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Torchwood (again)
A mixture of my reactions and a few Thoughts.
Jack - cannot seem to relate to anyone (except possibly Owen, though I wouldn't bet on it) in a not-sexual manner. (His instant sympathy for the Creature was right in theory but... I dunno, it didn't really convince me.) Note his instant there-be-sex-here interaction with Rhys's assistant. The too-close-to-Gwen stuff... it's as if he really doesn't know how to get through to anyone except on a sexual wavelength, when what he needs to do is Be The Boss and Make The Right Decisions. This ought to be his downfall one of these days, it'd be good for him. Although the "This is quite homo-erotic" line left me gasping for breath, I was laughing so hard.
Owen - surely not as oblivious as he seemed. He ain't stoopid. I think he knew exactly what Tosh was trying to say, and was deliberately ignoring her for (good?) reasons of his own. He hasn't been such a bastard this season, and I'd like to think that's going to continue. OTOH, good for Tosh for actually asking him out instead of mooning about the place... even though she did get very tentative and doormatty about it. She was a much stronger person last week.
Rhys - *loves!* A Decent Bloke, much better person than any of the Torchwood crew. Hit with first dismay (My lorry crashed), then distress (My driver/mate is dead) and then shock (That's my girl over there), and I liked his reactions throughout. Bit of a blunder, script-wise, over him *seeing an alien* and still hotly refusing to believe Gwen was serious when she told him what her job was, but I think not entirely unbelievable. I mean, if I saw something that could only be explained by "It's an alien life form", I'm still not sure I'd believe it. I'd want there to be another explanation - a hoax, or, there are more things in heaven and earth, etc. But there ought to have been a bit of some kind of rationalisation in the script, I think. The argument was great, and his scene at the end was made of love. I was, in fact, shouting at the tv "do not give him the drug", and it was such a relief when Gwen decided she wasn't prepared to do that. (And if they retconned him, how to explain the wound?) I like tv that gets me so involved I have to shout at the telly.
But should the villains of the piece have been retconned? If it's wrong to give the stuff to Rhys - and it is - then... It's still a very dubious moral issue - I can see the impracticality of taking the villains to court, but to relieve them of all knowledge of what they'd done? Don't like it at all. Dammit, make people take the consequences of their own bad behaviour! And how were they going to explain the bags of money - did Big-Ears give them a birthday present?
Besides, in practical terms, if aliens are among us, wouldn't it be better for Torchwood and for Earth if a few more of the civilian population were aware of them? Torchwood hardly qualifies as a secret organisation these days, not when (in 2:01) old ladies on the street can see them pursuing aliens hurtling past in fast cars, and shake their heads and mutter about it. So the retcon... handy narrative re-set device, but not actually the practical thing for Torchwood to be doling out right, left and centre.
Not convinced the team could find a way to incinerate a giant meatbeast in the time it took for Owen to patch Rhys up, either, but that's a minor issue. Perhaps they burned the warehouse to the ground? (Reprehensible visions of giant barbecue...)
Ianto - not *quite* such perfect Ianto-commentary in this episode as in others of late, as the whale lines didn't all work, for me, but not far off. We could release a single, indeed. I loved his first interaction with a villain - looking as though he was about to pull a Health and Safety Inspector's ID card out of his pocket, and tazering the guy instead. And his ruthless and timely tazerings later gave me much, much joy. Go, Ianto! I loved the way his relationship with Jack was an unspoken mirror for the 'loud' emotions expressed between Gwen and Rhys (by 'loud' meaning 'unsubtle', but not in a bad way).
I liked this a lot. I liked it for the way it grabbed at my emotions and made me react with laughter, satisfaction, worry, pity, fear... Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Jack - cannot seem to relate to anyone (except possibly Owen, though I wouldn't bet on it) in a not-sexual manner. (His instant sympathy for the Creature was right in theory but... I dunno, it didn't really convince me.) Note his instant there-be-sex-here interaction with Rhys's assistant. The too-close-to-Gwen stuff... it's as if he really doesn't know how to get through to anyone except on a sexual wavelength, when what he needs to do is Be The Boss and Make The Right Decisions. This ought to be his downfall one of these days, it'd be good for him. Although the "This is quite homo-erotic" line left me gasping for breath, I was laughing so hard.
Owen - surely not as oblivious as he seemed. He ain't stoopid. I think he knew exactly what Tosh was trying to say, and was deliberately ignoring her for (good?) reasons of his own. He hasn't been such a bastard this season, and I'd like to think that's going to continue. OTOH, good for Tosh for actually asking him out instead of mooning about the place... even though she did get very tentative and doormatty about it. She was a much stronger person last week.
Rhys - *loves!* A Decent Bloke, much better person than any of the Torchwood crew. Hit with first dismay (My lorry crashed), then distress (My driver/mate is dead) and then shock (That's my girl over there), and I liked his reactions throughout. Bit of a blunder, script-wise, over him *seeing an alien* and still hotly refusing to believe Gwen was serious when she told him what her job was, but I think not entirely unbelievable. I mean, if I saw something that could only be explained by "It's an alien life form", I'm still not sure I'd believe it. I'd want there to be another explanation - a hoax, or, there are more things in heaven and earth, etc. But there ought to have been a bit of some kind of rationalisation in the script, I think. The argument was great, and his scene at the end was made of love. I was, in fact, shouting at the tv "do not give him the drug", and it was such a relief when Gwen decided she wasn't prepared to do that. (And if they retconned him, how to explain the wound?) I like tv that gets me so involved I have to shout at the telly.
But should the villains of the piece have been retconned? If it's wrong to give the stuff to Rhys - and it is - then... It's still a very dubious moral issue - I can see the impracticality of taking the villains to court, but to relieve them of all knowledge of what they'd done? Don't like it at all. Dammit, make people take the consequences of their own bad behaviour! And how were they going to explain the bags of money - did Big-Ears give them a birthday present?
Besides, in practical terms, if aliens are among us, wouldn't it be better for Torchwood and for Earth if a few more of the civilian population were aware of them? Torchwood hardly qualifies as a secret organisation these days, not when (in 2:01) old ladies on the street can see them pursuing aliens hurtling past in fast cars, and shake their heads and mutter about it. So the retcon... handy narrative re-set device, but not actually the practical thing for Torchwood to be doling out right, left and centre.
Not convinced the team could find a way to incinerate a giant meatbeast in the time it took for Owen to patch Rhys up, either, but that's a minor issue. Perhaps they burned the warehouse to the ground? (Reprehensible visions of giant barbecue...)
Ianto - not *quite* such perfect Ianto-commentary in this episode as in others of late, as the whale lines didn't all work, for me, but not far off. We could release a single, indeed. I loved his first interaction with a villain - looking as though he was about to pull a Health and Safety Inspector's ID card out of his pocket, and tazering the guy instead. And his ruthless and timely tazerings later gave me much, much joy. Go, Ianto! I loved the way his relationship with Jack was an unspoken mirror for the 'loud' emotions expressed between Gwen and Rhys (by 'loud' meaning 'unsubtle', but not in a bad way).
I liked this a lot. I liked it for the way it grabbed at my emotions and made me react with laughter, satisfaction, worry, pity, fear... Thoroughly enjoyed it.