Analysing Torchwood - Part Seven

[clarrisani]

Well, this one took me a little while because firstly I had to work out how to approach it because Jack, Gwen, and Ianto are all over the place in this episode, and Rhys barely appears, but I managed it. I'm sure from now on after "Countrycide" things will be a little easier... until I get to "The Keep Killing Suzie".

Analysing Torchwood Part Seven

Comments

[haldane]

I've never understood the tent issue. If they're planning to stay long enough to need tents, and carry out an investigation, I would have a 'day tent' for meals and planning sessions. Otherwise you end up eating seated on your sleeping bags (uncomfortable both when you eat and when you try to sleep in your crumbs/stains), and everytime you spread out the maps you have to gather them in again in order to sleep.

I always dubbed the three tents His, Hers, and Central Command. What I really want to know if how on earth they got three tents that size into a single vehicle with five adults and other equipment, and also where are everybody's bags with their changes of clothes and toiletries.

(Yes, I have a post-Countrycide fic that has struck a rock over this problem.)

Before I forget and submit this let me add that I am enjoying your depth of analysis on the episodes I've read so far.

[dvanulya]

You know, when I was in the army, those 3 tents would have been enough for a whole company. And at company level and below (don't know about battalion and up), we never had a separate command tent. Yep, you just had to eat on your sleeping bags (or in them, depending on how cold it was), and spread your maps out on them, etc. The only real problem was when we had 24-hour ops, and there were people trying to sleep in the tent while other people were planning, eating, talking on the radio, changing their stinking socks, etc.

I figure the SUV is bigger on the inside. Has to be.

[nikki4noo]

Owen interesting refers to the tent that he is putting up as his, as does Tosh, from memory. Hence why I always thought of the first one being for the girls, the second was most definitely Ianto and Jacks and the third Owen's.

Ianto just can pack really well it seems. ;)

Oh and I wonder if Jack told them to bring a change of clothes? They didn't know they were going to be camping until he told them once they were out there. I think it was only for one night. Jack thought it was going to be an easy safe mission and didn't plan too much. It's Jack!

[haldane]

I'll say he can pack well. I just recently came back from a holiday with the husband and two teenagers (call it four adults for size). We rented a Subaru X7-something, anyway it was a Torchwood-shaped vehicle with three rows of seating, the back one mainly kept folded down.

We had four suitcases and four day bags, and I would not have been happy to load much more into the luggage area without at least a restraining net, since it was "full" to the point where any more would have obscured rear visibility.

I just have a very clear image of the amount we had in our car, and mentally adding tents (big tents too, not the little backpacking kind I used to have), chairs, heating, cooking, and then an extra for Torchwood-specific equipment (damn, forgot food) and it ain't going to go in the back of one SUV.

Heck, I would have taken two cars anyway, just for flexibility and backup. But it would have got in the way of the story, and we can't have that. :D

[nikki4noo]

:D

Shhh, there are no plot holes big enough for Jack to drive a tractor through in TW! Otherwise we would have to mention the whole of Adam and Gwen not being able to pick that nostrovite!Jack doesn't smell like him at all seeing as she was the one to just point out about the smell, amongst others. ;)

[haldane]

I checked overnight with my brother, who was in the Air Force here, and he said "During field exercises at OTS we slept in 11 x 11 ft tents, and used vehicle maintenance tents (20 x 40 ft) for eating and classrooms."

Let me ask: are you somewhere that snows? I suspect our Australian tents are built a lot more lightly, since their main purpose is to keep the sun off; therefore you can have more of them with you. In other words, we're both right, but thinking of different kinds of tents. :)

[dvanulya]

I *was* somewhere where it snows - what used to be called West Germany. I was also in West Texas, where it doesn't snow. There are scorpions for fun and excitement, instead!

Also, I don't know about Australia, but in the US, the Army is a lot tougher than the Air Force (ducks). (For example, we used to run 2 or 3 miles a day; the Air Force people did that twice a year.) It wouldn't surprise me if they had to have special tents just for sleeping. They probably had housekeepers in the field, too. LOL