"We can sit here drinking appletinis and complaining about men all night."
Episode 4x06: The Middle Men
I'd really been intending to rewatch last week's episode and make some more comments on it, but things got away from me and I never got the chance to. No, you know what, that's not true. I totally had the time to, I just didn't really have the will to. It was a pretty horrifying episode and I probably won't watch it again until I rewatch the entirety of series four.
But this week's will definitely be getting rewatched. There was so much going on here that I have kind of half-formed thoughts about, so I need a rewatch to really get things fully crystallized in my mind. Thoughts I did have:
I loved the cold open with Ernie Hudson(!) and the guy in Shanghai. That little hint on the TV about the 45 Club, which gets played out to great effect with his leap from the top of that building. I love the creepiness of the notion that there is something so horrible in PhiCorp's parcel of land in Shanghai that someone would rather kill themselves than continue to know about it.
That, coupled with Ernie Hudson's comments to Jack about how PhiCorp's not controlling the miracle, and that it's way beyond them is making me think we're finally going to get aliens! Just the wording of a lot of his dialogue in that scene, implied something beyond their/our world (or perhaps outright stated it, I can't remember). Regardless of what it means, the implication made me squeal and clap my hands. Aliens! :D
And I wonder what The Blessing is. Eternal life, or something more sinister? I did have to LOL at the end of the episode after Jack mentioned that they needed to find out what The Blessing was, and it cut to the monitors, where there was a search running for "THE TRUTH". It must be out there somewhere.
I loved the conversations everyone had with their respective middlemen. The doctor in Wales knows what the modules are for, but because she doesn't have to pull the switch herself, she can continue to do her job with pretty much no problem. Maloney is a horrible little man who can't think for himself, to do anything except try to cover up the horrors he's committed. He acts like he has all of the power, but he's kidding himself. Ernie Hudson wants to know what's going on and maybe help to fix things, but he, like everyone else, is stuck in the middle of things he has no real control over. This is why we need Torchwood: because they can sneak in when everyone's "just doing their job" and get the real work done. And do they ever do that this week.
I love that they don't seem to be making Vera's death about Rex's manpain. I had my suspicions that it wouldn't be with the way it was staged last week, and I'm so happy to be proven right. I mean, he had his moments of being sad, but someone he likes a lot just died, so it's understandable. Instead of angsting all over the place, he got shit done so that Vera's death meant something. The Overflow Camps are now exposed. The government jumps to defend them, of course, but hopefully this will have some good results in the long run.
And I love how last week Rex was all "Torchwood is just a name", and now he's fully a part of it. Telling people he's Torchwood, telling Esther that things aren't over for Torchwood. He's Torchwood's number one fan.
Oh, poor Esther; she's in so far over her head. Using her own name for undercover work?! Seriously, dude, what were you thinking? She was clearly terrified every step of the way, but she managed admirably well for her first not-in-the-van mission. Although, she fell into the trap that everyone seems to fall into in TV and movies: when you strangle someone, it's really hard to do it until they die, and not just until they pass out. Especially, since it seems like most people will stop strangling when the victim loses consciousness. I knew he wasn't dead (or Category 1, whatever), and Esther could have saved herself a lot of angst if she'd figured that out. But I love that Esther is the one who came through and saved Rex, when Rex was in such a vulnerable position. Lovely role-reversal, there.
I loved the scene between Esther and Rex in the car at the end. Rex was much more sensitive to Esther in general, and they had a lovely bonding moment, thankfully free of pining on Esther's part. I did want to shout at her not to fall for him any more than she already has, but I feel like that would be pretty useless. He's so going to break her heart.
Sad that Jack did almost nothing in this episode. He had a few conversations with people (and an amazing moment with the host at the restaurant! everyone loves the coat), but most of the screen time was taken up by others. I guess they're saving all of the Jack stuff for next week. On the one hand, yay more Jack next week, but on the other hand I wanted more Jack this week! He and Gwen did have that oh-the-contact-lenses-have-another-feature conversation that was pretty great, but nothing meaty enough.
Gwen continues to be utterly badass, though, just blowing up shit as cool as you please. Although, that's quite enough complaining about Rhys being late, missy. Seriously, I think she's done that in every episode they've shared scenes in. I did keep yelling for Rhys to just drive away, though. Not like random-bureaucrat-with-a-phone was going to stop a giant truck with his body or anything. But he figured it out in the end, and got Gwen's father out like a boss. Only to get captured by the bad guys, but still.
Eep, the low-res-triangle-logo guys have Gwen's family! And they want Jack. Dun dun dunnnnnn. But seriously, what a way to end the episode. And next week's looks to be the one where all of the things (flashbacks, Jack and Gwen's heart-to-heart in the car) happen.
And that's about it, guys! Too tired to brain any more than this.
I'd really been intending to rewatch last week's episode and make some more comments on it, but things got away from me and I never got the chance to. No, you know what, that's not true. I totally had the time to, I just didn't really have the will to. It was a pretty horrifying episode and I probably won't watch it again until I rewatch the entirety of series four.
But this week's will definitely be getting rewatched. There was so much going on here that I have kind of half-formed thoughts about, so I need a rewatch to really get things fully crystallized in my mind. Thoughts I did have:
I loved the cold open with Ernie Hudson(!) and the guy in Shanghai. That little hint on the TV about the 45 Club, which gets played out to great effect with his leap from the top of that building. I love the creepiness of the notion that there is something so horrible in PhiCorp's parcel of land in Shanghai that someone would rather kill themselves than continue to know about it.
That, coupled with Ernie Hudson's comments to Jack about how PhiCorp's not controlling the miracle, and that it's way beyond them is making me think we're finally going to get aliens! Just the wording of a lot of his dialogue in that scene, implied something beyond their/our world (or perhaps outright stated it, I can't remember). Regardless of what it means, the implication made me squeal and clap my hands. Aliens! :D
And I wonder what The Blessing is. Eternal life, or something more sinister? I did have to LOL at the end of the episode after Jack mentioned that they needed to find out what The Blessing was, and it cut to the monitors, where there was a search running for "THE TRUTH". It must be out there somewhere.
I loved the conversations everyone had with their respective middlemen. The doctor in Wales knows what the modules are for, but because she doesn't have to pull the switch herself, she can continue to do her job with pretty much no problem. Maloney is a horrible little man who can't think for himself, to do anything except try to cover up the horrors he's committed. He acts like he has all of the power, but he's kidding himself. Ernie Hudson wants to know what's going on and maybe help to fix things, but he, like everyone else, is stuck in the middle of things he has no real control over. This is why we need Torchwood: because they can sneak in when everyone's "just doing their job" and get the real work done. And do they ever do that this week.
I love that they don't seem to be making Vera's death about Rex's manpain. I had my suspicions that it wouldn't be with the way it was staged last week, and I'm so happy to be proven right. I mean, he had his moments of being sad, but someone he likes a lot just died, so it's understandable. Instead of angsting all over the place, he got shit done so that Vera's death meant something. The Overflow Camps are now exposed. The government jumps to defend them, of course, but hopefully this will have some good results in the long run.
And I love how last week Rex was all "Torchwood is just a name", and now he's fully a part of it. Telling people he's Torchwood, telling Esther that things aren't over for Torchwood. He's Torchwood's number one fan.
Oh, poor Esther; she's in so far over her head. Using her own name for undercover work?! Seriously, dude, what were you thinking? She was clearly terrified every step of the way, but she managed admirably well for her first not-in-the-van mission. Although, she fell into the trap that everyone seems to fall into in TV and movies: when you strangle someone, it's really hard to do it until they die, and not just until they pass out. Especially, since it seems like most people will stop strangling when the victim loses consciousness. I knew he wasn't dead (or Category 1, whatever), and Esther could have saved herself a lot of angst if she'd figured that out. But I love that Esther is the one who came through and saved Rex, when Rex was in such a vulnerable position. Lovely role-reversal, there.
I loved the scene between Esther and Rex in the car at the end. Rex was much more sensitive to Esther in general, and they had a lovely bonding moment, thankfully free of pining on Esther's part. I did want to shout at her not to fall for him any more than she already has, but I feel like that would be pretty useless. He's so going to break her heart.
Sad that Jack did almost nothing in this episode. He had a few conversations with people (and an amazing moment with the host at the restaurant! everyone loves the coat), but most of the screen time was taken up by others. I guess they're saving all of the Jack stuff for next week. On the one hand, yay more Jack next week, but on the other hand I wanted more Jack this week! He and Gwen did have that oh-the-contact-lenses-have-another-feature conversation that was pretty great, but nothing meaty enough.
Gwen continues to be utterly badass, though, just blowing up shit as cool as you please. Although, that's quite enough complaining about Rhys being late, missy. Seriously, I think she's done that in every episode they've shared scenes in. I did keep yelling for Rhys to just drive away, though. Not like random-bureaucrat-with-a-phone was going to stop a giant truck with his body or anything. But he figured it out in the end, and got Gwen's father out like a boss. Only to get captured by the bad guys, but still.
Eep, the low-res-triangle-logo guys have Gwen's family! And they want Jack. Dun dun dunnnnnn. But seriously, what a way to end the episode. And next week's looks to be the one where all of the things (flashbacks, Jack and Gwen's heart-to-heart in the car) happen.
And that's about it, guys! Too tired to brain any more than this.