Torchwood: Children of Earth ep3-5
I'm watching the rest at work, and the laptop can't go online, so I'll just save the commentary on all the rest in the one Semagic file and post when I get home.
Jack looks awfully pleased with himself for spilling that he'd known Gwen was pregnant. For someone who's always encouraged her to keep her non-Torchwood life, and considering he said himself that he knew that would piss Rhys off, that was a really shitty thing to do.
Not that I'm usually big on criminal behavior, but they are pretty well cornered, and Gwen had a point about her police background teaching her every trick in the book. *g*
Ah, poor Clement. Yep, knows how to lift a wallet, yet he's too compromised by what he's hearing (is it all aliens or has it become true psychosis?) to get away with it.
And this is why I need subtitles. Not "Tens House." "Thames House." Makes loads more sense, even if I wouldn't have known what it was anyway. When I thought it was "Tens House," I thought it had something to do with 10 Downing, and that never seemed to quite fit what they were saying. Also, the sound on this ep isn't great, so I really really could use subtitles. Ah well, I'll have them when we get the discs from Netflix.
Um, super scifi tech is all well and good, but ... sharing contacts? Ew!
"Yeah, I felt it." Ouch.
As much as I can see that finally realizing what Jack's "immortality" means is shaking Ianto's world up, I love his, "Better make the most of it then." *shakes clueless Rhys*
I love Lois' awkward but effective ruse to get into Thames House. *g*
How much do I love that it's Jack's wife and daughter who've taught the grandson what to do when trouble comes? And the wooden cutting board move made my day for some bizarre reason. But damn, do I ever hate that they got caught anyway.
Well, that was a hell of a showy entrance! Not that these aliens appear to have been going for subtlety. But how did they get into that sealed compartment without breaking the seal? Big Fiery Lance of Doom would seem like it ought to have compromised it. And really, why do they want such a dramatic entrance? Seems it's as much about exposing the British government's collaboration (despite their futile efforts to kill all witnesses) as about arriving on Earth.
Okay, ew! What's with the splattery grossness? Also, while it's all very scary, the fact is, they clearly can't survive in our atmosphere. Are they that big a threat? Well, excluding the possibility of more Fiery Lances of Doom potentially obliterating the planet, but if that was what they wanted, they'd hardly have staged all this.
The fact that they've returned proves they can't be trusted, hmm? Hmm. So were the orphans offered up in exchange for a promise the 456 would never return? Very, very interesting.
I do really like how the themes of family and children, ties emotional and biological, are playing out here. For example, Rhys' little freak-out in the potato truck, about how could he let Gwen this that and the other? Never mind that he doesn't need to "let" Gwen anything. He knows that, and fortunately we know enough about his character to not get too annoyed with him over it. But that's a fairly important instinct at a biological and evolutionary level: protect the pregnant female, that the species can continue. Never mind that the female, pregnant or otherwise, is often the deadlier of the species (and certainly so in Gwen's and Rhys' case). But having a mate that has the instinct to defend is also important on a purely biological level.
Similarly, Jack telling Gwen to get the hell out of the hub rather than trying to save him because it's not just herself she's risking. If she'd still been ambivalent, as she was when Rhys mentioned the house they were considering had a room that would work well as a nursery, it'd be different. But presented with the pregnancy as a fait accompli, she says, after a bit of shock, that it's "bloody brilliant." Unsurprising considering most of her concerns voiced to Rhys last season involved whether she felt right about bringing a child into this world, not a lack of desire to procreate at all. Takes things a step further, then. The biological drive is still to protect the impending next generation, but there's at least some indication that it's not pure biology at work either. I have a feeling there's more I'll want to say about that once I've had time to think about it, though the remainder of the series may also cast things in a different light by the time I get to it.
And the 456 took children in 1965 and have been using children as their mouthpieces in 2009, very deliberately terrifying the human race by threatening the next generation of our species. Showing that, in fact, they have the potential to control them utterly, even if only for short bursts of time.
Ah, now that's the other interesting thread. Ianto's the one who seems more invested in the relationship with Jack, but he's not comfortable with actually claiming that aspect of his sexuality. WNGWJLEO? "It's not men. It's just him." And now his reaction to being called queer, when it's fairly evident that's not how Clement meant it. *ponders*
Can I just say as an occasional (very occasional) contact lens wearer that unless Lois wears the things regularly (in which case, she should have a set to remove), I am so not buying that she can put them in that freaking easily?
Clearly I'm far too vanilla, as I'm not really understanding the "fun" aspect of the lenses. *boggles*
Hmm. So they've agreed not to continue using the children, but they'd also apparently agreed not to return but have done so anyway. Not exactly confidence-inspiring.
Also, Jack picked a helluva time to go swanning off. Yes, he's managed to confirm it's the 456, but if he'd stayed with the others, he'd know that and more by now. Though he wouldn't know they're holding his daughter and grandson.
Oh shit. "The man" is Jack!! Well, that's quite the note to end on, and now I see why Jack needed to not be with the rest of them up till now.
Gods, I hope the audio's better on the remaining two. GDL, in particular, was very hard to make out at times in that one.
Ah, interesting. Not bombs. Biologicals. That fits the theme nicely. I'm guessing this was filmed, never mind written, well before the H1N1 outbreak, but interesting timing nonetheless.
"They'll live forever." As the only being likely to do that is Jack, and we've seen his demise already (albeit some five billion years in the future), that seems a rather empty promise. Nice to see he doesn't buy it. Probably more like their legacy as lab rats will live forever, in any case.
Huh. Seems Clement could already smell a lie back then. So, a gift he's always had, not just a keepsake from his alien near-encounter.
Ianto holding Jack as he came back to life put a lump in my throat. His "I can't believe you never mentioned this" raises some interesting questions. If they did nothing but talk 24/7, Jack couldn't tell him everything he's done. So why specifically this? I can see the shippers taking that into the realm of their having discussed adopting/fostering/otherwise somehow having children, but given both of their respective ambivalences about their relationship, different though they are, that doesn't really work. So why is this specific omission so important to Ianto, other than the fact it's come back to bite them all in the ass, and he's made it clear that's not what he means.
Three distinct forms of life? The human with the camera, the 456, and ... whatever one of those children has become? And the answer to that would be yes. Still doesn't make sense. What do they actually want them for? Threatening a flu epidemic with casualties around 25 million is one thing. Threatening extinction is another. Because clearly they need something our species can provide, or they wouldn't a) have come back or b) set the stakes so high. Something just doesn't add up.
Gods, I wonder if Jack is going to end up sacrificing Alice and Steven? As a simple numbers game, yes, two casualties are better than a few million or even 60. But his own descendants? I doubt even he could steel himself against that. Which I imagine is part of the thematic point. How much are we willing to sacrifice as a species? And how much individually? At what point does the instinct to protect the next generation, to insure "biological success," either break or else override everything else?
Nothing visible in orbit. So ... cloaking device? Or did they "beam in" from much father away? There are obviously some sort of limitations on the 456. They can project these broadcasts through the children, and now they can vary them by location. But apparently they can't just program the 10% they want to walk into a field and be beamed up. They need human cooperation. Why? What are their limitations, and how can they be exploited?
Bald dude has a point. A scary point, but a point nonetheless. Is that why the 456 sought out Earth? Our population density is getting critical, so they decided we could stand a cull? *shudders* Do they go around scouting planets in similar positions? And why? What do they gain? If all they wanted was genetic material, they could loot the sperm banks and have done with it. No, they need viable but juvenile life forms. Just ... why?
I'm moderately annoyed that it's the one woman at the table who's arguing against the plan to randomly select children to send. That rather breaks the bit established earlier about biological success being enhanced by a protective male instinct and not just female.
Ah, now they've drawn the line. They won't expose their own offspring to risk. So they find it possible to sacrifice some of the next generation for the overall survival of the species, but they won't quite override the instinct to protect their own. Reminds me of something Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan said to her son Mark, about her selfish genes looking out for their own copies.
Oh wow. And now we're down to eugenics. Let's weed out all those failures, yeah? Which would be the ideal way to cull. Except we like to think we've moved beyond that. That one of the measures of civilization is how we look after those who aren't as able to look after themselves, for whatever reason. Besides which, there's a world of difference between a predator culling the herd by catching those who can't keep up and the prey deliberately choosing to throw a tithe at the predators to keep them away. Intriguing that again it's the one woman at the table who pushes things in that direction. And we're back to the female of the species being the more ruthless.
I don't know why this didn't hit me sooner, but this does remind me of Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End. It's been too long for me to remember specifics, but there does seem to be a parallel of sorts.
Shit. They've found the warehouse. Which means they can put a lid on the recordings. Fuck!
Love Lois' speech. And the parallel and contrast between her and Jack is very effective. She's the outsider who didn't sign on to cover up murder and, though she struggles with her choice, stands up to a system much bigger than she. He's the insider who went along before but isn't going to do it again. That she also parallels Ianto in profession is possibly not entirely relevant, but interesting nonetheless.
Oh, wait! That's why Gwen said Rhys was the most important. He got the recordings out of there. W00t!
Except, of course, that things are all now going to Hell in a handbasket. "Disconnect the remnant." So they knew about Clement all along. Probably left him behind deliberately. More questions. And Ianto! *weeps*
The contrast between Jack and Ianto's "corpses" is striking. And heartbreaking. No, I don't imagine Jack will forget him. Not in a thousand years. Not in five billion.
It's utterly horrifying to watch the opening clips of children being dragged away and yet to have no answer to the question, "What else could they have done?"
Gwen's question is a good one. Where the hell is the Doctor? Has he turned away in disgust? Is this a point in history that "can't be changed"? Is this what it means that "the 21st century is when everything changes"?
Good for Ianto's sister! Though given that they're in estate housing, and the grounds on which these decisions are being made, I can't imagine that keeping the children home is all that safe either.
Also, um, honeymoon or no honeymoon, where the hell is Martha? UNIT is obviously up to their eyeballs in this.
Holy fucking shit. The kids' metabolism produces some kind of alien drug? So they'll just be back for more when this supply dries up. Yet another reason not to comply with this hideous ultimatum. Though again, it's hard to see an alternative. Not on TW. The Doctor would find another way, but for all TW spun off it, that really is a very different show with a very different feel. And it's not like the Doctor hasn't ever had to deliberately choose the path of less unacceptable losses.
And Gwen gets sent back to South Wales. Jack can't look at her anymore? I'd like to think they have something up their sleeves, but given her little statement at the beginning, it doesn't seem likely.
"Auntie Terrorist" showing that video to Alice. Is she contemplating moving against the aliens? It'd take more than her unit, but it'd be a start.
Quite the switch from the Gwen who was selling Torchwood to Dr. Patanjali and thought her unexpected pregnancy was bloody brilliant. Gods, they've shattered her.
I still can't quite get Mr. MI-5's name. Frobisher? I thought for sure "requisition 31" would be something more exotic than a gun. But now we see where this all pushes. To a place where "biological success" isn't enough. When there are things worse than death.
Ah, so there was a plan. Not a big plan, but a plan nonetheless. If you can't save them all, save who you can. And again I'm reminded of Cordelia's words about looking out not only for her own genes, but the arresting effect of Aral's as well.
Note to Andy: if you're going to take on the riot squad, this is probably not the best time to remove your protective vest!
That said, I love Ianto's BIL rallying the neighbors.
And on the other hand, I'm a bit shocked Alice trusts anyone to take her boy out of her sight, even though they appear to all be on the same side.
I think I'd have preferred Gwen to give just about any other reason for choosing to keep the baby than "I couldn't do that to you, sweetheart."
Holy fuck. Jack's going to sacrifice his own grandson? WTF happened to an injury to one is an injury to all? And so finally it comes back to a numbers game after everything. *sobs*
And ultimately, Gwen's the last one left. Fitting. She brought us into the series, and she leads us out. I guess that's it then. It rather has to be.
As a story, I think it was absolutely amazing. Heartbreaking, but it was meant to be. I'm sure some of the uproar was over Ianto's death, some of it over the issues around which children would make up the 10%, and some of it over Jack sacrificing his own grandson in defiance of his own earlier words (quoting the Doctor, if I'm not mistaken). I know I'd have vastly preferred that he find another way for that last bit. In this story, as they set it up, it both does and doesn't fit that he didn't find another way.
At any rate, the theme of biological success, protection of the future of the species both at large and more specifically in one's own descendants, screamed out from the get-go. And yet there's no clear resolution to it. Civilization has added layers of complexity that make it impossible for it to be clear, to be black and white, and I suppose that's the main thrust.
Now I suppose it's time to go see what all the fandom fuss has been about. I think I might just want to digest this all a bit more before doing that.
Ultimately, the entire show has been Gwen's arc, at least to me. She gets sucked into Torchwood, struggles to keep her life and her self while defining herself as a member of Torchwood, and ultimately is the last one left standing, with a note of hope for her future despite her sadness and all she's lost. That might be why until now I've not had a whole lot of interest in seeking out fic, as most of it appears to focus on J/I. Now I want J/I fic, though I hear there's a lot of Gwen-bashing in the ship, which doesn't even make sense to me. But I'm satisfied with Gwen's journey. I wouldn't mind reading Gwen-centric fic, but I don't feel a burning need to do so, as her arc feels resolved.
J/I, on the other hand, have always felt like a simple background fact of life. It was kind of cool that they were there, but that was about it. I couldn't see the draw of the ship, other than everyone thinks they're both so pretty. Which, insofar as GDL goes, I can agree even though he's still not my type, but I still don't understand the fuss over JB. However, now that there's a bit more depth to their canon relationship, I'm interested in exploring it more. It might have been interesting to do so after about ep3, but I was afraid of running into spoilage, if not in fic then in comments. And so the first Torchwood fic of any length that I've now read is canon-compliant fix-it fic. Well, canon mostly-compliant, but the one bit appears to be an author oversight regarding a side character rather than a deliberate breaking of canon.
I did go read some of the meta. As heartbreaking as it is, I don't feel the same level of, "RTD should never have done that" over Ianto's death as I'm seeing. Possibly because I wasn't all that invested in Ianto himself or J/I prior to CoE, but also because it did seem to fit the overall theme as well as Jack's arc as well as the arc of their relationship. Would I rather they have had the chance to move forward from here? Absolutely. But insofar as Jack's arc goes, it does seem that he needed to lose Ianto at that point. With a few more hours to digest it all, it seems that's the thing that broke him to the point he could do what he did to his grandson, though I still find that the most disturbing part of the whole thing. I do get that part of it was trying to show that while the gov't types were only willing to sacrifice other people's children, Jack was willing to make the even harder choice, but it still really, really bothers me. A lot. I think the AU I most want to read is the one in which he does find another way. I'll never quite buy it as personal canon-replacement, I don't think, but I want to read it, nonetheless.
Anything further done with Jack really needs to explore how he finds healing from all this, whether on DW or, if they continue it (how???) TW. Because while his arc works, the only reasonable place to go with him from here is the journey towards coming to grips with all he's done and lived through, how he finds it possible to go on for five billion years without actually going mad. And how he turns into a giant jarred head, of course.
Given the overriding theme in this, I almost want to go with the VK icon "All true wealth is biological." But I use the Torchwood one rarely enough, so there it is.
Jack looks awfully pleased with himself for spilling that he'd known Gwen was pregnant. For someone who's always encouraged her to keep her non-Torchwood life, and considering he said himself that he knew that would piss Rhys off, that was a really shitty thing to do.
Not that I'm usually big on criminal behavior, but they are pretty well cornered, and Gwen had a point about her police background teaching her every trick in the book. *g*
Ah, poor Clement. Yep, knows how to lift a wallet, yet he's too compromised by what he's hearing (is it all aliens or has it become true psychosis?) to get away with it.
And this is why I need subtitles. Not "Tens House." "Thames House." Makes loads more sense, even if I wouldn't have known what it was anyway. When I thought it was "Tens House," I thought it had something to do with 10 Downing, and that never seemed to quite fit what they were saying. Also, the sound on this ep isn't great, so I really really could use subtitles. Ah well, I'll have them when we get the discs from Netflix.
Um, super scifi tech is all well and good, but ... sharing contacts? Ew!
"Yeah, I felt it." Ouch.
As much as I can see that finally realizing what Jack's "immortality" means is shaking Ianto's world up, I love his, "Better make the most of it then." *shakes clueless Rhys*
I love Lois' awkward but effective ruse to get into Thames House. *g*
How much do I love that it's Jack's wife and daughter who've taught the grandson what to do when trouble comes? And the wooden cutting board move made my day for some bizarre reason. But damn, do I ever hate that they got caught anyway.
Well, that was a hell of a showy entrance! Not that these aliens appear to have been going for subtlety. But how did they get into that sealed compartment without breaking the seal? Big Fiery Lance of Doom would seem like it ought to have compromised it. And really, why do they want such a dramatic entrance? Seems it's as much about exposing the British government's collaboration (despite their futile efforts to kill all witnesses) as about arriving on Earth.
Okay, ew! What's with the splattery grossness? Also, while it's all very scary, the fact is, they clearly can't survive in our atmosphere. Are they that big a threat? Well, excluding the possibility of more Fiery Lances of Doom potentially obliterating the planet, but if that was what they wanted, they'd hardly have staged all this.
The fact that they've returned proves they can't be trusted, hmm? Hmm. So were the orphans offered up in exchange for a promise the 456 would never return? Very, very interesting.
I do really like how the themes of family and children, ties emotional and biological, are playing out here. For example, Rhys' little freak-out in the potato truck, about how could he let Gwen this that and the other? Never mind that he doesn't need to "let" Gwen anything. He knows that, and fortunately we know enough about his character to not get too annoyed with him over it. But that's a fairly important instinct at a biological and evolutionary level: protect the pregnant female, that the species can continue. Never mind that the female, pregnant or otherwise, is often the deadlier of the species (and certainly so in Gwen's and Rhys' case). But having a mate that has the instinct to defend is also important on a purely biological level.
Similarly, Jack telling Gwen to get the hell out of the hub rather than trying to save him because it's not just herself she's risking. If she'd still been ambivalent, as she was when Rhys mentioned the house they were considering had a room that would work well as a nursery, it'd be different. But presented with the pregnancy as a fait accompli, she says, after a bit of shock, that it's "bloody brilliant." Unsurprising considering most of her concerns voiced to Rhys last season involved whether she felt right about bringing a child into this world, not a lack of desire to procreate at all. Takes things a step further, then. The biological drive is still to protect the impending next generation, but there's at least some indication that it's not pure biology at work either. I have a feeling there's more I'll want to say about that once I've had time to think about it, though the remainder of the series may also cast things in a different light by the time I get to it.
And the 456 took children in 1965 and have been using children as their mouthpieces in 2009, very deliberately terrifying the human race by threatening the next generation of our species. Showing that, in fact, they have the potential to control them utterly, even if only for short bursts of time.
Ah, now that's the other interesting thread. Ianto's the one who seems more invested in the relationship with Jack, but he's not comfortable with actually claiming that aspect of his sexuality. WNGWJLEO? "It's not men. It's just him." And now his reaction to being called queer, when it's fairly evident that's not how Clement meant it. *ponders*
Can I just say as an occasional (very occasional) contact lens wearer that unless Lois wears the things regularly (in which case, she should have a set to remove), I am so not buying that she can put them in that freaking easily?
Clearly I'm far too vanilla, as I'm not really understanding the "fun" aspect of the lenses. *boggles*
Hmm. So they've agreed not to continue using the children, but they'd also apparently agreed not to return but have done so anyway. Not exactly confidence-inspiring.
Also, Jack picked a helluva time to go swanning off. Yes, he's managed to confirm it's the 456, but if he'd stayed with the others, he'd know that and more by now. Though he wouldn't know they're holding his daughter and grandson.
Oh shit. "The man" is Jack!! Well, that's quite the note to end on, and now I see why Jack needed to not be with the rest of them up till now.
Gods, I hope the audio's better on the remaining two. GDL, in particular, was very hard to make out at times in that one.
Ah, interesting. Not bombs. Biologicals. That fits the theme nicely. I'm guessing this was filmed, never mind written, well before the H1N1 outbreak, but interesting timing nonetheless.
"They'll live forever." As the only being likely to do that is Jack, and we've seen his demise already (albeit some five billion years in the future), that seems a rather empty promise. Nice to see he doesn't buy it. Probably more like their legacy as lab rats will live forever, in any case.
Huh. Seems Clement could already smell a lie back then. So, a gift he's always had, not just a keepsake from his alien near-encounter.
Ianto holding Jack as he came back to life put a lump in my throat. His "I can't believe you never mentioned this" raises some interesting questions. If they did nothing but talk 24/7, Jack couldn't tell him everything he's done. So why specifically this? I can see the shippers taking that into the realm of their having discussed adopting/fostering/otherwise somehow having children, but given both of their respective ambivalences about their relationship, different though they are, that doesn't really work. So why is this specific omission so important to Ianto, other than the fact it's come back to bite them all in the ass, and he's made it clear that's not what he means.
Three distinct forms of life? The human with the camera, the 456, and ... whatever one of those children has become? And the answer to that would be yes. Still doesn't make sense. What do they actually want them for? Threatening a flu epidemic with casualties around 25 million is one thing. Threatening extinction is another. Because clearly they need something our species can provide, or they wouldn't a) have come back or b) set the stakes so high. Something just doesn't add up.
Gods, I wonder if Jack is going to end up sacrificing Alice and Steven? As a simple numbers game, yes, two casualties are better than a few million or even 60. But his own descendants? I doubt even he could steel himself against that. Which I imagine is part of the thematic point. How much are we willing to sacrifice as a species? And how much individually? At what point does the instinct to protect the next generation, to insure "biological success," either break or else override everything else?
Nothing visible in orbit. So ... cloaking device? Or did they "beam in" from much father away? There are obviously some sort of limitations on the 456. They can project these broadcasts through the children, and now they can vary them by location. But apparently they can't just program the 10% they want to walk into a field and be beamed up. They need human cooperation. Why? What are their limitations, and how can they be exploited?
Bald dude has a point. A scary point, but a point nonetheless. Is that why the 456 sought out Earth? Our population density is getting critical, so they decided we could stand a cull? *shudders* Do they go around scouting planets in similar positions? And why? What do they gain? If all they wanted was genetic material, they could loot the sperm banks and have done with it. No, they need viable but juvenile life forms. Just ... why?
I'm moderately annoyed that it's the one woman at the table who's arguing against the plan to randomly select children to send. That rather breaks the bit established earlier about biological success being enhanced by a protective male instinct and not just female.
Ah, now they've drawn the line. They won't expose their own offspring to risk. So they find it possible to sacrifice some of the next generation for the overall survival of the species, but they won't quite override the instinct to protect their own. Reminds me of something Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan said to her son Mark, about her selfish genes looking out for their own copies.
Oh wow. And now we're down to eugenics. Let's weed out all those failures, yeah? Which would be the ideal way to cull. Except we like to think we've moved beyond that. That one of the measures of civilization is how we look after those who aren't as able to look after themselves, for whatever reason. Besides which, there's a world of difference between a predator culling the herd by catching those who can't keep up and the prey deliberately choosing to throw a tithe at the predators to keep them away. Intriguing that again it's the one woman at the table who pushes things in that direction. And we're back to the female of the species being the more ruthless.
I don't know why this didn't hit me sooner, but this does remind me of Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End. It's been too long for me to remember specifics, but there does seem to be a parallel of sorts.
Shit. They've found the warehouse. Which means they can put a lid on the recordings. Fuck!
Love Lois' speech. And the parallel and contrast between her and Jack is very effective. She's the outsider who didn't sign on to cover up murder and, though she struggles with her choice, stands up to a system much bigger than she. He's the insider who went along before but isn't going to do it again. That she also parallels Ianto in profession is possibly not entirely relevant, but interesting nonetheless.
Oh, wait! That's why Gwen said Rhys was the most important. He got the recordings out of there. W00t!
Except, of course, that things are all now going to Hell in a handbasket. "Disconnect the remnant." So they knew about Clement all along. Probably left him behind deliberately. More questions. And Ianto! *weeps*
The contrast between Jack and Ianto's "corpses" is striking. And heartbreaking. No, I don't imagine Jack will forget him. Not in a thousand years. Not in five billion.
It's utterly horrifying to watch the opening clips of children being dragged away and yet to have no answer to the question, "What else could they have done?"
Gwen's question is a good one. Where the hell is the Doctor? Has he turned away in disgust? Is this a point in history that "can't be changed"? Is this what it means that "the 21st century is when everything changes"?
Good for Ianto's sister! Though given that they're in estate housing, and the grounds on which these decisions are being made, I can't imagine that keeping the children home is all that safe either.
Also, um, honeymoon or no honeymoon, where the hell is Martha? UNIT is obviously up to their eyeballs in this.
Holy fucking shit. The kids' metabolism produces some kind of alien drug? So they'll just be back for more when this supply dries up. Yet another reason not to comply with this hideous ultimatum. Though again, it's hard to see an alternative. Not on TW. The Doctor would find another way, but for all TW spun off it, that really is a very different show with a very different feel. And it's not like the Doctor hasn't ever had to deliberately choose the path of less unacceptable losses.
And Gwen gets sent back to South Wales. Jack can't look at her anymore? I'd like to think they have something up their sleeves, but given her little statement at the beginning, it doesn't seem likely.
"Auntie Terrorist" showing that video to Alice. Is she contemplating moving against the aliens? It'd take more than her unit, but it'd be a start.
Quite the switch from the Gwen who was selling Torchwood to Dr. Patanjali and thought her unexpected pregnancy was bloody brilliant. Gods, they've shattered her.
I still can't quite get Mr. MI-5's name. Frobisher? I thought for sure "requisition 31" would be something more exotic than a gun. But now we see where this all pushes. To a place where "biological success" isn't enough. When there are things worse than death.
Ah, so there was a plan. Not a big plan, but a plan nonetheless. If you can't save them all, save who you can. And again I'm reminded of Cordelia's words about looking out not only for her own genes, but the arresting effect of Aral's as well.
Note to Andy: if you're going to take on the riot squad, this is probably not the best time to remove your protective vest!
That said, I love Ianto's BIL rallying the neighbors.
And on the other hand, I'm a bit shocked Alice trusts anyone to take her boy out of her sight, even though they appear to all be on the same side.
I think I'd have preferred Gwen to give just about any other reason for choosing to keep the baby than "I couldn't do that to you, sweetheart."
Holy fuck. Jack's going to sacrifice his own grandson? WTF happened to an injury to one is an injury to all? And so finally it comes back to a numbers game after everything. *sobs*
And ultimately, Gwen's the last one left. Fitting. She brought us into the series, and she leads us out. I guess that's it then. It rather has to be.
As a story, I think it was absolutely amazing. Heartbreaking, but it was meant to be. I'm sure some of the uproar was over Ianto's death, some of it over the issues around which children would make up the 10%, and some of it over Jack sacrificing his own grandson in defiance of his own earlier words (quoting the Doctor, if I'm not mistaken). I know I'd have vastly preferred that he find another way for that last bit. In this story, as they set it up, it both does and doesn't fit that he didn't find another way.
At any rate, the theme of biological success, protection of the future of the species both at large and more specifically in one's own descendants, screamed out from the get-go. And yet there's no clear resolution to it. Civilization has added layers of complexity that make it impossible for it to be clear, to be black and white, and I suppose that's the main thrust.
Now I suppose it's time to go see what all the fandom fuss has been about. I think I might just want to digest this all a bit more before doing that.
Ultimately, the entire show has been Gwen's arc, at least to me. She gets sucked into Torchwood, struggles to keep her life and her self while defining herself as a member of Torchwood, and ultimately is the last one left standing, with a note of hope for her future despite her sadness and all she's lost. That might be why until now I've not had a whole lot of interest in seeking out fic, as most of it appears to focus on J/I. Now I want J/I fic, though I hear there's a lot of Gwen-bashing in the ship, which doesn't even make sense to me. But I'm satisfied with Gwen's journey. I wouldn't mind reading Gwen-centric fic, but I don't feel a burning need to do so, as her arc feels resolved.
J/I, on the other hand, have always felt like a simple background fact of life. It was kind of cool that they were there, but that was about it. I couldn't see the draw of the ship, other than everyone thinks they're both so pretty. Which, insofar as GDL goes, I can agree even though he's still not my type, but I still don't understand the fuss over JB. However, now that there's a bit more depth to their canon relationship, I'm interested in exploring it more. It might have been interesting to do so after about ep3, but I was afraid of running into spoilage, if not in fic then in comments. And so the first Torchwood fic of any length that I've now read is canon-compliant fix-it fic. Well, canon mostly-compliant, but the one bit appears to be an author oversight regarding a side character rather than a deliberate breaking of canon.
I did go read some of the meta. As heartbreaking as it is, I don't feel the same level of, "RTD should never have done that" over Ianto's death as I'm seeing. Possibly because I wasn't all that invested in Ianto himself or J/I prior to CoE, but also because it did seem to fit the overall theme as well as Jack's arc as well as the arc of their relationship. Would I rather they have had the chance to move forward from here? Absolutely. But insofar as Jack's arc goes, it does seem that he needed to lose Ianto at that point. With a few more hours to digest it all, it seems that's the thing that broke him to the point he could do what he did to his grandson, though I still find that the most disturbing part of the whole thing. I do get that part of it was trying to show that while the gov't types were only willing to sacrifice other people's children, Jack was willing to make the even harder choice, but it still really, really bothers me. A lot. I think the AU I most want to read is the one in which he does find another way. I'll never quite buy it as personal canon-replacement, I don't think, but I want to read it, nonetheless.
Anything further done with Jack really needs to explore how he finds healing from all this, whether on DW or, if they continue it (how???) TW. Because while his arc works, the only reasonable place to go with him from here is the journey towards coming to grips with all he's done and lived through, how he finds it possible to go on for five billion years without actually going mad. And how he turns into a giant jarred head, of course.
Given the overriding theme in this, I almost want to go with the VK icon "All true wealth is biological." But I use the Torchwood one rarely enough, so there it is.