Torchwood: Children of Earth
Jul. 20th, 2009 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annundriel"Day One"
Where to begin?
How about with the character I like best, Ianto. I have a feeling - a gut feeling, if you will - that very bad things are going to happen to Ianto. And this is killing me. I could blame hormones and real life emotional stress for the lump in my throat during half (or more) of his scenes, but let's face it. I am a weepy mess when it comes to Doctor Who and Torchwood.
So what have we got? We've got Ianto tentatively trying to figure out what exactly he and Jack are doing, or at least what Jack thinks they are doing, and failing to get an answer that he likes. Because, as he told his sister, Jack is it. But Jack is not a monogamous being by nature. It's not impossible for him to be monogamous (he has been married - which does not necessarily mean there weren't others on the side), but the man has a lot of love for experience. And people.
I think it's possible Ianto tells himself he doesn't want Jack to limit himself to only Ianto, but what he really wants is for Jack to acknowledge that their relationship is just that: a relationship. And I think they both feel that, but they're unsure about it or themselves or each other. Or something. I don't know. There is something there that they are dancing around and in the end I think something bad is going to happen and there is going to be hurt and pain and regrets.
Meanwhile, I watched the behind-the-scenes bit that ran after the episode and something Barrowman said made me want to smack Jack. It was about Gwen being married and pregnant and Jack being happy for her but still wanting her to "turn to the dark side." After watching the "Inside the Hub" before the episode, I was already all amped up with massive Jack/Gwen dislike. And people keep saying things that make me go, "No no no no NO." I know they have this massive "unexplored, unexplained" (thank you Russell T. Davies) love, but can't it be unexplored platonic love? Can't we stop with the chasing of Gwen? She is married to Rhys (who is awesome and deserves better) and is going to have his baby (unless something happens through the rest of the series) and I like their working relationship and friendship. I don't want them to go there. I don't need them to go there.
My mom and I were just talking and we both agreed that we find it incredibly hard to believe that in all of the years Jack has lived and all of the places he has been, Gwen is that special. We ultimately decided he wants her because he can't have her.
Anyway. Back to Ianto. Or things other than Jack and Gwen and Jack/Gwen.
After Jack said he hated the word "couple" and walked away, Ianto said he did too and got this look on his face. It was at that point that I texted![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sdrohc_ratiug, "I think Ianto is going to break my heart." He certainly started to here.
Of course, I think the whole thing between him and Jack has always broken my heart a little. Which is why I hate when they play it for titillation and why I was not a huge fan of several of the more "racy" scenes from last season. I don't want to be titillated. I want to see a romantic relationship between two men handled seriously and treated with as much respect as any heterosexual relationship. I like seeing Jack and Ianto be sweet and sexy and banter-y and couple-y (yes, Ianto, I said "couple") together, but those things are only part of the bigger picture. And I want the whole picture.
Even if that means I'm left sobbing into handfuls of Kleenex.
Other things (because many big things did actually happen here):
- That whole thing with the kids was really creepy.
- I liked Dr. Patanjali. Which was the point, wasn't it. But I liked him even when it turned out, hey, he's a lying liar who shoots people in the back! I guess that says something for charisma.
- I thought some of the parallels were interesting. Rhys and Gwen talking houses and children, Jack with his daughter and grandson, Ianto with his sister and niece and nephew. Also interesting to see how they handle or don't-handle their families.
And then there was the whole baby/bomb parallel.
- I liked Ianto's sister and really liked those scenes. Loved that some of the kids we'd seen affected previously were kids that were related specifically to the main characters.
Oh, what about Sarah Jane and Luke? And Maria and Clyde? Would Luke, being different like he is, have the same thing happen to him?
- Ianto lost the car! Whoops.
- Desperate kissing. I do love desperate kissing.
- Really loved the shots of Gwen and Clem's hands.
- Way to go, Rhys, putting together that it's centered around Britain.
- When Jack showed up on that kill order, my first thought was, "If you blow him up, what happens?" Am I worried about him? Not really.
I could say other things, but they'd all mostly be, "Who? What? Why?"
This was a fantastic beginning and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Where to begin?
How about with the character I like best, Ianto. I have a feeling - a gut feeling, if you will - that very bad things are going to happen to Ianto. And this is killing me. I could blame hormones and real life emotional stress for the lump in my throat during half (or more) of his scenes, but let's face it. I am a weepy mess when it comes to Doctor Who and Torchwood.
So what have we got? We've got Ianto tentatively trying to figure out what exactly he and Jack are doing, or at least what Jack thinks they are doing, and failing to get an answer that he likes. Because, as he told his sister, Jack is it. But Jack is not a monogamous being by nature. It's not impossible for him to be monogamous (he has been married - which does not necessarily mean there weren't others on the side), but the man has a lot of love for experience. And people.
I think it's possible Ianto tells himself he doesn't want Jack to limit himself to only Ianto, but what he really wants is for Jack to acknowledge that their relationship is just that: a relationship. And I think they both feel that, but they're unsure about it or themselves or each other. Or something. I don't know. There is something there that they are dancing around and in the end I think something bad is going to happen and there is going to be hurt and pain and regrets.
Meanwhile, I watched the behind-the-scenes bit that ran after the episode and something Barrowman said made me want to smack Jack. It was about Gwen being married and pregnant and Jack being happy for her but still wanting her to "turn to the dark side." After watching the "Inside the Hub" before the episode, I was already all amped up with massive Jack/Gwen dislike. And people keep saying things that make me go, "No no no no NO." I know they have this massive "unexplored, unexplained" (thank you Russell T. Davies) love, but can't it be unexplored platonic love? Can't we stop with the chasing of Gwen? She is married to Rhys (who is awesome and deserves better) and is going to have his baby (unless something happens through the rest of the series) and I like their working relationship and friendship. I don't want them to go there. I don't need them to go there.
My mom and I were just talking and we both agreed that we find it incredibly hard to believe that in all of the years Jack has lived and all of the places he has been, Gwen is that special. We ultimately decided he wants her because he can't have her.
Anyway. Back to Ianto. Or things other than Jack and Gwen and Jack/Gwen.
After Jack said he hated the word "couple" and walked away, Ianto said he did too and got this look on his face. It was at that point that I texted
sdrohc_ratiug, "I think Ianto is going to break my heart." He certainly started to here.Of course, I think the whole thing between him and Jack has always broken my heart a little. Which is why I hate when they play it for titillation and why I was not a huge fan of several of the more "racy" scenes from last season. I don't want to be titillated. I want to see a romantic relationship between two men handled seriously and treated with as much respect as any heterosexual relationship. I like seeing Jack and Ianto be sweet and sexy and banter-y and couple-y (yes, Ianto, I said "couple") together, but those things are only part of the bigger picture. And I want the whole picture.
Even if that means I'm left sobbing into handfuls of Kleenex.
Other things (because many big things did actually happen here):
- That whole thing with the kids was really creepy.
- I liked Dr. Patanjali. Which was the point, wasn't it. But I liked him even when it turned out, hey, he's a lying liar who shoots people in the back! I guess that says something for charisma.
- I thought some of the parallels were interesting. Rhys and Gwen talking houses and children, Jack with his daughter and grandson, Ianto with his sister and niece and nephew. Also interesting to see how they handle or don't-handle their families.
And then there was the whole baby/bomb parallel.
- I liked Ianto's sister and really liked those scenes. Loved that some of the kids we'd seen affected previously were kids that were related specifically to the main characters.
Oh, what about Sarah Jane and Luke? And Maria and Clyde? Would Luke, being different like he is, have the same thing happen to him?
- Ianto lost the car! Whoops.
- Desperate kissing. I do love desperate kissing.
- Really loved the shots of Gwen and Clem's hands.
- Way to go, Rhys, putting together that it's centered around Britain.
- When Jack showed up on that kill order, my first thought was, "If you blow him up, what happens?" Am I worried about him? Not really.
I could say other things, but they'd all mostly be, "Who? What? Why?"
This was a fantastic beginning and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
