In the second episode of the Torchwood: Children of Earth mini-series, HOLY GOD THIS IS SO INTENSE THIS IS INCREDIBLE. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Torchwood.
DAY TWO
No, this is what I want from a television show. Children of Earth has already shown me, in just two episodes, that Torchwood seems to work perfectly as a mini-series, when the writers can focus on a single theme, allowing the story and the characters to have a more natural arc. As suspenseful as “Day Two†is, I was completely enamored with how well this specific episode handles some of the more subtle effects of the Torchwood team on the side characters, choosing to give us the perspective of Rhiannon, Rhys, and John Frobisher over focusing entirely on Jack, Gwen, and Ianto.
The story lends itself to that easily by picking up right where “Day One†left off. (Doing a mini-series as five consecutive days is looking to be mighty fascinating, by the way.) First off, I’m glad the writers did not ignore the obvious: Jack Harkness had a bomb implanted in his stomach. If he had merely climbed out of the rubble and came back to life, I would have called foul. I’m aware of the absurdity of that statement, since I’m demanding “realism†from a man who can consistently come back to life. It does seem to be a bit mutually exclusive, but hey, I can have standards, even if they don’t make sense in any other context! In this sense, the audience is squarely thrust into Ianto’s shoes, and the episode does this well: we fear the death of Jack Harkness, we worry about the consequences of the bomb, but in our hearts, we know he can’t really die, right? RIGHT????
As Torchwood is forced underground (and their story lines begin to intertwine with what’s happening with Lois and John), we are given a story that stretches out and breathes, and there’s nothing I love more from fiction than this. This is all a very tense and unbearable situation, but there’s something to be said about a show that can stop and show us how John Forbisher has been forced into a terrifying situation where his own life seems inevitably aimed towards destruction, or that can show us how Rhiannon’s home can be affected by what Ianto does in his job, or one that can give us an intimate scene between a couple while they are hiding in a truck full of potatoes.
I’m not sure why I’m necessarily drawn to a story that can have such an emotional base, even when I don’t particularly relate to what’s going on. I don’t think I’ve actually figured it out after all this time. I know why I like these sort of stories: they tend to be much more interesting to me, and if I can feel something for a character, I feel more invested in the story itself. But I don’t always want an intensive, emotional experience from a show. Ironically enough, that’s why I had fun with Torchwood initially. I didn’t have to force myself to think too much about what was going on. Which is not to say that this show is either simplistic or unemotional. (OMG Tosh endless tears.) I’m not entertained by some monolithic form of story telling, either, as I find myself attracted to all kinds of entertainment. So why do I like this so much? I’m beginning to think that the only difference this has to what I’m used to on television is that it reminds me of the experience of reading a novel. Television and books are inherently different mediums, but the two can share similarities or borrow techniques from the other in order to keep us interested. I’m reminded of the fast-paced, action-heavy The Hunger Games trilogy that I read for Mark Reads when I first started that site. Suzanne Collins had a history in television writing (although for children’s programming, interestingly enough), and the rapid format of television seemed to bleed through into that series of novels. And the great part was that she made it work. Shows like The Wire or LOST or Rubicon have much more in common with opening a long, hefty novel than with television for me, because those shows took risks in opening up about the lives of the characters in ways that were not necessarily traditional for network television.
Watching the focus on Rhiannon, John, and Rhys throughout “Day Two†gave me hints of this sort of “novel†approach to television, and writer John Fay weaves them in with the INCREDIBLE plot twists seamlessly. It’s one thing to be able to give space to your characters, but the man must be commended for doing it in a way that gave all of the episode a very even pace.
Of course, the great mystery of “Day Two†concerns the 456. For such a nondescript name, these beings sure do creep me the hell out. Even better, we’re approaching the halfway mark of the mini-series and we still haven’t even seen them. At best, we learn only a tiny bit about them: They have sent only British authorities instructions for building a case of sorts that is to be filled with the gases that make up the atmosphere of their home planet. (At least, that’s all we can guess at this point.) In the eeriest moment of “Day Two,†while Ianto briefly meets with his sister, all the children of the world freeze yet again, and the 456 speaks through them: “We are coming tomorrow.†WELL, THAT’S A DIRECT MESSAGE, RIGHT? What interests me so much about this is that it’s all happening out in the open. This is not some secret conspiracy at colonization or invasion that’s happening to an unwitting populace. Every day, the people of earth are reminded that their children are at the will of some force, able to be controlled at any moment, and that those behind it are coming back. Forbisher asks the right question: When were they here in the first place??? (I have no guesses as to what this all means, for the record.)
Forbisher is a family man who is quickly realizing how overwhelmed he is by the events going on in his life, and I’m glad he is not painted as a simple villain. Even though he has much more access than pretty much anyone and knows more about what’s going on than most of the world, he is still aware that he is just a mere pawn in a greater scheme, and it’s terrifying to watch him unravel both at work and at home. His family suspects he knows more than he does, and his wife is tired of the secrets. Knowing his own children might be victims to some sort of invasion, who are his allegiances ultimately loyal to? His family? His government? What if he can’t choose either of him?
Thankfully, I was also glad that my prediction/desire to see more of Lois Habiba was granted rather quickly, and she’s proven to be quite an interesting character herself. In a way, it’s easy to parallel her with Forbisher, as they’re both government officials horrified by the acts being committed against people who probably don’t deserve it. For Lois, though, she’s more overwhelmed than anyone else in this situation: On just her second day of work, she’s seen an order for assassination being doled out, and she knows her government is hiding the truth about what is happening to the children around the world. Even worse, her own sense of patriotic duty doesn’t align with what her superiors are telling her to do. Her own moral crisis suddenly becomes too much to bear when Gwen Cooper finally calls the office of Frobisher and she is the one to take the call.
God, I cannot even imagine how difficult it must be to have to make a decision that risky in just a few seconds, but Lois errs on the side of her own conscience. She cannot rectify what the government has done when she compares it with the information available about Torchwood. If they’re supposed to help in situations concerning alien involvement, why are they being targeted for death?
The only thing I can guess from this is that Mr. Dekker is lying to everyone. Something about his final moment with that “chamber†thing suggests he knows way more about what the 456 actually are. Has he always known? Does he actually know what the chamber is and how the 456 are supposed to enter it? HE HAS TO, RIGHT??? Oh god I CAN NEVER FIGURE THESE THINGS OUT EVER.
From the moment that Lois meets up with Rhys and Gwen in that cafe, this episode is pretty much perfect. I’m not gonna lie: When Gwen extends a possible job offer to Lois after her impressive presentation, I squealed with delight. I really like Lois and her thirst for information and moral justice and the way she uses her conscience to take great risks in order to do what is right. In that sense, is there anyone more suited to join Torchwood than Lois? Oh god, please don’t let Lois die, I would love if she could join the team.
I also can’t deny how entertained I was by the elaborate “rescue†that Rhys and Gwen plan using the information that Lois provides them. Rhys is a fun character to throw in the mix, and it helps that Gwen and him have such excellent chemistry with one another. Plus, for someone who was thrown into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, and then learned that Gwen was pregnant inside of a potato truck, he sure is game to do whatever it takes to rescue Jack Harkness. Above all, though, it’s just a hell of a lot of fun to spend so much time in a constant wince state as you watch the two of them get past each possible obstacle in their journey to find out where Jack Harkness is kept. Admittedly, though, when they opened Jack’s cell to find it’s a block of pure cement, I was stumped. How were they going to get out of this one?
Oh, Ianto. I don’t even know how you logistically pulled out a block of cement from outside of a building, but you are one fierce dude. Who knew one could make driving a forklift look so flawless? The rescue of Jack is just as ridiculous as the man and I honestly couldn’t ask for anything more. (Yes, I did notice that Jack slung Rhys’s jacket over his shoulder instead of using it to cover himself. I was not surprised.)
With the entire Torchwood team back together (although sadly without the hub SADNESS FOREVER), the episode takes this victorious moment and then SMASHES US IN THE FACE WITH CREEPINESS. I’m still completely creeped out by the revelation of what the 456 ordered the British to make and I cannot begin to guess why it was only the British who were commanded to make this. The perfect atmosphere chamber for the 456 confuses me forever and ever. The best image of the entire episode, though, is here at the end: Frobisher, Mr. Dekker, and Bridget Spears stand perfectly in frame of the lines of the chamber as the camera pans back to reveal the glass-filled room that is full of gases that could kill any human. It’s a foreboding moment, both calm and terrifying, and it suggests such a grand scale to whatever is coming back to earth. I also adore that it frames the three people at the heart of this secret plan, the three who know the most and who are willing to do anything to keep this secret.
Christ, what the HELL are the 456 coming back for???
THOUGHTS
- Hey, a totally naked Jack Harkness! I’m actually surprised it took this long to show up again. It’s….ok? I don’t know, I don’t find myself attracted to John Barrowman. I KNOW, I KNOW, SHOOT ME. He’s very handsome! I’d rather make out with Rupesh. SORRY.
- I believe this is the first time that Jack’s ability has been referred to by “Lazarus.†Kind of a neat name.
- “If she’s anti-terrorist, I would not mind being Uncle Terrorist.†RIGHT. Johnson scares me. 🙁
- I am growing to like Rhiannon a lot. More please?
Peter Capaldi is just brilliant, if you haven't seen it i highly recommend watching The Thick of IT or the film In the Loop.
Ha! I, too, made Peter Capaldi recs in the comments below. He is love.
Who knew one could make driving a forklift look so flawless?
He tried to kill me with a forklift…
Nope, no insightful first comment here. Just a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 joke.
Rocky! Captain Joe! He triiiiiiiiied to kill me with a forklift….
All the upvotes for you.
I am still full of emotions, but I would like to agree with you and commend the writers for showing us Frobisher and Lois as complete characters so quickly and making us care for them, even though they aren’t part of the beloved Torchwood team. At this point I wished we could stay with Frobisher all the time, especially if it meant we’d get all the mysteries explained. Except for when Ianto was being such a boss.
I agree, any scene with Rhys and Gwen is a good scene.
Ianto is a m-fing boss. Ianto is the Chuck Norris of Torchwood. But with tea. And suits. And politeness.
OK, so after the loads of advice I got yesterday (Thanks to everyone who gave their two cents), I decided to go ahead and watch CoE and then watch S1 and 2 at a later time. I just finished Day Three, and let me just say: WOW. This is some really thrilling television. So far, I'd say Day Two is my favorite, because I really enjoyed watching the separated members of Torchwood go off and do their own thing (GWEN COOPER FOR PRESIDENT OF MY HEART) only to converge together at the end.
Plus, it's always a little gratifying to see ~gratuitous male nudity~ as opposed to the ~gratuitous female nudity~ that always seems to find its way into shows and movies, isn't it?
Thanks again to everybody who recommended this show. I can only describe it as MAGNICIFENT.
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PARTY DOWN GIF!!!!!
The fact that you watch Party Down makes me ridiculously happy for some reason. SUCH A FUNNY SHOW OMG.
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Awesome, dude! Glad you're liking it. Also, now that you're invested in the characters, you might find the first two seasons more interesting, because you'll want to see how they got there. Its like Media Res.
This episode and especially the government agent (Johnson?) in charge of getting rid of Jack always leave me stunned. Like… from a practical standpoint, yes, encasing someone immortal in concrete does prevent them from going anywhere or acting against you. BUT WHO THE FUCK IS OKAY WITH DOING THAT. Seriously. You already have the guy locked up, someone who has sort-of-kind-of worked for the British government for years, is the concrete really necessary. What the fuck, British government. Why so shady?
I'm just always torn, because on the one hand, the agent is one badass lady. On the other hand, can we please have some morals here? She is obviously disturbed when she sees Jack coming back to life, but still has no problem going ahead with the rest. The fact that at no point does she question her orders is just really chilling for me.
However we also get badass!PA Lois. I loved the scene where she just pulled out a folder full of papers like "here is your plan to break into a super secure government location, I've got it all set for you" is just fantastic. She needs to be on Torchwood's team. She and Gwen together would be an unstoppable force of organization.
What the fuck, British government. Why so shady?
Ask Jack and his policy of kidnapping, imprisoning, and torturing British citizens on merely circumstantial evidence of being alien-infected. Because that's exactly what he did in "Sleeper", and it passed completely without comment. Because isn't it grand being "outside the government" and "beyond the police"? That way you don't have to worry about things like due process or its UK equivalent; you can just do whatever the hell suits you.
*cough* I may have lingering issues with "Sleeper". And "Fragments". And S1-2's general attitudes about law enforcement. And that's a huge reason by CoE was an improvement for me – it took away the Hub and Torchwood's government mandate and made them merely skilled and knowledgeable outsiders fighting against a corrupt and unethical system. Before this? They were that system.
Oh, Torchwood absolutely fails at ethics– that's kind of why they needed Gwen, who attempted to impose SOME kind of regulation on them. Not very successfully, but yeah. I don't even want to touch the team's constant use of the Retcon memory-wipe, which is just upsetting on pretty much all levels.
What's upsetting is that as bad as present-day Torchwood is, you know it's still somewhat better than the original Torchwood, because Jack did attempt to "reform" it once he was finally in charge. Unfortunately his working model is the Doctor, who himself is a huge ball of morality fail and hypocrisy. :/ Except that Jack doesn't have as many plot devices, so mostly his solution is to shoot things.
"Sleepers" was especially rage-inducing for me because it was so reminiscent of the U.S.'s use of rendition and black sites and Guantanamo Bay, and the writers had to know those comparisons were going to be made…and they practically glorified it! There comes a point where thoughtlessness bleeds over into outright moral irresponsibility, and I'm pretty sure Torchwood found it.
Not to mention "Fragments" Tosh being held by UNIT without trial in a cell with no toilet or bed, which passed pretty much without comment. RAGE. If you show these things as being "standard treatment", even in art as ridiculous as Torchwood, people start to think it's actually standard, or worse yet, somehow necessary, and the abuse and neglect of prisoners and total abrogation of due process ends up being met with a giant shrug. I know that the shows are UK and the treatment I'm thinking of came from the U.S., but culturally, that BS is all of a (macho, idiotic) piece.
CoE is instead about how horrible the government is for doing such things, which is a big reason why it's better.
I can't remember all that much of "Sleepers," but I did think that "Fragments" made it clear that UNIT's treatment of Tosh was not standard and was definitely not okay. I mean, we do see some standard treatment of criminals with Gwen and Andy's positions in the police, and UNIT's imprisonment of Tosh was obviously starkly different.
There does seem to be a running thread of the UK government trying to deal with aliens and making really stupid/awful decisions when doing so. In Doctor Who we have a couple examples of UNIT being reprimanded by the Doctor for bad handling of alien problems, and didn't they confiscate the TARDIS at least once? Torchwood as well is depicted as being pretty close to an amoral or possibly evil organization for most of its existence, with their fiasco with the Cybermen being particularly spectacular. Jack seems intent on reforming it, but he obviously can only do so much— and if the behavior of British government officials in CoE is "standard," then I see why UNIT and Torchwood were run so badly.
I really wonder at this point, given all the problems Earth has had interacting with aliens on both Who and Torchwood, why nothing has been set up to oversee UNIT and any other organization that makes decisions about aliens. Actually, given that the Doctor quotes the Shadow Proclamation all the time but when we see the SP they're also kind of incompetent, it makes me wonder if there are any effective alien or space-police organizations.
The Doctor is by nature a counter-authoritarian figure. (Unless he's Ten and pretending he's a god, but I'm not going to go into that rant now.) So it's pretty natural for his stories to be imbued with a skepticism of authority and especially police/military authority – I mean, he spends half his time overturning evil dictatorships on other planets. But what matters isn't just how these institutions act within the stories – it's how the story acts. The Third Doctor worked with UNIT, but he also espoused a whole lot of social liberalism. And UNIT, so far as I know, was far softer and more forgiving than any of the Torchwoods we've seen.
What I found troubling about Torchwood was that instead, 90% of the time it reveled in being "beyond the police" and how very macho it was to act with no supervision or second-guessing and lots of shooting things. The Captain Jack who used to merrily associate with aliens of all kinds, who celebrated difference and scorned labels, instead became the head of an essentially alien-hostile organization. He may not have espoused "if it's alien, it's ours", but honestly, he wasn't much more progressive than that, and neither was the show.
Basically, the Torchwood that could have been – the one about a few screwups in a half-forgotten government office in Cardiff- could have been great. The ultra-authoritarian one we ended up getting? Not so much. If you are the man, you'd better be more careful in how you wield that power.
Oh man, I want to comment on this but really can't remember the chapter breaks well enough to guarantee non-spoilers so will save it for Friday. Though the rescue of Jack via forklift was a fantastic bit of somehow typically British sci-fi – wonderfully silly, gloriously over the top and completely awesome.
Look up the synopses on Wikipedia? 😀
British Sci-Fi; only genre where forklifts, screwdrivers and towels are cool.
Totally. XD
And bow ties.
Yes, it happened in this episode. And I nearly died of laughter. I would totally exploit an alien invasion to get my parents to buy me things.
I know! That part just made me die laughing, I had to pause it and do something else for a while.
I'm so glad you're watching this, just so you know, but I really cannot comment at all since there is no way that I could do so without exploding spoilers all over the place.
That being said, now that I know you've seen Torchwood, I must ask if you're interested in some associated fanfic? Because I'd love to recommend one that takes place over the year that Martha spent traveling the world in the end of the third season of DW and met all of the Torchwood team, and then had to deal with meeting them all over again when that year ceased to exist. Also, another one that will have to wait until you've finished CoE, but I love rec-ing fics. I'm such an enabler…
Doit. Doit. Post links.
Done it! they're in a reply to another comment in this thread.
I love fic recs and being enabled. And I'm sure plenty of others would appreciate the links too.
The links are now in a reply to another comment in this thread–just want to make sure you get them!
GIVE ME FICS, GIVE ME FICS.
Seriously, I'm so open for recs, because its a pain to find any decent ones without recommendations.
Sure thing! The one with Martha is: http://remixredux09.livejournal.com/11435.html
One that is great for after CoE (NOT BEFORE. SPOILERS) http://archiveofourown.org/works/63396
One that is a slight Discworld crossover. (Jack and his encounters with the Anthropomorphic Personification of Death) http://users.livejournal.com/_seven_crows/16512.h…
A brief but hilarious Sherlock crossover: http://archiveofourown.org/works/119017
I have more, but I think that this is more than enough to start you folks off. 😉
Oh, good! The Sherlock and Discworld crossovers are intriguing. Love to see how Jack deals with the Disc.
*bookmarks*
Thank you 😀
Loooove the crossover with Discworld. Haven't read the others two yet but I am intrigued!
I didn't remember who Frobisher was till I read this. Which reminds me I forgot to say this last time: while I like Moffat's stuff a lot, I always appreciated RTD had awesome skills when it came from fleshing out his characters' backgrounds and the really specific contexts that raise them, it always comes off really realistic (whether it actually is or not I dunno, but I feel like it is.) Yeah one of my favourite things in books or movies or anything is when it's very specific to geography, and tbh not a lot of tv is very good at this let alone sci-fi. A lot of people that write movies and to make tv try to make their backgrounds really generic because they think people won't relate to them otherwise but I've always hated that.
Ugh I love Lois and I love how Rhys rolls with everything he is a boyscout.
Rhys is really one of the understated heroes of the show. And Lois is love.
I know what you mean about fleshing out backgrounds. Its more interesting to see how a character's different background makes them who they are.
I can see what you mean there, yeah. I love Moffat's overall stories/plots but RTD is quite good at the details.
I prefer Moffat's storylines and adore his characters, too, but I gotta give credit where it's due. It's not easy to write this kind of stuff and avoid cliches.
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I love Gwen and Rhys working together a ridiculous amount. I also love how resourceful you get to see they and Ianto are while they're hiding and on the run. Not to mention Jack gets the best rescue ever.
EVERY SCENE WITH GWEN AND RHYS WAS FLAWLESS.
I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE FOREVER. RHYS OWNS MY HEART AND SOUL AND HE SHOULD BE IN EVERY SCENE.
Hahaha I totally forgot about that. Yess agreed every second they spend together is beautiful.
Without using any superlatives of any kind, the 456 have got to be the best monster/villains EVER. And they're not even on-stage yet.
What is hard, though, is to draw a line between science fiction and horror in CoE. This is pure psychological horror that would do Hitchcock proud. The bad guys haven't even done anything yet, except make children talk. And make bureaucrats go crazy. So far, the bureaucrats are causing much more wanton destruction. (And they're all, John Frobisher, Bridget Spears, Mr. Decker, and the nameless Prime Minister) doing a fantastic job.
Mark, I think we might have mentioned this before, but you might not be entirely prepared. Just wanted to mention that. Not prepared, as in "not like anything, ever, before."
ITA. There is a large element of psychological horror here… AND I LOVE IT.
Seconded. Creepy and awful, but also fucking brilliant.
I LOVE GWEN COOPER. GWEN LEAPING SIDEWAYS OUT OF THE ABULANCE WHILE FIRING GUNS WITH BOTH HANDS IS BEYOND EPIC. There is so much Gwen to love in this episode. I love that little domestic squabble about the car keys Gwen and Rhys have while they’re in the middle of packing to run for their lives. And Rhys making sure that Gwen has her trigger free. ADORABLE. And then telling him that she was pregnant while in the potato truck. And that scene with her miming at Rhys to shut up while they were rescuing Jack. All wonderful little character moments.
Why do the thing with the children? Because they can. And because they want to scare us. WELL IT WORKED. It is so eerie and creepy. The mystery of the 456 makes them all the more frightening because we DON'T know exactly what they are yet. So we can fill in the blanks with our imagination and that's always going to be more scary than what we can see on screen.
Omg. Frobisher’s kids chanting “we want a pony”. Actually, I think that whole family relationship is written really well. The hard working dad who is a bit distant from his teenaged girls who are also pulling away from their uncool dad. But there’s still obviously a lot of love there. I love that after only two episodes, Frobisher does feel like a fully formed character. Good job on both the writing and the acting there.
Ianto’s sister and her husband were unexpectedly sweet. “We’re the only family he’s got.” And usuing the kids from the estate to distract the surveillance guys was brilliant. Last episode I was worried that the sister and husband were going to be horrible estate stereotypes just there as a punchline, but this week you see them help Ianto and they feel like actual people instead of caricatures.
Jack growing back form an arm is SO GROSS. Guuuuh. WHYYY? When you see him without skin? UUUUGH. Grossed out forever, tyvm.
I LOVE Lois. Her working with Gwen and Rhys was fab, coming up with the plan. The dialogue in the café scene is all kinds of brilliant. It’s just all so natural with the intercutting dialogue about food and the dialogue dealing with the plan. Some seriously wonderful writing.
And then Ianto coming with the forklift to get the concrete cell? COMPLTELY UNERALISTIC BUT OMG SO FUN. IDGAF.
GWEN LEAPING SIDEWAYS OUT OF THE AMBULANCE WHILE FIRING GUNS WITH BOTH HANDS IS BEYOND EPIC
For whatever reason that just reminded me how hilariously random some of the BBC's promo pics for CoE were.
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Never not funny.
GWEN LEAPING SIDEWAYS OUT OF THE AMBULANCE WHILE FIRING GUNS WITH BOTH HANDS IS BEYOND EPIC
For whatever reason that just reminded me how hilariously random some of the BBC's promo pics for CoE were.
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Never not funny.
NEVER NOT PERFECT.
I saw those at the time but was too excited to find them funny. In retrospect, holy shit.
Lol, BBC promo pics for action shows are hilarious.
I have to completely disagree about the gun thing – the completely unrealistic and actually kind of silly way they treat guns is my least favorite part of Torchwood, starting with the pilot where Jack doesn't teach Gwen the most basic rule of gun use: DON'T POINT IT AT SOMEONE IF YOU DON'T PLAN ON KILLING THEM! Seriously, she points it right at his face and he doesn't yell at her? What's wrong with him? Then again, improper gun use is one of my pet peeves – everything from characters that should be experts ignoring gun safety to people going guns akimbo and still having perfect aim drives me insane.
"she points it right at his face"
Well, to be fair, he didn't have much to be scared of if it accidentally went off. :p
He should have taught her not to, even if only for the sake of the next person she decides to do it with.
"Let me carry the bag."
"What?"
"You want your trigger finger free, don'ya?"
BEST wife/husband team evers? Yes.
And to comment on Jack's character now… it's a testament to him that he hasn't been overcome with incapacitating trauma. Lived for thousands of years by this point, constantly dealing with physical pain akin to the worst torture, and in Season 2 of course BURIED SORTAALIVE FOR CENTURIES… yet somehow he doesn't appear significantly different from good ole Jack at the beginning of his time. His life is full of "And I Must Scream."
It just occurred to me that during WW2 there were actually four Jack Harknesses around:
1. The "original" Jack Harkness (whose name and rank "our" Jack Harkness stole)
2. Jack Harkness the conman from The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
3. Jack Harkness who was waiting for the Doctor to return for him, and in the meantime working for Torchwood
4. Jack Harkness who had been buried and now kept in the Torchwood's morgue
And at one point, the Jack Harkness thrust back in time with Tosh for one night.
Although he probably wasn't around at the exact same time as Jack the conman.
Didn't the "original" die? I thought that was why conJack used his name and rank.
Yeah, I think so. I got the impression he landed just a couple of days after the original's death.
I just rewatched the Captain Jack Harkness episode of Torchwood (season one, episode 12) and the original Captain Jack Harkness dies on a routine training mission that is ambushed by German aircraft.
I know. Poor Jack. I just want to hug him sometime. (But I wouldn't, because it would quickly go beyond hugging, I"m sure. XD)
I never understood the hate Gwen seems to get from DW/TW fandom. She's awesome!
Anyway, Mark, if you like Peter Capaldi, you should totally check out "Fortysomething", a bizarre comedy miniseries in six parts. Why? I'll give you three reasons:
1. Hugh Laurie
2. Benedict Cumberbatch (playing the nicest guy ever! <3 )
3. Peter Capaldi
Wait – Benedict Cumberbatch is playing Tom Pellereau from the Apprentice?!
(He looks the part!)
OK, so apparently there are a lot of Peter Capaldi fans 'round these parts!
THOSE ARE THREE FINE REASONS.
There is another fine reason, but it's a surprise and I don't want to spoil you. 😉
Seriously, watch it (maybe as a little "breather" after BSG?), you won't regret it! 😉
Gwen is a BAMF, for serious. When she was fighting off the guys in the ambulance, I loved how she didn't hold back at all and fought dirty. And, as has been noted, when she leaped out the ambulance with guns blazing, she was the BAMFingest BAMF who ever BAMFed.
I really loved all the scenes with Gwen and Rhys, especially the one in the potato van. Oh, and the one in the diner with Lois. Oh, and the one when they're fleeing the apartment and Rhys is trying to pack up stuff to bring with them. I'm not gonna lie, if I were in that situation I'd try to bring at least one book with me. I mean, isn't there a saying about war/danger being 2% terror and 98% boredom and waiting? I'm probably flubbing that saying a bit, but what I'm saying is, after you rescue Jack, you're probably gonna have some downtime, you guys. A book or three never hurt anyone when you're waiting out the alien apocalypse.
I also love Ianto, and his daring rescue of Jack with construction equipment. Because why not?
There's a bunch more I could ramble on about, but I'm sure it would devolve into me typing in all caps about how I love everything in this show. (I even love to be creeped out by the 456 because SO CREEPY.)
In conclusion: Mark, you are not prepared.
Just here to share my ridiculous love of Peter Capaldi and some of the other great roles he's played.
<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_leounvoenz1qfmdxio1_250.jpg">
Danny Oldsen in "Local Hero" (1983)
<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lksc3qD0S91qagav3o1_250.jpg">
Islington in Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere" (1996)
And also the father in Fires of Pompeii.
Indeed. I came late to the party with my comments on Day One, but I mentioned him playing Caecilius there. I'm doubly geeky about that since Caecilius, Metella and Quintus were the family in my Latin language books in high school.
Why you can't die, the world is now open to so many more possibilities for pain.
Oh, right. That brought up some more Nightmare Fuel for me.
He spent a year with the Master in the Year That Never Was.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/2dXVJ.gif"/>
Right. They never bring this up in Doctor Who, but there's a line in an early episode of Season 2 when Gwen chews out Jack for leaving them and asks where he was, and pretty much all he says is that he has died so many times and describes being brought back as being dragged over broken glass. :/
I don't think it takes much imagination to realize just HOW MUCH that year must have sucked for Jack. And unlike most of the world, he has to remember it! D:
I am still grumpy that Frobisher wasn't revealed to be a shape-shifting penguin.
Yes. Forever yes. Frobisher (the penguin) is the best.
The thing about Barrowman–he is IN YOUR FACE pretty. Now, I enjoy looking at the man, but I prefer guys who have something a little bit different, something a little bit quirky. Maybe even… dare I say it? Nerdy! 🙂
I wish I had GIFs for my Rhys LOVE. I love every single scene he's in, hands down, without fail, it will become much more awesom-er. I love Gwen and Rhys' dynamic and how their relationship has evolved and changed, I love how they bicker and fight without losing the support for each other, and how they are able to work off each other. Rhys is like this bastion of normal in what can sometimes be the ridiculousness of Torchwood, and I feel like every scene he's in becomes more grounded in reality.
Their scenes in particular in this episode, and generally in CoE, feel both more realistic and sweet than in the past 2 seasons, and I think it's partially a result of the evolution of their relationship, as I mentioned earlier, and partially just the improvement in the writing.
I haven't seen CoE for a little while now, so I won't say too much for fear of spoiling, but this is one of the most intense things I remember ever watching. I gasped, I laughed, I cried a lot…it was just a very amazing TV experience, and this is making me want to repeat it now.
I really hope you enjoy this experience as much as I did, Mark!
So, most importantly, now that the hub has been destroyed:
WHERE IS MAH PTERODACTYL?
Or Gray for that matter. Guess that storyline got blown up too…
We want a pony. We want a pony. We want a pony.
OKAY CAN I JUST HAVE CHILDREN LIKE THOSE TWO GIRLS FOREVER PLEASE BECAUSE THEY ARE THE MOST AWESOME KIDS EVER
Also, Ludicrous Gibs!Jack regenerating is one of the most nightmarish things I have ever seen, second only to… *rot13'd, not sure where the US with episodes of Miracle Day yet* gur tbqqnza fhvpvqr obzore sebz Zvenpyr Qnl jub jnf oybja hc ohg fgvyy nyvir naq gura qrpncvgngrq naq fgvyy nyvir bu qrne wrfhf
also, GWEN + RHYS = JOY FOREVER. i was laughing through the whole scene in the morgue. They just have great chemistry. MARRIED AND PREGNANT GUYS, HANDS OFF SRSLY. also that 'shut up' thing Gwen does with her hand omg gwen NEVER CHANGE EVER
ALSO YOU GUYS, RHYS AND RORY SHOULD TOTALLY MEET OKAY Y/Y
Y/Y/Y
Seriously though. As much as I'm loving the last few seasons of Doctor Who, I do really want Jack to show up in an episode with Eleven. I understand it won't fit for Season 6, but maybe for Season 7?
When I found out Moffat was interested in getting Jack to show up for A Good Man Goes to War I was SO PSYKED cos even though Barrowman had a conflict (Miracle Day), it means that Moffat is open to the idea of bringing Harkness or Torchwood back in! (Imagine Jack hitting on River and Rory/Amy/Eleven's simultaneous indignation…)
Jack would hit on River, Amy, Rory AND the Eleventh Doctor! XD And if he ever met Sexy in her human form, he'd hit on her, too!
Jack and Rory could have drinks and talk about how many times they have died.
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