Begin at the beginningtrinityvixenJuly 24 2009, 15:22:37 UTC
Things I liked: a sense that everyone has a life outside of Torchwood, not just Gwen. I am loathe to accept characters out of nowhere, but to the writers' credit, I was so easily able to believe both Jack and Ianto's heretofore unseen families. It made sense that Jack would be distant from his daughter, and it made sense that Ianto would keep both family and work friends separate from each other. (How incredibly lonely is it that he couldn't confide the whole truth to anyone? I can see fandom fairly exploding about this if it hadn't been sidelined by him dying.)
The fact that ordinary people and even questionably moral people can be awesome was fantastically Who-ian. Ianto's family protecting the entire estate's kids; the military chick turning on her employers; even Frobisher's secretary managed to make sure that the worst thing she couldn't prevent would not disappear into history. I stop short of saying I forgave Frobisher for all his doings, but I did sympathize and approve of his last actions. Not until the PM punished him for approving of this the last time did I realize it wasn't really his fault. He did bring this about by caving the last time, but he made that decision as a barter--kids for a vaccine. (HELLO, WRITERS, YOU DO NOT USE ANTI-VIRUS. YOU HAVE ANTI-VIRAL DRUGS AND VACCINES FOR DISEASES. ANTI-VIRUS IS COMPUTER SOFTWARE.) He didn't pick this strategy--the cabinet and the PM did. He told them they should do what the aliens said, yes, but in the end he did bad work ordered by another. It's not an excuse and never will be, but you can see how unfairly the blame fell on him in a lot of ways, too. Which is why I loved the secretary eulogizing him. Because she's right: he'll be the monster in history if ever it is written when the monster was really self-interest above and beyond his pay grade.
Jack really can't come back from this, as we discussed. As you say, he is sociopathic, but not completely so. He's a needs justify means sort of guy with an ends-are-going-to-make-me-suffer, so-it's-okay-that-I-did-that sort of writing behind him. If the writers are smart, they won't forgive him this time. For all that Stephen was a bit player, the intimacy of the betrayal is too much. Nothing trumps the murder of a child, and nothing fixes it. If Jack came back, he'd have to be unceremoniously dumped in a cell. Forever. He can be Hannibal Lector to the new Torchwood, if ever they get back on their feet.
Given his end, I really think avoiding fandom until it susses itself out past immediate "FIX THIS!" mode is the best way to go. Will it survive? Possibly not. But maybe it just needs to prove there's anywhere to go from here. Because it really, really doesn't feel like there's anything left.
The fact that ordinary people and even questionably moral people can be awesome was fantastically Who-ian. Ianto's family protecting the entire estate's kids; the military chick turning on her employers; even Frobisher's secretary managed to make sure that the worst thing she couldn't prevent would not disappear into history. I stop short of saying I forgave Frobisher for all his doings, but I did sympathize and approve of his last actions. Not until the PM punished him for approving of this the last time did I realize it wasn't really his fault. He did bring this about by caving the last time, but he made that decision as a barter--kids for a vaccine. (HELLO, WRITERS, YOU DO NOT USE ANTI-VIRUS. YOU HAVE ANTI-VIRAL DRUGS AND VACCINES FOR DISEASES. ANTI-VIRUS IS COMPUTER SOFTWARE.) He didn't pick this strategy--the cabinet and the PM did. He told them they should do what the aliens said, yes, but in the end he did bad work ordered by another. It's not an excuse and never will be, but you can see how unfairly the blame fell on him in a lot of ways, too. Which is why I loved the secretary eulogizing him. Because she's right: he'll be the monster in history if ever it is written when the monster was really self-interest above and beyond his pay grade.
Jack really can't come back from this, as we discussed. As you say, he is sociopathic, but not completely so. He's a needs justify means sort of guy with an ends-are-going-to-make-me-suffer, so-it's-okay-that-I-did-that sort of writing behind him. If the writers are smart, they won't forgive him this time. For all that Stephen was a bit player, the intimacy of the betrayal is too much. Nothing trumps the murder of a child, and nothing fixes it. If Jack came back, he'd have to be unceremoniously dumped in a cell. Forever. He can be Hannibal Lector to the new Torchwood, if ever they get back on their feet.
Given his end, I really think avoiding fandom until it susses itself out past immediate "FIX THIS!" mode is the best way to go. Will it survive? Possibly not. But maybe it just needs to prove there's anywhere to go from here. Because it really, really doesn't feel like there's anything left.
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