donutsweeper | tw 2.01 random thoughts

I usually do most of my reactions on my friend's reviews, but I'm trying to wrap my head around some things so I thought I'd smush it all together into one post. In a pretty random order though....

In general- it's TEAM TORCHWOOD now, not random group of people working together and that's fantastic

fairly good intro bit. from the 'bloody torchwood' to the team acting like a team and being competent but still not all there (i.e. Ianto's comment about weapons and Tosh replied she didn't know what kind of weapons it had but Ianto meant if they needed special weapons to kill it). Owen shooting while leaning out the car was dumb though. BUT. Ianto's momentary "Huh?" and looking at his gun when Jack fired behind him was priceless.

I haven't seen many people talk about this exchange:
JACK: "I found my Doctor."
OWEN: "Did he fix you?"

because- the way Owen asked that was wonderful- there was a level of caring to his tone I'd never seen before... and then that pause and fake smile and Jack's deflecting answer spoke volumes as well.

the scene with Gwen- I am so glad I read everyone's reactions, because at first I was "GAH! NO!!!!" but now I think it less of a romantic response and more of a nod and 'go live your life' sort of thing.

Loved PC Andy.

Loved Jack's wristband beeping and the 'oh shit' reaction by both Ianto and Jack. The message itself- I don't read into to it more than the writer trying to be cute with the Star Wars reference, and it was.

Loved the team bitching about being left behind and their conversation in the Taxi, but their reply to Ianto's "it is more fun when he's around, though." .... "oh, yeah. definitely. yeah it is."

Jack/John interesting- not much to say about though... thought it was interesting GWEN led the team while Jack was gone and not OWEN though...

Jack and Ianto in the office was PRICELESS. Jack was so hesitant and unsure of himself. *Sigh*

The timing bits on John showing up JUST as each of the canisters were found bugged me a bit, it's a common technique in tv/movie/book plots, but it annoys me.

Loved Team Torchwood pulling their guns on John and John about to snark about killing Jack but being struck dumb by Jack being alive

Glad they didn't kill off John- it makes me wonder if they're trying to make the John/Jack relationship vaguely like Master/Doctor though

and the ending.. the who is GREY mystery. *sigh* like we needed more mystery about Jack's past

overall- thrilled to pieces, even the crappy CGI and contrived bits didn't damped my squee. Kudos and donuts to Chris Chibnall for an excellent episode.

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I loved the ep! my only fear is that I think that Chris Chibnall is leaving Torchwood for another show.

I don't think I heard that. There are a lot of good writers though, with luck there'll be more continuity overall this season

With you all the way :)

Ianto certainly had the best facial expressions of the episode, what with the gun moment (which had me flailing and knocking cushions off the sofa because he looked so CUTE! and I'm not a Ianto fan...), then the eyerolling, and the flustered by Jack and the 'hmmm...orgy...' look (because you just KNOW he was thinking about it) and...and... And I'm abusing ellipses again and shall stop.

Like you, the CGI made me shake my head, but it didn't take a thing from the episode, because the episode was actually about the people, not all the other stuff. Awesome :D

abusing ellipses? How awful! I never do that myself! :)

wasn't Ianto just adorable with the gun? Overall awesome episode! YAY!

I think team is a really good way of describing them. they really are a team, now.

I loved the bit with Ianto looking at his gun like it was possessed (but, then, I think you already knew that).

I really want to see more of the caring Owen. I hope they give us more of that.

really, how can you NOT like the Star Wars reference?

oh, geez...the office. I'm going to watch that bit a few more times this weekend.

also, I'd just like to reiterate what I said in my journal, but John's fantastic reaction to Jack not being dead, and the whole story behind the shooting of that scene, just makes it about twenty times better.

LOL...the "hmmm...orgy..." look was just priceless (and he was totally think about it).

I am so happy at the idea of seeing Owen as something other than a creepy prat!

and- omg- john's reaction when jack steps forward? Excellent acting there! very well done!

same here. there's really a lot of depth, there, which they've yet to explore.

like I said, best. "oh shit" look. ever.

I didn't actually spot any crappy CGI. Will keep an eye out on second viewing.

I think you might be onto something with the Jack/John=Doctor/Master idea. But with more overt shagging. Hmm. Not entirely sure how I feel about that. Could be good for Jack to have a nemesis that he has a love/hate relationship with or it could turn into Rusty playing out fantasies he would like to write for the Doctor and the Master. Time will tell I guess...

there really were only two CGI bits done badly- when Jack and John took the lift down the background behind them looked odd. And the explosion at the end wasn't quite up to snuff.

Good point that RTD can do things with the Jack/John relationship he can't with Master/Doctor. Time will certainly tell

thought it was interesting GWEN led the team while Jack was gone and not OWEN though...

Me too! I really wonder how that came about. I guess it could have been one of those things where a person just falls into a role and no one else has much to say about it, so that's the way it is - even if it happened that way, though, the implications are interesting.

JACK: "I found my Doctor."
OWEN: "Did he fix you?"

I really liked Owen's line and tone there, too. I found the tone familiar - I think he has used that particular husky voice before, when he cares a lot about something but he's in the habit of trying to cover it up - but not with Jack. Nice.

others have mentioned in various squee/reaction posts that maybe Gwen and Owen shared leading the team, but I'm not sure I buy that explanation- she does have the police experience anyway. But Owen was 2nd-in-command during "cjh" so who knows?

God, that Owen/Jack exchange was amazing. Owen immediately seized on the one thing he knew jack wanted/needed. And I loved how none of the team bought Jack's flippant response

Re. Gwen being in charge - I think that was logical - she was the one Jack talked to the most last season, and unlike the others she doesn't really have a specific role in the team.

Re. Jack/John = Doctor/Master - I hadn't thought of that but I really like the idea! *g*

I had, however, before this episode aired, been thinking of how much Doctor/Master reminded me of Angel/Spike, mainly because I've started role-playing Spike and he's actually rather similar to the Master in that he has this bad-guy image but he actually defers to Angel a lot, wants his approval and attention etc. And I imagine Jack/John could be rather similar... *g*

Gwen in charged worked, I just thought it was a bit odd, considering how Owen relished yelling at Ianto about how he was second in command when Jack was in 1941

I never thought of Angel/Spike that way- I assume it's early BtVS that you played more than later? (Soulless Spike vs with soul)

Yes! Yes to "Did he fix you?" and Owen in general in this episode, and PC Andy!

I was honestly surprised how much I liked Owen this episode! :)

Just realised I never came back here to answer your reply! :-)

I think Gwen would probably have taken charge quite easily. Ianto and Tosh would have backed her up and Owen would bluster a lot but he's not really management material, is he?

I'm playing S4 Spike, yeah, just got out of the Initiative and discovered he'd chipped. (First thread with Vae as Dean Winchester here.

But tbh, I've always thought it was pretty much the same dynamic between them in Angel S5. Just a bit sillier and not as dark and hot. :-)

I honestly don't think Owen would put up much of a fight if Gwen took over as leader. He was pretty disillusioned by the end of last series. He probably went 'oh well' and fell into second command again.

I'm with you on the Gwen/Jack scene. I think Jack always comes off as flirting, but I think it was more of a 'I've missed you' and 'poor thing, this engagement is never going to last', more than 'I'm so crushed that you're not marrying me' or whatever.

Jack and Ianto were adorable, weren't they. I really liked how Jack was sort of dancing up and tapping Ianto and dancing back. 'I'm coming on too strong, I should go a little slower, he's panicking'. Very sweet and better than Jack's usual swagger in and bed them approach.

One thing about the canister finding: I'm wondering if John was doing a bit of waiting around for the moment to strike? I suppose that's me making excuses, but he could have been waiting for them to do the work. If John and Gwen took the closest one, then Tosh and Owen went to the next closest and Jack and Ianto went to the farthest, it could work.

you might be right about the canisters... but it's just something that's done all the time on TV, etc and just feels like a contrived plot device to me. With Owen/Tosh he might have been waiting in the dark and listening, but there's no way he could have known the device was on the roof with Jack and not on the office floor with Ianto.

Nothing really to add, but I will squee with you about PC Andy, the Jack/Ianto moments and being surprised that I like Owen now...

I'll join you in the liking Owen surprise! :) Who would have thunk it?

tw 2.01 random thoughts

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