I'd bounce if I wasn't so tired...

[jadesfire]

Why do I always think I'm not going to write reaction posts? Because it always happens anyway. Oh, and the icon's an exaggeration, by the way, but I don't have one that says 'random thoughts'.

Before I get going though, and counterpoint to yesterday's rant, this fic makes some interesting points about Jack's approach to, well, life really. I agree that Jack cries more easily and freely than your average 20th century bloke (I like the reasons given in the piece). I still object to 'collapsing in a gooey mess' stories but maybe there should be more crying!Jack fics out there.

There's a challenge for all the writers on my flist – write me Jack crying, for whatever reason strikes you at the time. *puppy eyes* Please?

*ahem* Moving swiftly on...



I haven't gone through all the community reaction posts yet, because my brain is broked today, and most of it is still at the 'fire bad, tree pretty' level of processing. I do, however, always have room for Jack.

I loved this episode, just as a piece of television, let alone as an episode of Torchwood. There aren't enough adjectives to describe Burn Gorman's performance, which tugged every heartstring without once tipping over the top. The writing seemed to bring out the best in the all the actors, who did a superb job. If you ever want evidence that the best sci-fi is about characters? Add this episode to your list of examples.

There will be more and better posts about the episode as a whole, so I'm not going to go into that here. Besides, I may as well subtitle my journal 'all about Jack' and have done with it. But he's the guy I'm writing most at the moment, so I need all the help I can get.

I think this was my favourite JB performance of the season so far, understated, subtle and spot on. Starting at the beginning, I loved the scene in Jack's office, first off where Jack doesn't really look at Owen, and then the bigger confrontation. Why doesn't he look at him? Guilt? The general discomfort that the others have? The obvious parallels/contrasts between Owen and Jack aren't being ignored by the writers (woo-hoo), and they're complicated and deep rooted. I like that there's been no overt attempt to explain what's happening – they're showing us, which is so much stronger.

Jack, who's never going to die, face to face with a man who can't live. That's pretty much everything, right there. How does he deal with that? We know that he wouldn't want someone else to bear his fate, that he doesn't consider his immortality a blessing, and yet he's inflicted it in the worst possible way on someone else. So there's a shedload of guilt right there. But there's also a strong element of 'deal with it' about this episode. Jack's been there, he knows what it's like, and he's the only one qualified to tell Owen to get on with things. I loved the scene at the bay, which was classic Jack. Affection tinged with humour, laid over a tough-as-nails core. I didn't take his actions to Owen as disapproval or coldness, more practical and caring. Any idiot can see that Owen's not coping; Jack's trying to make him. He does what Owen needs, not what he wants.

But what I loved about this episode, really really loved, was that that's just one spin you can put on his actions. At the other end, you could say that Jack's being cold and distant and no help whatsoever. I also don't have a problem with that, because I like my heroes to be human. Jack screws up. He should never have brought Owen back, we know this. So, what a shock, he might not be dealing with that very well, which makes him yes, cold and distant. Fine. You see, I want my characters with rough edges. I want them to be real and human and messy. People aren't simple, they're not one dimensional - labelling the Torchwood team as 'the geek', 'the doctor', 'the efficient one', 'the caring one', 'the clever one' can be useful shorthand, but it doesn't describe them as people. Because people don't always react the way we want them to - I really want Tosh to get over Owen, or Gwen and Jack to sort themselves out, but as a viewer, I'm so happy when it doesn't happen, because people are not puppets, and they don't conform to Newtonian physics. Just because you prod them in one direction, doesn't mean that's the direction they're going to take. And that's great.

So, more of this Jack, please. More of characters with depth and feeling. More kissing! Okay, so I'm shallow, but I loved the Jack/Martha kiss at the end. She's the only one of them who can really surprise him, and his face was an absolute picture. There's a whole world of character, right there, of what she means to him that he wouldn't have pushed it that far, but she does.

...I think I'd require another post for that one, though.