Torchwood 2.2: Sleeper
I haven't seen any reaction yet, but my initial reaction is that this was a great episode :-) Major highlights for me:
- There was an actual plot and it was a good, strong plot.
- Beth wasn't what I was expecting and I really liked that.
- The episode was unresolved in a way, setting up something for future episodes.
- This is the second episode that could trigger a season arc and I love the idea of not tying up everything neatly every week.
- Gwen was not annoying, in fact I quite liked her.
- Owen was not annoying again.
- Tosh got stuff to do.
- That lovely moment between Gwen and Ianto after they put Beth in the freezer. I loved the unspoken nature of their friendship when Ianto just had to hold out his arm and Gwen took it.
- Jack. 'Nuff said.
Beth was a great character. She was engaging and sympathetic, making you feel for her and the dilemma she faced. I kept expecting her to turn around and become the alien thing and you could see that there were times when she was fighting hard to stay Beth, but she kept her humanity and struggled on. Once we'd had the sleeper thing revealed and explained I could predict a few bits of the plot. Some elements were inevitable. The great thing was that the Beth part of the plot didn't go in the way that I expected, Torchwood didn't have to hunt her down and even at the end it was about Beth retaining her humanity before the alien won out.
The only quibble: hiding nuclear warheads in a coal mine in Wales? Really? *snort*
There were some lovely details in this episode. Jack's conversation with Gwen at the end was pitched just right. I felt like they were becoming good friends and there wasn't that slightly uncomfortable feeling to their scene the way there was last week. When Jack asked about the wedding I felt like he was being polite and then remember exactly why it's a bad idea to ask a woman about her wedding, which was why he cut her off. There isn't that brother-sister thing that I get from Jack's relationship with Tosh, but it's more of a friendship between equals than it was.
Owen still got to be a bit of a pratt at times a more likeable pratt than he used to be. How much did I love that "let's all have sex" moment and Ianto's reaction? Heh.
I also loved the radio sequence and, in fact, all the little comedic moments. They've definitely got the hang of humour to lighten things without detracting from the drama of the scenes. And Ianto got all the best lines :-)
Speaking of Ianto, in that scene near the end just before Beth and Gwen had their chat, did anyone else get the feeling that Ianto was going to tell Jack off about something? Jack seemed to spot Ianto and got that "better escape now" look and the next shot was Ianto heading rather purposefully towards Jack with a slightly irritated expression. I wonder what happened. Was Ianto annoying with Jack for nearly getting himself killed again? Irritated about having to repair the big hole in his coat? Interesting thing to speculate on. ETA: Apparently Ianto was holding the antenna from the SUV at the time. I guess he's not happy about the damage and needed to have words with Jack about it. Except Jack hadn't progressed with dressing at all in the time they were off-screen together...
I also loved the bedside manner conversation. Heh. Wonder what Ianto was going reveal about Jack's bad bed manners? Gwen's "I've heard, um," with regard to Jack's manners in bed makes me wonder whether someone has been gossiping or whether she in fact has personal knowledge. It was an odd sort of denial, just the wording and tone, that made it hard for me to read it as a joke.
On the evidence of the first two episodes of this season, the writing seems much stronger and the characters are functioning much better together. I'm loving my shiny, silly show :-)