Oh my. Where to begin? At the very beginning, I suppose…
By which I mean season 1. Most fans spent season 1 of Torchwood alternately cheering and tearing our hair out. The season seemed to hit its strike about episode 10, which was peaking a little late, and we spent the following months moaning about what could have been and acting as apologists for the brilliance that never quite was.
Well, I'm no longer feeling the need to apologise. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wasn't perfect, but then I've yet to view a television episode that was.
1 What it had was great action, adventure, plotting and character. Seriously, what more do you want?
I think what struck me most of all was the tone of the episode. It delivered what Torchwood had always promised us. Humour, violence and science fiction. It was fun without being jokey, tense without being melodramatic. The acting was brilliant and the only weak link in the chain was the CGI, which the BBC has never really mastered, at least when it comes to mixing it with live action.
Before I get carried away (you should see the notes I took during the episode – judging from the number of exclamation marks, Pratchett would definitely diagnose insanity), I'm just going to list my good, bad and ugly points. Otherwise I'll still be writing this when the next episode airs.
The Good
The Team. I spent most of the episode wanting to hug them. They've managed to form a coherent unit without violating their personalities. Owen is still caustic, but he's lost that brittle edge that I found so off-putting in Season 1. Tosh is obviously more confident and (thank heaven) actually using the technology that they're supposed to have. She's still quiet and efficient, but she's also sharp and caring. I want more.
Ianto. Oh, Ianto. There you are. I've spent most of the time between seasons being slightly bemused by all the fanfic, because I could never really get him as a character. While I still don't feel I know him, I now feel like I could get to know him. They've given him personality and GDL is giving him shape. I love that he was efficient and flustered, that he was the one asking Jack the awkward questions, and some of his facial expressions were just wonderful.
And Gwen, who finally seems to be living up to her potential. I love that she's both slightly dappy and definitely in charge. She's sweet and caring and tough as the rest of them. She challenged Jack, she still loves Rhys but she's all grown up. I've gone from liking her but wanting her to be more, to wanting to find some pompoms so I can cheer her on. And when she was describing Rhys' proposal ("Well, no-one else will have me") I just wanted to hug her.
Most of all, I loved that they'd bonded, that they'd found a way to cope without Jack. They're living up to his faith in them, and it's a joy to behold. This is a team that I believe could save the world if it came to it. Finally!
The Tech. I loved loved loved that the team were actually using advanced technology. It just worked, it was a handy macguffin, but it felt completely natural and right as well. Like this, I can believe they can catch aliens.
The Plot. It twisted and turned and okay, most of them were signposted, but it didn't make them any less satisfying. I could get carried away going into the structural details (maybe another time), but if the rest of them live up to this, I'm going to be a very happy fangirl.
The Guest Star. Okay, so he was basically Spike in a red jacket, but hey, if it ain't broke… He had great chemistry with Jack, and was just the right side of crazy. He was Jack through a dark mirror, all the things Jack could be, that he might have been once, before he got a conscience. They made good use of him, both as a way to play with the team and as a character in his own right.
I was less impressed with the fish.
Jack. This whole thing could have been about Jack, but I've restrained myself somehow. I've got to say that I'm loving the way JB is playing Jack in this, the quicksilver expressions and moods, so that you're never quite sure where he's going next. His obvious affection for all his team, his willingness to trust them and his slight discomfort that they've bonded without him. This is the Jack I want to see (and is what convinces me that TPTB have been reading fanfic ;)). He's got just the right about of shadow and light in him now. I think a lot of us were worried that a 'happier' Jack would take some of the edge for the character. Instead, it's just given him more to play with, extended his range a little. And give JB an inch… The first scene with Captain John was everything we were promised, and the interactions with the team were mostly brilliant. For me, the only clunky bit was the scene with Gwen – I didn't object in principle but I found the execution a bit off (see below).
My absolute favourite part was Jack and Owen in the autopsy room, frantically mixing the blood together. Because the team have bonded, they're a unit, they trust each other. It was so good to see Jack both struggling with and slotting back into it, and trusting them right on back. Awesome.
ETA:
The Music. Please give the music department a small award. They picked perfect tunes, and I loved the way the original score worked. Y'all noticed the hints of the 'Captain John' theme when Ianto was searching the lift lobby, didn't you? Of course you did. It was clever and appropriate without being in your face, which is exactly what the music should be.
All together now: Woo hoo!
The Bad
The scene with Jack and Gwen. Okay, so I'm exaggerating by saying it was bad, but somehow, the good, the wibbly and the ugly doesn't sound so good. And for me, that scene…wibbled. I liked the idea of it, because Jack's affection for Gwen was strong and obvious, but I had trouble with the idea that he'd be upset by her getting married. On the other hand, I got the feeling that it was about being upset that she's moving on, as though he expected everything to stand still while he was gone. Still, something about it didn't play quite right with me. It felt a little too contrived, although I loved the whole 'finding out by holding her hand' bit. I'm wavering on whether it worked for me or not – will decide on a second viewing.
The fish. Prosthetics: awesome. Line delivery: poor.
Where was Myfanwy?
The Ugly
The CGI. Oh dear. I'm not sure what was worse, the descent through the Hub or the explosion. Either way, you could see the join between the blue screen and the live action. The special effects crew are great at neat little alien devises and convincing prosthetics, but less good at mixing real life and computer images. Nil points.
Overall, I adored this episode. It had everything I wanted and more. The season preview trailer at the end was seriously exciting – just enough detail to have been on the edge of my seat without giving anything away. Oh yes.
Torchwood's back.
1 Apart from 'Becoming' (BtVS) but I'm usually blurry eyed when I watch that so I'm possibly not a good judge.
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jadesfire![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 10:26 am (UTC)For a man who doesn't like kissing...yummy
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 11:12 am (UTC)*grin* The Gwen/Jack scene just felt misplaced. The director clearly told JB to go for it on the disappointed front, which is rarely a good plan as he went a bit overboard for my taste. But if it was perfect, what would we have to write about?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 11:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 12:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 12:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 01:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 12:42 pm (UTC)I am *surprised* that I liked the Jack and Gwen moment as much as I did, and I think I hit why in another comment. It didn't read like "*sob* Lost romance." to me. To me it felt a lot like "Have a fantastic life Rose. Do it to me."
Not about romance or Jack/Gwen, but that he wanted her FOR the normlacy and that was the appeal of her. Then the thing with Owen kind of disillusioned him (re: EoD) and then he came back and she was normal and the appeal was back but so was her getting married. It's some tangled up mess in my head, but I think I get it emotionally, even while I see why other people don't, and I'm kinda clinging to the emotional reaction, and trying to untangle it and track it down.
And oh hell yes with the right shadow and light and just. Yeah.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 12:48 pm (UTC)"Have a fantastic life Rose. Do it to me"
has got me giggling uncontrollably. Wonderful freudian typo ;)
Sorry...I'll get my coat...
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 12:50 pm (UTC)I don't even *like* Doctor/Rose, but I'm going to just fall down and laugh. Hard.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 01:27 pm (UTC)Pulling myself back together again, yeah, I think that's how I'm reading the scene too. That's how I have to read the scene, to avoid doing violence to what we already know of Jack's character. He's not the jealous type, so it's not that, and it didn't feel like that. But the strong emotional reaction? I'm reading that as 90% script and 10% JB getting a bit carried away. Like you, I can *feel* what they're going for, I'm just not quite sure they hit it right for me, if you see what I mean.
And right now, I adore the BBC for putting the WHOLE EPISODE on the website (okay, only for UK viewers, but still). Welcome to the 21st century, guys.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 01:29 pm (UTC)Oh, awesome, that's really cool.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 01:33 pm (UTC)I need to rewatch to get it straight in my head (oh, the hardship), but I think you're right - if you just kind of go with it, let yourself feel it, it's easier to get. And now you've said it, no, there was no jealousy. Just kind of a sense of loss, almost in a *sniff* "she's all grown up" kind of way. I'm shallow enough to be grateful that my fic!Jack is pretty close to the Jack we saw on the screen (phew!) and the lightness gives him a wider range, without comprimising the dark. I can live with that :)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 01:36 pm (UTC)The *sniff* "she's all grown up" thing makes me grin a little. Or a lot. I need to rewatch it later, too, but for now I'm kind of rolling with squee. I'm pretty much happy with my Jack, too. Yeah, mine's been darker in S1 stuff, but they haven't done anything to him that jars with my characterization, rather than gives me more room to play and that has me over the MOON. ...Still don't have anything I really feel the need to write, but damn I'm happy.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 01:43 pm (UTC)I think it's that that's making me happiest though - this is a Jack I can still write!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 01:44 pm (UTC)Oh. Oh yes. Not only that, I bet I can write Gwen now. And Ianto. That's new. Well, not so much Ianto, but Gwen is new and Ianto is better and and.
FANDOM.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 01:56 pm (UTC)I keep having to stop trying to talk about this to my colleagues because I get blank/worried looks from them. Although that could be because I talk with my hands when I get overexcited. I also have to keep resisting the urge to go bouncing round the library because it disturbs the readers. Doesn't stop me bouncing in my office though :)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 01:27 pm (UTC)God living in the states sucks. Though on the bright side at least this time round I don't have to wait for the whole series to air before I get it here.
Jade,
Jack's back right? No more being Batman broody all the time?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 01:35 pm (UTC)Jack's back. And while I wouldn't say there'll be no brooding in his future, he's certainly recovered his sense of humour.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 02:12 pm (UTC)And YAY about Jack.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 01:28 pm (UTC)Jack/Doctor, damnit, not Jack/Gwen!But other than that, I enjoyed it a lot :) We've got fun!flirty!Jack back for the most part. This makes me happy.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 01:37 pm (UTC)I loved that they gave us flirty!Jack back without taking dark!Jack away. He's always had the potential to be a properly complex character, and now they're letting him. Hoorah!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 03:30 pm (UTC)Seriously, I loved it. Apart from the weird scene between Jack and Gwen (though, from a personal point of view, I disliked Gwen from the start and don't see the chemistry between her and Jack), it was very good. So much better than last series, certainly. It was sharp, funny, sexy and, above all, well-written. Can't ask for much more than that.
Also, Spike!!! (Yeah, three exclamation marks. What of it? It's Spike! He deserves more than three, really).
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 05:17 pm (UTC)It was, indeed, awesome - use as many exclamation marks as you like!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 05:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 05:18 pm (UTC)There was just the sense that more care had gone into this episode. It had a confidence and humour that I could definitely get used to.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 06:25 pm (UTC)And fanfic writers are clearly awesome. That's why we got it right ;) Now I want it to be canon that Ianto and Owen went drinking in drag bars while Jack was away *innocent face* What?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 06:38 pm (UTC)And I'm saying nothing...
(PS will have fic for you in about 20 mins. why do I get hungry when I write angst?)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 07:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 07:41 pm (UTC)...which I can actually believe. Damn. Now I'm confused again. I think the Ianto scene didn't feel like Plan B, also because of the S1 set-up. And for all that he's a 51st century guy, Jack's lived in the 20th/21st (and 19th) centuries long enough to pick up the basics, surely.
Maybe my problem is that whereas some people view things through slash goggles, I view them through Gen ones. I don't want Jack to end up with anyone, really. Flirt, sleep with, sure. But I struggle with the idea of Jack really falling for any of them, romantically and properly and deeply. His care for Gwen feels familial to me, rather than romantic.
Oh dear. I'm going to have to go and think about this again, aren't I?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 10:33 pm (UTC)What you've described above is pretty much how I see the relationship between Nine and Rose - he has her on that pedestal but she's something almost untouchable to him. With Jack and Gwen, though, I think I always saw it more as high chemistry, but Jack is oddly uncomfortable with himself in s1 - he's not sure what he is, or how, or why, and he's clearly been burned in the past (running from his relationship with Estelle, and who knows how many others). He's denying himself far more than he is protecting the Gwen/Rhys relationship - he knew about her and Owen, after all, but simply turned a blind eye and let them get on with it. But the bond between him and Gwen is undeniable, and in the end she's the only one on the team who refuses to give up on Jack and who leaves a newly-resurrected (and rather bemused) Rhys for however many days it takes for Jack to wake up. And let's not forget the huge schmoopy songvid sequence in TKKS. :)
And then Jack gets his answers. And then he gets a year of captivity and torture in which to consider all the places he'd much rather be and the people he'd much rather be with. And it always made sense to me that he'd choose his team over the Doctor, every time, and it always made sense that Gwen would be the one he'd be most intent upon given their connection. He's promised himself this great new start, where he doesn't have to deny himself what he wants and can make his play openly and honestly... and then it all gets rather derailed by the realisation that someone else has made their move before him, Gwen can't trust him not to vanish again, and he can't really explain why he wasn't there....
s1 set-up with Ianto... really wasn't there for me. At all. There's no chemistry there (which is something of a miracle in itself given that JB can have chemistry with inanimate objects!) and there wasn't enough development of Ianto to make me pay any real attention to the character (and the All About Ianto fanon development hit all of my negative characterisation buttons to the point where I read maybe 5% of the fic these days, though I've promised myself that I'll try not to let it influence my attitudes towards actual!Ianto, though the snot-covered face in a few of the trailers doesn't bode well, poor lad....). Now, hopefully, we'll get the development, but it did very much come over as Plan B for me, with Jack being a bit wary because this one is unrehearsed and he's just been knocked back by Gwen. I'm sure that they'll do something interesting with it, but it's got much more of an uphill struggle going on for me.
Note: I don't particularly want Jack to jump in bed with Gwen on-screen - this great understated but powerful relationship undercutting the other more obvious pairings is in many ways far more interesting... that, and I remember Moonlighting! I could maybe see it as an emotional pay-off to the viewers in later series, perhaps, but where's the fun if they don't have to work towards it?
(what actually amuses me is that I wrote a snippet about 5 months back that was just meant to be Jack and Gwen discussing his return but which suddenly and unexpectedly took a turn towards the shippy. Which was vaguely terrifying given that I don't tend to write that sort of stuff!)
But, you know, overall I think I'm watching another show to most of fandom anyway, given that I adored and identified with both Gwen and Owen last season while Ianto was wallpaper, so what do I know.... ;)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-18 10:22 am (UTC)But the more I think about it, the more I think I don't mind it - it requires an adjustment of what went on in S1 (in my head) but I can do that. Like you, I'd much prefer it if it stayed tension, but I can live with that.
However clumsy (and it was very clumsy) the Ianto/Jack set-up in S1 was, I can't see it as not being there. I don't get Ianto as a character, even slightly, although I'm now starting to think that I could, if they actually let him into the limelight a little. So I have a hard time of thinking of Ianto as Plan B. I think for me, it was more that Jack expected things to go on as they had done with Gwen - maybe a little less encouragement to go back to Rhys, but still - while he could still have Ianto. I don't think he'd necessarily have a problem with that - they'd be very different types of relationships and well, he's Jack.
(BTW, you read that much fic? I read what's on my flist and only then if it's mostly gen...)
I didn't like Owen in S1, not in an "aargh die!" kind of way, but more that his brittleness grated on me, although I really warmed up to him towards the end of the series. Gwen...Gwen I thought I could really, really like, but wanted to give her a bit of a talking to. If I'm honest, the only character I really connected to was Jack. Now? I think I could love them all!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-18 11:21 pm (UTC)No, what I got was that Jack thought that they ought to have that sort of relationship for any number of reasons, but mostly because he was too wary of his own nature. It's that self-denial thing. Rhys was never an issue - Jack just wanted Gwen to live her life and how she did it was up to her, with Rhys, with Owen, whatever. Just not with Jack, despite (or possibly because of) the attraction between them. And then things change and... whoops. I swear that I could hear the needle slide straight off the side of Jack's own personal little romantic soundtrack there! Beautiful little scene, beautifully acted and put together. Poor Jack....
Still, that just means we get lots of nice, juicy UST later. :)
They've made a bit more of an effort with Ianto - I quite liked his extreme discomfort in the field - and I have hopes for his development. However, I forsee a lot of pain for large chunks of the fandom in the future, given how seriously people take things. Start of the second season is never a good place for a long-term happy relationship to start out in a British drama series!
Looking forward to seeing where the writers take us, whatever happens! :)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 09:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-01-17 10:04 pm (UTC)I can't buy the Jack/Gwen scene as the sole motivation for the Jack/Ianto. There's too many other suggestions of it in S1 and early episode 1 for it to just be that. But as a non-shipper, I just want the actions to make sense. I don't care who/when/what/when/how as long as they leave Jack's character intact.