'you can't always get what you want'
Sooooooo.......John Barrowman has been heavily campaigning to get Captain Jack Harkness back on Doctor Who. A wee bit interesting, since, when Tennant left and Smith took over, Barrowman made a comment about Ten's being his Doctor and he'd feel as if he were "cheating" on him if he appeared with Smith's Doctor. Apparently, times--and job opportunities--have changed.
I loved Captain Jack in his first DW appearance. The character was immediately engaging: hilariously funny, for one thing (his exchanges with Nine about the banana and the screwdriver make me laugh, no matter how many times I hear the dialogue--the lines are comedy gold, and Barrowman and Eccelston are about as perfect as possible in delivering the lines and playing off each other); also, mysterious (who is, Jack, exactly?); and sympathetic (he's a con man, but one with a conscience, which results in his redemption). Great character.
And then Torchwood. In the first episode, there are more than a few moments of his being, inexplicably, a jerk (well, inexplicable, except that it's Russell T Davies' episode); still, there's the charisma and the humor, as well as Barrowman's noteworthy ability to be self aware and not lose the charm--seriously, at this point in the character, Jack/Barrowman is almost ridiculously beautiful, and Barrowman captures both the ridiculousness and the beauty. After that episode, Jack becomes even more interesting and engaging, as he gradually loses Davies' his obsession with the increasingly obnoxious Gwen and becomes involved with Ianto.
The possibilities were endless, then. Without Rusty's hovering over the series, TW was finding its voice in the second season, and Jack was fascinating.
Then came "Children of Earth"........................................Oh, God. insert eyerolls, ad infinitum. Rusty takes over, and he destroys Jack. What he does to the character makes no sense whatsoever--except, in view of the fact that Rusty always wanted Gwen to be the star of the show (by the end of CoE, she, too, is a total idiot, but that's another issue). What Rusty has Jack do in the end of CoE is not remotely like anything Jack would've done in any previous version of the character--especially, going back to the template established in "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances."
I never watched "Miracle Day"--I mean...Why? CoE destroyed the characterizations established in TW; I'm too old to waste my time watching TV shows about characters I loathe.......
The one hope for the character of Captain Jack Harkness is that, somehow, Moffat can repair what Rusty did to the character, and so Jack could be in the current DW. After all, Moffat did fix a lot of Rusty's nihilistic absurdity; maybe he can pull off this miracle. However, in the meantime.....Find another job, Barrowman. Rusty set Jack on fire and buried him--it's over.
I loved Captain Jack in his first DW appearance. The character was immediately engaging: hilariously funny, for one thing (his exchanges with Nine about the banana and the screwdriver make me laugh, no matter how many times I hear the dialogue--the lines are comedy gold, and Barrowman and Eccelston are about as perfect as possible in delivering the lines and playing off each other); also, mysterious (who is, Jack, exactly?); and sympathetic (he's a con man, but one with a conscience, which results in his redemption). Great character.
And then Torchwood. In the first episode, there are more than a few moments of his being, inexplicably, a jerk (well, inexplicable, except that it's Russell T Davies' episode); still, there's the charisma and the humor, as well as Barrowman's noteworthy ability to be self aware and not lose the charm--seriously, at this point in the character, Jack/Barrowman is almost ridiculously beautiful, and Barrowman captures both the ridiculousness and the beauty. After that episode, Jack becomes even more interesting and engaging, as he gradually loses Davies' his obsession with the increasingly obnoxious Gwen and becomes involved with Ianto.
The possibilities were endless, then. Without Rusty's hovering over the series, TW was finding its voice in the second season, and Jack was fascinating.
Then came "Children of Earth"........................................Oh, God. insert eyerolls, ad infinitum. Rusty takes over, and he destroys Jack. What he does to the character makes no sense whatsoever--except, in view of the fact that Rusty always wanted Gwen to be the star of the show (by the end of CoE, she, too, is a total idiot, but that's another issue). What Rusty has Jack do in the end of CoE is not remotely like anything Jack would've done in any previous version of the character--especially, going back to the template established in "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances."
I never watched "Miracle Day"--I mean...Why? CoE destroyed the characterizations established in TW; I'm too old to waste my time watching TV shows about characters I loathe.......
The one hope for the character of Captain Jack Harkness is that, somehow, Moffat can repair what Rusty did to the character, and so Jack could be in the current DW. After all, Moffat did fix a lot of Rusty's nihilistic absurdity; maybe he can pull off this miracle. However, in the meantime.....Find another job, Barrowman. Rusty set Jack on fire and buried him--it's over.