I absolutely adored this episode, despite all the disturbing elements.
Not happy with Gwen at all (though Eve did a great job in those scenes). I can understand the whole Jack or my baby dilemma and I don't condemn her for wanting to protect her child.
What I can't get past, though, is the way she treated him and talked down to him the whole time she was doing it. After everything he's done for her in the past and all the sacrifices he's made, that just really rubbed me the wrong way and I hope we get some resolution next week, but I'm not holding my breath given the show's history.
I actually have an easier time understanding his forgiving Angelo for his actions, as horrible as they were, than many of his other acts of forgiveness. Not happy about the whole stabbing thing, of course, but he was clearly out of his mind and by the time he came to his senses it was too late and the fanatics were in control.
Those scenes were so brutal - and it explains so much: why Ianto's betrayal in CW hit him so profoundly, why he was so careful not to reveal his immortality to anyone on the team, etc. Also adds even more layers of awful to the thought of what he went through on the Valiant.
The parting scene with Angelo just broke my heart. Oh my poor broken Jack!
I loved Esther and Rex to the rescue and Rex's 'next time just ask for help' line.
I can understand Gwen completely. She knows Jack - probably better than anyone else except the Doctor at this stage. She knows that, even though he loves her and would do anything to protect her if it were possible, he also wouldn't think twice about lying to her, deceiving her and even manipulating her if it were in his interests. She's seen him do it.
But, if you look at what she says here, she's torn. First she blames him for everything, and then she blames herself. She's not thinking clearly, and who would be in this situation? People say things they don't mean - and, yes, they both said afterwards that they meant what they said, but I'm not so sure they meant all of it. Jack wants to live, yes - but I think he would have died to save Gwen's family. He seemed resigned to it on the mesa, and he certainly didn't seem to hate her for it.
As for Angelo, I have less tolerance for him, because although the whole immortality thing was new to him Jack hadn't betrayed or hurt him. I'm now wondering if his rescue of Jack in the end was motivated by 'how can I make money out of this?'. Dunno. Certainly the revelation at the end suggests that Angelo wasn't as innocent as Jack might have thought.
But, yes, I agree: Rex's line about 'next time just ask' was brilliant :)
Oh I have no doubt he would've given himself up for them if she'd gone to him for help rather than just tazering him and tying him up. There's a big difference between being a willing sacrifice and being a lamb led to the slaughter.
I'm very interested to see what's going on with Angelo.
I don't really think he came back for nefarious purposes. He was clearly horrified by what was happening in that shop, but if he'd tried to stop them at that point, he'd have likely been killed and poor Jack never would've escaped.
I get the distinct impression he had some emotional issues before Jack ever met him, then he spent a year in Attica right after watching Jack die in front of him (why the hell the cops felt the need to shoot Jack or send him to that hellhole, I'll never know), then Jack just pops up alive and well and I think he snapped.
Obviously, I'm not at all happy with him about it and I think Jack was smart to leave him behind, but I can't help but wonder what might've happened if Jack had given him some advance warning (not necessarily 'I can't die', but just some kind of 'don't believe everything you see' line and chalk it up to "magical" Torchwood) or even wrote to him first rather than just popping up out of the blue.
Reminds me of the Doctor and his 'I'm in the middle of regenerating, maybe I should say something about that to my terrified companion'. *rolls eyes*
What I want to know is did he become obsessed with finding Jack and go looking for something to extend his life? Is he actually behind the Miracle, or just caught up in it - can't believe the Triangle!Men would be all that happy with him for letting their property get away. There are so many possibilities.
Not happy with Gwen at all (though Eve did a great job in those scenes). I can understand the whole Jack or my baby dilemma and I don't condemn her for wanting to protect her child.
What I can't get past, though, is the way she treated him and talked down to him the whole time she was doing it. After everything he's done for her in the past and all the sacrifices he's made, that just really rubbed me the wrong way and I hope we get some resolution next week, but I'm not holding my breath given the show's history.
I actually have an easier time understanding his forgiving Angelo for his actions, as horrible as they were, than many of his other acts of forgiveness. Not happy about the whole stabbing thing, of course, but he was clearly out of his mind and by the time he came to his senses it was too late and the fanatics were in control.
Those scenes were so brutal - and it explains so much: why Ianto's betrayal in CW hit him so profoundly, why he was so careful not to reveal his immortality to anyone on the team, etc. Also adds even more layers of awful to the thought of what he went through on the Valiant.
The parting scene with Angelo just broke my heart. Oh my poor broken Jack!
I loved Esther and Rex to the rescue and Rex's 'next time just ask for help' line.
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But, if you look at what she says here, she's torn. First she blames him for everything, and then she blames herself. She's not thinking clearly, and who would be in this situation? People say things they don't mean - and, yes, they both said afterwards that they meant what they said, but I'm not so sure they meant all of it. Jack wants to live, yes - but I think he would have died to save Gwen's family. He seemed resigned to it on the mesa, and he certainly didn't seem to hate her for it.
As for Angelo, I have less tolerance for him, because although the whole immortality thing was new to him Jack hadn't betrayed or hurt him. I'm now wondering if his rescue of Jack in the end was motivated by 'how can I make money out of this?'. Dunno. Certainly the revelation at the end suggests that Angelo wasn't as innocent as Jack might have thought.
But, yes, I agree: Rex's line about 'next time just ask' was brilliant :)
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I'm very interested to see what's going on with Angelo.
I don't really think he came back for nefarious purposes. He was clearly horrified by what was happening in that shop, but if he'd tried to stop them at that point, he'd have likely been killed and poor Jack never would've escaped.
I get the distinct impression he had some emotional issues before Jack ever met him, then he spent a year in Attica right after watching Jack die in front of him (why the hell the cops felt the need to shoot Jack or send him to that hellhole, I'll never know), then Jack just pops up alive and well and I think he snapped.
Obviously, I'm not at all happy with him about it and I think Jack was smart to leave him behind, but I can't help but wonder what might've happened if Jack had given him some advance warning (not necessarily 'I can't die', but just some kind of 'don't believe everything you see' line and chalk it up to "magical" Torchwood) or even wrote to him first rather than just popping up out of the blue.
Reminds me of the Doctor and his 'I'm in the middle of regenerating, maybe I should say something about that to my terrified companion'. *rolls eyes*
What I want to know is did he become obsessed with finding Jack and go looking for something to extend his life? Is he actually behind the Miracle, or just caught up in it - can't believe the Triangle!Men would be all that happy with him for letting their property get away. There are so many possibilities.
None of which are good for poor Jack. :(
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