the more things change.
All right. I'm so behind because real life intrudes and the BBC gave us two episodes last week for some reason. I will watch tonight's preview of Dead Man Walking but I think I'm going to put these post-episode thoughts up as if the previews weren't happening. Otherwise I will never, ever catch up.
This is more of a brain dump because late late late, but here are my thoughts for Adam.
At first glance, it seems like in the realverse, Gwen is Rhys's protector; in the Adamverse, she's his biggest threat. "If he comes after me again, I'll kill him" This is the first thing that clued me in that perhaps things aren't as different as they appear. They are different people, sure, but let's look at what has remained. Being with Gwen *is* a threat to Rhys, the danger of her job spills over, gets him shot. One day, it will get him dead.
Rhys: man, so good. His wide, confused eyes. The way he grimaces when Gwen calls Jack, like, "OH GRATE HIM OF COURSE." And then he's SO UPSET when Gwen insinuates that he would hurt her. But once again, he and Jack come to an understanding. When Jack promises that they'll figure out what's going on with Gwen, Rhys believes him, trusts him. Rhys knows about the retcon; assume Gwen's told him everything.
Interesting that Rhys says, "I know what kind of sick games you play; pills that make you forget" -- the retcon *is* sick. It's playing with people's memories in a way that's little different than what Adam does. Civilians are supposed to be happier to not know about the alien threats among them. But it's incredibly convenient for the government, isn't it, to not have to explain all the alien activity, to not deal with mass panic if people figured out or remembered all those pesky, frightening alien encounters. And Jack himself raged about losing two years of his life. Lines grey and blur.
Ha! Also, when Jack comes rushing into the apt. Rhys kind of looks him up and down in an appraising way. I could totally see Jack/Rhys. I really loved Jack in this scene as well, his bafflement. When Rhys gets in Jack's space and then Gwen gets closer to Jack with her gun, he's totally like, HELLO I AM BETWEEN YOU TWO WHICH MEANS YOU ARE NOW POINTING THE GUN AT ME. Hahahahahaha. Also, because Jack is holding Rhys back with one hand and Rhys is trying to break Jack's hold, they are, effectively, holding hands. Kudos all around. Interesting that when Jack orders Gwen to give him the gun, she doesn't even pretend that's an option. She brushes his order aside.
Adam seems sincerely concerned that he's fucked up Gwen's memories in a way he didn't intend. And he's sort of desperate to have her remember Rhys. He wants her to be happy; Rhys makes her happy. Gwen with Rhys, Ianto without Jack (more on this below). Basically, Adam thinks Jack is bad news. Or he wants Jack to himself. Ha.
Rhys: I'm going to marry this bloody mad woman even if it kills me. Oh, Rhys. You are so dead.
So, essentially, the episode breaks down into three distinct pairings: Gwen/Rhys & Owen/Tosh & Jack/Ianto. Torchwood likes to say things about Jack/Ianto by juxtaposing them against more established pairings. Adam gives us an opportunity to see Jack and Ianto in a different environment and paralleled against everyone else as they fit together in different ways. Eventually, all of the people involved in the pairings come together, in one way or another. Owen confesses his love for Tosh, and then, when he is rebuffed, he apologizes. "I think the world of you, Owen," she says. They remain friends, quite similarly to how they really are, even if the gender dynamics are switched around. Gwen begins to remember what she feels for Rhys, why she fell in love with him in the first place, much like in Meat. Jack refuses to believe Ianto is a murderer; this act is the catalyst to figuring out what Adam has done. Jack's belief in Ianto changes everything.
Anyways, so I keep asking myself. HOW are Jack and Ianto, and Jack/Ianto, different in the Adamverse? Augh, Torchwood, as if it wasn't enough that I'm racking my brains trying to figure out what the hell Jack and Ianto are *actually* doing, you have to give me an AU (basically) in which they also may or may not (or may?) (or may not?) be sleeping together. I HATE YOU SO MUCH. Please never leave me.
My theory is that Jack and Ianto *aren't* sleeping together in the Adamverse. Adam got rid of the Jack/Ianto. nightanddaze joked that perhaps Adam was the first homphobic character on the show? Hahaha. Let's look at the secondary information first:
Owen: Kissing in work; wasn't expecting it.
Suggests that, well, there's no kissing at work. No Jack kissing Ianto or vice versa, specifically. No kiss after Jack coming back from Abaddon. Perhaps no Jack coming back from Abaddon in the first place, thereby destroying the opportunity for a public kiss. But maybe they are just much more discreet!
Gwen & Jack -- she spanks him, he seems startled; his response is playful but not sexual in any way, there's no quip, no leer. The way Gwen clings to Jack in her apartment; the way he deliberately, physically pushes her away. I kind of feel like in the realverse, if Gwen was this upset, he'd stay with her. Or insist that she stay at the Hub. It's possible that Jack just thinks that Rhys is perfectly capable of taking care of Gwen, and that's a really nice touch. But you could also read this as Jack being generally, much more reserved than he is in the realverse. He's more distant, more hands off. More boss. But then the question becomes: HOW does cutting Jack off, or allowing Jack to cut himself off, from the rest of the team make him HAPPIER? It's confusing.
Now let's look at the primary information --
Jack/Ianto #1:
Does catching have the same connotation in British English that it does in American English as it applies to sex? They make such a big deal about how Jack tosses things and Ianto catches them and then in the Averse, it's Ianto who tosses the keys to Jack. Hmm.
This is what they say:
Jack: I'll drop you off and check out the siting.
Ianto: I could come with you. It's been a while since we went hunting together.
Jack: I'll be fine on my own.
This is how they are:
Jack is all business here and Ianto is looking at him so longingly. I mean, even more longingly than the way Ianto looks at Jack in the realverse. This is the first indication to me that their relationship, however close, is not sexual. Ianto wants in Jack's pants, he's willing to pursue it. Jack basically turns him down. This is either how things were in the realverse (at some point prior to Cyberwoman), or this is how things never were (Jack always pursued Ianto). You can see Jack and Ianto's interactions in Adam as a microcosm of their extended relationship in the realverse. Ianto flirts with Jack; Jack doesn't take advantage of it; something traumatic happens with Ianto; Jack's eyes are opened; Jack realizes what he feels for Ianto; they come together. The details are different, but the story is the same.
Let's break for a moment:
The way Barrowman says, "Dad?" AIGH HE SLAYS ME.
Ianto leaning against things OMG. If he goes around leaning against things, with his hands in his pockets, rubbing his head against the wall, basically INVITING people to molest him, I just don't see how Jack could have resisted that. So maybe that is my theory going boom-boom to pieces. (Not really, though.)
BUT LOOK AT HIM: (Please excuse my efforts to cap and inability to crop. Computer issues persist.)
If that pose doesn't say, "Put your hands under my waistcoat and your mouth to my throat," I just. JESUS.
Does the Hub seem...untidy? Empty bucket o' chicken next to the couch, debris and books and, for some reason, three different vases scattered around the coffee table. But Ianto's still in his suit, still keeps exact records in his diary. God, Torchwood, *what* are you trying to say? Jimmy's down the well, boy?
Ianto: Like i'm remembering a man who doesn't exist. What are you? SMART LAD.
And we're back:
Jack/Ianto #2
Jack comes back to the office after leaving Adam. Ianto's whispered, "Jack," startles him. Jack's, "Ianto," back really read as relief to me, not a moment in which Jack is thinking, "Aha! Here we are alone. And now we will have the smex." Instead, Jack just seems really fucking relieved to find that the whisper is Ianto and not another memory apparition. He also seems surprised to see Ianto, as if Ianto being at the Hub so late is not a regular occurrence.
Ianto is the monster in this scenario. Ergo, Jack is the monster in the realverse. Or, Ianto only *thinks* he's a monster, ergo he only *thought* Jack was a monster in the realverse. Or, they are both monsters. *hands*
Jack's, "Hey! Come here. Come here," as Ianto freaks out and launches himself towards the door to the vaults. And then again, he says, COME HERE, dragging Ianto by the arm, Ianto holding on to the railing, not wanting to, resisting. Jack demanding that Ianto face the truth, watch the CCTV footage to learn what is going on. To see himself for who he truly is.
When they're interrupted, hahahahahaha, they've got these hysterically guilty looks on their faces. Jack grabs a BLANK NOTEBOOK and Ianto can't even do that, he just stands there, looking totally caught in the act, hands in his pockets, staring at Owen and then glancing back at Jack repeatedly, like, WHAT DO WE DO WHAT DO WE DO.
All of this stuff illuminates how they are in the realverse, either by providing an opposite or by providing similarities. I JUST DON'T KNOW WHICH. I can see Jack being this person and I can see him not being this person. I can see him not giving one god damn if he and Ianto are caught making out. But are we wrong about Jack? What does it say if, even in the realverse, he might be this person, all flustered at being caught at intimacy. You can read the kiss in End of Days as an anomaly, an occurrence that only happens because he's just come back from an extended death, one that felt more permanent than any other death has felt in a long time. Under all that bluster, all that insinuation, all that winking and goosing, is Jack Harkness...discreet? He wears those high-necked undershirts, all those layers and layers of clothes. It's a form of modesty; undershirt, shirt, trousers, braces, belt, coat that covers everything. You have to peel away a lot to get to the real Jack Harkness. You have to really work to get to the skin.
As for Ianto, I already wrote up a little thing about how Ianto might be different and might be the same, and, oh, his "You," here.
Ianto is the first person to take the kool-aid communion wafer retcon. Um. His intrinsic trust is touching, but I can't help feel like maybe it is not so wise to completely trust such a dangerous man.
THE DIARY: Jack doesn't have to push or force Ianto to do anything. He just holds out something Ianto wants, just out of reach, letting Ianto edge towards him, confident that Ianto will cross the space to take it. I don't know if I believe that they've always been like this, but this is the way they are now, here. It's real.
And, this episode's installment of This Is the Way Jack Harkness Looks At Ianto Jones Moment:
Like Ianto's the most charming, most adorable, most delicious boy Jack has ever seen. He can't even contain it even a little bit.
Also, there's something very special going on between Barrowman and David-Lloyd, in terms of acting. GDL seems to always bring out the best in Barrowman. JB's more subtle, less caricatured, more complex when he's in scenes with GDL. It may be because GDL's delivery is so low-key that JB brings it down a touch to meet him and he loses a lot of the stagey flash. Whatever it is, they're divine.
Like I said, this is just a brain dump, but there's some really, really juicy stuff there.
Misc.
Adam touching everyone to mess with their memories; Jack touching everyone to bring them back. VERRA NICE.
Hahahahahaha, Jack placing the piece in the right slot on the box. This is perhaps how Adam got loose in the first place? And Barrowman is hysterical here, expecting some big thing to happen and annoyed when it doesn't.
Next up: Reset. I deal with the events by talking mostly about the Jonses and how AWESOME they are.
This is more of a brain dump because late late late, but here are my thoughts for Adam.
At first glance, it seems like in the realverse, Gwen is Rhys's protector; in the Adamverse, she's his biggest threat. "If he comes after me again, I'll kill him" This is the first thing that clued me in that perhaps things aren't as different as they appear. They are different people, sure, but let's look at what has remained. Being with Gwen *is* a threat to Rhys, the danger of her job spills over, gets him shot. One day, it will get him dead.
Rhys: man, so good. His wide, confused eyes. The way he grimaces when Gwen calls Jack, like, "OH GRATE HIM OF COURSE." And then he's SO UPSET when Gwen insinuates that he would hurt her. But once again, he and Jack come to an understanding. When Jack promises that they'll figure out what's going on with Gwen, Rhys believes him, trusts him. Rhys knows about the retcon; assume Gwen's told him everything.
Interesting that Rhys says, "I know what kind of sick games you play; pills that make you forget" -- the retcon *is* sick. It's playing with people's memories in a way that's little different than what Adam does. Civilians are supposed to be happier to not know about the alien threats among them. But it's incredibly convenient for the government, isn't it, to not have to explain all the alien activity, to not deal with mass panic if people figured out or remembered all those pesky, frightening alien encounters. And Jack himself raged about losing two years of his life. Lines grey and blur.
Ha! Also, when Jack comes rushing into the apt. Rhys kind of looks him up and down in an appraising way. I could totally see Jack/Rhys. I really loved Jack in this scene as well, his bafflement. When Rhys gets in Jack's space and then Gwen gets closer to Jack with her gun, he's totally like, HELLO I AM BETWEEN YOU TWO WHICH MEANS YOU ARE NOW POINTING THE GUN AT ME. Hahahahahaha. Also, because Jack is holding Rhys back with one hand and Rhys is trying to break Jack's hold, they are, effectively, holding hands. Kudos all around. Interesting that when Jack orders Gwen to give him the gun, she doesn't even pretend that's an option. She brushes his order aside.
Adam seems sincerely concerned that he's fucked up Gwen's memories in a way he didn't intend. And he's sort of desperate to have her remember Rhys. He wants her to be happy; Rhys makes her happy. Gwen with Rhys, Ianto without Jack (more on this below). Basically, Adam thinks Jack is bad news. Or he wants Jack to himself. Ha.
Rhys: I'm going to marry this bloody mad woman even if it kills me. Oh, Rhys. You are so dead.
So, essentially, the episode breaks down into three distinct pairings: Gwen/Rhys & Owen/Tosh & Jack/Ianto. Torchwood likes to say things about Jack/Ianto by juxtaposing them against more established pairings. Adam gives us an opportunity to see Jack and Ianto in a different environment and paralleled against everyone else as they fit together in different ways. Eventually, all of the people involved in the pairings come together, in one way or another. Owen confesses his love for Tosh, and then, when he is rebuffed, he apologizes. "I think the world of you, Owen," she says. They remain friends, quite similarly to how they really are, even if the gender dynamics are switched around. Gwen begins to remember what she feels for Rhys, why she fell in love with him in the first place, much like in Meat. Jack refuses to believe Ianto is a murderer; this act is the catalyst to figuring out what Adam has done. Jack's belief in Ianto changes everything.
Anyways, so I keep asking myself. HOW are Jack and Ianto, and Jack/Ianto, different in the Adamverse? Augh, Torchwood, as if it wasn't enough that I'm racking my brains trying to figure out what the hell Jack and Ianto are *actually* doing, you have to give me an AU (basically) in which they also may or may not (or may?) (or may not?) be sleeping together. I HATE YOU SO MUCH. Please never leave me.
My theory is that Jack and Ianto *aren't* sleeping together in the Adamverse. Adam got rid of the Jack/Ianto. nightanddaze joked that perhaps Adam was the first homphobic character on the show? Hahaha. Let's look at the secondary information first:
Owen: Kissing in work; wasn't expecting it.
Suggests that, well, there's no kissing at work. No Jack kissing Ianto or vice versa, specifically. No kiss after Jack coming back from Abaddon. Perhaps no Jack coming back from Abaddon in the first place, thereby destroying the opportunity for a public kiss. But maybe they are just much more discreet!
Gwen & Jack -- she spanks him, he seems startled; his response is playful but not sexual in any way, there's no quip, no leer. The way Gwen clings to Jack in her apartment; the way he deliberately, physically pushes her away. I kind of feel like in the realverse, if Gwen was this upset, he'd stay with her. Or insist that she stay at the Hub. It's possible that Jack just thinks that Rhys is perfectly capable of taking care of Gwen, and that's a really nice touch. But you could also read this as Jack being generally, much more reserved than he is in the realverse. He's more distant, more hands off. More boss. But then the question becomes: HOW does cutting Jack off, or allowing Jack to cut himself off, from the rest of the team make him HAPPIER? It's confusing.
Now let's look at the primary information --
Jack/Ianto #1:
Does catching have the same connotation in British English that it does in American English as it applies to sex? They make such a big deal about how Jack tosses things and Ianto catches them and then in the Averse, it's Ianto who tosses the keys to Jack. Hmm.
This is what they say:
Jack: I'll drop you off and check out the siting.
Ianto: I could come with you. It's been a while since we went hunting together.
Jack: I'll be fine on my own.
This is how they are:
Jack is all business here and Ianto is looking at him so longingly. I mean, even more longingly than the way Ianto looks at Jack in the realverse. This is the first indication to me that their relationship, however close, is not sexual. Ianto wants in Jack's pants, he's willing to pursue it. Jack basically turns him down. This is either how things were in the realverse (at some point prior to Cyberwoman), or this is how things never were (Jack always pursued Ianto). You can see Jack and Ianto's interactions in Adam as a microcosm of their extended relationship in the realverse. Ianto flirts with Jack; Jack doesn't take advantage of it; something traumatic happens with Ianto; Jack's eyes are opened; Jack realizes what he feels for Ianto; they come together. The details are different, but the story is the same.
Let's break for a moment:
The way Barrowman says, "Dad?" AIGH HE SLAYS ME.
Ianto leaning against things OMG. If he goes around leaning against things, with his hands in his pockets, rubbing his head against the wall, basically INVITING people to molest him, I just don't see how Jack could have resisted that. So maybe that is my theory going boom-boom to pieces. (Not really, though.)
BUT LOOK AT HIM: (Please excuse my efforts to cap and inability to crop. Computer issues persist.)
If that pose doesn't say, "Put your hands under my waistcoat and your mouth to my throat," I just. JESUS.
Does the Hub seem...untidy? Empty bucket o' chicken next to the couch, debris and books and, for some reason, three different vases scattered around the coffee table. But Ianto's still in his suit, still keeps exact records in his diary. God, Torchwood, *what* are you trying to say? Jimmy's down the well, boy?
Ianto: Like i'm remembering a man who doesn't exist. What are you? SMART LAD.
And we're back:
Jack/Ianto #2
Jack comes back to the office after leaving Adam. Ianto's whispered, "Jack," startles him. Jack's, "Ianto," back really read as relief to me, not a moment in which Jack is thinking, "Aha! Here we are alone. And now we will have the smex." Instead, Jack just seems really fucking relieved to find that the whisper is Ianto and not another memory apparition. He also seems surprised to see Ianto, as if Ianto being at the Hub so late is not a regular occurrence.
Ianto is the monster in this scenario. Ergo, Jack is the monster in the realverse. Or, Ianto only *thinks* he's a monster, ergo he only *thought* Jack was a monster in the realverse. Or, they are both monsters. *hands*
Jack's, "Hey! Come here. Come here," as Ianto freaks out and launches himself towards the door to the vaults. And then again, he says, COME HERE, dragging Ianto by the arm, Ianto holding on to the railing, not wanting to, resisting. Jack demanding that Ianto face the truth, watch the CCTV footage to learn what is going on. To see himself for who he truly is.
When they're interrupted, hahahahahaha, they've got these hysterically guilty looks on their faces. Jack grabs a BLANK NOTEBOOK and Ianto can't even do that, he just stands there, looking totally caught in the act, hands in his pockets, staring at Owen and then glancing back at Jack repeatedly, like, WHAT DO WE DO WHAT DO WE DO.
All of this stuff illuminates how they are in the realverse, either by providing an opposite or by providing similarities. I JUST DON'T KNOW WHICH. I can see Jack being this person and I can see him not being this person. I can see him not giving one god damn if he and Ianto are caught making out. But are we wrong about Jack? What does it say if, even in the realverse, he might be this person, all flustered at being caught at intimacy. You can read the kiss in End of Days as an anomaly, an occurrence that only happens because he's just come back from an extended death, one that felt more permanent than any other death has felt in a long time. Under all that bluster, all that insinuation, all that winking and goosing, is Jack Harkness...discreet? He wears those high-necked undershirts, all those layers and layers of clothes. It's a form of modesty; undershirt, shirt, trousers, braces, belt, coat that covers everything. You have to peel away a lot to get to the real Jack Harkness. You have to really work to get to the skin.
As for Ianto, I already wrote up a little thing about how Ianto might be different and might be the same, and, oh, his "You," here.
Ianto is the first person to take the kool-aid communion wafer retcon. Um. His intrinsic trust is touching, but I can't help feel like maybe it is not so wise to completely trust such a dangerous man.
THE DIARY: Jack doesn't have to push or force Ianto to do anything. He just holds out something Ianto wants, just out of reach, letting Ianto edge towards him, confident that Ianto will cross the space to take it. I don't know if I believe that they've always been like this, but this is the way they are now, here. It's real.
And, this episode's installment of This Is the Way Jack Harkness Looks At Ianto Jones Moment:
Like Ianto's the most charming, most adorable, most delicious boy Jack has ever seen. He can't even contain it even a little bit.
Also, there's something very special going on between Barrowman and David-Lloyd, in terms of acting. GDL seems to always bring out the best in Barrowman. JB's more subtle, less caricatured, more complex when he's in scenes with GDL. It may be because GDL's delivery is so low-key that JB brings it down a touch to meet him and he loses a lot of the stagey flash. Whatever it is, they're divine.
Like I said, this is just a brain dump, but there's some really, really juicy stuff there.
Misc.
Adam touching everyone to mess with their memories; Jack touching everyone to bring them back. VERRA NICE.
Hahahahahaha, Jack placing the piece in the right slot on the box. This is perhaps how Adam got loose in the first place? And Barrowman is hysterical here, expecting some big thing to happen and annoyed when it doesn't.
Next up: Reset. I deal with the events by talking mostly about the Jonses and how AWESOME they are.