Torchwood 2.5 Adam and 2.6 Reset
Feb. 14th, 2008 09:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakZOMG!
Aka: Dawn, the nasty version. Remember back when Joyce was getting headaches in s5 of BTVS and a lot of people thought Dawn or at least the alteration of everyone's memories to include her was responsible? Perhaps the even better comparison would be to Superstar, though, as Adam is basically Gary Stu'ing himself into everyone's lives, becoming their confidant, go-to guy, and in Tosh's case, lover. (Toshiko Sato: Torchwood member with the worst luck in lovers, even for TW?) The vicious side of artificial memory creation, the one that feels like mindrape, was what Adam did to Ianto, of course, but what happened to Gwen felt no less disturbing. (And kudos to continuity for Rhys remembering - and reminding our gang - of their own use of retcon!) Looking at someone you love and not remembering, not feeling a thing is one of my all time fictional nightmares. Tosh before the amnesia pill sees her memories of loving Adam as no less real for being false, which is what Buffy and Joyce decide is true once they find out the truth about Dawn (oh, and what Connor decides at the end of s5 of AtS), but Jack brings up the crucial difference: Adam forced those memories on Toshiko. (Whereas Dawn did not, and of course neither did Connor in regards to the other family Angel created for him; Angel and the monks are another matter.) She had no choice about saying yes or no, which makes the sex Adam has with her one of dubious consent, to put it mildly. (I'd say in this case definitely rape.)
Owen getting retconned into a shy nerd was probably the most lighthearted use of Adam's powers, and brings up an interesting point: Adam did it to transfer Tosh's feelings for Owen on himself, and presumably gave Owen the necessary memories to make him Nerd!Owen (one can also make a correlation between Adam and Owen as doppelgangers and Adam displaying Owen's own ruthless side pushed to the max, and the Trio on BTVS), but there is no reason why he should give him the memory of having feelings for Tosh, so I guess this is meant to imply (reinforce, given various scenes this season?) Owen does have them, but as his normal self doesn't want to act on them or surpresses them the way Jack does his unwanted memories.
Speaking of Jack's memories: follow-up on the "Grey" mentioned in the season opener, and more background on Jack than TW-only viewers ever saw. Even for DW watchers, the family bit was new, if not Jack's century and place of origin. In the trailer from last week, I was sort of expecting Adam to be Grey, but obviously not, so I guess the little brother is still waiting for us. (Obviously. He's Chekov's gun in the first act. And what are the chances he'll be an ally? Yes, I thought so. As long as they don't try for a replay of the DW Master arc...) The implication of the TW gang as Jack's replacement family was clear. Moment of self-indulgence: when everyone brought up real crucial memories and Owen (who seems to have had Truman Capote's mother - thank you, Ms. Tregenna, for not doing the obvious thing and giving him Daddy issues, but giving him Mommy issues instead - complete with Truman Capote's reactions to same) ends up saying "who will save me?" and Jack says "I will", I felt eminently smug because of the rant I gave Owen in Nowhere Man about Jack's saviour complex, complete with "he thinks he saved me". End of self indulgent moment, but seriously, I did say in more than one review and debate that the answer to the question why Jack puts up with Owen in s1 is because Jack sees him as someone in need of saving, and though Owen resents that, he knows he needs it, too. (Which is why he can accept that forgiveness in the end as opposed to the Master from the Doctor.)
The sand running through Jack's fingers as a symbol of lost memories as well as a physical reminder of them: CT is a Sandman reader, clearly.
And now for the episode yours truly has been waiting for since the season started.
Since![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
londonkds had recommended J.C. Wilsher's show Between the Lines to me, and I had watched the first season, I expected this episode to be good, and it was. It says something about the changed atmosphere in s2, though, that the fact the team is getting along with and sparking off each other doesn't suddenly stand out but feels in tandem with previous episodes. The tricky balance of introducing Martha to new watchers without repeating things anyone who watched her on DW was familiar with anyone was achieved, imo, but then again I'm prejudiced. Sidenote: I know I'm sometimes critical of JB as an actor on Torchwood, but his chat with Martha, where his whole demeanour is different enough to be DW!Jack and yet feels plausible as TW!Jack cutting loose with someone he likes, trusts and who isn't his responsibility really worked. Martha's reply to his question about the Doctor struck me as setting the right note, too: she's happy with the choice she made and she has the odd moment of missing. Most of all, I appreciated Jack asked after Martha's family; after all, he was imprisoned with them for a whole year and knows them all actually far more intimately than he knows Martha. Plus I like the Jones clan, and it's good to know they're recovering. (And that continuity is kept by pointing out they do need the time to recover, they're not suddenly alright.)
More DW continuity goodness: Jack's recent "bad experience with a politician" and resulting attitude towards Whitehall. No kidding. Who IS Prime Minister now, btw, given that not just Harry Saxon but his entire cabinet are dead? Personally, I'm going byhonorh's fanon of them asking Harriet Jones back until new elections can be held.
Martha working for UNIT now, and the Doctor having recommended her for said job: yay to both. All the UNIT talk makes me really looking forward to the point on both shows where we'll see them again...
Martha being mostly amused by and friendly with Gwen, Ianto and Owen made for a nice dynamic, and I liked that her being a somewhat better doctor did make Owen want to impress her but didn't make him into an dastardly idiot or provoke the kind of behaviour all too many fanfics wondering about Martha's encounter with the the TW team featured.
The Owen-Toshiko (or Owen/Toshiko) scene: worked in a suprisingly relaxed way. The "I'll still flirt" was a reminder that yes, his git side is still there as well, and the rest of was non-angsty and friendly and should have prepared me for the episode ending, given this is TW.
Aliens: if last season's were all vicious, this season's seem to be dominantly tragic and cruelly treated by the human race. Being a Trekker of old, I approve.
So, travelling with the TARDIS makes you super-healthy, huh? Good to know. Owen taking a bullet for Martha must have brought back awful memories for her, and is as good a plot device as any to justify her staying for more than one episode. And no, I don't think Owen is permanently dead. This IS TW. As opposed to Suzie, though, I expect him to stay around once he's resurrected. Still, seeing basically my favourite character on this show getting shot makes me wonder whether I'm cursed that way...
Aka: Dawn, the nasty version. Remember back when Joyce was getting headaches in s5 of BTVS and a lot of people thought Dawn or at least the alteration of everyone's memories to include her was responsible? Perhaps the even better comparison would be to Superstar, though, as Adam is basically Gary Stu'ing himself into everyone's lives, becoming their confidant, go-to guy, and in Tosh's case, lover. (Toshiko Sato: Torchwood member with the worst luck in lovers, even for TW?) The vicious side of artificial memory creation, the one that feels like mindrape, was what Adam did to Ianto, of course, but what happened to Gwen felt no less disturbing. (And kudos to continuity for Rhys remembering - and reminding our gang - of their own use of retcon!) Looking at someone you love and not remembering, not feeling a thing is one of my all time fictional nightmares. Tosh before the amnesia pill sees her memories of loving Adam as no less real for being false, which is what Buffy and Joyce decide is true once they find out the truth about Dawn (oh, and what Connor decides at the end of s5 of AtS), but Jack brings up the crucial difference: Adam forced those memories on Toshiko. (Whereas Dawn did not, and of course neither did Connor in regards to the other family Angel created for him; Angel and the monks are another matter.) She had no choice about saying yes or no, which makes the sex Adam has with her one of dubious consent, to put it mildly. (I'd say in this case definitely rape.)
Owen getting retconned into a shy nerd was probably the most lighthearted use of Adam's powers, and brings up an interesting point: Adam did it to transfer Tosh's feelings for Owen on himself, and presumably gave Owen the necessary memories to make him Nerd!Owen (one can also make a correlation between Adam and Owen as doppelgangers and Adam displaying Owen's own ruthless side pushed to the max, and the Trio on BTVS), but there is no reason why he should give him the memory of having feelings for Tosh, so I guess this is meant to imply (reinforce, given various scenes this season?) Owen does have them, but as his normal self doesn't want to act on them or surpresses them the way Jack does his unwanted memories.
Speaking of Jack's memories: follow-up on the "Grey" mentioned in the season opener, and more background on Jack than TW-only viewers ever saw. Even for DW watchers, the family bit was new, if not Jack's century and place of origin. In the trailer from last week, I was sort of expecting Adam to be Grey, but obviously not, so I guess the little brother is still waiting for us. (Obviously. He's Chekov's gun in the first act. And what are the chances he'll be an ally? Yes, I thought so. As long as they don't try for a replay of the DW Master arc...) The implication of the TW gang as Jack's replacement family was clear. Moment of self-indulgence: when everyone brought up real crucial memories and Owen (who seems to have had Truman Capote's mother - thank you, Ms. Tregenna, for not doing the obvious thing and giving him Daddy issues, but giving him Mommy issues instead - complete with Truman Capote's reactions to same) ends up saying "who will save me?" and Jack says "I will", I felt eminently smug because of the rant I gave Owen in Nowhere Man about Jack's saviour complex, complete with "he thinks he saved me". End of self indulgent moment, but seriously, I did say in more than one review and debate that the answer to the question why Jack puts up with Owen in s1 is because Jack sees him as someone in need of saving, and though Owen resents that, he knows he needs it, too. (Which is why he can accept that forgiveness in the end as opposed to the Master from the Doctor.)
The sand running through Jack's fingers as a symbol of lost memories as well as a physical reminder of them: CT is a Sandman reader, clearly.
And now for the episode yours truly has been waiting for since the season started.
Since
londonkds had recommended J.C. Wilsher's show Between the Lines to me, and I had watched the first season, I expected this episode to be good, and it was. It says something about the changed atmosphere in s2, though, that the fact the team is getting along with and sparking off each other doesn't suddenly stand out but feels in tandem with previous episodes. The tricky balance of introducing Martha to new watchers without repeating things anyone who watched her on DW was familiar with anyone was achieved, imo, but then again I'm prejudiced. Sidenote: I know I'm sometimes critical of JB as an actor on Torchwood, but his chat with Martha, where his whole demeanour is different enough to be DW!Jack and yet feels plausible as TW!Jack cutting loose with someone he likes, trusts and who isn't his responsibility really worked. Martha's reply to his question about the Doctor struck me as setting the right note, too: she's happy with the choice she made and she has the odd moment of missing. Most of all, I appreciated Jack asked after Martha's family; after all, he was imprisoned with them for a whole year and knows them all actually far more intimately than he knows Martha. Plus I like the Jones clan, and it's good to know they're recovering. (And that continuity is kept by pointing out they do need the time to recover, they're not suddenly alright.) More DW continuity goodness: Jack's recent "bad experience with a politician" and resulting attitude towards Whitehall. No kidding. Who IS Prime Minister now, btw, given that not just Harry Saxon but his entire cabinet are dead? Personally, I'm going by
honorh's fanon of them asking Harriet Jones back until new elections can be held. Martha working for UNIT now, and the Doctor having recommended her for said job: yay to both. All the UNIT talk makes me really looking forward to the point on both shows where we'll see them again...
Martha being mostly amused by and friendly with Gwen, Ianto and Owen made for a nice dynamic, and I liked that her being a somewhat better doctor did make Owen want to impress her but didn't make him into an dastardly idiot or provoke the kind of behaviour all too many fanfics wondering about Martha's encounter with the the TW team featured.
The Owen-Toshiko (or Owen/Toshiko) scene: worked in a suprisingly relaxed way. The "I'll still flirt" was a reminder that yes, his git side is still there as well, and the rest of was non-angsty and friendly and should have prepared me for the episode ending, given this is TW.
Aliens: if last season's were all vicious, this season's seem to be dominantly tragic and cruelly treated by the human race. Being a Trekker of old, I approve.
So, travelling with the TARDIS makes you super-healthy, huh? Good to know. Owen taking a bullet for Martha must have brought back awful memories for her, and is as good a plot device as any to justify her staying for more than one episode. And no, I don't think Owen is permanently dead. This IS TW. As opposed to Suzie, though, I expect him to stay around once he's resurrected. Still, seeing basically my favourite character on this show getting shot makes me wonder whether I'm cursed that way...
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no subject
Date: 2008-02-14 09:08 pm (UTC)Well, if he saves Cardiff by removing the living, breathing source of a nuclear explosion eleven episodes from now you know you're onto something.
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Date: 2008-02-14 09:16 pm (UTC)Also, now you're making me wonder who the living breathing source of a nuclear explosion would be. *eyes Jack with his TARDIS energy inside*
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Date: 2008-02-14 11:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-15 06:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-15 11:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-15 03:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-15 06:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-15 08:53 pm (UTC)Selena, awesome review. I totally agree re: the rape, and like you, I loved how Jack went to the heart of the matter: These are fake thoughts and feelings forced upon you by the very creature who wishes to benefit from this; it's insidious and exploitative manipulation whereas Dawn was herself an innocent.