KKBB thoughts. Kinda rough.
Too many thoughts, too little time.
OK, first of all - if I look at the episode ruthlessly and logically, then the blowfish is the weakest link. Sure it provides great exposition, but *how* has it learnt all about team Torchwood? (My favourite theory is that it’s telepathic or similar.) And apparently it was working with Capt John (or possibly was after the diamond itself, and working *against* John, who knows?). However - I do not care about any of this, because we had a blowfish driving a sports car! And it was fun and entertaining. :)
Anyway, Team Torchwood. I love how they’ve all gelled together whilst Jack was away, and that they’re fairly competent and have done some growing. To do them by couples, as it were:
Tosh and Owen. I like how Tosh is singled out by John, because she has a tendency to hide, being somewhat shy. She needs some confidence, and hopefully we’ll see her develop some over the season. Owen has already come a long way, realising how futile his philandering is, and wanting to turn a new corner. Will they end up together? I for one wouldn’t mind.
Gwen - is engaged. The scene where she tells Jack is odd - it is suggested pretty strongly that Jack is interested in her, but on the other hand he doesn’t want to break up her relationship with Rhys (maybe he was considering it, but the engagement clearly made him rethink). She very clearly loves Jack (and her “Well no one else will have me,” is one of the most heartbreaking lines I’ve heard), but it’s not simple (“You can’t trust him,” John tells her, and I’d say there’s a good bit of truth in that). It’s kinda like the Doctor/Rose/Mickey triangle, but far grittier and darker.
ETA: Two more ideas: 1) Jack knows that she loves him, and realises how difficult it is for her, but can't do anything about it. 2) Her engagement highlights the fact that he *can't* have a 'normal' relationship with wife & children, because he won't age. (Same problem as The Doctor!)
Then of course we get the Jack/Ianto scene (and talk about two characters nervously tiptoeing around each other!), and I can’t make my mind up if Jack was keeping Ianto ‘in reserve’ as it were, waiting to see how things would pan out with Gwen, or if he’d always intended to try to make his ‘relationship’ with Ianto more offical. Probably hoped for a threesome, who knows? Whatever the case, I approve of the development here. And I love Jack’s comment about how he finds offices exotic - little reminders like that of how he’s really not a part of the ordinary world are great.
Jack... oh Jack. I don’t have much to say about Jack, to be honest - partly because peasant_ wrote some excellent meta that deals with a lot of Jack’s stuff, so I won’t into all of it too. But a lot of it is beautifully encapsulated in this little exchange:
Jack: “I found my Doctor.”
Owen: “Did he fix you?”
I love that it’s Owen (the doctor of the team) who asks. And well - The Doctor couldn’t ‘fix’ Jack in the physical sense, but he *did* give him answers, which I think was what Jack needed. One of the problems with S1 was the fact that Jack was clearly miserable, and had apparently lived though all of the 20th century - but *we* didn’t know why or how... and were thus unable to connect with our main character properly. These problems are all fixed now. :)
And now I’ll indulge in lots of Capt John squee & thoughts - as well as Jack/John stuff of course! (I took notes. And transcribed dialogue and stuff... I hope that trend doesn’t continue, because I really don’t have the time for this level of obsession...) But on with the show:
Captain John’s introduction is... brilliant. /understatement
“Which artery do you normally sever?” has to be one of the most wonderful - and most illuminating - first lines ever. Even before he throws the guy off the roof we know just what kind of man our new character is.
And then comes the Stay/Go scene which made me fall over in delight. Not only did it showcase another side of our antagonist, but it’s also something I’ve not seen before. Beautiful! And talk about owning a scene! The ‘I can do anything I want’ vibe is fabulous - esp because it’s true. Even moreso than vampires, Time Agents have total freedom - if things hot up they can just press a button and be three galaxies away...
And then the hologram! It all just makes me squee far too much! (And apparently The Doctor didn’t switch off that unit *completely*. Interesting.)
Now, the bar where they meet is called ‘bar reunion’. Does anyone know if that is its actual name, or just a sign they put up for the ep? (Presuming it’s a real bar, of course.) ‘Tis brilliant in any case. Anyway, I love everything - the row of glasses on the counter, the screens with the fire (such a perfect backdrop to that kiss! Gah!), the music... a lot of thought went into all of that, and it shows. Just gorgeous.
Now if we for a moment try to do a Buffy-verse comparison, then (in this instant) the best one is making Jack Angel (which makes The Doctor Buffy, hee!) - and John is Darla, trying to tempt our reformed hero back to the dark side!
Loved everything about the bar scene - all the interactions were wonderful and the banter *killed* me! Slashy clichés ftw! ::is still giggling::
Also love the idea of ‘murder rehab’, and Jack’s reaction... he’s falling into an old pattern and then begins to pull himself back. I want to go back and re-watch his firsts eps in S1 of DW, to remind me what he used to be like. Not as psychotic as John, obviously, but only in it for the thrills, the sex and the money.
Adored the reveal that the Time Agency has shut down - I’m praying this will lead to an actual story line, since this always intrigued me:
Jack: Woke up one day when I was working for them - found they'd stolen two years of my memories. I'd like them back.
Rose They stole your memories?
Jack: Two years of my life. No idea what I did. Your friend over their doesn't trust me. And for all I know... he's right not to.
‘The Doctor Dances’
Like Angel, Jack’s past can be tapped for lots of stuff, so I hope they do as much as they can with it!
Oh I also like how the ‘cluster bomb’ story is so obviously a lie - it stops us worrying about the ‘story’ as such, and lets us focus on the characters. Nicely done.
The whole thing about getting all of John’s weapons when they entered the Hub was fabulous! Ianto with the tray made me smile muchly - but especially liked the teeny, tiny gun... Many happy flashbacks to the Trinny and Susannah bots in ‘Bad Wolf’! :)
Now before I get to doing a little delving into Capt. John, just a couple of comments re. the last part of the ep...
Really liked that the diamond turned out to be a bomb - lots of lovely tension all of a sudden (and the stopwatch! Eeee!). Symbolically the ‘Torchwood DNA’ solution is rather groan-worthy, but as an example of quick thinking it works very nicely. So I like it. :)
But - onto Capt Jack’s dark mirror. On paper Capt John looks remarkably similar to Spike... charming & charismatic killer, English accent, zomg hot costume - and yet he’s nothing whatsoever like our favourite bleached blonde vampire. Because for Spike it was always about love. Oh he liked killing people, but when trying to win Buffy he happily switched to saving them instead. (Only talking about unsouled Spike here, obviously.)
Anyway, for Capt John life is (literally) meaningless. I love that it’s Ianto who gets him to talk - Gwen tries asking sly questions, but John barely bothers to answer and just dodges the whole issue. But Ianto - terrified, but angry - gets a response:
Ianto: “Why are you doing this?”
Capt. John: “We’re a cosmic joke, Eyecandy. An accident of chemicals and evolution. The jokes, the sex, it just covers the fact that nothing means anything. And the only consolation - is *money*. Run, Ianto Jones.”
And then comes the confrontation with Jack which is just gorgeous and terribly harsh - there are few things I love more than two characters who know each other really, really well who fight without holding back. (Incidentally, the actors totally sell the instinctive intimacy and familiarity from first moment to last. I love it.)
All of which leads to John pushing Jack off the roof, in an echo of the beginning scene. The image of him looking over the edge, just staring at what he’s done, is... perfect. As is the following moment, when he softly touches Jack’s lips.
“Rehab... didn’t really work.”
What exactly is going through his mind?
Still, he gets on with getting hold of his diamond, and is unfazed by Team Torchwood coming back - until Jack shows up. The absolute terror on John’s face is... words kinda fail me. In world where nothing means anything, where there’s no responsibility, no love - the only absolute is death. To quote ‘Home’:
Connor: There's only one thing that ever changes anything... and that's death. Everything else is just a lie. You can't be saved by a lie. You can't be saved at all.
When life means nothing, endless life truly is a nightmare! And as peasant_ explains so well, here we have Jack as the hero who’s figured it out. Who knows what he’s fighting for, and why:
Capt John: “But what does it cost you? Every time you have to drag yourself back here, how does it feel? All that pain and trauma. Plus, being reborn into this Godforsaken mess, I pity you.”
Capt Jack: “These people; this planet; all the beauty you could never see - that’s what I come back for!”
And it is interesting that we’ve seen Jack’s journey - because when we first encountered him life was mostly meaningless. When he thought he was going to die, this was his reaction:
JACK: Okay. Out of one hundred... exactly how dead am I?
COMPUTER: Termination of Captain Jack Harkness in under two minutes. One hundred percent probability.
JACK: Lovely. Thanks. Good to know the numbers.
COMPUTER: You're welcome.
JACK: Okay then.
JACK: Think we'd better initiate emergency protocol four-one-seven.
COMPUTER: Affirmative.
[And a drink appears on Jack's dashboard. He reaches out to take it, smiling. He sips it]
JACK: Oo, a little too much vermouth. See if I come here again! [He gives a small laugh] Funny thing... last time I was sentenced to death, I ordered four hyper-vodkas for my breakfast. All a bit of a blur after that. Woke up in bed with both my executioners. Hmm, lovely couple. They stayed in touch! [He ponders this] Can't say that about most executioners. [laughs] Anyway. Thanks for everything, computer. It's been great.
Far more graceful than John - but then the circumstances are wildly different...
Then of course there’s the ending... the kiss slays me completely (too many kisses, I just can’t have icons of them all. *is sad*) - Jack’s reaction especially. And the music (as John turns and walks away) is the same as when they first meet... they have theme! *is too fangirly by half*
Anyway, I am now dying to find out who ‘Grey’ is (it was ‘Grey’ right? It’s rather indistinct). The only person we know of from Jack’s past is his friend who was tortured to death, so I’m presuming it isn’t him... but who then? *shakes TV and demands answers*
All in all - I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season and praying that they can keep up the quality.
And that’s all for now! Hope you liked these incredibly rambly thoughts - sorry they’re so jumbled and badly put, most of them.
(Please comment & discuss etc, but I can’t guarantee to get back to anyone. RL is stealing all my compute time, and also I have to write down my AtF thoughts...)
OK, first of all - if I look at the episode ruthlessly and logically, then the blowfish is the weakest link. Sure it provides great exposition, but *how* has it learnt all about team Torchwood? (My favourite theory is that it’s telepathic or similar.) And apparently it was working with Capt John (or possibly was after the diamond itself, and working *against* John, who knows?). However - I do not care about any of this, because we had a blowfish driving a sports car! And it was fun and entertaining. :)
Anyway, Team Torchwood. I love how they’ve all gelled together whilst Jack was away, and that they’re fairly competent and have done some growing. To do them by couples, as it were:
Tosh and Owen. I like how Tosh is singled out by John, because she has a tendency to hide, being somewhat shy. She needs some confidence, and hopefully we’ll see her develop some over the season. Owen has already come a long way, realising how futile his philandering is, and wanting to turn a new corner. Will they end up together? I for one wouldn’t mind.
Gwen - is engaged. The scene where she tells Jack is odd - it is suggested pretty strongly that Jack is interested in her, but on the other hand he doesn’t want to break up her relationship with Rhys (maybe he was considering it, but the engagement clearly made him rethink). She very clearly loves Jack (and her “Well no one else will have me,” is one of the most heartbreaking lines I’ve heard), but it’s not simple (“You can’t trust him,” John tells her, and I’d say there’s a good bit of truth in that). It’s kinda like the Doctor/Rose/Mickey triangle, but far grittier and darker.
ETA: Two more ideas: 1) Jack knows that she loves him, and realises how difficult it is for her, but can't do anything about it. 2) Her engagement highlights the fact that he *can't* have a 'normal' relationship with wife & children, because he won't age. (Same problem as The Doctor!)
Then of course we get the Jack/Ianto scene (and talk about two characters nervously tiptoeing around each other!), and I can’t make my mind up if Jack was keeping Ianto ‘in reserve’ as it were, waiting to see how things would pan out with Gwen, or if he’d always intended to try to make his ‘relationship’ with Ianto more offical. Probably hoped for a threesome, who knows? Whatever the case, I approve of the development here. And I love Jack’s comment about how he finds offices exotic - little reminders like that of how he’s really not a part of the ordinary world are great.
Jack... oh Jack. I don’t have much to say about Jack, to be honest - partly because peasant_ wrote some excellent meta that deals with a lot of Jack’s stuff, so I won’t into all of it too. But a lot of it is beautifully encapsulated in this little exchange:
Jack: “I found my Doctor.”
Owen: “Did he fix you?”
I love that it’s Owen (the doctor of the team) who asks. And well - The Doctor couldn’t ‘fix’ Jack in the physical sense, but he *did* give him answers, which I think was what Jack needed. One of the problems with S1 was the fact that Jack was clearly miserable, and had apparently lived though all of the 20th century - but *we* didn’t know why or how... and were thus unable to connect with our main character properly. These problems are all fixed now. :)
And now I’ll indulge in lots of Capt John squee & thoughts - as well as Jack/John stuff of course! (I took notes. And transcribed dialogue and stuff... I hope that trend doesn’t continue, because I really don’t have the time for this level of obsession...) But on with the show:
Captain John’s introduction is... brilliant. /understatement
“Which artery do you normally sever?” has to be one of the most wonderful - and most illuminating - first lines ever. Even before he throws the guy off the roof we know just what kind of man our new character is.
And then comes the Stay/Go scene which made me fall over in delight. Not only did it showcase another side of our antagonist, but it’s also something I’ve not seen before. Beautiful! And talk about owning a scene! The ‘I can do anything I want’ vibe is fabulous - esp because it’s true. Even moreso than vampires, Time Agents have total freedom - if things hot up they can just press a button and be three galaxies away...
And then the hologram! It all just makes me squee far too much! (And apparently The Doctor didn’t switch off that unit *completely*. Interesting.)
Now, the bar where they meet is called ‘bar reunion’. Does anyone know if that is its actual name, or just a sign they put up for the ep? (Presuming it’s a real bar, of course.) ‘Tis brilliant in any case. Anyway, I love everything - the row of glasses on the counter, the screens with the fire (such a perfect backdrop to that kiss! Gah!), the music... a lot of thought went into all of that, and it shows. Just gorgeous.
Now if we for a moment try to do a Buffy-verse comparison, then (in this instant) the best one is making Jack Angel (which makes The Doctor Buffy, hee!) - and John is Darla, trying to tempt our reformed hero back to the dark side!
Loved everything about the bar scene - all the interactions were wonderful and the banter *killed* me! Slashy clichés ftw! ::is still giggling::
Also love the idea of ‘murder rehab’, and Jack’s reaction... he’s falling into an old pattern and then begins to pull himself back. I want to go back and re-watch his firsts eps in S1 of DW, to remind me what he used to be like. Not as psychotic as John, obviously, but only in it for the thrills, the sex and the money.
Adored the reveal that the Time Agency has shut down - I’m praying this will lead to an actual story line, since this always intrigued me:
Jack: Woke up one day when I was working for them - found they'd stolen two years of my memories. I'd like them back.
Rose They stole your memories?
Jack: Two years of my life. No idea what I did. Your friend over their doesn't trust me. And for all I know... he's right not to.
‘The Doctor Dances’
Like Angel, Jack’s past can be tapped for lots of stuff, so I hope they do as much as they can with it!
Oh I also like how the ‘cluster bomb’ story is so obviously a lie - it stops us worrying about the ‘story’ as such, and lets us focus on the characters. Nicely done.
The whole thing about getting all of John’s weapons when they entered the Hub was fabulous! Ianto with the tray made me smile muchly - but especially liked the teeny, tiny gun... Many happy flashbacks to the Trinny and Susannah bots in ‘Bad Wolf’! :)
Now before I get to doing a little delving into Capt. John, just a couple of comments re. the last part of the ep...
Really liked that the diamond turned out to be a bomb - lots of lovely tension all of a sudden (and the stopwatch! Eeee!). Symbolically the ‘Torchwood DNA’ solution is rather groan-worthy, but as an example of quick thinking it works very nicely. So I like it. :)
But - onto Capt Jack’s dark mirror. On paper Capt John looks remarkably similar to Spike... charming & charismatic killer, English accent, zomg hot costume - and yet he’s nothing whatsoever like our favourite bleached blonde vampire. Because for Spike it was always about love. Oh he liked killing people, but when trying to win Buffy he happily switched to saving them instead. (Only talking about unsouled Spike here, obviously.)
Anyway, for Capt John life is (literally) meaningless. I love that it’s Ianto who gets him to talk - Gwen tries asking sly questions, but John barely bothers to answer and just dodges the whole issue. But Ianto - terrified, but angry - gets a response:
Ianto: “Why are you doing this?”
Capt. John: “We’re a cosmic joke, Eyecandy. An accident of chemicals and evolution. The jokes, the sex, it just covers the fact that nothing means anything. And the only consolation - is *money*. Run, Ianto Jones.”
And then comes the confrontation with Jack which is just gorgeous and terribly harsh - there are few things I love more than two characters who know each other really, really well who fight without holding back. (Incidentally, the actors totally sell the instinctive intimacy and familiarity from first moment to last. I love it.)
All of which leads to John pushing Jack off the roof, in an echo of the beginning scene. The image of him looking over the edge, just staring at what he’s done, is... perfect. As is the following moment, when he softly touches Jack’s lips.
“Rehab... didn’t really work.”
What exactly is going through his mind?
Still, he gets on with getting hold of his diamond, and is unfazed by Team Torchwood coming back - until Jack shows up. The absolute terror on John’s face is... words kinda fail me. In world where nothing means anything, where there’s no responsibility, no love - the only absolute is death. To quote ‘Home’:
Connor: There's only one thing that ever changes anything... and that's death. Everything else is just a lie. You can't be saved by a lie. You can't be saved at all.
When life means nothing, endless life truly is a nightmare! And as peasant_ explains so well, here we have Jack as the hero who’s figured it out. Who knows what he’s fighting for, and why:
Capt John: “But what does it cost you? Every time you have to drag yourself back here, how does it feel? All that pain and trauma. Plus, being reborn into this Godforsaken mess, I pity you.”
Capt Jack: “These people; this planet; all the beauty you could never see - that’s what I come back for!”
And it is interesting that we’ve seen Jack’s journey - because when we first encountered him life was mostly meaningless. When he thought he was going to die, this was his reaction:
JACK: Okay. Out of one hundred... exactly how dead am I?
COMPUTER: Termination of Captain Jack Harkness in under two minutes. One hundred percent probability.
JACK: Lovely. Thanks. Good to know the numbers.
COMPUTER: You're welcome.
JACK: Okay then.
JACK: Think we'd better initiate emergency protocol four-one-seven.
COMPUTER: Affirmative.
[And a drink appears on Jack's dashboard. He reaches out to take it, smiling. He sips it]
JACK: Oo, a little too much vermouth. See if I come here again! [He gives a small laugh] Funny thing... last time I was sentenced to death, I ordered four hyper-vodkas for my breakfast. All a bit of a blur after that. Woke up in bed with both my executioners. Hmm, lovely couple. They stayed in touch! [He ponders this] Can't say that about most executioners. [laughs] Anyway. Thanks for everything, computer. It's been great.
Far more graceful than John - but then the circumstances are wildly different...
Then of course there’s the ending... the kiss slays me completely (too many kisses, I just can’t have icons of them all. *is sad*) - Jack’s reaction especially. And the music (as John turns and walks away) is the same as when they first meet... they have theme! *is too fangirly by half*
Anyway, I am now dying to find out who ‘Grey’ is (it was ‘Grey’ right? It’s rather indistinct). The only person we know of from Jack’s past is his friend who was tortured to death, so I’m presuming it isn’t him... but who then? *shakes TV and demands answers*
All in all - I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season and praying that they can keep up the quality.
And that’s all for now! Hope you liked these incredibly rambly thoughts - sorry they’re so jumbled and badly put, most of them.
(Please comment & discuss etc, but I can’t guarantee to get back to anyone. RL is stealing all my compute time, and also I have to write down my AtF thoughts...)