Children of Earth, Day 1

[rm]

It may be high drama and high action, but wow, Torchwood is still REALLY cracky.

Jack and Ianto have no idea what the fuck they are doing, do they? It's sort of great though. You get the sense Jack is seriously out of practice at having a relationship (something it seems he's decided he's doing as you move through the tie-in novels that lead up to this and the radio plays) and Ianto seems to be not just unsure of himself re: Jack and re: his own sexual orientation, but it also clearly struggling against his own biases -- like not wanting his neice to hear about it. It's a great detail, and it hurts to watch. Also, fucking adorable. He's smitten like anything and that whole "It's not men, it's him, only him" thing? delivered so it could have as easily been "it's not people, it's him, just him." Thank you, GDL for making kinda sucky dialogue work and say something meaningful about queer identities.

Also (I know, I know, I can't shut up), Ianto is so clearly proud of being with Jack and proud of Jack, but sort of totally not proud of himself. It's like he's getting to be the young 20-something guy with the world showing him wonders that he didn't get to be when he had to spend all the time being responsible for Lisa, and he's now both too young and too old for his age and has all this shit about himself he never sorted and never knew he needed to sort and now he has no time, and that unevenness of self shines through in pretty much every line and eyeroll. It's really, really nice stuff.

I loved Alice. I love her look, and I bought her instantly as Jack's daughter. Interesting scene, because she really does seem like the one who's the adult there. And that's necessarily the case. There are certain responsbilities Jack will never have to face just one chance to get right, and that means in some ways he will never have the opportunity to grow up. Jack is a case study in why eternal potential is so awful. And what was it like for Alice when she was eight-years-old or fifteen-years-old or twenty-years-old and figured out her father wasn't like other people?

Ianto's sister, also cast awesomely. And where did they find that little girl? -- same damn pout as GDL. Hilarious.

Gwen scritching the little pic of Tosh and Owen!

Gwen! Gwen was hilarious and sweet. And the pregnancy thing was really well done. John Barrowman can act in small quiet scenes when he's directed well (which it seems he often isn't), and there we got a really nice moment. Jack trying to be encouraging, trying to hold back his own reaction, trying to deal with his own regrets there -- nice shit!

Clem. Instant love for Clem, and really, that's hard, as that character could have been a walking, boring cliche.

Rupesh -- what's with these really anglo looking SE Asians who die right at the beginning of things? That said, his death and Jack being shot those two times in a row -- the bruality of that -- it made death feel much realer on than it does 80% of the time on Torchwood, and it really made Jack's existence seem horrifying, and that was great.

That poor temp in the home office. She's quite fetching, isn't she?

I knew about the bomb in Jack's stomach and it still freaked me out.

Jack having to drag Ianto out of the Hub. Loved it. And my, that kiss was quite a bit more hotness than I was expecting there. I'm sorry, this is trivial and lame, but I need to note: tongue. I am full of shame.

Ianto and the car. No matter how many times he says it -- no one cares!

Also, Jack's car -- Does Jack own a car or did he steal it (since it seems like in half the tie-in properties he's always nicking other people's vehicles)?

Finally, one word: TUPPERWARE.

ETA: Yet more of my nattering on Ianto's coming out process: http://rexluscus.livejournal.com/333615.html?thread=3829807#t3829807

Also, Gwen and the racist joke? Appalling, but I'm appalled at Gwen, not the show writers. People say shit like that. Also, there had been a series of news items around when that script was written regarding peopel adoptiong children from abroad and then having them be household slaves -- if the thing had aired then it might have seemed more current events and less racist, but hey, Gwen had a racist moment. She was a cop in Cardiff... do you really think she never, ever would?

SPECULATION:

Clem can smell things like honesty and aliens. He also smells that Gwen is pregnant. First episode of Torchwood, Jack comments on the oestrogen in the rain. Is this a clue?

Much has been made about the soundtrack titles and how this indicates Ianto's possible doom -- something I'm prepared for, but am really hoping isn't going to happen, although I'm in a tizzy about it. My sense? From this first episode and the use of the musical themes? Rhys is a goner. And the infamous "Ballad in Ianto Jones" track is actually going to be some big trauma/reunion with Jack/them getting on the same page moment (before something else terrible happens in the bigger plot arc. Musically and narratively the set up for Rhys to die feels bigger to me right now.

Comments

[therealycats.livejournal.com]

I've done really well at avoiding spoilers for this and I heard about the track title fiasco on Amazon but didn't look at them, so I think I'm still in the clear. I didn't know about the bomb, and this:
it made death feel much realer on than it does 80% of the time on Torchwood, and it really made Jack's existence seem horrifying, and that was great.
So much yes.

Judging from the preview I'm guessing we won't get much of Jack tomorrow. On the one hand it's good to know a character isn't going to die because he's already been revealed to be another character far into the future; on the other, who's to say they won't backpedal on that and kill Jack anyway (although since John Barrowman seems to be holding out hope for another series, I'm guessing he's not done for yet)?

Clem/Timothy broke my heart. So did Jack's family--and I wonder how many other families he's had over that 100 or so years.

Also:
You get the sense Jack is seriously out of practice at having a relationship
Well, he was buried for 1000 years, and I'm guessing conscious for most of it until whichever early 20th century Torchwood found him in the ground. God, Grey is such a dick. I find that to be true of most people with that name. But I digress.

OMG SO GOOD. Jack/Ianto makes me ridiculously happy; I don't know why. I think it's because the actors both seem to be comfortable with one another. I know there are some instances where straight actors (or actresses) play characters in gay homosexual relationships and they sometimes seem to go out of their way to remind the media that they're straight. Like way out of the way. Like, "Oh, donate to St. Jude; btw I'm straight." I don't get the sense that Gareth does that, but then I think that might also have to do with what I perceive is a more open mindset in the UK than what I see here.

Also they're just both ridiculously hot.

I miss Tosh and Owen, but I'm glad they were included a little bit. If they get a full order for next year, though, I think I'm going to feel it more than I did tonight. A cast that small is a risk, I think, because that can get monotonous really quickly; I don't care how many aliens you're battling. Also Tosh and Owen just makes me cry because of what could have been :(

[oncomingscone.livejournal.com]

It's very refreshing to have GDL so completely comfortable with the whole thing. UK does have a more open mindset. Less space, can't keep that divided for too long. I recently moved from there to LA and I feel like I've gone back 40 years at times. *sigh*

The hot thing also helps. A lot.

[therealycats.livejournal.com]

I just realized that I typed "gay homosexual" up there. I apologize, both for the redundancy and my anal retentive need to correct it.