Sometimes, a little technobabble is good for the soul...

Torchwood Reviews - To The Last Man, Meat

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 20:41:53 GMT

OK! A couple of TW reviews for you. I'll still be behind even after I've done these two, but I'm plodding onwards. First up is To The Last Man, which already feels like it happened aaages ago.

On rewatching this episode, I found it quite strange that one of the received pronounciation ye olde Torchwood members was a woman. It surprised me - I never realised there was such equality in the early 1900s! Then again, it's possible that she was recruited to fill a man's place during wartime, I suppose. It was still a little bizarre though. I know Torchwood was set up by Queen Victoria, who was, of course, a woman, but she was hardly famed for feminism; quite the opposite, she thought giving us lot the vote was a ridiculous idea.

Just a bit of history there to prove that all that expensive education of mine hasn't entirely gone to waste.

Showing the end at the start is always popular in the paradox ridden world of sci-fi, but I didn't think it worked particularly well in this instance. Generally, that sort of thing is successful when there's a bit complicated plot coming up, so you think one thing from the flash forward teaser which turns out to be something quite different once you've watched the rest of the story. That didn't happen; this episode was rather plot-light (which was fine, because it was character heavy) and showing off a bit of the ending first meant that it was nowhere near as dramatic later on.

Jack's retro calendar was a nice touch - the anachronistic elements of Jack's costume and gadgets make me smile. They bring a little old fashioned elegance into the high tech Torchwood world.

'Is that a dress, Tosh?'

'I do believe it is, Owen!' - Owen and Tosh's relationship continues to make me happy, even though they are obviously so very doomed. The whole team relationship is so much warmer this time round, and whilst all the tension last series was delithous in it's own right, it gives me warm fuzzies when they all get on. ^^ The last Tosh and Owen scene was so well played too - Owen's sympathy and protectiveness was perfectly in character - not overly sentimental, just matter of fact with the right amount of sensitivity.

Now, to Tommy. 'You daft lass. What goes on in that head of yours?' There was something so down to Earth about Tommy - in fact, he was very much like the Ninth Doctor. He had a sense of humour and was very alive and in love with life - and then underneath that, the war, and the darkness that adds to a character. He has to be one of my very favourite guest characters so far, although he couldn't quite compare to the glory that was Captain ~~Spike~~ John.

And now I want to remind you all who wrote this episode - Helen Raynor, previously a lowly script editor, now churning out the scripts. I don't like her work. I thought Daleks in Manhatten and Evolution of the Daleks were appalling episodes that made the Daleks look truly ridiculous; I thought Ghost Machine was overly complicated. Apparently she's doing another two-parter for season 4 of Doctor Who, so perhaps she'll redeem herself. But for a Raynor production, To The Last Man was surprisingly good, helped along enormously by fantastic performances from Naoko Mori and Antony Lewis (as Tommy). As usual, however, I have a couple of criticisms.

I think it would've worked better if they day they had woken Tommy wasn't then coincidentally the day they needed him. The story still would have worked if the time shift had properly begun at the start of the epidode, meaning that they then had to wake up Tommy to deal with the crisis. Events never play out that conveniently in real life, and even with a liberal spoonful of artistic license, they still shouldn't in television. And Raynor's choice to explain absolutely everything at the beginning left the question of how to reverse the time shift as the main problem to solve in the entire episode. The solution was found far too easily - again, through a lovely neat coincidence.

But I can excuse all of that because frankly, the character work in this episode was fantastic. It's not often that on big, action packed sci-fis like Doctor Who and Torchwood, we're also given some proper character development to feast on. Generally you get one or the other. We got mainly character and, to be frank, not a lot of story in this particular episode, but I'm sure the rest of the series will redress the balance on the action front. In To The Last Man, Raynor gave us the kind of pause for growth that you can't have on a family show like Doctor Who, because it is a little boring and weighty for the kiddies. We got to see just how much these characters have developed, and grown closer, during Jack's absence. I've already mentioned Tosh and Owen, but there's also a lovely little friendship between Gwen and Ianto that really shone through in her telling him to cheer up (which is exactly what I was thinking at that point too). And the relationship between Tosh and Tommy was spot on - I'm sure it's all been said already, but Antony Lewis really was great - such a natural actor - and they had a very believable chemistry.

And of course there was the Jack/Ianto kiss. I know it's been criticised as being rather out of place in that particular episode - but frankly, despite how much I liked Tosh and Tommy, at that point I did need a little interlude, and boy, did Torchwood deliver. And if I'm allowed to bypass the actual kiss-squee to can focus on the conversation they had beforehand for a moment, then we actually did learn a lot from those little lines of dialogue.

Jack: 'Don't really know where I really belong. Maybe that doesn't matter anymore.' - Jack is finally willing to move on, thank goodness - no more brooding on rooftops; he's caught up with the Doctor, resolved a few issues, and he knows that even if Cardiff 2008 isn't his home in the conventional sense, it's where he needs to be.

Ianto: 'I...know you get lonely.' - Further proof that Ianto is quite an insightful character. One of the reasons that he and Jack work so well as a couple is because he understands a lot of Jack, and accepts what he doesn't. There hasn't been any Ianto-shooting-jealous-death-glares-at-Gwen because Ianto gets that Jack and Gwen have this special relationship - at the end of the day, Gwen goes home to Rhys and Jack leaps in bed with Ianto, and that's all that matters to him. Ianto is willing to work around the things that Jack can't tell him because he's patient enough to wait.

Have I mentioned recently that I really, really like Ianto? I know, I keep it so very quiet, but he's like, my favourite character...^^

Jack: 'Going home wouldn't fix that. Being here, I've seen things I never dreamt I'd see, loved people I never would have known if I'd just stayed where I was. And I wouldn't change that for the world.' - If that isn't the perfect prompt for a good snog, I don't know what is.

And since I seem to have got quite meta-y and srs bsnz with all that Jack/Ianto analysis, here are some silly little notes from the episode that don't really fit anywhere else.

--Continuity! Where was it, please? First we had, as Nez pointed out to me, Tosh's hair being all blustery one moment and then perfectly neat the next, then Tosh dropping her bag twice during the scene with her and Tommy on the pier. The big gadgetty comms that I loved so much seem to have been replaced, without explanation, by invisible ear pieces - why? And if Captain Jack Harkness (the episode) is to be believed, Tommy could potentially writer letters to Tosh from 1918, even if she couldn't send them back, just by writing them and sealing them away in some pre-ordained place for her to find in 2008.

--Clichés! 'You look as if you've seen a ghost' - no one has ever actually said that to me in real life, and it only ever gets said in television if someone actually has seen a ghost. Ooh, spooky.

--Would the letters that ye olde Torchwood sent to modern Torchwood really be all tea-stained and olde-looking if they had been sealed away in that time locked, presumably air-tight container?

--RandomEmpath!Jack - why?! Why has Jack suddenly developed the empathetic powers that previously he really didn't have - in fact didn't the Ninth Doctor scorn him and Rose for their 'funny human brains'? Is it really necessary for him to touch things and then pull faces? Please, JB, stop it.

--One of These Mornings, by Moby, is a very nice song.

--Why bother telling Tosh that Tommy dies? I know it created all that dramatic 'oh noes' tension at the end, but really Jack, I thought you were more intelligent than that. If you want someone to send their boyfriend back to 1918, don't tell them that the poor guy is gonna get shot.

--One of my notes for this episode simply reads: 'Rift key - WTF?!!' I don't like it when we get technobabbled. Well, I like technobabble, but I don't like it when we get technobabbled and it doesn't make sense within the continuity of the series. A little more explanation would have been nice, since it seems that messing around with this Rift can do any number of ~*~magical~*~ things.

--The camera work was so much better - it's a lot easier on the eyes when the camera man doesn't feel the need to zoom around everywhere like some bizarre Jamie Oliver crossover.

--And of course, it would be raining on Tommy's one day out. Wales never fails to deliver. Gotta love that British weather.

All in all, a good episode, although Nez made the following (rather excellent) point about the whole affair:

'I like it when they have guns. Just a sniff of a gun...just the inkling that they still know how to use them...not tool boxes with flashy red lights on the side - we want GUNS!!'

And she's right you know. The episode would have been slightly improved by a villain - just a little villain, just something for the team to fight. I know that wasn't the point of the episode, and yes, it did leave even more room for the delicious character stuff, but...we like it when they have guns. And when they actually need to use them.

Not that I'm endorsing violence...

Now, Meat. Tasty tasty Meat.

I have one overall thing to say: RHYS!! Dear goodness, I love that chubby little Welshman, and here was an episode so full of him that I almost exploded. There's something very important that Rhys does for Torchwood - he brings a big heaping helping of normality. And Torchwood definitely needs that every now and then. And actually, having Rhys there highlights the fact that even though Gwen was brought in to remind Torchwood of the outside world and to love one another and all that jazz, she's actually been assimilated a lot into the alien crazy lifestyle. I mean, pre-Torchwood Gwen would never have had an affair, for one thing. So it's nice when someone like Rhys or PC Andy brings everything back into context with Real Life, and says 'WTF?!' when noone else will.

And look, I know it's meant to heighten the tension, but I was very unhappy to see the Jamie Oliver zoomy shaky camera work back. The scenes between Gwen and Rhys in their flat were so brilliant, so charged, so tense - and I got distracted from it by wondering if the cameraman was actually going to catch up with Gwen when she started to speak.

Of course, with Rhys acting like a big ole stalker, we had to have the cliché 'boyfriend misinterprets a scene between girlfriend and male friend'. Although to be honest, I can't see what he was so worried about - Gwen and Jack's arm linking and cocking about seemed to imply to me that they were gal pals rather than bed buddies. We also had another one of Jack's Special Accents - first pirate, now plummy Brit? Just because you can do all these voices, JB, doesn't mean you should.

Gwen: Have you ever eaten alien meat?
Jack: Yeah.
Gwen: What was it like?
Jack: Well, he seemed to enjoy it. - Oh Jack. Jack Jack Jack. I love you, and your fantastic sexcapades. Don't ever, ever change.

Owen and Ianto with guns was irrationally hot, as was Ianto's srs bsnz coat. Owen/Ianto has never been my first choice of pairing, but I can see why people like it. Their banter is awesome. They're very different people, but both sarcastic - I'm hoping for a snark-off, myself. They also make a very good team - when Ianto's worrying about special door opening gadgets, Owen's already preparing to shoot the lock off.

It's a shame really that Meat was saturated with that stupid forced Gwen/Jack that the Torchwood bosses are shoving in from all sides. But there we are. It's all made better by the Jack/Ianto, as ever. 'Mainly because we're all sad and single' - Ianto's little smirk, and the beer, and the Jack ogling him from the safety of his office...^^

So let's talk about the space manatee. It's the cow of ~~the sea-hee-heeeeeee~~ space. And it was so damn adorable. I'm quite sure it's my favourite alien ever, across the whole of Torchwood, even across the whole of Doctor Who. I was weeping on the inside when Owen attacked it with his huuuuge syringe (Nez was very confused as to where that syringe comes from, but that's because she clearly wasn't watching the sensitive baddie closely enough). It was so very sad, but I just knew it wouldn't survive, as much as I'd have loved for Ianto to come back from feeding it, covered in plankton and looking all grumpy. Death by Torchwood for another hapless creature. The only bad thing about the space manatee was that it induced another round of RandomEmpath!Jack, which was annoying.

Tosh: We could feed the world!
Ianto: We could release a single. - YES. YES PLEASE.

The entire 'introducing Rhys to Torchwood' scene was brilliant. Jack got a bit too much in Rhy's face for my liking, but that was all made better by the homoerotic comment, and I loved how fanboyish Rhys was about the pterodactyl. Rhys cracking a nervous little joke and Gwen doing OTT laughter was so well played - we're all the same when introducing a friend to a group of people that we really want to impress. Nice touch there by the actors or the director or the script writer, whichever was the brain child.

And while we're at it, let's have a round of applause for the writer of this episode, Catherine Tregenna. I love her stuff as much as I dislike Helen Raynor's - Tregenna is a fantastic example of a female writer in a very male dominated genre who can really write a script. I mean, really write a script.

My mother noted that it was a good thing Gwen didn't give Rhys the retcon, because if she had, he's be even more freaked out when she got all memory wiped in the Ginger Git episode (otherwise known as Adam). And if she had retconned him, how on earth would she explain the fact that he got shot?! But I'm so glad that Rhys didn't get retconned, because he was just so damned ~*~happy~*~, and it made ME ~*~happy~*~ to watch HIM being ~*~happy~*~. 'And I get to be a part of it all - fantastic!' Oh Nine. Your epic win lives on. ^^

So on the whole, huzzah for Meat! A clever, touching episode that raised some important ethical issues whilst being all hot (Ianto), snarky (Ianto) and adorably sweet (Ianto - oh alright, Rhys too. And the space manatee).

And now, some random notes that wouldn't fit into proper paragraphs.

--The sensitive baddie has glasses of course. I quite liked him. His hair-raking was rather attractive.

--How the hell did those baddies first discover that the space manatee made delithous pie??! Who looks at a space manatee and thinks ~~'hmm, this could be a little more sonic'~~ 'mmm, that could make a great pasty, and I bet I could cut it up while it's still alive without any major consequence! Anyone got a meat cleaver?' Srsly.

--Ianto seems to have his own work station now, even if he doesn't get a chair. Next series, I expect him to have the mother of all chairs - one of those big, black, leather, 'I've been expecting you' chairs. With a cupholder built into the arm.

--Did Owen greet Rhys with a peace sign?! That's so...that's so KAWAII!! ^______^;

--Why does Owen have so many plants? Is he really that lonely? Or are they trying to set up a huge Little Shop of Horrors crossover? (Oh my gosh, how excellent would that be?)

--Date fail! Ohh Tosh, bless you, but Owen's oblivious. He only has room in his heart for his plants.

--How the hell did Ianto (and I'm assuming Ianto got lumbered with this task) manage to incinerate the space manatee? Either there's a volcano in Cardiff that I didn't know about, or he was there for days, hacking it into little oven-sized chunks. Urgh, now I feel slightly queasy. Poor space manateee.

--Tosh brought Owen sammiches! His favourite kind, too! Now where are we going to see that again? ^^ Oh Tosh and Owen, you are so lovely together, but so clearly never gonna happen.

--Pterodactyl sighting!! Quickly, Paul, the binoculars!

Phew. That was bloody exhausting.

Expect a review of ~~Ginger Git~~ Adam some time before Wednesday. *collapses*

Torchwood Review - Sleeper

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 22:14:40 GMT

So, the second episode of Torchwood series 2 - Sleeper, by James Moran. And the thing which really stands out for me about this episode is the direction - because it was appalling. The actors were generally spot on as usual, but the camera work! Good gracious...it was like watching an episode of The Naked Chef...random zoomy close ups, things artistically out of focus in an irritating way, and the camera juddering around and missing things or cutting bits of peoples' faces off...it was absolutely terrible. Usually I don't even notice what the camera's doing - but in this episode it was annoyingly obvious. OK, rant over (probably).

I really like the dynamic between Gwen and Owen. I know I don't mention it much (mainly because Gwen infuriates me 99% of the time), but I've always liked how those two interact onscreen. They've been through all these interesting stages - first there was the mick-taking and irritation, which of course was covering up all that sexual tension, and then cannibals shoved them together (which would be an excellent story to tell the kids), and they were acting couple-y with lots of banter. Then of course Diane occured and Owen grew up a bit and moved on, and even though Gwen was annoyed, she accepted the change. And this series, they've got to that comfortable place that you reach after all the sexy stuff - they work well together, there's still the banter and occasional power struggle, but they're good around each other. I don't reckon they're ever going to be a canon couple again, and I'm alright with that because they weren't exactly my OTP (I think we all know who my TW OTP is). Despite not liking Gwen as a character, I'm perfectly willing to say that Eve Myles is a talented actress, and the way she plays off Burn Gorman is always fascinating and entertaining to watch.

Gareth David Lloyd was on top form yet again. I don't know whether Ianto's getting all the best lines or whether he just makes them all brilliant somehow, but whatever it is, I hope it continues. So let's pause for a moment to consider all of Ianto's best bits in this particular episode. The sarky, smirky moment when Jack actually growled at him, only slightly spoilt by the bizarre, awkward camera work (obviously I haven't quite finished ranting about that one then). Popping from the tower - 'we don't sniff the subetheric resonator'. 'Oh right, their heads must explode all the time'. 'Nobody knows more than I do'. 'I know everything! And it says so on the bottom of the screen'. And offering Gwen his arm when she was all upset about Beth - ever the gentleman, our Ianto. *happy sigh*

Ianto also seemed to be involved in a bit of intriguing glance work. The moment when he pretended to be electrocuted whilst strapped into that chair (mmm bondage) was complemented by a point from Jack and an eyeroll from Owen, which made my mind go 'OT3?!' And there was this one bit right at the end - Jack was coming out of his office after being stabbed (which there was still visual evidence of), and Ianto was carrying that probe...then there was this slight pause while Ianto just looked at Jack - I have no idea how to describe that look. It was a bit like concern and slight annoyance. Annoyed that Jack got himself hurt again, perhaps? Or reading too much into it? Or buggered continuity again? Interpret it as you will, I suppose. ^^

So oddly, the character I least liked in this episode was Jack himself. I thought he was far too 'srs bzns' - too hard (no sniggering, ladies), too harsh, too close minded. *sigh* I thought Jack was supposed to be a little more like his old self this series...but I think Nez did point out, fairly enough, that the content of the episode needed him to be the strong, serious one. He just seemed a little *too* unrelenting - Jack's not completely devoid of empathy. But it did make me happy that Jack wasn't srs bzns when he was talking to Ianto, because I'm a soppy fangirl.

On another note, Nez thought that Beth had too much skin under her eyes. Other than that physical oddity though, let's have a round of applause for Beth. She was very normal and very scared without being irritating. She reacted in a way which I think most of us would react. We might like to imagine that if we were ever in the Hub, we'd throw ourselves into it and become big tought action men, but we're all more likely to quiver around a bit and wish it wasn't happening to us. The pain in the mind probe scene was also very well acted, and Beth's normal, gentle nature was an excellent contrast with the cold professionalism of the sleeper agent.

And yes, I know that I've left out Tosh (which is very rude of me), but I get the feeling I'll have plenty to say about her next week...I will say that Tosh seems a lot more confident and sure of herself in this series - she's being a bit naughtier and seems more a part of the team, which is fantastic to see. Can't wait to see more evidence of this character development next week.

The special effects in this episode were, quite frankly, awe-inspiring. The arm prosthetics were damn near flawless, and I also loved the in-body CGI - it reminded me a lot of House, which was quite a comforting feeling. I do miss House. The blood was scarily realistic (and there was *a lot* of it - how on Earth would they go about making it kiddie friendly? Did anyone watch the pre-watershed version? I'm gonna have to remember to check it out one of these days...).

Owen's potplant!!! ^^

This episode made me realise a bit that, however much I may dislike her at times, you really do need Gwen there. You need her there to just be human, to be compassionate and empathetic and all of these wonderful things that she exemplifies (sometimes to an unrealistic extent), because otherwise - well, you've got srs bzns Jack, sarcastic almost to the point of cruelty Owen, restrained Ianto, and well-meaning but still a little socially awkward Tosh. Gwen is a very necessary member of the team - you do actually need her humanising influence to soften all the bloody, violent, psychologically disturbing edges. I hope I can appreciate her that much in every future episode.

God bless the telephone mime. *snuggles Ianto*

Anyone else notice the Welsh dragon painted on the wall of the Hub? I thought that was a nice touch.

Owen's reaction to the end of the world - 'let's all have sex' - was brilliant, and so in character. ~~And there should be fic. Actually, there probably already is fic.~~ But I have a few things to mention about the nuclear missile plot - 1) it's been done before. Using our own weapons against us was the whole concept of the Slitheen's dastardly plans, was it not? And 2) would Jack die for good if he got blown into little radioactive bits?

Also, another question - if the sleeper agents know everything about Torchwood and scones and Jack, then why don't they know his real name?

The ending of this episode was perfect - I don't think it could've ended any other way. Beth showed that she could be strong, underneath it all, and there was a sort of nobility to her almost-suicide. I wasn't pleased with yet another Gwen/Jack deep and meaningful chat though - although the pirate accent almost made it all worthwhile.

So all in all, another great episode that felt better paced than the absolutely jam packed first episode. It was sadly lacking in Rhys and PC Andy, but that's just how things go sometimes. I also have two remaining comments from the phone conversation me and Nez had after the episode. One has become an injoke of sorts - Nez's dad interrupted our conversation to let us both know that Torchwood is an anagram of Doctor Who. And somehow that turned into me saying 'Bobby Davro can do anagrams'. (Which he can.)

And whilst talking about all the blood in this episode, Nez said that she liked the fact that the Torchwood production team don't shy away from showing blood on the telly. In fact, she remarked something along the lines of: 'There's not enough blood on normal TV. They all go "nonono, we can't have blood, let's have CUSTARD pouring out of them instead!!"' God bless her.

And am I the only one who misses the hand? I wonder what Jack did with it...

On a sillier note, I have a copy of Jack's timetable to share with you. It's only a rough copy, and there is a bit of wiggle room in there, but this is basically how Jack likes to spend his days.

Wake up
Aliens
Innuendo
Flirt with Ianto
Aliens
Brood a bit
Deep and meaningful talk with Gwen
Flirt with Ianto
Aliens
Stand on rooftop
~~Bedtime~~ Sexyteim

Hope y'all had lovely weekends. xxx

Torchwood Review - Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:39:46 GMT

Making video reviews of every single episode of this new series would be extremely time consuming, and probably extremely boring for anyone bothering to watch. So instead, I've decided to do written reviews, just in case y'all want to hear what I've got to say. I also have RL stuff which is gonna be shoved in another post to keep things neat, so sorry for the slight spammage. ^^

So let's talk about Torchwood. Or scream in a wild, flailing manner whilst waving around a poster of Jack's face with a big heart drawn round it. Because that's what I'm doing. Right now. ~~In my mind.~~

I'm going to be systematic and go through it in more or less chronological order, just to keep thing tidy. So let's start off with - the old lady. I loved that old lady. As Nez pointed out, her eyebrows were marvellous. And how great was it that she knew who Torchwood were? That just cements my theory that Torchwood are the WORST secret organisation in the world. The fish prosthetic was good too, but I didn't like his big ranty speech in which he summarised all of the team - it felt very much like unnecessary exposition, and how the hell did he know anyway? But of course, it was good to see Torchwood hasn't lost it's sense of nonsense. ^^

Owen shooting out of a moving SUV was strangely hawt. That is all.

And hooray! The Torchwood team are actually a team! I know that was said over and over again in the promos and previews and whatnot, but it is actually true - they were working together, they weren't bitching as much, and horror of horrors, Ianto was actually useful. And a character. With lines. All the way through. It was so good to see an episode that wasn't necessarily centred on him where he still had a proper role to play - he got the good one liners, he added the practicality (whistling for a taxi whilst the rest of the team were floundering around with gadgets), and he got to be a hero at the end, which was fantastic to see. I really hope this development of Ianto from teaboy to ~~Jack's lover~~ an essential team member continues, because Gareth David-Lloyd really deserves a bigger part. He's too good to waste, in every way. You just watch him when he's in the background or the camera cuts to him for a brief moment - he's always reacting, and those reactions are always spot on. Such a talented actor.

Jack's glorious return was just that - glorious - although as Nez pointed out, there could've been more questioning from the team - I mean, if my boss had disappeared for a couple of months without any prior warning, I'd be a bit more insistent about finding out where he was. Besides which, would it kill them to mention the Doctor explicitly for once? All this 'the right kind of doctor' stuff is a bit wishy-washy - we all know who you're talking about Jack, so just say it.

But can I just ask - why on Earth was Gwen in charge?? I recognise that she's 'omgsospeshal', but she's not the most experienced member by a long shot, and she's not the brightest either. And while we're on the subject of Gwen, all those Gwen/Jack moments were infuriating to say the least. I'm so fed up of their speshal bond just because Gwen is the most sensitive person since Gandhi... Let's hope Rhys actually manages to make an honest woman out of her.

Let's take a moment to remember how wonderful Rhys is. God bless him and all who sail in him. I mean, even when he wasn't there, he was the most compelling character on screen. 'He tried to (get down on one knee), but he had a twinge in his back and had to have a lie down on the settee'. Bless him.

Now. Let me just get this out of my system. SPIIIIIKKKE!!!!!...OK, I feel better now. But seriously, James Marsters could not have impressed me more. As Roy has said, Captain John is close enough to Spike for it to be hilarious for Buffy fans, but different enough to prove how talented James Marsters really is. John was sexy and funny and a huge stirrer, especially where poor Ianto was concerned, and he was also very ruthless - but there's a logic to him that's scarily like Clarkson logic, but with more murder and gay kissing. ~~Well, more murder anyway.~~ And his costume was surprisingly excellent, especially for someone who's very used to seeing Spike in a big black leather coat...I liked the addition of the sword too. And the butt gun.

Course, after ~~Spike~~ John, we got PC Andy, back on the beat. Hooray for PC Andy. He should have his own spin off.
I was very happy to see the cowboy style face off that me and ladymalchav predicted - we're geniusesesesss. Clearly. And the kiss turning into that fight...good gracious it was brilliant. It was so spot on for their characters - sexy as hell, very dangerous, and obviously enjoyable for both parties. But my goodness, how much did John drink??! A ridiculous amount, that's how much.

What I liked best about this episode was the little teasers into Jack's elusive past, and what's happened since he moved on. The Time Agency shutting down, for example, was a very interesting addition. Although frankly I can see why, if all their agents do is swan around the Universe ripping people off and drinking large amounts of hypervodka.

Well done Chibnall for the Excalibur ref. For those not in the know, that was going to be the title of Rusty's dark sexy sci-fi before he was given the keys to Doctor Who and Jack came into being. Hooray for geekservice.

'You were the wife.' *snigger* They're like Spike and Angel all over again.

The paralytic kiss was very probably lovingly ripped off from the sedative kisses of Mrs Reynolds, otherwise known as Saffron, from Firefly. At least, I really hope it was an homage to Joss Whedon's severely lamented Western sci-fi. Then again, in my mind, all things come back to Whedon in some way or another. I challenge you to find something I can't related back to him. Go on. Dare ya. ^^

The hints of Tosh/Owen, however one sided, were very well played. I like that Owen's grown up enough to realise that he wants a bit more committment, and I do hope that Tosh builds up the nerve to do something about it.

Of course, after the Tosh/Owen we got what me, Nez, Roy and Cait have been anxiously waiting for - IACK!! And my goodness, it was brilliant Iack. Jack's office fetish, 'you're good on roofs', and Ianto's little Super-Wilson-esque hands on hips pose...It was so well played, and so very well scripted. Jack actually seemed to be a bit nervous about it (either that, or he was pretending to be nervous so that Ianto took pity on him), and Ianto's sulky, pretending-not-to-care 'Yes!' made me melt. Finally, they're doing a relationship properly on TW. The hawt secks and stopwatch pr0n is all very lovely, but I also want to see the awkward 'wanna go for a pizza?' stage. It makes it so much more real. Please, Rusty, and all your pals, more of this.

There's really a lot more that I could rant about, but I'll just leave you with this thought - Grey. Or Gray, if they're spelling it the American way. Jack's long-lost very-nearly-a-Mary-Sue kid - Y/N?

Roll on next week.

I Blame Cossie

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 23:32:54 GMT

I blame her entirely. I was perfectly happy blundering around the Internet, being an OAP on ffnet, occasionally visiting the scary world of LJ (to steal icons mainly). And now, I'm actually posting my very first...um...journal entry (journal...journal!!). I don't know anyone here except Cossie and Morph, and I'm very frightened that by some sort of psychic powers all the people I've ever thieved an icon from are going to hunt me down and flame me straight back to Blogger.

Which, by the way, is a lot less scary than this place. For starters, there isn't a goat on the homepage.

So, about me. Well, you may call me Eevee. I'm female (apparently), straight(ish) and I live in merry old England. And if you're gonna stick with me, then you can look forward to quite a bit of ranting, very lazy and infrequent posting, and a lot of squeeing about Doctor Who and Torchwood (amongst my other obsessions). I also have a YouTube account, and I gather I can supply links for any new vids, so if you really want to watch me and my friends jamming, or me ranting about TV (I like to call it reviewing), or perhaps even a parody of a famous Shakespeare play, then I heartily suggest you click them.

For example, today I posted a lovely video depicting my visit to Cardiff and the Doctor Who. You can view it here: CLICK!

Well, that's all for now. Um...how the hell do I actually post this?...

EDIT: Hi there! If you're reading this because you've noticed me on a comm or someone else's journal and are now thinking 'good grief, does she ever update this thing?' - my journal is now pretty much f-locked except for reviews and stuff that is in no way related to my personal life. I've done this because frankly, whilst I do love telling others about myself, I'm a paranoid person who doesn't want my real life friends to discover the scarier Internet me and everything that entails. However, gentle reader, feel free to friend me if we have interests in common. I like making new friends!