Torchwood 2.11 Adrift

[selenak]

I'm always somewhat nervous before Chibnall-written episodes. (Can we say, err, varying quality?) This was a good one.



Mind you, that doesn't mean I'm not nitpicking. For starters, there is no logical reason why Jack couldn't have told Gwen the truth from the start, but it's in character for Jack to keep secrets from his crew in general (though he is getting a bit better about this), so it didn't bother me that much. Also, Jack's attitude towards Gwen here was clearly paralleled by Gwen's attitude towards Andy, and in both cases shown as something of a mixture between character trait and result of working for Torchwood that is problematical. In Gwen's case, we got the synthesis at the end in her scene with Rhys when they share, but I'll say a bit more about that later.

This was a Gwen episode, a serious one as opposed to the light-hearted comedy of Something Borrowed, and may I say the writing for her this season is one of the many things that improved from the last? Instead of being told about Gwen's caring nature, we're being shown instances when she cares, but she doesn't get singled out as "heart of Torchwood" anymore. She learns from her mistakes and is aware of the flaws in her that cause them. (See: retconning Rhys last season having left Gwen with a firm determination of not retconning Rhys this season. When Andy calls her on her using him in this episode, she admits it.) Instead of every over script varying in what she can or can't do, skill-wise (last season it drove me bonkers that Gwen's police training always seemed to desert her when the plot demanded it), she has consistently been shown as competent, in charge when necessary, and part of the team when not. One of my problems with Countrycide last season was that this was the episode that was supposed to show how working for Torchwood was cutting her off from her normal life with Rhys and her responding by starting her affair with Owen, but the actual case - the cannibals - was one of the few she could have told Rhys about without a problem back then, because it didn't entail any "alien" elements, and that the big punchline - humans can be psychopaths just because they see it as fun - shouldn't have been that much or depressing a revelation for a policewoman. Adrift is a good parallel/contrast episode. It also confronts Gwen with the question of just how much she has changed through her work at Torchwood when Andy challenges her, but the example chosen - that she's in danger of losing sight of the importance of the individual, of empathizing with them, via the big picture - is one that works far better. And Gwen's relationship with Rhys, which from the start of the show has been used as a counterweight to her work in Torchwood, serves as a genuine presentation of "real", non-Torchwood life. It's not ideal. They argue, and it's not that one of them is always right and the other always wrong. Occassionally, they disappoint and piss off each other. But they compromise, they come through, and at the end of the day, they share. I think I'm starting to get seriously 'shippy over Gwen/Rhys.

Something I'm in two minds about is the solution the episode comes up with re: the Rift victims. Not Nikki's reaction per se - because yes, there are parents who'd rather not know and hope than know something terrible and irreversible had happened to their child. But the way it is handled - Nikki asking Gwen not to do this to anyone else - seems to validate Jack having made this decision for ALL the victims and their families on his own. And Nikki can only speak for herself, not for everyone else. I can see that telling all the other families would make the whole secret organization thing somewhat redundant, but come on. In the Whoverse, there are alien invasions every Christmas, and if the inhabitants of London have wizened up and cleared out rather than be around for the latest one, surely the folks in Cardiff don't have to be victims to Sunnydale denial syndrome anymore?

Character interaction: and we get yet another proof that Ianto likes Gwen, and Gwen likes Ianto, and neither of them is burning with jealousy or envy about the other re: Jack, but I'm sure the fanon that has Ianto quasi-suicidal over Jack's dance with Gwen in Something Borrowed will ignore that. Seriously, I really liked how the whole "Gwen accidentally walks in on Ianto and Jack having sex" scene was handled. She was embarassed as one would be in such a situation, but no more than if it had been, say, Ianto and Tosh, and then quickly got to the reason why she had returned to the Hub. Ianto, as he had been earlier during the briefing, was sympathizing with Gwen on the disappeared Rift victims matter, not feeling disgruntled or victorious or what not. Jack's "well, there is always room for one more" quip came across as a typical Jack remark, not as Jack pining for Gwen and seriously offering a threesome. Oh, and the Jack/Ianto'shippers finally get male/male nudity for screencaps. Well, shirtlessness at any rate.

Gwen working with Tosh early in the episode makes me wish we'd get a story with the two of them as the main characters and a detecting duo (yet another way last week's episode could have been improved). I can see why it couldn't be this one, though, due to necessary screen time for Andy and Rhys, and Gwen's interactions with either, which were more important thematically, as well as for the victim of the week. The poor guy who played old Jonah was buried under the usual tons of BBC make-up, but the actress who played his mother was superb through the episode, getting across love, grief, denial, and the shattered disbelief and numbness at the end.

Next week: Out of Gas! Err, Torchwood does flashbacks.

Comments

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Not Nikki's reaction per se - because yes, there are parents who'd rather not know and hope than know something terrible and irreversible had happened to their child. But the way it is handled - Nikki asking Gwen not to do this to anyone else - seems to validate Jack having made this decision for ALL the victims and their families on his own. And Nikki can only speak for herself, not for everyone else.

Of course, the problem there (for Gwen), is that Nikki told Gwen that she needed to know, that not knowing (that the hope) was killing her. She made sure that this was the solution that both parties wanted. And, afterwards, Nikki wishes that she didn't know, tells Gwen that the hope that had been killing her was better than knowing the truth. Which means that Gwen can't believe people when they say they want to know the truth, which really sucks for her.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Jack didn't handle it brilliantly. Firstly, by trying to stop Gwen, he made her more determined; then he offered to talk just when she had good reason not to trust him so she refused; and then he didn't come back and say "Now we've got to talk" even though he knew she planned to bring the mother in, which meant that what Gwen believed was a full briefing was anything but.

[jaydk.livejournal.com]

I think I agree, though, that not every parent or family member would necessarily react the way Nikki did. Looking back through the episode, I think it's clear that Nikki is building her life around the hope that not only Jonah is alive, but that he's having a good life -- he's gone for some reason, but he's out there going to a concert or a game. So she really fell apart when she lost that hope that Jonah would be okay.

I have to think that for other parents or family members, knowing their children or loved ones were alive and could be a part of their lives, no matter what their condition, would outweigh the pain of seeing them hurt and damaged. I ended up feeling very sad for both the victims of the Rift and their families -- because of Nikki's reaction, the other 16 victims and their families will not get the chance that Nikki got. And of course, I felt very sad for Jonah -- I hope that Nikki is able to put aside her lost hopes and be there for him as much as possible. He did live, and even in his damaged state he remembers some of what he saw as beautiful -- I hope Nikki can take some comfort in that someday, and be there for him. The situation as it was left for the two of them is so heartrending.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, there are definitely people who would say, "I'd rather know the truth," and still mean that when the truth is as heartbreaking as it was with Jonah. But Gwen has no way of knowing the people who say they want to know the truth and then hate and regret knowing it and wish they hadn't from the people who say they want to know the truth and still feel that way afterwards.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I agree. By now, I've seen some reactions from other people, and someone wrote that the lesson is "listen to Jack" and that he wanted to punish Gwen for her disobedience by showing her how wrong she was the painful way. Which for one thing I don't believe was his motive, and for another would make him an even worse leader. As you say, he didn't handle the situation well at all.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

But Gwen has no way of knowing the people who say they want to know the truth and then hate and regret knowing it and wish they hadn't from the people who say they want to know the truth and still feel that way afterwards.

No, she doesn't. I really felt for Gwen in this episode. There was no "right" thing she could have done - if she had ignored the evidence pointing to the disappeared people, or later if she had not told Nikki what happened to Nikki's son, she would have to live with the idea that she could have spared Nikki a lifetime of grief, loss and uncertainty. Also, Jonah wanted to see his mother again when Gwen talked to him. It was his decision to make, too.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

that he wanted to punish Gwen for her disobedience by showing her how wrong she was the painful way

Which would be appalling, because she wasn't the person who suffered most as the result.

It wouldn't have been very much better if Nikki had been told the whole truth, because it was made clear that she was too hooked on hope to take in all that Gwen told her as it was. She would probably have convinced herself that Jonah would recover from his madness once he saw her again. But the let-down wouldn't have been quite so cruel.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Good point. And Gwen couldn't tell Nikki because that last crucial bit of information about Jonah was kept from her.

Sidenote - I can't remember properly - what was Jack's attitude towards John - not Captain Spike but the old guy from "Out of Time" trying to locate his son, who turned out to have Alzheimer's? Did he encourage or advise to stay away?

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's where I blame Jack: there was a right moment to tell Gwen, after she'd seen Jonah and announced she'd fetch his mother. It wouldn't have improved things much, but it wouldn't have meant both women going in blind.

I found a transcript (http://www.kilohoku.com/transcripts/tw/tw-1X10.html) of Out of Time. Jack keeps telling John "I'll see what I can do" and Toshiko tells him she's tracked the son down, so I think Jack was quite co-operative, but from the transcript it's not obvious that anyone accompanies John to the nursing home.

[andraste]

Character interaction: and we get yet another proof that Ianto likes Gwen, and Gwen likes Ianto, and neither of them is burning with jealousy or envy about the other re: Jack, but I'm sure the fanon that has Ianto quasi-suicidal over Jack's dance with Gwen in Something Borrowed will ignore that.

One of the many, many things that bothers me about this is that it implies that Ianto is a total moron. He is sleeping with Jack Harkness - surely monogamy is not one of the things he expects to get out of this relationship?

Anyway, agreed about the episode. Poor, poor Gwen - she really is placed in am impossible position by the end. On the one hand, some loved ones probably would be happier knowing the truth, but on the other, there is absolutely no way to tell which ones ahead of time.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

He is sleeping with Jack Harkness - surely monogamy is not one of the things he expects to get out of this relationship?

Quite. I'd say you figure out that about Jack in a day at the very least, and Ianto worked for him for at least a year.

On the one hand, some loved ones probably would be happier knowing the truth, but on the other, there is absolutely no way to tell which ones ahead of time.

No, there really isn't. There is no "right" answer...

[joonscribble.livejournal.com]

I kind of wished this was an episode we got in the first season as it did a really good job of showing Gwen as a sympathetic person trying to do the right thing without cramming her "heart of the team" characterization down our throats. It's also a testament to Chibnall's better handle of her character that Gwen ruins a couple of lives and yet I don't feel irritated by her. I was almost more annoyed at Jack and the unnecessary secret-keeping, but...he seems to be working on it.

It feels safe for me to say that out of every writer, there's a reason why Chibnall is the head writer: he's really the best at capturing most of the characters and keeping them in character. I completely agree with your assessment of the Jack/Ianto hothouse scene and Gwen's interruption. That whole sequence just felt right and completely devoid of any ship-war fodder.

I loved Ruth Jones as Jonah's mother. I've only ever seen her in Little Britain so yes, I had "I'm the only gay in the village" jokes running through my head the first ten minutes, but after that, she'd completely sold me on being a grieving mother.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I kind of wished this was an episode we got in the first season as it did a really good job of showing Gwen as a sympathetic person trying to do the right thing without cramming her "heart of the team" characterization down our throats.

Yes indeed. Such an improvement over the clunkiness of that characterisation last season. I really like Gwen this year, and Eve Myles shines in her acting, whether it's comedy like in Something Borrowed or the serious stuff here.

I hadn't seen Ruth Jones in anything before, but I was really impressed by her here.

[phineyj.livejournal.com]

Great review - I agree with nearly everything wrote, especially about Gwen's character, Gwen and Rhys and Jack's leadership skills (or lack of).

yet another proof that Ianto likes Gwen, and Gwen likes Ianto, and neither of them is burning with jealousy or envy about the other

That was the obvious interpretation, but personally I came away from this episode wondering if Jack had known exactly what Gwen was likely to do, Ianto was in on it, and the two of them had played her. I hope not, as that wouldn't really reflect at all well on either of them, but I thought it was possible. It's a credit to the acting all round that so many interpretations are possible.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

As Kalypso remarked in the comments if Ianto and/or Jack were playing Gwen to, as some reviewers said "teach her a lesson", it would make them look like a appalling cads because they then would have instrumentalized Nikki's and Jonah's pain, with no thought of them. Now I could see Jack rationalizing this to himself, because Jack can be very cold, but not Ianto. Not given his Lisa backstory; even if he despised Gwen with every fibre of his being, I don't think he'd deliberately put Jonah and Nikki through this.

[phineyj.livejournal.com]

That's a good point. I'd much rather believe he (Ianto) was helping her, anyway!

[shezan.livejournal.com]

Surely Jack can be very cold, but he can also be compassionate? Case in point, in meat.