"It's a pot of glue that still thinks it's a racehorse."
I watched the Torchwood Comic Con panel earlier (Starz was kind enough to upload it to youtube). There are some super vague spoilers (pretty much boiling down to "we're going to focus on this character/this relationship in episode X"), but I'm generally a spoilerphobe and they didn't bother me. Mostly it's just the cast being super precious with one another. I think the new cast members fit in well with the John and Eve dynamic, and I pretty much just want to draw hearts around all of them. Basically, Eve Myles, marry me!
The audience Q&A portion wasn't even that motts-y, maybe because you can't see the people asking the questions, IDK. It definitely helped that the moderator was the one to ask the inevitable Ianto question (ugh). The fan questions mostly just led to some charming and hilarious stories, so I consider it a win. If you want to watch it, and don't want to deal with watching something on youtube for an hour, I uploaded it here (or if you want the HD version, that's here).
But anyway, this week's episode! My thoughts after finally getting to re-watch:
Episode 4x03: Dead of Night
Things really started to get rolling this week. Finally we're past the this-is-what-Torchwood-is exposition-y stage, and starting to get into the meat of the plot. This is probably my favorite episode so far, partially because of that, and also because I think that Jane Espenson really gets the characters. I am super thrilled that she's written or co-wrote four more episodes. Cannot wait to see those.
The Team
I am loving the new team! I really missed seeing Torchwood work together as a team to get things done. We did have some of that in Children of Earth, yeah, but the whole Torchwood-going-on-missions thing has been missing since series two, and I am so glad it's back! I am really liking how both Esther and Rex fit into the established dynamic. I loved the entire opening sequence, from how badass Rex is in his confrontation, to Gwen stopping the cop car with the road spikes. They are already working together quite well, and that can only get better and more awesome as things go on. Jack saying "not bad team" filled my heart with joy.
The less action filled moments were great too (basically loved every scene in their temporary base of operations). I love the reference to CoE, with Gwen bringing everyone clothing and food. But unlike Ianto, Gwen isn't great at eyeballing people's clothing sizes. "If they don't fit, then tough" was perfect.
Rex
I am still loving him. He's having a difficult time following Jack's orders, but I think he'll eventually start to see that both Jack and Gwen know what they're doing here, and can actually get results, so hopefully he'll at the very least learn to work with the rest of the team. I think he's starting to finally see what the stakes actually are, especially when it's clear that everyone he trusts, even an old mentor, can be gotten to. They all have to work together, because they're pretty much all they've got.
He continues to be a bit douchey, of course, most notably about Vera's mother, and ex-Torchwood members who've died. At least he realized his comment to Vera was insensitive, and apologized, so some progress there!
Esther
Esther is, right now, filling both the Tosh role, and the beginning-of-series-one!Gwen role, but I think she is holding her own. Not crazy about the fact that she's clearly pining for Rex (he so doesn't deserve her), but at least it's more subtle than Tosh and Owen, and will hopefully be much less annoying. I really loved the scene between her and Gwen. Female friendship is, unfortunately, something that's been missing from the show all along, so it's great to see how well Esther and Gwen get along already.
The Sex Scene
So, apparently some people had sex this week, you guys. I guess I have to talk about the sex scene, right? So, that was the most controversy over the least explicit scene that I've seen in ages. Not that it was G-rated or anything, but it wasn't porny enough to justify all of the fuss people were making. I did like how the scene was shot, the parallel choreography and camera work between the two halves, etc., but I think it suffered a bit from all of the press it got. Much ado about nothing, pretty much. It was probably one of the tamest sex scenes I've seen on any of the shows I watch or have watched on pay cable.
I don't understand how Vera could have been so chill at finding Rex in her apartment like that. Did they know each other pre-accident, and have some kind of previous relationship? Because otherwise, I find their relationship super weird, and the fact that she didn't freak out at him after he would have had to have broken into her place, and even wanted to sleep with him, even more so.
I did appreciate that Jack's type (in guys at least) is someone who likes the coat. If that whole thing wasn't a nod to his first meeting(s) with Ianto, IDK what is. Also, I love that we now know he keeps the vortex manipulator on at all times. :D Also, I really liked the safe sex bit at the beginning because it shows that they're being responsible and thinking about these things.
And speaking of parallels in the sex scene, I liked that the conversations afterward had some parallels as well. Vera's thoughts about her mom's illness and death were clearly a parallel to Gwen and Jack's thoughts of Ianto.
Jack and Gwen
My favorite scene this week was the phone call between Jack and Gwen. Such an amazing scene! John Barrowman plays it perfectly, a little drunk, a little vulnerable. I love hearing something real from Jack about his feelings. He missed Gwen, and it's clear he misses the way things used to be, with the old team, with Ianto, and Tosh and Owen. Loved the little mention of Ianto. It's clear he's on both of their minds a lot, and neither of them has really had anyone to talk about the whole situation with, at least not anyone who could really understand what being part of Torchwood is like. I am excited for them to potentially talk about this more in the future. This was the perfect opener, though, to what promises to be something that makes me sob like a tiny child.
I'm not crazy about Gwen just hanging up on Jack like that, though. Yes, she's obviously still upset about him having left in the first place (and rightly so!), and she's finally getting a chance to see and talk to Rhys and Anwen, but a "gotta go, Esther got me in contact with Rhys" wouldn't have gone amiss.
Oswald, Jilly, and PhiCorp
Glad they've started going somewhere with the Oswald storyline, because while i found the idea of this storyline interesting, and I more or less liked what they did with him in the first two episodes, it will be good to see what his role in all this actually is. I like that we're getting to see both sides of the world's reaction to him. There's, of course, the creepy fanaticism (that ultra-creepy "did you touch him" to Jack outside the TV station), which falls in line with the way he's portraying himself as a sort of prophet. And then, on the other side, we have people like the diner patrons, and the cops, who remember the horrible things he did and think he's a terrible person. So, a nice balance there. I am confused as to why the news media would just let him sit there and speechify about the need for all prescription drugs to be available over-the-counter (which is a terrible idea, BTW. If people can just buy whatever they want without seeing a doctor, it's inevitable they won't know what to take, and will probably end up with something that interacts negatively with their existing medication and hurt themselves. If this goes through without any regulation, I predict a bunch of deaths from it once the miracle is reversed.), though.
I continue to be impressed with Jilly. She's so good at manipulating people! She manipulates Vera into the PhiCorp meeting, and manipulates Oswald into his own meeting with PhiCorp. It's unclear what PhiCorp want with Vera as of yet, but Oswald seems to be there to preach "the message" for PhiCorp, so that they have someone to sway public opinion towards what they want.
On a totally shallow note, I loved Jilly's dress in the scenes at PhiCorp, and I continue to covet her coat.
Jack and Oswald
My other favorite scene in this episode was the confrontation between Jack and Oswald. On the surface, it was a pretty standard "hero confronts the villain" scene, but there's so much more underneath. Jack says he knows that Oswald's lying about being forgiven. Because Jack doesn't think that he can ever be forgiven for what he did to Steven. It makes for an interesting parallel between Jack and Oswald. The best moment of Oswald's life was murdering Suzie Cabina, whereas killing Steven was the worst moment of Jack's.
Jack thinks Oswald is searching for execution. That he wants to die. Is that true, though? I mean, it seems to me that Jack's approaching this from the perspective of someone who regrets killing a child, but it's obvious Oswald probably only regrets that he can't kill again. Something in Jack's comments struck a chord with Oswald, though.
Pretty much everything about this scene was great, but I wonder why Jack decided to take the recorder out and show it to Oswald? Why play his hand like that? Unless he had a secret, second recorder hidden somewhere. Oswald's guards didn't check his pockets.
Random Stuff That Didn't Fit Anywhere Else (in more or less chronological order)
I still have no real guess as to who's behind all this. Well, aside from the fact that PhiCorp is clearly heavily involved. I don't think they're necessarily causing it, more likely being used by those who did. I feel as though they are working with someone, and IDK who that might be, or what they want (other than to make a profit selling painkillers). Does it have something to do with Jack? Time will only tell, I guess.
The audience Q&A portion wasn't even that motts-y, maybe because you can't see the people asking the questions, IDK. It definitely helped that the moderator was the one to ask the inevitable Ianto question (ugh). The fan questions mostly just led to some charming and hilarious stories, so I consider it a win. If you want to watch it, and don't want to deal with watching something on youtube for an hour, I uploaded it here (or if you want the HD version, that's here).
But anyway, this week's episode! My thoughts after finally getting to re-watch:
Episode 4x03: Dead of Night
Things really started to get rolling this week. Finally we're past the this-is-what-Torchwood-is exposition-y stage, and starting to get into the meat of the plot. This is probably my favorite episode so far, partially because of that, and also because I think that Jane Espenson really gets the characters. I am super thrilled that she's written or co-wrote four more episodes. Cannot wait to see those.
The Team
I am loving the new team! I really missed seeing Torchwood work together as a team to get things done. We did have some of that in Children of Earth, yeah, but the whole Torchwood-going-on-missions thing has been missing since series two, and I am so glad it's back! I am really liking how both Esther and Rex fit into the established dynamic. I loved the entire opening sequence, from how badass Rex is in his confrontation, to Gwen stopping the cop car with the road spikes. They are already working together quite well, and that can only get better and more awesome as things go on. Jack saying "not bad team" filled my heart with joy.
The less action filled moments were great too (basically loved every scene in their temporary base of operations). I love the reference to CoE, with Gwen bringing everyone clothing and food. But unlike Ianto, Gwen isn't great at eyeballing people's clothing sizes. "If they don't fit, then tough" was perfect.
Rex
I am still loving him. He's having a difficult time following Jack's orders, but I think he'll eventually start to see that both Jack and Gwen know what they're doing here, and can actually get results, so hopefully he'll at the very least learn to work with the rest of the team. I think he's starting to finally see what the stakes actually are, especially when it's clear that everyone he trusts, even an old mentor, can be gotten to. They all have to work together, because they're pretty much all they've got.
He continues to be a bit douchey, of course, most notably about Vera's mother, and ex-Torchwood members who've died. At least he realized his comment to Vera was insensitive, and apologized, so some progress there!
Esther
Esther is, right now, filling both the Tosh role, and the beginning-of-series-one!Gwen role, but I think she is holding her own. Not crazy about the fact that she's clearly pining for Rex (he so doesn't deserve her), but at least it's more subtle than Tosh and Owen, and will hopefully be much less annoying. I really loved the scene between her and Gwen. Female friendship is, unfortunately, something that's been missing from the show all along, so it's great to see how well Esther and Gwen get along already.
The Sex Scene
So, apparently some people had sex this week, you guys. I guess I have to talk about the sex scene, right? So, that was the most controversy over the least explicit scene that I've seen in ages. Not that it was G-rated or anything, but it wasn't porny enough to justify all of the fuss people were making. I did like how the scene was shot, the parallel choreography and camera work between the two halves, etc., but I think it suffered a bit from all of the press it got. Much ado about nothing, pretty much. It was probably one of the tamest sex scenes I've seen on any of the shows I watch or have watched on pay cable.
I don't understand how Vera could have been so chill at finding Rex in her apartment like that. Did they know each other pre-accident, and have some kind of previous relationship? Because otherwise, I find their relationship super weird, and the fact that she didn't freak out at him after he would have had to have broken into her place, and even wanted to sleep with him, even more so.
I did appreciate that Jack's type (in guys at least) is someone who likes the coat. If that whole thing wasn't a nod to his first meeting(s) with Ianto, IDK what is. Also, I love that we now know he keeps the vortex manipulator on at all times. :D Also, I really liked the safe sex bit at the beginning because it shows that they're being responsible and thinking about these things.
And speaking of parallels in the sex scene, I liked that the conversations afterward had some parallels as well. Vera's thoughts about her mom's illness and death were clearly a parallel to Gwen and Jack's thoughts of Ianto.
Jack and Gwen
My favorite scene this week was the phone call between Jack and Gwen. Such an amazing scene! John Barrowman plays it perfectly, a little drunk, a little vulnerable. I love hearing something real from Jack about his feelings. He missed Gwen, and it's clear he misses the way things used to be, with the old team, with Ianto, and Tosh and Owen. Loved the little mention of Ianto. It's clear he's on both of their minds a lot, and neither of them has really had anyone to talk about the whole situation with, at least not anyone who could really understand what being part of Torchwood is like. I am excited for them to potentially talk about this more in the future. This was the perfect opener, though, to what promises to be something that makes me sob like a tiny child.
I'm not crazy about Gwen just hanging up on Jack like that, though. Yes, she's obviously still upset about him having left in the first place (and rightly so!), and she's finally getting a chance to see and talk to Rhys and Anwen, but a "gotta go, Esther got me in contact with Rhys" wouldn't have gone amiss.
Oswald, Jilly, and PhiCorp
Glad they've started going somewhere with the Oswald storyline, because while i found the idea of this storyline interesting, and I more or less liked what they did with him in the first two episodes, it will be good to see what his role in all this actually is. I like that we're getting to see both sides of the world's reaction to him. There's, of course, the creepy fanaticism (that ultra-creepy "did you touch him" to Jack outside the TV station), which falls in line with the way he's portraying himself as a sort of prophet. And then, on the other side, we have people like the diner patrons, and the cops, who remember the horrible things he did and think he's a terrible person. So, a nice balance there. I am confused as to why the news media would just let him sit there and speechify about the need for all prescription drugs to be available over-the-counter (which is a terrible idea, BTW. If people can just buy whatever they want without seeing a doctor, it's inevitable they won't know what to take, and will probably end up with something that interacts negatively with their existing medication and hurt themselves. If this goes through without any regulation, I predict a bunch of deaths from it once the miracle is reversed.), though.
I continue to be impressed with Jilly. She's so good at manipulating people! She manipulates Vera into the PhiCorp meeting, and manipulates Oswald into his own meeting with PhiCorp. It's unclear what PhiCorp want with Vera as of yet, but Oswald seems to be there to preach "the message" for PhiCorp, so that they have someone to sway public opinion towards what they want.
On a totally shallow note, I loved Jilly's dress in the scenes at PhiCorp, and I continue to covet her coat.
Jack and Oswald
My other favorite scene in this episode was the confrontation between Jack and Oswald. On the surface, it was a pretty standard "hero confronts the villain" scene, but there's so much more underneath. Jack says he knows that Oswald's lying about being forgiven. Because Jack doesn't think that he can ever be forgiven for what he did to Steven. It makes for an interesting parallel between Jack and Oswald. The best moment of Oswald's life was murdering Suzie Cabina, whereas killing Steven was the worst moment of Jack's.
Jack thinks Oswald is searching for execution. That he wants to die. Is that true, though? I mean, it seems to me that Jack's approaching this from the perspective of someone who regrets killing a child, but it's obvious Oswald probably only regrets that he can't kill again. Something in Jack's comments struck a chord with Oswald, though.
Pretty much everything about this scene was great, but I wonder why Jack decided to take the recorder out and show it to Oswald? Why play his hand like that? Unless he had a secret, second recorder hidden somewhere. Oswald's guards didn't check his pockets.
Random Stuff That Didn't Fit Anywhere Else (in more or less chronological order)
- The previouslies seem to be making a link between Rex and "people who should be dead that aren't". Does that mean he'll die when things go back to normal? I wouldn't be super surprised if he did, but I like him and would love for him to stay around.
- The Soulless are so far uninteresting. They looked so creepy in the trailer, too. Hopefully they'll do something more with them, because right now I'm really questioning their relevance.
- Yay, the contact lenses are back. Clearly they are the most useful piece of Torchwood tech. I'm so glad that we actually see Gwen blinking while wearing them, too, because it drove me crazy that we never saw that when Lois wore them. I mean, who never blinks, right? Although, I tried to figure out how Gwen had gotten them back from Bridget Spears, and I had to stop and just handwave it. Loved Gwen being all "they're isomorphic" and no one buying it for a second, except Rex. Clearly, he would never have let anyone but him go in if she hadn't lied, but it worked for the laughs factor, too.
- I'm of two minds about the "these are the differences between British and American English" jokes. Some of them were kind of funny (pants vs trousers, and Gwen driving on the wrong side of the road), but they were mostly unnecessary (Brits know that we call them chips in America, okay?), and will probably get tedious if they continue in future episodes. But they could have been way worse, I'm sure.
- Loved the TARDIS nod with the PhiCorp warehouse being "bigger on the inside than the outside". I love any and all mentions of the Doctor, and I love how natural this feels, and that it's something that new viewers wouldn't be confused by, but those of us who know will love. Much like the Owen reference in episode one.
- I absolutely loved the "my arm is itching"/"poor baby"/"I think it's infected"/"it's itching because it's healing" exchange. Ugh, Gwen is such a mom, it's adorable. But Jack still doesn't appear to have ever bandaged (or cleaned!) the wound, and it's driving me nuts. And if it's infected, it's because he's still the idiot who hasn't learned about the existence of Neosporin yet.
- The sobriety chip thing was very interesting to me. Kind of amazing to see that things have changed so severely for the world that people are willing to throw away a decade of sobriety. People must either not have any hope that things will go back to normal, or they figure that "hey, I can't die, so whatever!". I don't know that the latter really jives with my observations of the insanely diverse cross section of people I know (personally, or through Mom's store) who are in recovery, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this kind of thing happening, were we actually in a miracle-like situation. However, the majority of my reaction to that scene was ASL;KFJAS;DLFKJ THAT ISN'T WHAT AN AA CHIP LOOKS LIKE! As someone whose Mom's bookstore has a large 12-Step Recovery section (which includes coins for AA, Al-Anon, and NA) I was really distracted by that. AA coins are about the size of a silver dollar, and most of them are bronze-y in color. Yeah, they sell everything below one year in an aluminum version, so they do come in colors, but they don't look like that. Did they not research it at all? Or did the World Service Organization refuse to let them use authentic ones? I clearly put way too much thought into this, I know. But it was super distracting.
- Okay, probable unpopular fannish opinion ahead, but I am actually really glad that Ianto's dead now. Not that I don't miss him (and Tosh and Owen *sob*), but just based on what we know so far, and where I see this series going, I'm pretty sure that if he had lived, he would have died this season, and this death would've been about a billion times worse than the one he had in CoE. I'm guessing that when they figure out how to reverse whatever's causing the miracle, everyone who should have died will die. And, knowing RTD, some time in the first few episodes, Ianto would have sustained horrible injuries of some sort, the kind that would normally have killed him, or that would at least be hard to come back from. So, the whole saving the world thing would be colored by the fact that when they figured out how to fix things, they'd lose him (much like they probably will with Rex :((((). And we'd have to watch Ianto dying by inches every week. So, yeah, I'm glad he didn't survive. [I wrote this bit before the season premiered, and Gwen's mention of Ianto in this episode made me even more sure that I'm right about it.]
- Jack is entirely too thrilled with that hangover, the weirdo. I thought he was able to get drunk, though. Or at least his behavior in the past that they talk about during "Fragments" seems to indicate that he used to get drunk and talk about how great the Doctor is (and how the Doctor was going to fix him). Which has always been my theory as to why he stopped drinking. Probably his tolerance has gone way up in the last hundred (or two thousand, depending on how you look at it) years, making getting drunk a lot harder, or maybe impossible, but that's no excuse to enjoy a hangover. :)
- Oswald's guard is the worst guard ever. Just letting him go for ice?! As though he couldn't possibly escape.
- I continue to be unable to deal with Jack and his flat American accent saying extremely British things. The first time I watched this, and Jack busted out with "sod it" at the start of his scene with Oswald, I had to pause and laugh for a couple of minutes. So ridiculous! :D
I still have no real guess as to who's behind all this. Well, aside from the fact that PhiCorp is clearly heavily involved. I don't think they're necessarily causing it, more likely being used by those who did. I feel as though they are working with someone, and IDK who that might be, or what they want (other than to make a profit selling painkillers). Does it have something to do with Jack? Time will only tell, I guess.