Review: Torchwood S2 04 Meat

[crabby_lioness]

Or Torchwood's Debt to Irving Berlin

I'm beginning to see some patterns here.  In the grand old Doctor Who tradition, this is the fourth episode out of four where we've had a classic plot from the Giant Book of Classic TV and Film Plots.  The first was "conning the con man", the second was "undercover sleeper agent", the third was "fix the time

Comments

[crabby_lioness]

I'm always awaiting your reviews with great anticipation - you have such great insights and manage to spell out much of what I myself think and can't really articulate.

Thank you. This turned into a bit of a monster, didn't it? I thought I'd never get finished!

I'm not quite sure the writers will go the platonic/sibling love route with Jack and Gwen (considering some of their comments in the series 1 audio commentaries), but that's what I saw in this ep as well, much to my relief.

Apparently the producers sit down and watch the entire series after it's run and re-evaluate. I'm glad they changed their mind about the direction for Jack and Gwen.

And Ianto as the Protector? I hope we'll see more of that!

Me too! I'm looking forward to seeing how next week's Dark!Ianto will factor into the overall Knight!Ianto theme.

[crabby_lioness]

A good portion of fandom is shivering right now!

[sirocco_360]

Your description of Ianto as Protector fits in with a theory I've had for the past week that Jack hired (and kept) him because he knew Ianto would do What Needs To Be Done, even - or especially - when Jack cannot.

I've been entertaining the idea - based on very vague spoilers and a *lot* of pure speculation on my part - that at the end of the season Jack's loyalty will be torn between the team and someone who poses a threat to the team (or the world), and Jack will either make the wrong choice or won't be able to choose at all, whereupon Ianto will have to make the decision for him. And it will, of course, be the correct one.

I enjoy reading your essays. :)

[crabby_lioness]

Thank you. As I said, you don't find someone with that kind of potential every day.

[tanarian]

Oh, this is brilliant! You've covered things that hadn't occurred to me and yes, I think maybe the relationship is more sibling to sibling than parent to child (which is a lot more confortable, come to think of it, given the fact that I think Gwen does have a more carnal agenda than Jack). Thank you! Would it be all right, some time over the weekend, if I link through to this so people can see another viewpoint that tallies with mine?

[crabby_lioness]

Of course, hon. I'm glad you liked it. If you'll scroll up through the comments one poster compared Gwen's relationship to Jack to her own relationship with her clingy MIL.

[catsfiction]

Absolutely brilliant analysis. So many things you nailed. I'm with you on the "retro" feel of the show and Cath Treganna's scripts in particular - didn't she also write "Last Man Down"? For all the talk of being street cred and ahead of the cultural curve, there are some very old-fashioned values at the heart of TW, and also some very British ones, particularly emotional restraint and leaving the viewers to fill in blanks rather than verbalising too much emotional stuff

[crabby_lioness]

Thank you. I've had the RTD/World War II movies comparison in the back of my head for a long time, but I was afraid the British fans would jump on me for being America-centric.

[jbsnow]

*reads*

my brain hurts. in a good way :o)

[crabby_lioness]

Have a brain tonic.

*pops lid*

Ah, refreshing! :P