Torchwood - Captain Jack Harkness
Oct. 16th, 2007 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catalyst2This is what frustrates me about this series - why can't they write more episodes like this where so many things work so well together? I loved this episode
Right form the get go I liked this episode. I like time travel as a plot device when it's used well and it was used very well here.
I liked Tosh's line as Jack swirled her romantically around the dance floor "Jack, mind my laptop!"
Oooooooooh, spooky doorman - "Do call again" - with a theme of time travel anybody who says that phrase bears watching! And Tosh and Jack's line when they go back out onto the street:
Tosh:Where's the SUV - has it been stolen?
Jack:No, we have!
The story gets even more interesting when they go back inside and this is where the episode shows its strengths. Too often time travel is done badly - everything's exactly the same except the technology, whereas it would probably be the social changes that would get us first.
Jack: We need to blend in
Tosh: That's easy for you to say, I'm the only Asian here
Jack: That's OK, you're with the captain
I liked the pissing match between Owen and Ianto - eventually it generated into something along the lines of "My girlfriend hurt me more than yours hurt you!" "Did not!" "Did too!" "Did not!" and so on.
(Just as a side issue - I never realised that it was supposed to be December 24th that Diane left. Hmmmm.....)
Jack's come back to Pushy!Pilot was good: "You could always dance with me. I'll lead ..."
And then the line that just blew me away: "I'm Captain Jack Harkness", just exquisite!
When Our!Jack picked the name James Harper, I did wonder if that had any significance?
I laughed at Our!Jack's description of Their!Jack: "I didn't realise he was so hot!"
Now Bilis Manger is one creepy looking guy - and a Torchwood file in his drawer just gives it away. And then there he is in the modern day too looking exactly the same. Hmmmm - got to be time traveller.
Every single scene from this point on between Our!Jack and Their!Jack is just electric - so much so that I swear some of the sparks generated were visible!
That is Nancy from the Small Worlds episode isn't it? And if it is, what a beautiful piece of continuity!
Gwen, just for once is the one thinking rather than reacting (that's Owen, this time) or emoting (that's Ianto this time) and her problem solving is pretty damn good if a little fortuitous.
Another side note: Owen, aren't you supposed to search a room in a way that leaves no trace of your search rather than trash the whole place?
And then the scene that just lifted this from good to extraordinary - Their!Jack returned:
Our!Jack: This could be your last chance
Their!Jack:That's why I can back
and when the camera pans down to find them holding hands, it is such a perfect moment.
Cut back to Owen and Ianto fighting in an ever-escalating power struggle.
Ianto: Jack needs me
Owen: Yeah - as his part-time shag!
WOOHOO! Ianto finally shot the fucker! WOOHOO!
Damn, shoulder shot only!
Cut back again to Our!Jack and Tosh in another exquisite scene - Our!Jack finally lets out some of the pain (and a little bit of his back story) that his current existence inflicts on him. This line is a beauty: "They're keeping me for something and I don't know what it is"- foreshadowing for sure!
And then the rift opens and all is well - except it gets even better. There's an eyes-across-the-room moment and Their!Jack does the bravest thing imaginable - he takes Our!Jack by the hand and takes him out onto the dance floor. A wonderfully sensual and romantic dance follows and followed by one of the most sensational kisses that I think I've ever seen on TV. Just stunning!
And then we close with a shot of Bilis looking very angry - or is that a smile creeping across that face?
Overall? Just genius - time travel used well, powerful character development and some of the most romantic scenes of all time. Wonderful work.
Right form the get go I liked this episode. I like time travel as a plot device when it's used well and it was used very well here.
I liked Tosh's line as Jack swirled her romantically around the dance floor "Jack, mind my laptop!"
Oooooooooh, spooky doorman - "Do call again" - with a theme of time travel anybody who says that phrase bears watching! And Tosh and Jack's line when they go back out onto the street:
Tosh:Where's the SUV - has it been stolen?
Jack:No, we have!
The story gets even more interesting when they go back inside and this is where the episode shows its strengths. Too often time travel is done badly - everything's exactly the same except the technology, whereas it would probably be the social changes that would get us first.
Jack: We need to blend in
Tosh: That's easy for you to say, I'm the only Asian here
Jack: That's OK, you're with the captain
I liked the pissing match between Owen and Ianto - eventually it generated into something along the lines of "My girlfriend hurt me more than yours hurt you!" "Did not!" "Did too!" "Did not!" and so on.
(Just as a side issue - I never realised that it was supposed to be December 24th that Diane left. Hmmmm.....)
Jack's come back to Pushy!Pilot was good: "You could always dance with me. I'll lead ..."
And then the line that just blew me away: "I'm Captain Jack Harkness", just exquisite!
When Our!Jack picked the name James Harper, I did wonder if that had any significance?
I laughed at Our!Jack's description of Their!Jack: "I didn't realise he was so hot!"
Now Bilis Manger is one creepy looking guy - and a Torchwood file in his drawer just gives it away. And then there he is in the modern day too looking exactly the same. Hmmmm - got to be time traveller.
Every single scene from this point on between Our!Jack and Their!Jack is just electric - so much so that I swear some of the sparks generated were visible!
That is Nancy from the Small Worlds episode isn't it? And if it is, what a beautiful piece of continuity!
Gwen, just for once is the one thinking rather than reacting (that's Owen, this time) or emoting (that's Ianto this time) and her problem solving is pretty damn good if a little fortuitous.
Another side note: Owen, aren't you supposed to search a room in a way that leaves no trace of your search rather than trash the whole place?
And then the scene that just lifted this from good to extraordinary - Their!Jack returned:
Our!Jack: This could be your last chance
Their!Jack:That's why I can back
and when the camera pans down to find them holding hands, it is such a perfect moment.
Cut back to Owen and Ianto fighting in an ever-escalating power struggle.
Ianto: Jack needs me
Owen: Yeah - as his part-time shag!
WOOHOO! Ianto finally shot the fucker! WOOHOO!
Damn, shoulder shot only!
Cut back again to Our!Jack and Tosh in another exquisite scene - Our!Jack finally lets out some of the pain (and a little bit of his back story) that his current existence inflicts on him. This line is a beauty: "They're keeping me for something and I don't know what it is"- foreshadowing for sure!
And then the rift opens and all is well - except it gets even better. There's an eyes-across-the-room moment and Their!Jack does the bravest thing imaginable - he takes Our!Jack by the hand and takes him out onto the dance floor. A wonderfully sensual and romantic dance follows and followed by one of the most sensational kisses that I think I've ever seen on TV. Just stunning!
And then we close with a shot of Bilis looking very angry - or is that a smile creeping across that face?
Overall? Just genius - time travel used well, powerful character development and some of the most romantic scenes of all time. Wonderful work.
