Anatomy of Janto
Anatomy of Janto
Honestly, looking back, I think Janto was supposed be a tease. In every other series, the main couple never gets together right off the bat. In Bones, it took six seasons for Brennan and Booth to finally sleep together. In SG-1, Jack and Sam hooked up off screen around season eight.
What happened in the intervening seasons? Booth had Cam, Rebecca, Tessa, and Hannah, while Brennan had Sully, Jared, and Zeta. Sam had Pete, Martouf, Fifth(in his dreams), Orlin, Narim, Joe Faxon, Jonas Hanson, Agent Barett, and Lantash, while Jack had an offworld girlfriend here and there.
What happened in Torchwood? Jack and Ianto are together by mid-first season. The writers never intended for them to be a real couple. They were supposed to be a place holder while Gwack was drawn out. We were supposed to react with dismay when Jack and Ianto got together, maybe send Gareth David Lloyd threatening letter like all the rabid fans before us(I’m looking at you Sam/Jack SG-1 fans). But instead, the majority of us embraced Janto.
And why shouldn’t we have? We had two broken and battered people join together to try and forge some sort of meaningful life. Jack, an immortal who was old beyond his years even before he met the Doctor, and Ianto, a survivor of a horrific disaster that resulted in the deaths of over seven hundred people. Why would we want Jack to choose Gwen? Because broken people need to be fixed? Because it takes a normal, ordinary woman to fix a man damaged beyond all repair? No. Gwen can’t fix Jack. Jack’s never going to be a happy normal man, whether he gets Gwen in the end or not. That doesn’t mean he can’t live a fulfilling life with someone he cares about. But that person is never going to be Gwen. What does Gwen know about the pain Jack’s gone through? At least Ianto has had a glimpse of true pain. He can on some level understand just what happen to make Jack who he is today.
Gwen’s naive. She worked for the police, was in her late twenties and still didn’t understand just what evil humans were capable of. When it was finally thrown in her face, did she deal with the knowledge in a healthy manner? No. She went and had an affair, which she turned around and blamed on everyone but herself. She shows signs of breaking after the modest mess she makes of her personal life, how would she survive a relationship with Jack? Would Jack always have to hide when something was bothering him? That makes for a one-sided relationship.
Ianto’s strength is obvious. He survives the massacre of Canary Warf, then proceeds to con his way into Torchwood 3 in an attempt to save the life of the woman he loves. When that fails, and she dies, what does Ianto do? He goes back to work. There’s no onscreen evidence of a suspension. Jack still has a busted lip, which Ianto gave him after Lisa was fed to Myfanwy, when Ianto returns to the Hub to resume his duties. Ianto survives. He should be too broken to even function, yet he does.
Jack has lost everything important in his life. His brother, his parents, two years of memories, Rose Tyler, and Estelle, all gone. It’s touted that he needs an ordinary woman to heal these wounds, but why Gwen? Gwen, a twenty-first century woman, must help a fifty-first century man recover from things she can’t even imagine? Despite a culture gap of three millennia, Jack can only desire the life lived by a woman in a culture that by his standards are primitive? What bonds them? With Ianto, it’s a very basic understanding, one based on loss. With Gwen, there’s nothing.
Maybe Gwen has a bit of Rose in her, but is that a good thing? A woman pushing thirty reminds him heavily of a teenage girl? What was it, the wonder Gwen felt at all the new things she experienced with Torchwood? Wonder fades, especially if, as Suzie said, the Rift only drops scum and garbage in Cardiff. Then where will the relationship be? If it was a youthful spirit that draws Jack to Gwen, he’s going to be sorely disappointed when she loses it.
With Gwen, Jack gets an ideal, a wide eyed innocent untouched by his world. When his world eats her alive, he’ll be left with an empty shell of what she use to be, because Gwen hasn’t shown the strength needed to survive it intact. With Ianto, Jack gets an equal. Ianto’s stood though the muck and the horror, he’s lost his world twice over and kept going. He could stand by Jack’s side until the end and I don’t think either of them would regret it.
And in the end, none of that matters. Because Ianto’s dead, clearing the way for the writers to pursue their endgame of Jack/Gwen. Does it matter that this great love story they’re weaving is hopelessly simplistic and tired beyond all reason? Not to them. Does it matter that they had a great love story that was complex and inspiring, and then shunted it away for the sake of easy drama? Not in their minds.
Now, it doesn’t really make me angry anymore. Just sad about what could have been. I loved the character of Jack Harkness. He did what was necessary, even when it horrified him and those around him. I loved Ianto Jones. He carried on when things were horrible. He gave me hope that if one kept moving, things would get better in the end. Instead, he’s gone because of one stupid move. All that’s left is Gwen, happy, normal Gwen. Gwen who gets her husband, her daughter, and in the end, she’ll get Jack too. Someone who’s never really had to work for anything, only to have everything handed to her anyway.