciously like Jack fighting Abbadon, right down to a person who loves Owen standing by in terror and impotence (Tosh instead of Gwen) as Owen sacrifices his person to a demon.
So what does this mean for the next episode in particular and the rest of the season in general? Bear with me, because this is going to be a long and winding road.
Think of Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. Harry is a hero in the classic sense, and we know that from Page One of Sorceror's Stone. He fits all of the elements of the classic "Hero Arc": Miraculous birth or origin, difficulties encountered in a growth period, a moment that defines the hero for what he (or she) is, an older/wiser mentor who must die or otherwise be removed from prominence, a herculean task of some sort, followed finally by ascension into the elite (or gods). Most readers of Harry Potter kind of cottoned on that Neville was the spiritual awkward little brother of Harry...he was first thought to be a squib, was the nerdy kid nobody wanted to sit next to on the train, looked to Harry as a friend and mentor, became the leader of the suddenly outlawed and underground Dumbledore's Army, stood up to torture and persecution, and seized Gryffindor's sword to destroy the final Horcrux. Neville, after living in Harry's shadow for 8 years, suddenly joined the elite ranks of Harry, Ron, and Hermione as heroes. We knew it was coming. Then--and this is the important part!!!--Harry married Ginny, had three kids, and settled down into a life of normality. Neville kept up his studies and became a professor at Hogwarts, defying his humble origins and being a hero and mentor to the next generation. Once Voldemort was gone, Harry settled into the "mundane" life atop Mount Olympus, whilst Neville picked up the banner and ran.
See where I'm going with this?
Jack is a god within Torchwood (and precious close to a god in what we would refer to as real life). Jack, after reaching the top of Olympus, has carved himself out a niche as the administrator and manager of Torchwood. Occasionally he plays the Big Hero (notably with Abbadon), but by and large it is everyday stuff. Kind of like Harry being happy poppa. Owen is now where Neville was just after he lopped off Nagini's reptilian head. He is standing on the very peak of greatness, and now after suffering the consequences of Jack's divine decision (because really, isn't bringing someone back from the dead the action of a god?), he must choose what to do next. In the trailer, we see that Owen isn't content to rest upon his laurels and do nothing...but the trailer is quite ambiguous as to whether he uses his divine powers (he's now semi-immortal, like Jack) for good or for ill. If he uses them for good, well, Owen Harper, Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne, Owen Harper. I can easily see Owen sacrificing himself for once and for all in order to save the universe, going out in a blaze of glory like Eugene in Random Shoes. If he goes mad and uses his powers for ill (and in classic mythology, having a mortal suddenly ascend or aspire to immortality did occasionally go hand-in-hand with madness), well, the team will either eliminate him quickly or he will become the enemy for the rest of the season. I have a strong suspicion (speculation alert!) that Owen is going to turn into an avenging angel, saving 12 lives of ordinary people in Cardiff in order to pay back the blood debt he owed. Either way, it's a very intriguing development, and very interesting that the elements around which the entire season 1 AND season 2 story arc developed were all caused by/started by/directly related to Owen!
Now onto miscellaneous commentary.
Martha Jones. She is Owen's doctor (not Doctor, just physician) and the midwife to most of the scenes showing Owen dealing with the work-related aspects of his new form of existence. Like recommending that he be locked up, holding him during a seizure, or explaining that he may or may not have much time to live. Looking at the whole view, she is the only one who can do this--she is a doctor, but she is also the only one with whom Owen has no relationship outside of pure work. Owen shuts Gwen down at the resurrection scene ("I only have two minutes!"), Tosh is another doctor but she is too emotionally tied up elsewhere, Ianto and Owen and Jack and Owen don't have that kind of relationship. Ianto and Owen have a purely professional relationship going on...they are comfortable working with one another and trust one another, but they're not going to be drinking buddies anytime soon. Jack can't do it, because he is a combination father/big brother/boss, and it's just not a role he can play. Only Martha has the detachment, professional qualifications, and let's face it, the obvious friendly rapport to be the bearer of that kind of bad news. Small role, yes, but critical. Side note: Freema Ageyman is BEAUTIFUL.
Loved the scene between Jack and Owen in the cell. It was really gross but really funny AND really sweet at the same time...teenage boy humour meets deep discussion. Both Burn Gorman and John Barrowman did a fine job in there...could have been overacted, but they kept a delicate touch to it, just enough that you felt the sadness without being suckerpunched by it. I liked how the scriptwriters used Proust (and reading vs. dating) as a way for Jack to open up to Owen on the consequences of immortality and simultaneously allowed the viewers to see that even in life-in-death, Owen is still just Jack-lite.
I also loved the scene between Owen and Gwen. Gwen's famous compassion came through--she was clearly hurting for Owen--and there was definitely a bit of the lost lovers between them. Whatever they had for however long it was, it wasn't just some casual shag. We knew that in Countrycide, that Gwen was there for a comfort-f*ck, and there was some true affection between them. Owen might not do apologies, but he did regret there.
The scene with Owen in the pub was creepy. It was meant to be creepy.
Overall, it's a nice setup to what will probably be something very interesting. Were there plot holes? Yeah. Were there awkward bits? Yeah. Did Martha's prosthetics suck? Yeah. But really, I don't care. There was SO MUCH good stuff in here that I am willing to ignore it.