"What if your big success is one Welsh woman and a dead body?"
Episode 4x02: Rendition
So, I have less to say about this week's episode. I liked it a lot, despite feeling like it moved a little bit slowly at times. Yes, even with the gallons of information it dumped on us. I think things will really start to pick up and become more balanced next week, since our new team is finally together (which will most likely merge their storylines, and give everyone more screen time), and we've been introduced to the majority of the major players. I am also a big fan of Doris Egan's writing (check out her LJ, tightropegirl, for some excellent posts about writing in general, and about specific shows she's worked on), so I was super excited to finally get to see something from her again (since I don't watch House). And this did not disappoint.
I broke my thoughts down by storyline (sort of). Before I get to that, I do want to say that I'm kind of surprised they've started in with the previouslies already. I know we love doing that in America, but there's only been one episode so far, guys. I doubt this would be super confusing for people that missed last week's if we didn't have these. Maybe it's just my bias against previouslies, though, since I really never like seeing them show up. Guess we're stuck with them for the next eight weeks, though. Anyway, on to the plot!
Torchwood (and Rex)
I'm glad they got the whole "it's Jack's fault!" thing out of the way. Whatever is actually happening, and whoever is actually causing it, it's pretty unlikely that it's all being done just to get at Jack. Yeah, I'm sure he has a lot of enemies, but there have to be easier ways of getting at him than doing something as complicated as this. I love that Rhys defended him, too. That whole exchange was just brilliant. And if you can't believe Rhys saying it's not Jack's fault, Rhys who really doesn't like Jack, who can you believe? Hopefully Jack believes him, because I wouldn't be surprised if Jack had (at least for a second) agreed with Gwen.
Rex continues to be fantastic. He is such an unrepentant dick; it's so great. And, of course, separating Gwen from her family like that was a shitty thing to do, especially in the manner it was done (just cuffing them and dragging them away), but as he tells Gwen at the end of the episode, it's a good thing that Anwen isn't around to be involved in this. Not a safe place for a baby to be at all, and Rhys can take care of her just fine back in Cardiff. Hopefully we will see a lot of that in future episodes (along with more Andy!).
I like the hints we continue to get that Rex is competent and good at his job, despite the douchey exterior. The Owen parallels are super evident, but hopefully they will not veer too closely to that characterization, and keep Rex his own man. And keep him this fantastic foil for Jack, because the Jack/Rex relationship continues to fill my heart with joy. I could watch them insult each other forever. I just want to draw hearts around them, you guys!
Once again, I utterly loved the interactions between Jack and Gwen in this episode. I would literally have been happy just watching an hour of them chatting on the plane about painting the house and growing roses, but maybe that's just me. :D Gwen is so angry at him, so hurt by him having left her, but she still responds instantly with "yes" to his "did you miss me". And that's exactly how the audience feels, too. Of course we missed you, Jack. That doesn't mean that we aren't a little hurt that you could just leave us so easily like that. I loved, too, that they started to get into the serious issues they've got between them (where did Jack go, etc.), and I can't wait to see how this is developed throughout the rest of the series. And the Peter Pan reference was so great! Jack as the boy who never wants to grow up. It sucks that Jack's time away doesn't seem to have helped him in the way that he thought it would. Running away from your problems rarely solves things, though, so it's not a huge surprise. Just sad.
My favorite parts of this episode were probably the scenes on the plane. It got a teeny bit too MacGyver at times, but I so didn't care. It was a great way to bring the Torchwood/Rex storyline together with the Dr. Vera storyline, a nice way to make use of all of the characters (loved the two flight attendants!), and worked really well to make the possibility of Jack actually dying a real one, rather than just one of those empty scenes that falls flat because the lead character is never actually in danger of dying on television. Very dynamic stuff; I love it.
However, I was really confused by the assumption on Jack's part that he must be sick because due to being immortal, he never developed any resistance to germs. I didn't think that was how Jack works. Being a fixed point/not being able to stay dead doesn't mean he can't catch a cold, does it? He can still get little cuts and bruises (witness the split lip of indeterminate amount of time after being punched in "Cyberwoman"), so it's not like he's totally impervious to everything. This smells like retcon to me. But whatever.
Gwen was also incredibly badass and amazing throughout. Just breaking out of those cuffs like nothing! And even though I've seen it in about ten different promos, I still absolutely loved the "if you're the best England's got to offer..." "I'm Welsh" exchange. And laying her out with one punch! Damn, Gwen Cooper, you're so awesome. Also, when Jack protests at the idea of being given formaldehyde, and her response is basically to tell him (a dying man, btw) to shut up? Hearts forever!
Also particularly loved the scene where they tear the hell out of the plane in order to get at the orange tubing. Rex is all "careful about cutting that tube, cause it's not labeled. If that's the wrong thing, we're screwed". And Gwen is just like "yeah, whatever", because she cares more about saving Jack's life than the possibility that she could be cutting something that could damage the plane. ♥
Pretty much everything about the scenes at the airport at the end was fantastic. From Rex's whole "bullshit" speech, to Jack and Gwen not realizing that they were in baggage claim so they could just walk out of the airport, to Gwen complaining about the size of the getaway car (don't knock the Mini, Gwen, they are great cars!), to Rex bragging that the CIA paid him off with more money than Esther. Also, Jack's pleased expression when he was reunited with his vortex manipulator. ♥
Esther and the CIA
Random note: Clearly whoever's job it is to create all of the fancy graphics and emails that showed up on people's computers in this episode didn't expect people to pause and read everything on the screen, because the email that's on Esther's computer screen before the one saying that Rex and Torchwood are coming back to the US appears is total gibberish in paragraph two. It looked like a contest to see how many times one can use "ballistics" in a paragraph (a lot of times, as it turns out). This has been your totally obsessive/nerdy moment for the day.
I am really liking Esther a lot. I liked her last week, but she continues to grow on me. It really sucks for her that all she wants to do is work on the Torchwood case because she's fascinated by it, and also clearly wants to help Rex, and she gets screwed because of it. But she was smart and competent, and got herself the hell out of there before she could get caught. I appreciate her not making any of the stupid mistakes you always see people making in these situations (like Gwen and Rhys in CoE not shielding their faces from the ATM camera when they tried to get money out on Day Two), and also that being nice to the guy in the parking garage is ultimately what got her out of there. Very nice stuff.
And Wayne Knight as Friedkin! I know everyone thinks of him as Newman, but since I never watched Seinfeld (except for the ton of random episodes I've seen in reruns), I always think of him as Dennis Nedry, the guy who tries to smuggle out the dinosaur DNA samples, and ends up getting killed, in Jurassic Park. So, this role is not as much of a departure as you might think. He was appropriately mysterious, here, with the requisite even-more-mysterious shadowy boss(es). I'm wondering what the significance of that triangle symbol their communications came with is, other than that it made it look like he was getting orders via Magic 8-Ball. I liked this introduction to what is most likely the big villain of the season. I'm definitely excited to see how this plot unfolds.
I loved all of the scenes in the CIA that were part of the Oswald plotline. From the autotuned video of Oswald's execution (loling forever), to the scene where they watch Oswald break down on the news ("If we had any human dignity, we would turn this thing off right now" as they keep watching), all of this stuff was fantastic. I like that you see how the Oswald storyline may start to play out with the world at large, when Charlotte actually feels sorry for him, even though she knows what a horrible human being he is. But more on all that later.
I wonder if we're going to see inside the CIA anymore, now that both Rex and Esther are on the run/part of Team Torchwood. I hope we do, because I really like the perspective on events that we get from those characters, and I'm not sure we'll continue to get that from Esther, since she'll be involved in events via Torchwood from now on.
Dr. Juarez and the Medical Side of Things
Loved Dr. Vera this week. The medical stuff was all really interesting, both in the ER scene, and the panel scenes. I like that they are actually spending time developing this side of the story, since, were this a RL problem, this would probably be one of the biggest concerns we'd have. I think they did a good job laying the groundwork for the need for painkillers, which I think is going to be something that comes back in a major way, if the next time trailer is any indication.
Also, the fact that everyone is still aging is mildly terrifying (also terrifying: that arm!). Loved the use of the Tithonus myth, although the whole shrank-into-a-cicada thing gave me unwanted flashbacks to 900-year-old Dobby!Doctor in "Last of the Timelords".
Oswald Danes and Jilly Kitzinger
Oswald continues to be super creepy, and I continue to be really impressed with Bill Pullman's performance. Oswald's "breakdown" on the news show was so over-the-top that I was kind of shocked that anyone believed him. I liked how they showed us the reaction of the PA before and after the interview, and her apology to him clearly shows where his plotline is heading. That, and Charlotte's reaction when they were watching the interview at the CIA, really rang true for me as the kind of behavior that has happened around real life killers. I have a feeling this whole plotline is just going to get more and more reminiscent of the hoopla surrounding Ted Bundy as time goes on.
Jilly is so fascinating to me. She is clearly a huge opportunist, and she goes right after what she wants, but I wonder why she wants the things she does. Why Oswald Danes and Dr. Vera specifically? I can see the Danes PR angle, a conversation I loved, btw, but I'm confused what someone who works in PR is doing behaving like a pharmaceutical rep. Yeah, pharmaceutical companies obviously employ PR people, but those people don't generally tend to have free samples of drugs to hand out.
I wonder who she really works for. She tells Danes that she has other employers than the news channel, which could mean FiCorp (or PhiCorp, or PfiCorp, or however it's actually spelled. do we know?), but why would a drug company want to be involved with a convicted child killer? I noticed that the business card she gave to Danes appeared to be different than the one she gave Vera. We don't get a clear look at the front of the card she gives Danes, but it's obviously plain white. The one she gives Vera has blue bars at the top and bottom. So, why does she need more than one type of business card? Very suspicious.
Lauren Ambrose is so fantastic in this role, already, and I can't wait to see how this character unfolds. Also, love the coat.
Random Other Things
So, I have less to say about this week's episode. I liked it a lot, despite feeling like it moved a little bit slowly at times. Yes, even with the gallons of information it dumped on us. I think things will really start to pick up and become more balanced next week, since our new team is finally together (which will most likely merge their storylines, and give everyone more screen time), and we've been introduced to the majority of the major players. I am also a big fan of Doris Egan's writing (check out her LJ, tightropegirl, for some excellent posts about writing in general, and about specific shows she's worked on), so I was super excited to finally get to see something from her again (since I don't watch House). And this did not disappoint.
I broke my thoughts down by storyline (sort of). Before I get to that, I do want to say that I'm kind of surprised they've started in with the previouslies already. I know we love doing that in America, but there's only been one episode so far, guys. I doubt this would be super confusing for people that missed last week's if we didn't have these. Maybe it's just my bias against previouslies, though, since I really never like seeing them show up. Guess we're stuck with them for the next eight weeks, though. Anyway, on to the plot!
Torchwood (and Rex)
I'm glad they got the whole "it's Jack's fault!" thing out of the way. Whatever is actually happening, and whoever is actually causing it, it's pretty unlikely that it's all being done just to get at Jack. Yeah, I'm sure he has a lot of enemies, but there have to be easier ways of getting at him than doing something as complicated as this. I love that Rhys defended him, too. That whole exchange was just brilliant. And if you can't believe Rhys saying it's not Jack's fault, Rhys who really doesn't like Jack, who can you believe? Hopefully Jack believes him, because I wouldn't be surprised if Jack had (at least for a second) agreed with Gwen.
Rex continues to be fantastic. He is such an unrepentant dick; it's so great. And, of course, separating Gwen from her family like that was a shitty thing to do, especially in the manner it was done (just cuffing them and dragging them away), but as he tells Gwen at the end of the episode, it's a good thing that Anwen isn't around to be involved in this. Not a safe place for a baby to be at all, and Rhys can take care of her just fine back in Cardiff. Hopefully we will see a lot of that in future episodes (along with more Andy!).
I like the hints we continue to get that Rex is competent and good at his job, despite the douchey exterior. The Owen parallels are super evident, but hopefully they will not veer too closely to that characterization, and keep Rex his own man. And keep him this fantastic foil for Jack, because the Jack/Rex relationship continues to fill my heart with joy. I could watch them insult each other forever. I just want to draw hearts around them, you guys!
Once again, I utterly loved the interactions between Jack and Gwen in this episode. I would literally have been happy just watching an hour of them chatting on the plane about painting the house and growing roses, but maybe that's just me. :D Gwen is so angry at him, so hurt by him having left her, but she still responds instantly with "yes" to his "did you miss me". And that's exactly how the audience feels, too. Of course we missed you, Jack. That doesn't mean that we aren't a little hurt that you could just leave us so easily like that. I loved, too, that they started to get into the serious issues they've got between them (where did Jack go, etc.), and I can't wait to see how this is developed throughout the rest of the series. And the Peter Pan reference was so great! Jack as the boy who never wants to grow up. It sucks that Jack's time away doesn't seem to have helped him in the way that he thought it would. Running away from your problems rarely solves things, though, so it's not a huge surprise. Just sad.
My favorite parts of this episode were probably the scenes on the plane. It got a teeny bit too MacGyver at times, but I so didn't care. It was a great way to bring the Torchwood/Rex storyline together with the Dr. Vera storyline, a nice way to make use of all of the characters (loved the two flight attendants!), and worked really well to make the possibility of Jack actually dying a real one, rather than just one of those empty scenes that falls flat because the lead character is never actually in danger of dying on television. Very dynamic stuff; I love it.
However, I was really confused by the assumption on Jack's part that he must be sick because due to being immortal, he never developed any resistance to germs. I didn't think that was how Jack works. Being a fixed point/not being able to stay dead doesn't mean he can't catch a cold, does it? He can still get little cuts and bruises (witness the split lip of indeterminate amount of time after being punched in "Cyberwoman"), so it's not like he's totally impervious to everything. This smells like retcon to me. But whatever.
Gwen was also incredibly badass and amazing throughout. Just breaking out of those cuffs like nothing! And even though I've seen it in about ten different promos, I still absolutely loved the "if you're the best England's got to offer..." "I'm Welsh" exchange. And laying her out with one punch! Damn, Gwen Cooper, you're so awesome. Also, when Jack protests at the idea of being given formaldehyde, and her response is basically to tell him (a dying man, btw) to shut up? Hearts forever!
Also particularly loved the scene where they tear the hell out of the plane in order to get at the orange tubing. Rex is all "careful about cutting that tube, cause it's not labeled. If that's the wrong thing, we're screwed". And Gwen is just like "yeah, whatever", because she cares more about saving Jack's life than the possibility that she could be cutting something that could damage the plane. ♥
Pretty much everything about the scenes at the airport at the end was fantastic. From Rex's whole "bullshit" speech, to Jack and Gwen not realizing that they were in baggage claim so they could just walk out of the airport, to Gwen complaining about the size of the getaway car (don't knock the Mini, Gwen, they are great cars!), to Rex bragging that the CIA paid him off with more money than Esther. Also, Jack's pleased expression when he was reunited with his vortex manipulator. ♥
Esther and the CIA
Random note: Clearly whoever's job it is to create all of the fancy graphics and emails that showed up on people's computers in this episode didn't expect people to pause and read everything on the screen, because the email that's on Esther's computer screen before the one saying that Rex and Torchwood are coming back to the US appears is total gibberish in paragraph two. It looked like a contest to see how many times one can use "ballistics" in a paragraph (a lot of times, as it turns out). This has been your totally obsessive/nerdy moment for the day.
I am really liking Esther a lot. I liked her last week, but she continues to grow on me. It really sucks for her that all she wants to do is work on the Torchwood case because she's fascinated by it, and also clearly wants to help Rex, and she gets screwed because of it. But she was smart and competent, and got herself the hell out of there before she could get caught. I appreciate her not making any of the stupid mistakes you always see people making in these situations (like Gwen and Rhys in CoE not shielding their faces from the ATM camera when they tried to get money out on Day Two), and also that being nice to the guy in the parking garage is ultimately what got her out of there. Very nice stuff.
And Wayne Knight as Friedkin! I know everyone thinks of him as Newman, but since I never watched Seinfeld (except for the ton of random episodes I've seen in reruns), I always think of him as Dennis Nedry, the guy who tries to smuggle out the dinosaur DNA samples, and ends up getting killed, in Jurassic Park. So, this role is not as much of a departure as you might think. He was appropriately mysterious, here, with the requisite even-more-mysterious shadowy boss(es). I'm wondering what the significance of that triangle symbol their communications came with is, other than that it made it look like he was getting orders via Magic 8-Ball. I liked this introduction to what is most likely the big villain of the season. I'm definitely excited to see how this plot unfolds.
I loved all of the scenes in the CIA that were part of the Oswald plotline. From the autotuned video of Oswald's execution (loling forever), to the scene where they watch Oswald break down on the news ("If we had any human dignity, we would turn this thing off right now" as they keep watching), all of this stuff was fantastic. I like that you see how the Oswald storyline may start to play out with the world at large, when Charlotte actually feels sorry for him, even though she knows what a horrible human being he is. But more on all that later.
I wonder if we're going to see inside the CIA anymore, now that both Rex and Esther are on the run/part of Team Torchwood. I hope we do, because I really like the perspective on events that we get from those characters, and I'm not sure we'll continue to get that from Esther, since she'll be involved in events via Torchwood from now on.
Dr. Juarez and the Medical Side of Things
Loved Dr. Vera this week. The medical stuff was all really interesting, both in the ER scene, and the panel scenes. I like that they are actually spending time developing this side of the story, since, were this a RL problem, this would probably be one of the biggest concerns we'd have. I think they did a good job laying the groundwork for the need for painkillers, which I think is going to be something that comes back in a major way, if the next time trailer is any indication.
Also, the fact that everyone is still aging is mildly terrifying (also terrifying: that arm!). Loved the use of the Tithonus myth, although the whole shrank-into-a-cicada thing gave me unwanted flashbacks to 900-year-old Dobby!Doctor in "Last of the Timelords".
Oswald Danes and Jilly Kitzinger
Oswald continues to be super creepy, and I continue to be really impressed with Bill Pullman's performance. Oswald's "breakdown" on the news show was so over-the-top that I was kind of shocked that anyone believed him. I liked how they showed us the reaction of the PA before and after the interview, and her apology to him clearly shows where his plotline is heading. That, and Charlotte's reaction when they were watching the interview at the CIA, really rang true for me as the kind of behavior that has happened around real life killers. I have a feeling this whole plotline is just going to get more and more reminiscent of the hoopla surrounding Ted Bundy as time goes on.
Jilly is so fascinating to me. She is clearly a huge opportunist, and she goes right after what she wants, but I wonder why she wants the things she does. Why Oswald Danes and Dr. Vera specifically? I can see the Danes PR angle, a conversation I loved, btw, but I'm confused what someone who works in PR is doing behaving like a pharmaceutical rep. Yeah, pharmaceutical companies obviously employ PR people, but those people don't generally tend to have free samples of drugs to hand out.
I wonder who she really works for. She tells Danes that she has other employers than the news channel, which could mean FiCorp (or PhiCorp, or PfiCorp, or however it's actually spelled. do we know?), but why would a drug company want to be involved with a convicted child killer? I noticed that the business card she gave to Danes appeared to be different than the one she gave Vera. We don't get a clear look at the front of the card she gives Danes, but it's obviously plain white. The one she gives Vera has blue bars at the top and bottom. So, why does she need more than one type of business card? Very suspicious.
Lauren Ambrose is so fantastic in this role, already, and I can't wait to see how this character unfolds. Also, love the coat.
Random Other Things
- I find this Morphic Field concept very intriguing. There are so many interesting connections to be made, just from skimming the wikipedia article, so I'm really excited to see where they go with this. It also feels like just the kind of thing they'd deal with on Doctor Who, so right at home on this show.
- What is this "singularity" that was mentioned both on the news story that directly preceded the Danes interview, and by one of the doctors in the panel Vera stepped into? Is this something else that's going to come into play, and if so, how?
- So, this FiCorp (or whatever). What exactly is going on here? It's clearly something sinister, and I have theories, but they're all based on the "This season on Torchwood" trailers, so I think I'll wait until we actually learn something about them other than their name, before I even begin to speculate.