Torchwood 2.12 Fragments
A very random, quite boring bulletted reaction post because it's four a.m. and I'm about to fall over from lack of sleep. Real post tommorow.
01. Good episode. Not quite as great as last week, although still really very good.
02. I think the structure is what put me off most. I'm all for flashbacks and batch editing, but the whole episode did feel very blocky. Jack's turn then Tosh's turn then Ianto's turn etc. It was incredibly predictable, which is usually rare (in that area) for Torchwood. I didn't know what each character's "bit" was going to be, but I knew they were coming which was a bit off-putting. I also didn't exactly get why they were having flashbacks. I'm assuming hoping that it will have something to do with the next episode 'cause otherwise, when you look at it, they were kind of useless. Great segments to watch but ultimately they didn't form a narrative plot whatsoever. Bombs were planted by Cpt. John, in an attempt to kill the team, and that's all we got.
03. I don't know why, but the shot where we see Owen looking up to find the glass frame above him was brilliant. Don't ask me, it's weird, but I think it was one of the best bits of the episode.
04. Some quite good ensemble acting in there: You could see the team dynamic developing before it's even been formed. I loved seeing Jack with Owen again in his "fragile" state. He got out the father figure gear again, which was nice, and you can totally see exactly why Owen is what he is. Tosh was also great - a completely different side to her passiveness that we haven't really seen before. She's a very docile and acquiescent character, and we still saw that, but in a very traumatic manner. She was so damaged and frail and it was a little heartbreaking to see her like that.
05. He he he. Jones. Ianto Jones: A dinosaur-catching James Bonder who shoplifted in his teens. Also, as much as I really lurve Ianto in a suit, he needs to get out of it more often.
06. I'm going to go with the fandom flow and gah over Ianto's bit as well, because, quite simply, it was awesomesauce. There was no particular writing or acting marvels in there, but damn it was fun and funny. Gareth's comic timing is getting better with every episode and the repartee and banter between him and Jack was great ("Oh, so you let the pterodactyl in and not me?"), particularly once Ianto started telling Jack what to do. Completely Torchwood, because really, where else in the world would you get hired for a job only after getting your future boss caught by a pterodactyl and then proceeding to almost!snog him on a warehouse floor?
07. RETRO COMMS!! HA HA HA! Such a geek moment, but it was so funny to see the dorky, clunky ear comm devices from Season 1. I guess I'd gotten so used to all of them just randomly pressing their ears that I hadn't even remembered they existed.
08. Is it just me or did that injection "needle" he gave Ianto for the pterodactyl look like it had come straight out of Fisher Price's My First Medical Kit?
09. Also, did I miss something in the warehouse? Why was Ianto almost crying when he was walking out? They weren't even happy tears.
If someone dies next week, I will seriously break something. Big. Most likely Chris Chibnall's arm. Or neck.
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