TW Series 3 reaction
I made it through Day 4 without comment, but the urge has grown!
My assiduous attempts to avoid being spoiled paid off, and I have been completely surprised by the major developments.
Jack's daughter is awesome, though her existence does blow my Time-Agents-are-sterilized-to-avoid-timeline-disruption theory out of the water. Jack's willingness to con her into letting him use her son and Jack's willingness to hand over the children in the 60's I actually quite liked. I like the contrast between Jack's hard, ruthless side and his bighearted, caring side. Makes him a better character. I'm not interested in turning him into the 'perfect man', but I am interested in his journey.
Jack's death by bomb and horrific reanimation were awesome, as was the being encased in cement and of course NAKED JACK! It was all like the whumping torture-Jack fanfic that I like, complete with artfully restrained NAKED JACK. That made my week right there.
There was nice Jack/Ianto development, though was that really the first time Ianto realized that Jack would go on living forever? They'd never talked about that before? Really?
So Ianto. Okay, I'll admit that I'm not a Janto fan, but I like Ianto well enough. I didn't want to lose him, especially so soon after losing Tosh and Owen. That was a bit much. I don't think it's sunk in completely yet, because they could still bring him back in the last ep. They totally could.
Ianto's death was an unpleasant surprise, but I'll take my life in my hands and say that the melodramatic death scene actually made me cringe and hope it was over soon. Seems like most people liked it/cried about it, but I felt embarrassed for them - enough said. And after how many times Jack has said, "I'll be back" and gone off to handle things on his own, THIS TIME he decides to take Ianto with him? After everything Jack knows about the 456, he thought that they would just give up and go away? It doesn't seem like a very good plan Torchwood had, though well meaning.
What DID make me cry was the scene where the politicians were discussing choosing the lowest achievers to be sacrificed. Honestly, it hurt so much I burst into tears. All the more because that's probably exactly how it would happen. I think god, the British are brave. To write, direct, act, and broadcast a scene of such devastating honesty. It's hard to imagine that happening in the US.
I like Gwen well enough in this, but have no strong feelings about her. Developing her into a cool as a cucumber super competent special-ops type is one thing that's kind of obvious and mainstream about the series. Sort of the Samantha Carter effect. Rhys has a great humanizing influence on her - I still think he's awesome! I have trouble imagining Gwen and Rhys staying with Torchwood after this. They should pack it in and move to India or somewhere, where it's safe.
Small stuff: It seems totally unlikely that the Doctor wouldn't show up - this is exactly the kind of thing he steps in on. And Martha should be in the middle of it. I know they had reasons for not having those characters in this series, but I hope they explain it somehow, if not in Torchwood then in Doctor Who. And big frown that the Hub is gone. Seems a shame to have a great big sci-fi secret base (and great set) and completely wreck it. AND it looks like Jack's wrist computer is gone. It could very easily have been on the wrist of the arm they found in the rubble, but no. It seems like gratuitous getting rid of fun stuff that gives potential for future development.
Thanks for letting me get that out of my system! Now I can stop obsessing do other things until I can see the conclusion.
Edit post Day FIve: Wow. Just wow. I said I liked the darker side of Jack, but we may have gone too far. I have loved Torchwood. I may not anymore. I don't think there's enough fix-it fic in the world to fix this. It's over, and I'm crying now.
My assiduous attempts to avoid being spoiled paid off, and I have been completely surprised by the major developments.
Jack's daughter is awesome, though her existence does blow my Time-Agents-are-sterilized-to-avoid-timeline-disruption theory out of the water. Jack's willingness to con her into letting him use her son and Jack's willingness to hand over the children in the 60's I actually quite liked. I like the contrast between Jack's hard, ruthless side and his bighearted, caring side. Makes him a better character. I'm not interested in turning him into the 'perfect man', but I am interested in his journey.
Jack's death by bomb and horrific reanimation were awesome, as was the being encased in cement and of course NAKED JACK! It was all like the whumping torture-Jack fanfic that I like, complete with artfully restrained NAKED JACK. That made my week right there.
There was nice Jack/Ianto development, though was that really the first time Ianto realized that Jack would go on living forever? They'd never talked about that before? Really?
So Ianto. Okay, I'll admit that I'm not a Janto fan, but I like Ianto well enough. I didn't want to lose him, especially so soon after losing Tosh and Owen. That was a bit much. I don't think it's sunk in completely yet, because they could still bring him back in the last ep. They totally could.
Ianto's death was an unpleasant surprise, but I'll take my life in my hands and say that the melodramatic death scene actually made me cringe and hope it was over soon. Seems like most people liked it/cried about it, but I felt embarrassed for them - enough said. And after how many times Jack has said, "I'll be back" and gone off to handle things on his own, THIS TIME he decides to take Ianto with him? After everything Jack knows about the 456, he thought that they would just give up and go away? It doesn't seem like a very good plan Torchwood had, though well meaning.
What DID make me cry was the scene where the politicians were discussing choosing the lowest achievers to be sacrificed. Honestly, it hurt so much I burst into tears. All the more because that's probably exactly how it would happen. I think god, the British are brave. To write, direct, act, and broadcast a scene of such devastating honesty. It's hard to imagine that happening in the US.
I like Gwen well enough in this, but have no strong feelings about her. Developing her into a cool as a cucumber super competent special-ops type is one thing that's kind of obvious and mainstream about the series. Sort of the Samantha Carter effect. Rhys has a great humanizing influence on her - I still think he's awesome! I have trouble imagining Gwen and Rhys staying with Torchwood after this. They should pack it in and move to India or somewhere, where it's safe.
Small stuff: It seems totally unlikely that the Doctor wouldn't show up - this is exactly the kind of thing he steps in on. And Martha should be in the middle of it. I know they had reasons for not having those characters in this series, but I hope they explain it somehow, if not in Torchwood then in Doctor Who. And big frown that the Hub is gone. Seems a shame to have a great big sci-fi secret base (and great set) and completely wreck it. AND it looks like Jack's wrist computer is gone. It could very easily have been on the wrist of the arm they found in the rubble, but no. It seems like gratuitous getting rid of fun stuff that gives potential for future development.
Thanks for letting me get that out of my system! Now I can stop obsessing do other things until I can see the conclusion.
Edit post Day FIve: Wow. Just wow. I said I liked the darker side of Jack, but we may have gone too far. I have loved Torchwood. I may not anymore. I don't think there's enough fix-it fic in the world to fix this. It's over, and I'm crying now.