Amy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
such_heights) wrote2008-03-22 12:34 am
such_heights) wrote2008-03-22 12:34 am
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Torchwood 2x12: Fragments
CHRIS CHIBNALL I COULD KISS YOU RIGHT ON THE MOUTH ABOUT NOW.
50 solid minutes of character backstory. OF AWESOME. I am a massive flaily mess right here, and have just been on the phone to a friend for over an hour squeeing about how utterly brilliant this was.
Ok, c'mon Amy, coherency. Capslock for later.
Jack's backstory was so perfect. Doctor references! Jack getting drunk in seedy bars and getting into bar fights and generally being the wastrel we all knew he was, before he finds out he's going to have to wait a century and decides to man up. Loved the early Torchwood women, who were fabulous and so fitting for that era of Torchwood crazy - Yvonne's predecessors, much? So, Jack really has died a fair few times, hasn't he, and that's obviously a lot to do with the fact that Torchwood used to know perfectly well he was immortal and so stuck him in harm's way all the time, which obviously started to grind him down and turn him into the Jack we see at the beginning of Series 1. I thought it was really interesting how he only got complete control of Torchwood Three when that Alex bloke shot himself at the millennium (argh, that was all creepy, wasn't it?), and so this presumably is when Jack breaks away from Canary Wharf, starts remaking Torchwood in the Doctor's honour, sets out to find himself a team of his own and doesn't let them in on his secrets any more. Yeah, that works for me in a big way.
Wow, Tosh as an unexpected prison convict badass, didn't see that one coming! Great to finally get some explanation of her relationship with her mother, and gosh, I just wanted to give her a massive hug with all of that awful stuff that happened to her. Bad UNIT! Jack coming to get her out because she's a genius was lovely, though. Jack & Tosh have the most uncomplicatedly affectionate relationship of anyone in the team, just about, and right from the off we see why.
IANTO JONES. HOW ARE YOU SO FUCKING AWESOME? His backstory was so entirely perfect I could weep for joy, oh god. His first meeting with Jack and the Weevil was great, with the whole dark and mysterious thing going on and generally being all kinds of hardcore. Then desperately asking for a job, because he's got Lisa and this is the only way to help her he can see, and Jack brushing him off because he's found his team and he doesn't want anything to do with Torchwood One and he doesn't need some junior researcher, but then THEY BOND OVER MYFANWE and it is amazing. You know, I've read a lot of fic where Ianto gets interviewed and hired by Jack, but I absolutely adore this version of how Ianto came to be on the team, it works so well for both characters and does a great job of explaining how Ianto does start off as being a spare wheel, and in a funny way it's after Lisa gets uncovered that his potential starts getting tapped. And there was fantastic tension between the two of them and coat appreciation and all around infinite joy. This fits my personal canon for Ianto beautifully, in spirit if not in details. And now there is epic, epic amounts of fic to be written by all of fandom and I cannot wait.
Oh, Owen! Owen before he got bitter and twisted, and who knew he was part of the dead alien girlfriend club? That made all kinds of sense, about his relationship with Jack, the way he is with people, the way he's still a doctor even though a lot of the time he at least acts like he doesn't care, oh, his backstory broke my heart. ♥
That was I loved best about this episode, how it took the characters as they are now and reminded us of how they used to be back when 'Everything Changes' first aired, and shows us how they got to stage in the first place and it all makes oodles of sense and can you tell I enjoyed this a lot? New favourite episode, no lie.
And the finale? Looks amazing! How much better to have Captain
*flails* I LOVE MY SHOW.
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This, too, is my new favourite episode! It's what every Torchwood fan has been waiting for since the first episode, and it was all kinds of perfect!
I love that Tosh was all badass UNIT-imprisoned and Jack got her out, and I love that Owen was all not bitter and loving and wonderful, and I love that Jack was forced into working for Torchwood and that it was all about sex even then, and I LOVE that Ianto Jones is MADE OF SO MUCH WIN! It is impossible to talk about how freaking awesome he is without using capslock, because COAT-LOVE, COFFEE, THOSE JEANS, JACK FLIRTING, AND MYFANWE!!!!!! There can never be enough love for that because it totally made EVERYTHING!
And I cannot wait for the finale, and Capt. John is totally awesome as the Big Bad, and Gah!!! DOCTOR WHO!
*flails with* I LOVE MY SHOW, TOO.
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Just, yes. IANTO! It was so freaking fantastic and I just rewatched that bit on iPlayer and omg MY LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDS NOW, and looks like things are only going to get better! EEEEEEEEEE!
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It's like, my love for Ianto is more than anything. It's just...more. Like a big bubble in my chest that keeps expanding and you know it should have burst by now but it hasn't. There just aren't words!
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Cried.
I am still an incoherent wreck - loved it so so much. Following the last two episodes, I adore every character in this so much.
Just... ah, will be more coherent and comment properly later.
:D :D :D :D
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I feel so rewarded for long and loyal fan service. ♥ x infinity.
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Anyway, I am slightly back to coherency having ficced and slept.
Jack
Eee... more period stuff. And you're so right about how it would have broken him. The 1999 stuff hit me more than the earlier stuff. But I loved both. I've seen some interesting suggestions that he might have been dating one of the 1999 team (there being many pretty men and women in that shot) - possibly the guy who went insane and shot everyone. Which as a fic idea I kind of love (if it's true. it also makes me wonder whether he's had a serious relationship since, hmmm...)
Tosh
I love her so much. This explains utterly to me why she's so broken. Because I think we all like to think that we'd do the right thing in that situation (not that we'll ever be put in it, but you know) - but what is the right thing? Do you save your mum if it means that lots of people will get hurt? I can't see anyway of her not feeling that she's failed. And we don't know how long she was in Unit prison. And then not being allowed to see her Mum - oh and the fact that the last time she saw her she was being hurt by something that Tosh had made. So, so broken.
And then on top of that she was clever and so competent and so good... eee.
Ianto
Well you already know how I read that whole sequence - but oh, they both slay me. And the acting was stunning. Seriously I have no understanding of how GDL can express so much of what he's feeling... When he was walking away... guh!
Now all I really want to know is how long it took for Jack to fall utterly in love. My pet theory is that Jack doesn't fall often, but he falls fast (a bit like Tosh maybe). I'm almost certain he would have kissed Ianto when they were on top of each other, if it weren't for the recently deceased girlfriend. The line that always got me in Cyberwoman, was not the one about watching him die, but the one where Ianto asks "Haven't you ever loved anyone Jack?" Partly because Ianto's trying so hard to justify what he's done (everything he's done) and, now, because I'm convinced Jack was already at least half in love with Ianto.
I'm also wondering if Jack would have accepted Gwen so quickly, if he hadn't at the time been thinking that the last persistent bastard had worked out really well...
Oh. And I loved that during the Myfanwy scenes we saw lovely glimpses of what Ianto is like in this season (as compared to the majority of season 1) - which matched my gut feeling that it's equal parts finally losing Lisa and the actual betrayal that really screwed him up - which makes Jack's forgiveness so important...
Also, I'm kind of convinced that Chris Chibnall had something like this in mind all along, he must have considered how Ianto got himself and Lisa into Torchwood 3 when he was writing Cyberwomen, even though he didn't have space for the backstory there.
Owen
Oh. Owen. *wibble* Honestly this was the bit that made me cry (Alzheimer's is one of those things that terrifies me - brain tumours too actually - so even though it turned out not be that...). But this could have seemed so hackneyed if it wasn't for how fantastic Burn is as an actor (I have such a mind-crush on him).
So, yes, all I can say is wibble...
John
Oh, I am so excited for the next episode.
I've seen a few people say that this doesn't match up with what we saw of John in the first episode - I utterly disagree and I'm particularly happy that this completely supports my personal John canon - he's still utterly in love with Jack (come on, it was never just about the diamond).
SO EXCITED AND HAPPY
:D :D :D
(Ok, only partly coherent)
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Jack
it also makes me wonder whether he's had a serious relationship since, hmmm...
Ooh yes, that's an interesting thought. (Also, I am very much wondering just how many Torchwood personnel he's been with over the years. A lot, no doubt!) But that scene must have been the last straw for Jack, and in a way it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, because now the 21st century is when everything changes, because Jack's on his own now and has to rebuild and knows the Doctor is going to turn up sometime soon. I wonder, actually, whether the idea was to make a self-sufficient team and then leave as soon as he had the chance - I always thought he seemed a little surprised at himself that he wanted to come back again after The Year That Never Was, and I'm thinking that wasn't part of the original plan.
Tosh
Yes, just yes. There's no good way to resolve that situation and it ended disastrously for her, and we could really see the pressure she was under and how she just crumbles at the end. I thought Naoko did a stunning job with this one.
Ianto
We got the whole range of emotions in this, didn't we? Quite aside from the fact it was Ianto being awesome, I think this was one of the better sequences just by having so many things going on and for being unexpected and a lot of fun. Tosh and Owen's stories were about one specific heartbreak, Jack and Ianto's had more bits and layers to peel back and think over, and I enjoyed both types in different ways.
Mmm, yes, I like what you say about Jack as well - actually, now there's a bit of fanon I never understand, how apparently Jack is this heartless person who doesn't love people, which is just never what we see in canon at all, I don't get it.
I really want to go back and rewatch lots of select moments from S1 with all this new stuff in mind, because the way they started out gives a much more solid basis to all the things we see going on in the early episodes and it works beautifully. Not only can I buy Jack falling for Ianto quite quickly, now, but it also makes his betrayal even worse when Jack realises that was the only reason he was so desperate for a job, and so on both sides that really undermines everything they'd built up to date. Also, the fact that there's obviously been this unresolved thing between them since the beginning makes it easier for me to buy Ianto's relatively quick transference over to Jack, even though it remains as gloriously messed up.
Owen
Burn Gorman remains the most consistently stellar of all of them and I heart him very much.
Next week
I know - and it's nice to have that reversal, someone from Jack's past that he definitely doesn't want around who can't let go. I was thinking of you when he popped up again, he seemed very Had I The Heavens-ish! And just, ooh, the fact he's psychotic enough to blows things up just to get at Jack is scary and should be great to watch.
*flaps some more*
Part one - repost
LOL - they start of as innocent squee-ey comments and then as I write them it sort of snowballs...
Also, I am very much wondering just how many Torchwood personnel he's been with over the years. A lot, no doubt!)
I know he's connected to a 1940s Torchwood employee in one of the novels - although I've not read it. Actually, I'm willing to bet it's a lot as well - because I imagine that it puts a lot of strain on a relationship hiding that you can't die and then when they find out... with Torchwood people they already know all that, and already have experience of weirdness and can accept it... (I now have a pet theory that the reason Jack has that box of photos in Something Borrowed is because they were all connected to his files and he gathered them while carefully destroying every reference to his immortality).
But god, those relationships must get heart breaking and tiring - because they all die horribly in the end. And on top of what you said about them constantly throwing him into danger... No wonder he's so bitter and exhausted at the end.
But that scene must have been the last straw for Jack, and in a way it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy
Oh god yes and I totally think he got that saying from Alex (as well as his future knowledge) - which makes it heartbreaking.
I wonder, actually, whether the idea was to make a self-sufficient team and then leave as soon as he had the chance - I always thought he seemed a little surprised at himself that he wanted to come back again after The Year That Never Was, and I'm thinking that wasn't part of the original plan.
Oooh... I love this idea and I can totally see it.
I thought Naoko did a stunning job with this one.
Totally, also it's interesting to think that with Jack's five year term this was very much a part of her punishment - which will affect how I watch her stuff in my next rewatch. I'm already thinking about when Tommy asked her if 'she'd been drafted' (?) and she replied it was complicated...
I'm becoming increasingly convinced that this episode has been planned from the first series and probably the beginning and they've just been waiting for the right time to air it. Looking at caps from End Of Days, Tosh's mother in that already has a trail of blood on her forehead... Oh I love this programme.
Jack and Ianto's had more bits and layers to peel back and think over, and I enjoyed both types in different ways.
Oh god - that's it so much. There was so much going on. It's like their relationship - it's not just sex and it's not true wuv forever and it's not just one using the other (all of which I've seen suggested frequently) - it's so much more twisted and complicated and beautiful than all those things.
I only just realised though, that if you haven't seen Cyberwoman - this sequence would be quite befuddling, particularly the reactions at the end. But so much love.
Mmm, yes, I like what you say about Jack as well - actually, now there's a bit of fanon I never understand, how apparently Jack is this heartless person who doesn't love people, which is just never what we see in canon at all, I don't get it.
Me neither, he either seems to be completely heartless or an absolute slut (who doesn't really care - so it's all the same I guess). Both leave me going a bit WTF? Because, yes, Jack flirts endlessly - but how often does he follow it up? It's relatively rare but then we see how deeply he can love and quickly with the other Captain Jack, and then we see how devoted he is with Estelle and Rose and the Doctor... It all seems to fit together beautifully to me so I'm often confused by how Jack is portrayed.
I really want to go back and rewatch lots of select moments from S1 with all this new stuff in mind, because the way they started out gives a much more solid basis to all the things we see going on in the early episodes and it works beautifully.
It's definitely in my plans at some point. :D And I want to see how this plays with my reaction to the other team members as well.
Re: Part two - repost - sorry for the spam
Guh... just yes.
I've seen lots of discussions recently about whether they were having sex prior to Cyberwoman - I'd be willing to bet no, that they hadn't moved much past UST, because Jack knows Ianto's just lost his girlfriend for a start. But I'd also be willing to bet that there were one or two beautiful, messed up, angsty kisses (or almost kisses). And that yes, Jack was already in deep - plus I think it explains his mixture of attraction and keeping a distance with Ianto for a lot of series 1. Not to mention the looks in Countryside... must stop now. Guh.
I know - and it's nice to have that reversal, someone from Jack's past that he definitely doesn't want around who can't let go.
Hee. You're right - beautiful parallel.
I was thinking of you when he popped up again, he seemed very Had I The Heavens-ish!
Squee. It was lovely to feel that I hadn't been completely off base with him. Although I fear my John is not nearly screwed up enough, maybe he will be by the end of the story, hmmm...
I'm putting aside most of today towards writing it, so hopefully it will be done soon - and then I can think about what to write next. I have a sort of Adrift fic plotted out or maybe some Jack/John... Ooohh..
P.S. The quidditch fic of doom should be with you before tonight, it's written just needs editing, it's frustrating to be so Torchwood inspired and so HP uninspired. :(
(Gah!! what happened to my italics in the last post???)
If only all my spam was like this!
*nod nod* That would work! It's clearly a very closely guarded secret now, as Suzie had no idea - actually on that note, I wonder who the first people he hired post-millennium were, as Tosh is the longest-running of the current lot and she'd only be around 5 years. Maybe he didn't get it right on the first take, or maybe London insisted on sending people themselves, or maybe they all just got lost along the way.
No wonder he's so bitter and exhausted at the end.
Exactly - it's great to have that additional explanation for why he's such a contrast from the Jack we first knew, and the idea that it's not just being stuck in the 20th century, but the things he's experienced while he's here that gives a lot more depth to the idea rather than having this brooding anti-hero mostly for the sake of it.
I'm already thinking about when Tommy asked her if 'she'd been drafted' (?) and she replied it was complicated...
I'd forgotten about that! Ooh, see, that's what's great about this episode, so much stuff to think about and more than enough to tide us over for two weeks.
it's so much more twisted and complicated and beautiful than all those things.
YES. Yes exactly, which is what sold me on this ship in the first place, way back when, and I feel nicely vindicated that we all had been reading it right, and there's different and sometimes conflicting elements to it that's tricky to categorise but endlessly interesting.
then we see how devoted he is with Estelle and Rose and the Doctor
Uh-huh - Jack's obviously capable of loving a lot of people in different ways that cross over one another, and we don't really see any evidence he's inclined to fall out of love, either; he moves on, he might get over it, but only if he has to, and he still will look after them, Estelle being a good case in point there.
But I'd also be willing to bet that there were one or two beautiful, messed up, angsty kisses (or almost kisses).
Mmmph, yes. (Aaand onto the to-write list that idea goes!) And Ianto would feel horribly guilty about the whole thing and Jack wouldn't really understand why he was brushed off quite so much and oh how Countrycide makes a world of sense. Because there's a mutually acknowledged thing there, and now Jack knows why it never got anywhere and he's sort of on his way to forgiving Ianto but Ianto's in a horrible place and it's difficult but that thing is still just there. Oh, ♥.
In fact, every episode Chibnall's written links very nicely together - Day One (which parallels beautifully with Adrift), and then Cyberwoman, Countrycide, End of Days, all of them are going to take on new meaning after this, and he evidently had this plotted out the whole time. Brilliance!
I'm putting aside most of today towards writing it, so hopefully it will be done soon
\o/! I can't wait to find out how it wraps up, and I'm looking forward to having a big session and reading the whole thing once it's done, too. :D And eesh, yes, so many things to write now, and gah I already have other fic commitments and WiPs and oh, when it will all get done?
And, ah yes, Quidditch. Well, as ever you're doing better than me! I'm just really distracted by the shiny new Torchwood canon at the moment, and although I still have some HP projects on the go I'm beginning to find it harder to think of things off the top of my head, my brain's really not in that fandom at the moment, I've barely even read other people's fic in a while. I'm quite amused, however, that all three of us,
Re: If only all my spam was like this!
Hmmm... interesting question and I think there are lots and lots of possible answers. I'm sort of leaning towards Jack trying not to have a team for a while, until things finally get too much and he finds Suzie - but the other options are also intriguing and explorable... oooh
Mmmph, yes. (Aaand onto the to-write list that idea goes!) And Ianto would feel horribly guilty about the whole thing and Jack wouldn't really understand why he was brushed off quite so much and oh how Countrycide makes a world of sense. Because there's a mutually acknowledged thing there, and now Jack knows why it never got anywhere and he's sort of on his way to forgiving Ianto but Ianto's in a horrible place and it's difficult but that thing is still just there. Oh, ♥.
:D :D :D *massive grins* I will adore you if you write this - because spot on, seriously.
In fact, every episode Chibnall's written links very nicely together - Day One (which parallels beautifully with Adrift), and then Cyberwoman, Countrycide, End of Days, all of them are going to take on new meaning after this, and he evidently had this plotted out the whole time. Brilliance!
God, yes. I have so much respect for this man.
\o/! I can't wait to find out how it wraps up, and I'm looking forward to having a big session and reading the whole thing once it's done, too. :D
Hee. Hopefully it will all fit together nicely once it's done, although I'm not sure if everyone will like the ending *shrugs*. It's been fun to write (hard sometimes) - but fun.
And eesh, yes, so many things to write now, and gah I already have other fic commitments and WiPs and oh, when it will all get done?
My complete sympathy - I know that feeling. And it's not even that it's a list where there are somethings that I just have to grit my teeth and get on with (other than university) - I desperately want to write all these things, but there isn't enough time. I keep a file of plot bunnies for original stories - and that alone has over 30 ideas on it. *meep*
my brain's really not in that fandom at the moment,
Snap - I think it's partly that there's nothing really new coming out to excite me because the films are so far from inspiring that it's ridiculous. I don't hate them, but I can't really think of them in the same head space as the books.
It was interesting this week watching the new Narnia film with my niece - we've only just bought the DVD so haven't seen it since the cinema and since then she's become a huge fan of the book. She was correcting every other scene of the film - and compared to the HP films - that adaptation was relatively brilliant. But it was nice to see her fannish tendencies emerging.
I'm quite amused, however, that all three of us, sunnyrea as well, are in similar-ish predicaments for exactly the same reason, namely the eminently distracting Cardiff alien hunters gang, hee.
LOL - if we lose - we'll have to say that we were scuppered by Torchwood. :D
*sigh* I guess I'm really going to have to do some sorting soon or expulsion here I come.
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I've got two versions now and neither will work. *breaks down and cries*
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(and I'm leaving for London tomorrow morning... I refuse to go to sleep without having seen it though. I'll sleep on the coach :s)
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I wasn't even that taken by Captain Spike in KKBB but I was still squealing for joy at the trailer. IT'S ALL SO EXCITING!
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I KNOW, RIGHT? Torchwood - how so good lately? :D
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I think we may have found the inspiration for our long-rumoured collab, y/y?
*is dead of TW happiness*
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I also felt so bad for Tosh. I was having V for Vendetta flashes like crazy there. I mean holy shit Jack really did fucking save her! No wonder she is so dedicated to her work! She really can't leave.
And Ianto, my dear darling Ianto. I love how desperate to get into Torchwood 3 he is and I have to wonder why Jack doesn't question that. Love the waiting with the coffee thing and knowing about that the pterodactyl wants chocolate.
Seriously, loved loved loved all the back story and explanation and
OMG NEXT WEEK LOOKS AMAZING!!!
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Yeah, Tosh's actions come in a whole new light now, don't they? And seeing her mum really would be the only thing that would make her turn against Jack, very interesting.
I think from Jack's point of view Ianto's just lost his purpose with the destruction of Canary Wharf and is looking for a replacement for that, possibly because he's a bit screwed up after it - I think that's how Ianto tries to sell it as well, we just know better.
Except it's NOT next week *sobs* the anticipation may well kill me! D:
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But yeah, Ianto did sell that very well. Very much that he couldn't work for anywhere else after what happened at Torchwood London. And I seriously loved all the Pterodactyl stuff. "It knows me" and I always giggle over the "your favorite, yea" with the chocolate.
What I do want to know is just how long Tosh was in that jail until Jack came.
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Eeee, yes, that is adorable - his little air punch with the second bit is terribly amusing. :D
Mmm, I'd like to know that too! Not too long, I hope. :( Poor Tosh.
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I HAD THINGS™ GET IN THE WAY THAT PREVENTED ME WATCHING THE LAST TWO EPISODES BUT I JUST DID AND OMG CAN YOU AND I WHISK CHRIS CHIBNALL AWAY AND MAKE OURSELVES A HAPPY COMMUNE OF LOVE?! BECAUSE YES.
askjhgkasjg NO, REALLY. i cannot stop flailing, and i don't think i ever really will. like, EVER. i can't even. i don't know where to begin so i think i'll just leave it at ALJKGASGFASFLK!!! because i just.
and then CAPTAIN JOHN. i swear, i will not be able to handle it. the awesomeness that looks to be the Torchwood finale and the exciting return of Doctor Who looks to make the 5th the BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO ME EVER. [yes, it's all for me. shh. :P]
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A;LSKJDA IT'S BEEN AGES SINCE I'VE REACHED THIS LEVEL OF FLAIL OVER WHO-STUFF AND EEEEE IT IS SO MUCH FUN.
Hahaha, it totes is - Rusty loves you well! EEEEE I CAN'T WAIT.