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Brilliant Husband and I finally saw the end of Torchwood season 1 last night: "Captain Jack Harkness" and "End of Days." Yes, I know virtually everyone else on the Net has already seen those episodes. I'm not going to offer a review. I'm just going to react.
Wow! I've been frustrated with Torchwood, kind of waiting for it to be a better show. I got it. Yes, these two episodes had plot holes bigger than Cardiff, but I'll overlook them--I mean, you can't get through the first couple of episodes of the series if you aren't willing to overlook a lot. (And yes, I wish I could adopt this attitude more towards other shows, most notably Stargate: Atlantis; I still expect people to behave rationally, or at least consistently, there, whereas I've accepted that Torchwood is simply madness, and everyone who works for Torchwood falls victim to insanity sooner or later. Mostly sooner.)
I shed a couple of tears for the original Captain Harkness. The one thing I knew about this episode going in was that the two Jacks shared a kiss, in public. I've seen people say it would be impossible in '41. Normally, I'd say yes. After the sirens, the hiding in the cellar with at least one man groping the woman with him, the slightly jarring appearance of a not-quite-in-uniform American captain with a Japanese woman supposedly working as a decoder--well, I can understand everyone just standing there staring. Then there's a brilliant light, and the American and the Japanese woman disappear without anyone actually seeing them leave, and everyone decides individually and silently that they've had too much of something, and they're just going to let this one slide, especially since they all liked Captain Harkness. They're not accepting it; Tosh is the only one who smiles. They're just letting it go. Within a day, they'll have all forgotten: they'll just remember a hero who looked out for his men and took out three Messerschmidts.
Somewhere amidst all the angst, however, I managed to insert, "Always knew he was a narcissist." Jack can't quite resist himself. The two Jacks are an awful lot alike, aren't they?
I cried for Rhys--well, for Gwen, really. She tried so hard! And half the team shooting each other--gosh, it felt like an episode of Stargate SG-1!
I just have to say: what is with men being held at gunpoint who can't stop mouthing off to the guy holding the gun? (Yes, I'm still having SG-1 flashbacks.) First Owen not only won't believe Ianto will shoot him, he has to insult him. Yow! Gotta hurt! Jack then does the same thing to Owen! Is this some aspect of male discourse I've been fortunate enough to miss until now?
Jack wants a team who work well together. Well, he got one. Oops. Here's Jack, trying to drive a wedge between members of the team. Here is my poster for this Kodak moment:
Here's my husband's:
(Screencap from Demon-Cry: Doctor Who and Torchwood Stills)
I apologize for problems with size and proportion; I'm not sure I'm doin it rite. And stills don't work so well; you have to fill in mentally what happens just after this moment.
I think Jack could have shot either of the men (even though Owen had barely recovered from the Weevil when Ianto shot him, and he certainly hasn't recovered Ianto shooting him). Maybe he could even have shot Tosh, though I'm doubtful. I knew he couldn't shoot Gwen.
Then again, I did not think for a moment Owen could shoot Jack, let alone shoot to kill (or overkill, as the case may be). Gwen fully expects Jack to get back up but doesn't seem to tell the others! They're all off their respective nuts.
When Jack got up but hadn't fully healed and they were dragging him outside, I had another SG-1 flashback: Kane: "Do you ever give up?" Daniel: "Not until I'm dead….And, sometimes, not even then."
Interlude for queries:
1. Did I miss some introduction of the rift manipulator? Have I seen that before? Yes, I took so darned long to watch season 1 that I may have just forgotten. Then again, it's Torchwood; they can throw virtually anything in, and I'll only question it so much.
2. I understand that opening the rift fully undid what the partial opening did. Rhys's body disappears, Romanum ite domum, etc. What I don't understand is how the death of Abydon (SG-1 again?) undid the deaths of all those he'd killed. Did its destruction reseal the rift and plunge us back a short time? If so, why were Jack's body, Gwen, and the SUV still where they'd been? Or were there piles of bodies around Cardiff that no one could explain afterwards and they decided not to show us in the interest of a happy ending?
3. Bilis Manger was really creepy. Was I supposed to get his name? BH said, "Manger--French--eat." Oh, yeah (I might have gotten this sooner except that I first read his name-plate as "Bilis, Manager" and was wondering whether Bilis was a first name or a last name). Is there more to Bilis than "bile"? I keep trying to make some kind of anagram of his full name, but I'm not getting anything. (Maybe there's a middle name I'm missing that will make it all clear!)
Back to the main meanderings.
I knew Jack couldn't die permanently; there'd be no season 2. I still really felt his death(s) at the hands (shadow) of Abydon, and Gwen's horror. (Poor Rhys must be convinced she's unhinged, with her running in like that just moments after she left, from his perspective, telling him to go back to bed and she'll be back, and then not returning for days! He's right, of course: she is unhinged. Poor woman will never be hinged again, but she's probably the best-hinged of the bunch at this point.)
I did feel for Gwen throughout her vigil with the body. But honestly! She said, "I believe"--and I said, "What, now he's Tinkerbell?" Brilliant Husband contributed almost simultaneously, "I believe in fairies." But apparently she had to kiss him as well! I yelled, "What! Now he's Sleeping Beauty?" (Well, actually, I might have said "Snow White"; I get the Disney princesses mixed up.)
The answer, of course, is yes to both: Jack is Tinkerbell and Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.
When Ianto saw Jack, I said, "I can has hugs?" Yes! Hugs and a kiss! And Owen gets hugs and forgiveness! Now that's what I want as catharsis! Can we have more episodes like this, please, instead of only episodes where everybody dies and I feel vaguely sick at the end?
But wait! There's more! Jack vanishes! I would have been truly shocked if I hadn't seen those Doctor Who episodes already!
Endnote:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
or_mabinogi, curse him, has now gotten me into Torchwood Babies: tw_babiez. It's disturbing. Little Ianto with his little doll gives me the creeps (look closely at the doll; Brilliant Husband didn't and didn't see what it was). And yet I find myself demanding, "Where's the next installment? Come on, I'm waiting here!"
The best part is that now we already have a few Torchwood episodes from season 2 waiting for us on TiVo! Yay! [/Kermit the Frog handwaving and voice]
No spoilers, pls! 'k thx bye!
Wow! I've been frustrated with Torchwood, kind of waiting for it to be a better show. I got it. Yes, these two episodes had plot holes bigger than Cardiff, but I'll overlook them--I mean, you can't get through the first couple of episodes of the series if you aren't willing to overlook a lot. (And yes, I wish I could adopt this attitude more towards other shows, most notably Stargate: Atlantis; I still expect people to behave rationally, or at least consistently, there, whereas I've accepted that Torchwood is simply madness, and everyone who works for Torchwood falls victim to insanity sooner or later. Mostly sooner.)
I shed a couple of tears for the original Captain Harkness. The one thing I knew about this episode going in was that the two Jacks shared a kiss, in public. I've seen people say it would be impossible in '41. Normally, I'd say yes. After the sirens, the hiding in the cellar with at least one man groping the woman with him, the slightly jarring appearance of a not-quite-in-uniform American captain with a Japanese woman supposedly working as a decoder--well, I can understand everyone just standing there staring. Then there's a brilliant light, and the American and the Japanese woman disappear without anyone actually seeing them leave, and everyone decides individually and silently that they've had too much of something, and they're just going to let this one slide, especially since they all liked Captain Harkness. They're not accepting it; Tosh is the only one who smiles. They're just letting it go. Within a day, they'll have all forgotten: they'll just remember a hero who looked out for his men and took out three Messerschmidts.
Somewhere amidst all the angst, however, I managed to insert, "Always knew he was a narcissist." Jack can't quite resist himself. The two Jacks are an awful lot alike, aren't they?
I cried for Rhys--well, for Gwen, really. She tried so hard! And half the team shooting each other--gosh, it felt like an episode of Stargate SG-1!
I just have to say: what is with men being held at gunpoint who can't stop mouthing off to the guy holding the gun? (Yes, I'm still having SG-1 flashbacks.) First Owen not only won't believe Ianto will shoot him, he has to insult him. Yow! Gotta hurt! Jack then does the same thing to Owen! Is this some aspect of male discourse I've been fortunate enough to miss until now?
Jack wants a team who work well together. Well, he got one. Oops. Here's Jack, trying to drive a wedge between members of the team. Here is my poster for this Kodak moment:
Here's my husband's:
(Screencap from Demon-Cry: Doctor Who and Torchwood Stills)
I apologize for problems with size and proportion; I'm not sure I'm doin it rite. And stills don't work so well; you have to fill in mentally what happens just after this moment.
I think Jack could have shot either of the men (even though Owen had barely recovered from the Weevil when Ianto shot him, and he certainly hasn't recovered Ianto shooting him). Maybe he could even have shot Tosh, though I'm doubtful. I knew he couldn't shoot Gwen.
Then again, I did not think for a moment Owen could shoot Jack, let alone shoot to kill (or overkill, as the case may be). Gwen fully expects Jack to get back up but doesn't seem to tell the others! They're all off their respective nuts.
When Jack got up but hadn't fully healed and they were dragging him outside, I had another SG-1 flashback: Kane: "Do you ever give up?" Daniel: "Not until I'm dead….And, sometimes, not even then."
Interlude for queries:
1. Did I miss some introduction of the rift manipulator? Have I seen that before? Yes, I took so darned long to watch season 1 that I may have just forgotten. Then again, it's Torchwood; they can throw virtually anything in, and I'll only question it so much.
2. I understand that opening the rift fully undid what the partial opening did. Rhys's body disappears, Romanum ite domum, etc. What I don't understand is how the death of Abydon (SG-1 again?) undid the deaths of all those he'd killed. Did its destruction reseal the rift and plunge us back a short time? If so, why were Jack's body, Gwen, and the SUV still where they'd been? Or were there piles of bodies around Cardiff that no one could explain afterwards and they decided not to show us in the interest of a happy ending?
3. Bilis Manger was really creepy. Was I supposed to get his name? BH said, "Manger--French--eat." Oh, yeah (I might have gotten this sooner except that I first read his name-plate as "Bilis, Manager" and was wondering whether Bilis was a first name or a last name). Is there more to Bilis than "bile"? I keep trying to make some kind of anagram of his full name, but I'm not getting anything. (Maybe there's a middle name I'm missing that will make it all clear!)
Back to the main meanderings.
I knew Jack couldn't die permanently; there'd be no season 2. I still really felt his death(s) at the hands (shadow) of Abydon, and Gwen's horror. (Poor Rhys must be convinced she's unhinged, with her running in like that just moments after she left, from his perspective, telling him to go back to bed and she'll be back, and then not returning for days! He's right, of course: she is unhinged. Poor woman will never be hinged again, but she's probably the best-hinged of the bunch at this point.)
I did feel for Gwen throughout her vigil with the body. But honestly! She said, "I believe"--and I said, "What, now he's Tinkerbell?" Brilliant Husband contributed almost simultaneously, "I believe in fairies." But apparently she had to kiss him as well! I yelled, "What! Now he's Sleeping Beauty?" (Well, actually, I might have said "Snow White"; I get the Disney princesses mixed up.)
The answer, of course, is yes to both: Jack is Tinkerbell and Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.
When Ianto saw Jack, I said, "I can has hugs?" Yes! Hugs and a kiss! And Owen gets hugs and forgiveness! Now that's what I want as catharsis! Can we have more episodes like this, please, instead of only episodes where everybody dies and I feel vaguely sick at the end?
But wait! There's more! Jack vanishes! I would have been truly shocked if I hadn't seen those Doctor Who episodes already!
Endnote:
or_mabinogi, curse him, has now gotten me into Torchwood Babies: tw_babiez. It's disturbing. Little Ianto with his little doll gives me the creeps (look closely at the doll; Brilliant Husband didn't and didn't see what it was). And yet I find myself demanding, "Where's the next installment? Come on, I'm waiting here!" The best part is that now we already have a few Torchwood episodes from season 2 waiting for us on TiVo! Yay! [/Kermit the Frog handwaving and voice]
No spoilers, pls! 'k thx bye!
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*Sits on squee til you get caught up!!*
*hugs*