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We saw "Reset"! Of course, BBCA had run past the hour, but some kind soul had put the last minute or ninety seconds on YouTube (click this link if you need the last bit too) so that we could see that yes, Owen was really dead.
AAAAHHHHHH! Don't do this to me, Torchwood! I want escape! Not death! Owen is my least favorite character. I don't care. Give him back.
Okay, okay. I couldn't stand it. So I took the easiest cheat there is. I'm not even going to link, so you have to want to do this yourself if you want to know (unless you already get spoilers, or you're ahead of the US on episodes), but I couldn't stand it. I went straight to IMDb to see if that was Burn Gorman's last episode. I'm not giving the answer here. You can look it up if you want. You can also laugh at me for being pathetic. (I will note that Brilliant Husband, however, didn't budge from my shoulder after the YouTube clip ended while I looked up Burn Gorman.)
I haven't posted after every episode, so you get a hodgepodge of my thoughts on the last few. Mostly: I'm still loving it.
"To The Last Man": Oh, Tosh! Oh, Tommy! (Oh, SGA! Who stole whose title?)
"Meat": everyone said it was gross. It wasn't so much gross; it was terribly sad. I didn't quite cry, but I was close. Oh, Jack! You wanted to save it! You did all you could! Oh, Owen! You probably did the best that could be done at the time. I love that Gwen brought Rhys to the Hub. Her refusal to give him retcon helps make up for her terrible awful nearly unforgivable affair with Owen. I liked the little bit where Ianto says they never had a fiancé before, and Tosh says they're all pathetical singles, and Ianto and Jack just give each other a little look.
"Adam": wow. Riveting from first to last (until frelling BBCA cut out a few seconds early!). We couldn't help but notice they put Adam into the opening montage! Yay for detail work! I'd watched the previews (yeah, they give away too much, but I'm a preview addict currently trying to find a recovery program. Wait, I've got one--it's called Brilliant Husband saying, "You told me not to let you watch" and turning the tv off right before the preview for SGA's "Last Man"), so I knew he was up to no good. I think I'd have known he was up to no good anyway, though! Did this remind anyone else of SG-1's "Fifth Man"? Except that there the alien wasn't hurting anyone (not much, anyway). Adam was malicious, and very scary.
I found sweet, neat Owen really awful. (But major points to Burn Gorman for doing a totally different character! Great job!) I felt really bad for him. Adam hadn't just made him "happier," as he claimed. He made him pathetic, a target for derision. I'm not sure how much was for his own amusement, and how much was for distraction: while Owen was pining for Tosh, he wasn't noticing anything odd, and Tosh had her attention split between Adam and poor fawning Owen.
But Gwen--that was even scarier. I didn't know whether she would remember Rhys, and that was horrifying. We had a moment of happiness when she found she could essentially fall in love with him again.
But of course that couldn't last. Of course Ianto keeps a diary. Of course he keeps it at the Hub, because to take it elsewhere would violate security protocols (hey, he had a few lapses about Lisa, but otherwise, security protocols are serious, right?) And of course he notes down interesting artifacts--especially if Jack finds them. I knew when Adam found him with the diary, it would be bad, but I didn't know it would be that bad!
(Interlude: I was interested to note when I went to YouTube looking at bits to see if any contained the final scene with Jack and the box--yes, I know how that sounds--anyway, I was fast-forwarding and discovered the YouTube "Best of Jack and Ianto" clip for this episode contained a number of seconds that we hadn't seen. I couldn't see any rationale, except cutting down the time for commercial. They didn't cut the worst bits, or anything: from what I saw, and my faulty memory of the episode, they cut the moment where Adam says he helped Ianto hide the bodies, and then there's a moment showing the two of them carrying a body between them. Also, I think the BBCA version had Ianto only talk of one murder; in the clip, Jack asks him to describe the second and Ianto starts before Jack shuts off the lie detector.)
I love the way Jack dealt with Ianto here: initially scared, a little angry ("Quit joking around!") but then absolutely immovable: Ianto didn't do these things. Nothing Ianto says will convince him, and the best lie detector ever made won't convince him, so he keeps looking until he finds the answer. He doesn't consider that whatever is wrong with Ianto could really have made him murder women, because that's just not Ianto.
I also love Jack's inflexibility on what Adam has done to Tosh. Tosh still thinks it's love, and I want to send all the Stargate writers and producers who had anything to do with "Hathor" and "Irresistible" to watch the scene where Jack tells Tosh that she did not consent, no matter what she thinks right now. He's right, and continuing a drugged delusion (for that's essentially what it is, whatever the alien's mechanism) isn't free will. He persuades her--doesn't force her--to take the retcon. He doesn't say "rape," but he doesn't have to.
Jack's losing points for having read Ianto's diary at the end. I know he doesn't really remember what happened, so he has no particular concern with violating his team's memories right now--but you just don't do that. Yes, even if you think it's about you, Jack, you don't do it. (Husband says that, having done it, he's right to tip off Ianto that he has; I concur, but still!)
And "Reset"!
Martha totally rules! I was so thrilled to see her! Loved her with all the team! Trading quips with Jack--the only one who can fully keep up! She had Owen totally outgunned. Martha and Gwen: "Are we the only two people on the planet...?" "What're we doing wrong?" Laughing at Jack!
Could not believe that Jack not only asked for a UNIT cap, he told Martha who he wanted it for! But he and Ianto seem to be discreet, although I never thought I'd use "Jack Harkness" and "discreet" in the same sentence! And then Martha had the nerve to ask Ianto about Jack! Ianto got the deer in the headlights look for a moment, and then recovers! "Innovative. Bordering on avant-garde." We howled (and had to run the TiVo back to catch the lines we'd missed). I guess the boys are both happy, and they want to be able to tell someone. I'm glad they're happy. I want it to last.
Hepatitis! Brilliant! You know what's more brilliant? Taping the assassin to the steering wheel of the SUV! Tosh, I love you! Ianto: "You are warped deep inside. How do you even think of these things?"
But Owen! Nooo! Now Martha will feel guilty, because they were rescuing her, whereas if she'd just left the compound as she was supposed to, no one would have been shot! Don't know if we'll see Martha again. Didn't look her up. Can't hear you (la la la).
Questions for discussion!
1. Rhys saw Adam briefly; does that keep him alive in some small way?
1a. Do Rhys and Gwen ever compare notes about those 48 hours?
2. Owen denies sending the flowers at the end of "Adam," but he gives Tosh that funny little smile that we only saw on Geek!Owen previously. Then, in "Reset," he finally agrees to go out with Tosh! Does this mean there are bits of not-quite conscious memory left? Is Adam still affecting them? (Does this mean Tosh feels love for someone she can't remember? Worse, that Ianto feels guilty for horrible crimes he can't quite remember? I was afraid that Gwen might have residual doubts about Rhys, but I hope that's wrong! Do not want!)
3. Has Owen's death saved Tosh from a train wreck? Because if they'd gone on that date (did he really not realize she was asking him on a date? How dense!), more would have followed, and--well, Jack used a line I frequently use while watching shows including Torchwood: "It will end in tears."
4. I said if Tosh and Owen would be a train wreck, Jack and Ianto could be a multi-train pile-up. "No," said BH. "Just street pizza." (Had to ask for a translation. I'm more familiar with "road kill" or "flattened fauna.") Of course, we concluded that after the whole CyberLisa debacle, street pizza might be bit of a relief.
I feel ridiculously torn. I'm not much of a shipper on most shows. Keep your romance off my Stargate shows (those writers can't do it anyway), and Star Trek, for the most part. But Aeryn and John on Farscape, John and Delenn on B5, Max and Logan on Dark Angel (we will not speak of DA s2)--I loved them. Part of me loves Jack and Ianto and wants more! Part of me keeps going, "Jack's the boss. This is just a bad idea!" On the one hand, Jack is the perfect person for Ianto to love, because he can't die. On the other hand, the fact that Ianto needs to love someone who can't die is a measure of how messed up the poor boy is. On the gripping hand (virtual cookie if you identify my source for this phrase!), Ianto seems much happier now! Mopey Ianto of s1 is suddenly confident, kicking the bad guys, wriggling out of ropes, and making hilarious comments! ("We could cut a single." "I know everything. Plus, it's at the bottom of the screen.")
But being romantically involved with the boss is a bad idea. Being romantically involved with Jack is a bad idea.
So--yes, there is a discussion question here--is anyone else a little freaked about Jack and Ianto? Jack is really the boss, and, aside from that nasty little incident where they ganged up on him and Owen killed him, his word is law. They may argue, but then they do what he says (except for Gwen, with the retcon, but she told Jack what she was doing and why, and he did accept it, though not happily).
So, if anyone has borne with me this long--what do YOU think?
AAAAHHHHHH! Don't do this to me, Torchwood! I want escape! Not death! Owen is my least favorite character. I don't care. Give him back.
Okay, okay. I couldn't stand it. So I took the easiest cheat there is. I'm not even going to link, so you have to want to do this yourself if you want to know (unless you already get spoilers, or you're ahead of the US on episodes), but I couldn't stand it. I went straight to IMDb to see if that was Burn Gorman's last episode. I'm not giving the answer here. You can look it up if you want. You can also laugh at me for being pathetic. (I will note that Brilliant Husband, however, didn't budge from my shoulder after the YouTube clip ended while I looked up Burn Gorman.)
I haven't posted after every episode, so you get a hodgepodge of my thoughts on the last few. Mostly: I'm still loving it.
"To The Last Man": Oh, Tosh! Oh, Tommy! (Oh, SGA! Who stole whose title?)
"Meat": everyone said it was gross. It wasn't so much gross; it was terribly sad. I didn't quite cry, but I was close. Oh, Jack! You wanted to save it! You did all you could! Oh, Owen! You probably did the best that could be done at the time. I love that Gwen brought Rhys to the Hub. Her refusal to give him retcon helps make up for her terrible awful nearly unforgivable affair with Owen. I liked the little bit where Ianto says they never had a fiancé before, and Tosh says they're all pathetical singles, and Ianto and Jack just give each other a little look.
"Adam": wow. Riveting from first to last (until frelling BBCA cut out a few seconds early!). We couldn't help but notice they put Adam into the opening montage! Yay for detail work! I'd watched the previews (yeah, they give away too much, but I'm a preview addict currently trying to find a recovery program. Wait, I've got one--it's called Brilliant Husband saying, "You told me not to let you watch" and turning the tv off right before the preview for SGA's "Last Man"), so I knew he was up to no good. I think I'd have known he was up to no good anyway, though! Did this remind anyone else of SG-1's "Fifth Man"? Except that there the alien wasn't hurting anyone (not much, anyway). Adam was malicious, and very scary.
I found sweet, neat Owen really awful. (But major points to Burn Gorman for doing a totally different character! Great job!) I felt really bad for him. Adam hadn't just made him "happier," as he claimed. He made him pathetic, a target for derision. I'm not sure how much was for his own amusement, and how much was for distraction: while Owen was pining for Tosh, he wasn't noticing anything odd, and Tosh had her attention split between Adam and poor fawning Owen.
But Gwen--that was even scarier. I didn't know whether she would remember Rhys, and that was horrifying. We had a moment of happiness when she found she could essentially fall in love with him again.
But of course that couldn't last. Of course Ianto keeps a diary. Of course he keeps it at the Hub, because to take it elsewhere would violate security protocols (hey, he had a few lapses about Lisa, but otherwise, security protocols are serious, right?) And of course he notes down interesting artifacts--especially if Jack finds them. I knew when Adam found him with the diary, it would be bad, but I didn't know it would be that bad!
(Interlude: I was interested to note when I went to YouTube looking at bits to see if any contained the final scene with Jack and the box--yes, I know how that sounds--anyway, I was fast-forwarding and discovered the YouTube "Best of Jack and Ianto" clip for this episode contained a number of seconds that we hadn't seen. I couldn't see any rationale, except cutting down the time for commercial. They didn't cut the worst bits, or anything: from what I saw, and my faulty memory of the episode, they cut the moment where Adam says he helped Ianto hide the bodies, and then there's a moment showing the two of them carrying a body between them. Also, I think the BBCA version had Ianto only talk of one murder; in the clip, Jack asks him to describe the second and Ianto starts before Jack shuts off the lie detector.)
I love the way Jack dealt with Ianto here: initially scared, a little angry ("Quit joking around!") but then absolutely immovable: Ianto didn't do these things. Nothing Ianto says will convince him, and the best lie detector ever made won't convince him, so he keeps looking until he finds the answer. He doesn't consider that whatever is wrong with Ianto could really have made him murder women, because that's just not Ianto.
I also love Jack's inflexibility on what Adam has done to Tosh. Tosh still thinks it's love, and I want to send all the Stargate writers and producers who had anything to do with "Hathor" and "Irresistible" to watch the scene where Jack tells Tosh that she did not consent, no matter what she thinks right now. He's right, and continuing a drugged delusion (for that's essentially what it is, whatever the alien's mechanism) isn't free will. He persuades her--doesn't force her--to take the retcon. He doesn't say "rape," but he doesn't have to.
Jack's losing points for having read Ianto's diary at the end. I know he doesn't really remember what happened, so he has no particular concern with violating his team's memories right now--but you just don't do that. Yes, even if you think it's about you, Jack, you don't do it. (Husband says that, having done it, he's right to tip off Ianto that he has; I concur, but still!)
And "Reset"!
Martha totally rules! I was so thrilled to see her! Loved her with all the team! Trading quips with Jack--the only one who can fully keep up! She had Owen totally outgunned. Martha and Gwen: "Are we the only two people on the planet...?" "What're we doing wrong?" Laughing at Jack!
Could not believe that Jack not only asked for a UNIT cap, he told Martha who he wanted it for! But he and Ianto seem to be discreet, although I never thought I'd use "Jack Harkness" and "discreet" in the same sentence! And then Martha had the nerve to ask Ianto about Jack! Ianto got the deer in the headlights look for a moment, and then recovers! "Innovative. Bordering on avant-garde." We howled (and had to run the TiVo back to catch the lines we'd missed). I guess the boys are both happy, and they want to be able to tell someone. I'm glad they're happy. I want it to last.
Hepatitis! Brilliant! You know what's more brilliant? Taping the assassin to the steering wheel of the SUV! Tosh, I love you! Ianto: "You are warped deep inside. How do you even think of these things?"
But Owen! Nooo! Now Martha will feel guilty, because they were rescuing her, whereas if she'd just left the compound as she was supposed to, no one would have been shot! Don't know if we'll see Martha again. Didn't look her up. Can't hear you (la la la).
Questions for discussion!
1. Rhys saw Adam briefly; does that keep him alive in some small way?
1a. Do Rhys and Gwen ever compare notes about those 48 hours?
2. Owen denies sending the flowers at the end of "Adam," but he gives Tosh that funny little smile that we only saw on Geek!Owen previously. Then, in "Reset," he finally agrees to go out with Tosh! Does this mean there are bits of not-quite conscious memory left? Is Adam still affecting them? (Does this mean Tosh feels love for someone she can't remember? Worse, that Ianto feels guilty for horrible crimes he can't quite remember? I was afraid that Gwen might have residual doubts about Rhys, but I hope that's wrong! Do not want!)
3. Has Owen's death saved Tosh from a train wreck? Because if they'd gone on that date (did he really not realize she was asking him on a date? How dense!), more would have followed, and--well, Jack used a line I frequently use while watching shows including Torchwood: "It will end in tears."
4. I said if Tosh and Owen would be a train wreck, Jack and Ianto could be a multi-train pile-up. "No," said BH. "Just street pizza." (Had to ask for a translation. I'm more familiar with "road kill" or "flattened fauna.") Of course, we concluded that after the whole CyberLisa debacle, street pizza might be bit of a relief.
I feel ridiculously torn. I'm not much of a shipper on most shows. Keep your romance off my Stargate shows (those writers can't do it anyway), and Star Trek, for the most part. But Aeryn and John on Farscape, John and Delenn on B5, Max and Logan on Dark Angel (we will not speak of DA s2)--I loved them. Part of me loves Jack and Ianto and wants more! Part of me keeps going, "Jack's the boss. This is just a bad idea!" On the one hand, Jack is the perfect person for Ianto to love, because he can't die. On the other hand, the fact that Ianto needs to love someone who can't die is a measure of how messed up the poor boy is. On the gripping hand (virtual cookie if you identify my source for this phrase!), Ianto seems much happier now! Mopey Ianto of s1 is suddenly confident, kicking the bad guys, wriggling out of ropes, and making hilarious comments! ("We could cut a single." "I know everything. Plus, it's at the bottom of the screen.")
But being romantically involved with the boss is a bad idea. Being romantically involved with Jack is a bad idea.
So--yes, there is a discussion question here--is anyone else a little freaked about Jack and Ianto? Jack is really the boss, and, aside from that nasty little incident where they ganged up on him and Owen killed him, his word is law. They may argue, but then they do what he says (except for Gwen, with the retcon, but she told Jack what she was doing and why, and he did accept it, though not happily).
So, if anyone has borne with me this long--what do YOU think?
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