Torchwood 2.12 Fragments

[selenak]

Not sure how I feel about this one yet. It’s Chibnall doing Out of Gas, as expected from the trailer, and it answers some important questions, but – hm.

Okay, in details:

Jack: the backstory we got on him finally brought up something not alluded to in TW before and known only if you’ve watched DW, that Torchwood was initially founded as an anti-Doctor organisation that classified him as an alien threat. Also, Victorian Torchwood looks scary. As opposed to the sympathetic Edwardian Torchwood members, Harriet and Gerald, whom we saw in To the Last Man, these two ladies are depicted as ruthless imperialists. Not sure whether or not the fact they’re ruthless lesbian imperialists is gratitious on Chibnall’s part; it probably is just there so we know TW was bisexual before Jack joined, and he wasn’t hired because of his seductive looks. I was delighted to see the little card reading girl again as I had been afraid she was just thrown in Dead Man Walking for the spookiness without any further thoughts, so yay for continuity. (Also, kudos to everyone who guessed she is as immortal and undying as Jack. This makes the likelihood of her being the Faith who battled death even greater.) Jack deciding to pass the hundred-something years waiting for the Doctor by working for a morally dubious organization whom he just saw executing a relatively harmless alien says something about Jack, I suppose, especially since his “reform Torchwood” idea didn’t seem to have come into play until he was promoted to Cardiff head by virtue of his former boss going crazy and killing everyone else.

(Organizations in general don’t fare well in this episode, but I’ll get to that. Torchwood as something that either kills you early on or morally corrupts you was an s1 theme which jars with the redemptive aspect they’re trying for this season, but I’ll get to that, too.)

Ianto: gets a backstory that should end the “poor Ianto, exploited in his true love by Jack” complaints but probably won’t. It’s interesting that Ianto is other than Gwen the only TW member whom Jack didn’t seek out and hire, but who sought out him. (It’s also interesting that Jack absolutely did not want to hire anyone from the old TW.) The Ianto flashback is good by itself but really gains so much more by the subtext there is if you’ve watched season 1 and know Ianto is lying to Jack the entire time and that his insistence on getting hired at all costs has nothing to do with fighting the good cause and everything with using Torchwood Cardiff to help his Cyber-fied girlfriend.

Owen: now Chibnall, I like Owen best of all the characters, and I just shook my head at this. There is such a thing as going over the top, you know. It also rather clashes with Out of Time and its premise of Diane as the first relationship Owen had with a woman in which he emotionally opened up. This being said, what I did like about the Owen flashback was the cemetery scene because it was the Owen and Jack relationship in miniature form, starting with Owen channelling his issues in punching Jack and Jack holding on long enough for Owen to break down. It still doesn’t make up for the OTTness of the rest of the Tragic Backstory ™. I’m currently playing with the idea that Jack could indeed have intervened earlier but deliberately waited because he need a medic for his new TW team, but I suppose that’s too dastardly even for morally ambiguous Jack. Still, it would make the flashback more interesting to me.

Tosh: and here we come to the core hmmmmmmmness of the episode for me. On the one hand, yay for Tosh getting a story that has nothing to do with her love life. On the other hand, good grief. Taking a much beloved organization from Old Who and presenting it as treating its prisoners with the ethics of Guantanamo Bay does not make a fan happy, though I suppose New Who and TW only watchers won’t have a problem with this. It’s not that this an absolutely impossible development – Jack makes the reference to “today’s climate”, and sadly, imagining that the post 9/11 world in the Whoverse would have UNIT run by Rumsfeldian types (well, at least one of them since someone must have changed the rules so prisoners have no rights to lawyers etc.) is not out of the question. It is a mostly military organization, after all. But it still feels like it would have felt if in School Reunion, Sarah Jane had come back as an Evil Overlady. Given that Martha happily works for UNIT, and Sarah Jane in the Sarah Jane Adventures still has ties to the organization, I assume there is still much of the old UNIT spirit left there as well, so here is hoping s4 will among other things include an episode where whoever the current head of UNIT is that instituted the Guantanamo policy gets replaced by someone worthy of the old UNIT. Until then, I shall continue to be NOT HAPPY about this development.

Back to Tosh. As I said, this is the first time she gets character development that doesn’t involve romance, and that part, I approve of. It also showcases Jack’s moral ambiguity again, because basically he does exactly to Tosh what Victorian Torchwood did to him. Actually, even worse, because the Victorians did after all not lock him up when he left them the first time. He hires her with the alternative being a life time in prison, which he makes very clear. If she had refused, he’d have left her there. Tosh being willing to steal government tech and modify it to save her mother showcased her inventiveness, loyalty to people she cares about – and willingness to do morally grey things if pushed, and I think that is yet another reason why Jack hired her.

Lastly: okay, that settles it. John Hart is going to play the part of Daniel Holtz next episode. You heard it here first. But I wish they wouldn’t have made him the main opponent because that just begs for comparisons with the Master in addition to Holtz, and sorry, but the Doctor/Master backstory of decades on screen and a millennium in story time just makes the Jack/John bit sketched in the season opener look like a bland imitation.

Comments

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

I mostly agree with all this. I do wonder about the UNIT plot next season because Martha is working for them, after all, so it might cause problems if they're to be depicted as truly blackened. Unless the UNIT plot will involve scouring out the corruption and leave Martha as new head of the organisation. But I'm concerned that it'll be another example of New Who's tendency to depict any human character who takes a proactive attitude to aliens and time travel without the Doctor's permission as either power-crazed and evil or pathetic and doomed or both.

Of course, it might just be a bit of Chibnall reverting to S1 form and doing his Mark Millar impression that will be entirely unacknowledged in future developments.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I do wonder about the UNIT plot next season because Martha is working for them, after all, so it might cause problems if they're to be depicted as truly blackened. Unless the UNIT plot will involve scouring out the corruption and leave Martha as new head of the organisation.

That does sound as a plausible scenario, because

a) I don't think Martha will go back to being a full-time Companion. Because this would, in a way, reverse her development from the last s3 episodes and her being happy with her new life as shown in Reset.

b) On the other hand, both FA and RTD have as much as stated Martha will be back beyond s4, and not just on Torchwood.

Martha as the new Brig would be the solution to this, even if she's not literally the new Brigadier but the new scientific advisor to whoever will be the new non-9/11-corrrupted head. (Admittedly it will also be satisfying on a personal level because I wondered in my "Last of the Time Lords" review about Martha becoming the new Brigadier, i.e. an earth-bound ÜberCompanion who doesn't travel with the Doctor but whom the Doctor keeps returning to and working with.

Of course, it might just be a bit of Chibnall reverting to S1 form and doing his Mark Millar impression that will be entirely unacknowledged in future developments.

Also possible. However, given that we got "Saxon" written in 1.12 (a poster on the entrance of the old hotel) of TW meant as a tie in to an s3 DW main plot, I suppose it was meant as foreshadowing something rather than not.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

PS: Of course, there are rumours still circulated, despite the denial of the actor initially named, that Someone from Old Who will be a major villain next year. And, of course, Someone has form for both running fascist security organisations, and taking control of and perverting existing organisations when he's thrown on his own resources and doesn't have killing machines on call.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh! You know, that sounds completely viable. And would solve the problem of how to depict Someone as a fearsome opponent without bringing his usual resources back as well.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

And the UNIT types never met him, and the Doctor didn't meet him until he was sufficiently semi-detached from UNIT to have not necessarily told them about him.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Also, there is the question of the emotional stakes, and New Who heavy on emotions. Last season not just Random Evil Overlord threatening Earth but the Master - with both the other Time Lord and person I have so much history with elements - being the opponent was what upped the ante for the Doctor. So Someone would have to do or threaten to do something emotionally devastating in addition to the action-centric threat to Earth part which all Evil Overlords to in order to compete with that. Corrupting an organization the Doctor has much fondness for, as opposed to Torchwood, would certainly achieve that aim.

Though if they do that storyline, then I hope all bringing back old guest stars rumours (which I've stopped reading since about four months, but even before that there were a lot) tie into this and help both kicking Someone's behind and renew UNIT.

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

Based on the spoilers I've read, I think this theory has the ring of truth.

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

Not sure whether or not the fact they’re ruthless lesbian imperialists is gratitious on Chibnall’s part; it probably is just there so we know TW was bisexual before Jack joined, and he wasn’t hired because of his seductive looks.

That may be true, but thus far all the female same-sex encounters/relationships we've seen fit the Evil/Dead Lesbian cliché pretty well. In the two from previous episodes, the female body is possessed by a sexually aggressive killer alien (Carys, Mary), who Jack then kills. The predatory way in which that sexuality is exercised is directly tied to the alien's characterization as Evil. I don't think it matters that much that "Carys" ends up rejecting Gwen in favor of male victims; the female body inhabited by the alien goes on a man-killing rampage across the city. In short, I have to wonder what Torchwood's problem with female same-sex relationships is. I wish we'd get to see Tosh with a non-homicidal, non-alien girlfriend who survives long enough to break up with her normally (because apparently all Tosh's relationships are doomed).

It still doesn’t make up for the OTTness of the rest of the Tragic Backstory ™. I’m currently playing with the idea that Jack could indeed have intervened earlier but deliberately waited because he need a medic for his new TW team, but I suppose that’s too dastardly even for morally ambiguous Jack.

I could subscribe to that theory, even with Jack as a... dastard. Heh. Seriously, though, especially with the Tosh backstory here, it could work?

Given that Martha happily works for UNIT, and Sarah Jane in the Sarah Jane Adventures still has ties to the organization, I assume there is still much of the old UNIT spirit left there as well, so here is hoping s4 will among other things include an episode where whoever the current head of UNIT is that instituted the Guantanamo policy gets replaced by someone worthy of the old UNIT.

Did the episode indicate how long Tosh has been working for Torchwood? Maybe the UNIT head that instituted the policy is already out? Though the other comments in this post have more interesting speculation, of course.

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

I should add that while I don't think the ruthless lesbian imperialists are supposed to be out-and-out evil, they certainly fit the Lesbians Are Scary mold.

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

Oops, rewatch says Tosh has been with Torchwood five years!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I wish we'd get to see Tosh with a non-homicidal, non-alien girlfriend who survives long enough to break up with her normally (because apparently all Tosh's relationships are doomed).

Or an already established character like DCI Kathy Swanson could turn out to be lesbian and living in a good relationship with someone. Or we get guest stars like the nice lesbian couple in Gridlock on Doctor Who. Because yes, the m/m versus f/f ratio in terms of favourable presentation is uneven.

I could subscribe to that theory, even with Jack as a... dastard. Heh. Seriously, though, especially with the Tosh backstory here, it could work?

Upon rewatching, I was struck by just how ruthlessly Jack plays Tosh. With good intentions, but it IS pretty chilling if you look at the mechanism of it. First he tells her how absolutely hopeless her situation is, again and again, emphasizes UNIT will make an example out of her, rest of her life etc, no hope, and then, when Tosh is desperate enough to beg for help, any help, he says "IF you agree to work with me". The only difference to Jack's own recruitment is that a) Jack actually had the choice to walk away (he could have just left Britain, if Torchwood's influence extended through the realm), and b) Jack didn't spent some days/weeks (not sure how long exactly Tosh is in prison, but it can't be that long because she still has the bruises from the thug whose boss hired her for the spying beating her just before UNIT came in) incarcerated but was sent out/blackmailed into his first mission almost immediately.

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

Or an already established character like DCI Kathy Swanson could turn out to be lesbian and living in a good relationship with someone. Or we get guest stars like the nice lesbian couple in Gridlock on Doctor Who. Because yes, the m/m versus f/f ratio in terms of favourable presentation is uneven.

I would love it if DI Swanson came back, especially if we got to see her in a positively-depicted lesbian relationship. Or guest stars, like you said.

The only difference to Jack's own recruitment is that a) Jack actually had the choice to walk away (he could have just left Britain, if Torchwood's influence extended through the realm), and b) Jack didn't spent some days/weeks (not sure how long exactly Tosh is in prison, but it can't be that long because she still has the bruises from the thug whose boss hired her for the spying beating her just before UNIT came in) incarcerated but was sent out/blackmailed into his first mission almost immediately.

Yes, Jack's considerably more ruthless to Tosh than Victorian Torchwood was to him. Your theory about Owen's recruitment is looking better to me all the time, really! It makes Owen's OTT backstory slightly less boring - even Burn Gorman's acting couldn't save it for me. That whole flashback felt so perfunctory: fiancée Katie Russell dies a horrible and nearly classic "Women in Refrigerators" death in order to set Owen on a new path, which the episode's narrative frames as a mission undertaken for heroic aspirations. Plus, we're hardly given anything about her character before her death - she's sweet, Owen tells his neurosurgeon friend Jim Garrett that she had an amazing memory before the illness set in, and when Owen wakes up after her death he tells the nurses that Katie's a doctor at the same hospital. (I wouldn't have caught the last detail if I hadn't turned up the volume and replayed the scene.) It would have been easy to show Katie as someone relatively familiar with medical knowledge at the beginning of the flashback - which would have made the recurring fits of aphasia and memory loss still more poignant - but apparently lazy writing prevailed. It made me even more annoyed in retrospect that Katie had to stay outside, below Dr. Garrett's window, while Owen pleaded for a last-ditch MRI. I'm actually hoping for the Jack-is-a-ruthless-bastard angle on her death, which would marginally redeem this tanker of a story.

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

By the way, what do you think happened to Tosh's mother? By "End of Days" (which is also a Chibnall episode) she's apparently dead or disappeared-like-Diane, given that Tosh has a vision of her. During the "Fragments" flashback, Jack tells Tosh that her mother is safe but that Tosh will only be allowed limited contact with her, in postcards. This seems implausible in retrospect, given that Torchwood members are totally free to contact their families, even if they obviously can't divulge classified information. Also, in "Captain Jack Harkness" Tosh talks about going to her grandfather's birthday party, which proves it's not a specific aspect of Tosh's recruitment deal. So a) Jack was lying; b) Jack didn't know whether he'd be able to get her mother released at that time, but managed to get it done afterward, so Tosh's mother died later in unrelated[?] circumstances; or c) Tosh's mother was never released, or was released from the facility but placed somewhere else guarded for the remainder of her life. The last option seems least plausible, since I don't think Tosh would have put up with it, after Tosh's release from the UNIT facility. All in all, though, I feel there are loose ends somewhere...

[selenak.livejournal.com]

So a) Jack was lying; b) Jack didn't know whether he'd be able to get her mother released at that time, but managed to get it done afterward, so Tosh's mother died later in unrelated[?] circumstances; or c) Tosh's mother was never released, or was released from the facility but placed somewhere else guarded for the remainder of her life. The last option seems least plausible, since I don't think Tosh would have put up with it, after Tosh's release from the UNIT facility. All in all, though, I feel there are loose ends somewhere...

There are. And don't forget Jack also said he retconned Tosh's mother. If I had to write fanfic, I'd use that plus the fact from They keep killing Suzie that some people react badly to retcon, and say that some time after Tosh moved to Cardiff, her mother as an after reaction to the retcon lost her memories entirely, wandered off and disappeared, and Tosh hasn't been able to track her down ever since. Hence vision.

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

And don't forget Jack also said he retconned Tosh's mother. If I had to write fanfic, I'd use that plus the fact from They keep killing Suzie that some people react badly to retcon, and say that some time after Tosh moved to Cardiff, her mother as an after reaction to the retcon lost her memories entirely, wandered off and disappeared, and Tosh hasn't been able to track her down ever since.

That's a brilliant idea! Although I'd have to wonder if Tosh wouldn't make the connection post- "They Keep Killing Suzie" between a bad reaction to retcon and her mother's disappearance in that case - which would potentially alienate her from Jack permanently, to say the least.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Further theory on the UNIT issues which is turning up on various fora but you may not have seen: it wasn't actually UNIT but was all an unusually ruthless fake-out by Jack to force Tosh to work for him. I htink that's a bit of denial myself, but if it does turn out to be unacknowledged in Who this season it looks like the best Watsonian explanation (as opposed to the Doylist "Chibnall is still far too fond of Mark Millar).

[selenak.livejournal.com]

If we don't get a good canon explanation, I like that Watsonian interpretation. Because I rewatched the episode, and the parallels between Jack's recruitment and Tosh's are really pretty strong, and even if he has the best of intentions, Jack is amazingly ruthless in the way he interviews Tosh. Big, big emphasis on how UNIT is going to make an example out of her, how there is no hope and how she'll be there for the rest of her life, and then when she's desperate enough to beg for help, any help, it's "IF you work for me".

Incidentally, the post I'm linking below argues that the whole treatment of Tosh does fit with old UNIT, which I would disagree with - I mean, the Master got a quite comfortable castle room for a prison (yes, by the time we see him, he's made the warden his bitch, but I'm assuming the external circumstances would have been the way even if the warden had continued to keep him genuinenly prisoner), complete with children's tv, and he's a multiple murderer. Anyway, the post:

http://neadods.livejournal.com/658603.html

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

I'm not entirely convinced by that kind of "real world" judgement when it flies in the face of what is actually being depicted within the fiction. Fortunately I've never been in that kind of work or likely to, but I can imagine that in a real world secret organisation there might be a genuine policy of "If somebody close to you in private life is threatened or actually abducted in order to coerce you to breach security there are these unobtrusive means of alerting your line manager or another person to the situation, a trained armed intervention team will contact you and set up a sting/rescue attempt: do NOT attempt to handle the situation yourself: if you actually breach security you will be treated as a hostile agent regardless of duress". Partly because they don't want to lose information, partly because they don't want any random traitor to be able to claim "but they had my partner/sibling/offspring hostage" as a get-off-free-card.

But there's no hint within the episode of any such thing existing or any implication that the audience isn't meant to feel that Tosh is being treated with arbitrary cruelty.

It reminds me of a row in Homicide: Life on the Street fandom which I only found out years after watching the plot arc in question: a regular cast member was depicted killing a recurring villain in a manner that was depicted within the show as indisputably gratuitous, motivated by vengefulness and crossing the moral line, the bad repercussions of which lasted for the whole remainder of the show. It turned out that the actual police officers and legal experts within the fandom were united in the belief that the killing as depicted would have been seen as morally and legally justified by just about everyone actually involved in police work.

But I generally think that it does too much violence to the Watsonian view of a show if you wholly reject the show's proposed moral judgements but insist on attacking the morals of the characters within a Watsonian frame of reference. You can attack the show all you like in a Doylist frame, but denouncing the characters for behaving or not behaving according to a show's internal morality always strikes me as unfair to them. Such as, in the opposite direction, claiming that Buffy or Angel characters are murderous bigots for treating vampires as naturally evil.

Of course, there are borderline cases where a show or the characters within it fail to live up to their professed morality, like the textbook example of a show that treats villains who torture (for practical purposes rather than recreation) as utterly irredeemable and monstrous but torture of villains by heroes as casually justifiable or a painful necessity. But wholeheartedly rejecting a show's professed morality is, as far as I'm concerned, something that obliges you to break out of Watsonian frame.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

But there's no hint within the episode of any such thing existing or any implication that the audience isn't meant to feel that Tosh is being treated with arbitrary cruelty.

Indeed. Plus clearly the red jumper and the bed-and-facilities-free cell is meant as a Guantanamo Bay associative clue - red jumpers for prisoners aren't either a British or a UN thing in real life, right? So yes, I agree that Tosh's treatment is meant to be seen as something unquestioningly revolting.

Otoh: the show this season has been sprinkled with Iraq War related imagery, see also Jack and Ianto interrogating what's his name in Reset, for example, and in that case, we were clearly meant to see them as being ruthless and ambiguous but not Rumsfeldian evil. And Jack's attitude towards civil rights is... questionable, at best. Speaking of Rest - given the UNIT uniform jokes he trades with Martha there, he clearly doesn't have the problem with the organization per se he has with Torchwood I (for whom he nonetheless worked for over a century). So from a Watsonian pov, the V for Vendetta explanation - i.e. Jack orchestrating Tosh's treatment somehow in order to recruit her - does work without making Jack ooc. I think.

[ide-cyan.livejournal.com]

Also, Victorian Torchwood looks scary. As opposed to the sympathetic Edwardian Torchwood members, Harriet and Gerald,

Do we even hear the *names* of those two women? In the episode itself? Without having to look at the credits or the related websites?

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

Nope. Scary anonymous lesbianesque imperialists!

[ide-cyan.livejournal.com]

I forgot to use the appropriate icon. Though those two women from Torchwood should go on an icon with some caption similar to "Scary anonymous lesbianesque imperialists!" themselves. (Scary sapphic secret fascists? Anonymous unnerving no-nonsense Torchwood invert employees?)

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

Scary sapphic secret fascists has a ring to it, I think. I'll make an icon with that caption, if I can find the right screencap. I was underwhelmed by the dark-haired one's performance (still have no idea who plays what character, since neither name is on IMDB and Wikipedia doesn't have pictures) or I might have gone looking already!

[joonscribble.livejournal.com]

The thing I enjoyed most about the Ianto backstory is that it really did make me see "Cyberwoman" slightly differently. I won't believe Chibnall actually knew how he'd write Ianto in "Fragments" BEFORE he wrote "Cyberwoman", but if I watch "Cyberwoman" with their history in "Fragments" in mind, a lot of the confrontational dialogue between Jack and Ianto take on an interesting spin. Especially in regards to Jack more or less strong-arming Ianto's loyalty when he orders him to shoot Lisa.

As well as Burn Gorman acted his heart out in the Owen segment, I really hated what the writers chose for Owen as his backstory. As much as Owen was an ass in season one, I kind of LIKED the idea that he was an ass just because. No real reason other than that he was a very flawed, brilliant, full of himself human being. The Lost a Loved One past just made him into another cliche.

And I'm in total agreement with you about Tosh's backstory. Hooray for the writers moving away from her love life, but damn. Also, I feel like the general Tosh-abuse both emotionally and now physically has reached its limits.

Lastly, Jack. His backstory wasn't all that insightful, but I'm now very curious about the last Torchwood Team of the 20th century. In particular what Alex saw that drove him to the mass murder/suicide and how the locket fits in.

Note to John Hart: Get better explosives. Or plant more. Remember: they're pretty AND resilient.

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

His backstory wasn't all that insightful, but I'm now very curious about the last Torchwood Team of the 20th century. In particular what Alex saw that drove him to the mass murder/suicide and how the locket fits in.

Me too, especially the locket. I have to say that in an episode riddled with weak links, Alex's murder-suicide struck me as maybe the most inexplicable.

re: John Hart - I laugh and laugh. He really doesn't stand up to either Daniel Holtz or the Master as a Big Bad, I gotta say.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

He so does not, but on the other hand, last season by episode 12 we thought Bilis Manger would be the big bad, and it turned out to be Abadon. Mind you, in that case Bilis would have been better, but still. You know what would be a BRILLIANT bit of writing? If it turned out that John Hart himself is just the front man, just being used, and the true big bad is none other than Jack's brother Gray.

Because yes, so not the Master or Daniel Holtz. Sorry, James.

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

You know what would be a BRILLIANT bit of writing? If it turned out that John Hart himself is just the front man, just being used, and the true big bad is none other than Jack's brother Gray.

YES. Make it so!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

The thing I enjoyed most about the Ianto backstory is that it really did make me see "Cyberwoman" slightly differently. I won't believe Chibnall actually knew how he'd write Ianto in "Fragments" BEFORE he wrote "Cyberwoman", but if I watch "Cyberwoman" with their history in "Fragments" in mind, a lot of the confrontational dialogue between Jack and Ianto take on an interesting spin. Especially in regards to Jack more or less strong-arming Ianto's loyalty when he orders him to shoot Lisa.

It does make much more sense of the Ianto/Jack relationship in s1 which I always thought came out of nowhere and was entirely unconvincing. But Jack's reaction to the whole Cyberwoman thing - both the anger and the fact he later keeps Ianto in Torchwood - really works with this backstory, and Ianto going from OMG You Killed My Girlfriend to Coffey, Tea Or Me? is way more understandable now that we know he deliberately flirted his way into Torchwood.

As well as Burn Gorman acted his heart out in the Owen segment, I really hated what the writers chose for Owen as his backstory.

It wasn't necessary at all. And the irony is, the Owen trilogy this very season shows that you can write Owen as a layered character who deals with a lot of crap life throws at him without making said crap the reason why he is a git to begin with. If you have an actor like Burn Gorman at your disposal, you really do not need another Dead Girlfriend (tm) of the cliché of storytelling.

This being said: my inner fanbrat is already busy working the backstory in a way that doesn't make it as OTT. For example: due to the lack of math skills this show shares with so many other shows, we have Owen being very young for being a doctor with the amount of experience he's supposed to have. Now, what I could see is that after he gets kicked out by his mother at age 16, he uses his brains, gets the scholarship, med school, all that, but that leaves zero room for dealing at all with any issues or dealing with anything but being a brilliant success to show he can be. He meets Katie at work, they hit it off, and part of it is because he loves her (I have no problem buying Owen the closet romantic, the Diane thing wouldn't have been possible otherwise), but the other part is also because she's basically everything his mother wasn't plus the perfect final proof he really made it on his own. He's at his best with Katie not just because he loves her but because he's playing out his fantasy of the ideal couple with the ideal career, and surpressing everything in himself that doesn't belong there. Then tragedy strikes (tm), and as a result in addition to being unable to deal with the loss of Katie in ways other than fighting Aliens and joining a dubious organization where things get violent all the time, there are also all the issues he had repressed before, the darker side in him, and now there is no reason not to be that way anymore, on the contrary. As the result we get over the course of several years Owen as we meet him when the series starts.

In particular what Alex saw that drove him to the mass murder/suicide and how the locket fits in.

If it weren't for the fact that was LAST year's story, I'd say the Year That Wasn't would be a great fit - seeing glimpses of that year would definitely be an inducement if you have no way of knowing the reset button will be pressed.

[joonscribble.livejournal.com]

It does make much more sense of the Ianto/Jack relationship in s1 which I always thought came out of nowhere and was entirely unconvincing. But Jack's reaction to the whole Cyberwoman thing - both the anger and the fact he later keeps Ianto in Torchwood - really works with this backstory, and Ianto going from OMG You Killed My Girlfriend to Coffey, Tea Or Me? is way more understandable now that we know he deliberately flirted his way into Torchwood.

This kind of makes me want to write a post-Cyberwoman ficlet that deals with the immediate aftermath of the episode, except I feel like the Net is overflowing with such fics. But now that there's actual canon, I have this image in my mind of Jack keeping Ianto on in Torchwood as being part out of kindness/attraction, but also as a kind of statement of "You made your bed, now lie in it." Ianto crowbarred his way into Torchwood Three and now he has to stay there, even if being Retconned would be kinder.

If you have an actor like Burn Gorman at your disposal, you really do not need another Dead Girlfriend (tm) of the cliché of storytelling.

It really was a complete waste. Out of all the actors, Gorman would have been able to handle a multi-layered character portrayal where you don't need an obvious reason for his general git-ness.

I'd say the Year That Wasn't would be a great fit - seeing glimpses of that year would definitely be an inducement if you have no way of knowing the reset button will be pressed.

Ooooh! Great point!

[ticketsonmyself.livejournal.com]

If it weren't for the fact that was LAST year's story, I'd say the Year That Wasn't would be a great fit - seeing glimpses of that year would definitely be an inducement if you have no way of knowing the reset button will be pressed.

... this is canon now!

[phineyj.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I like your rationalisation of Owen's backstory a lot! I was disappointed that the flashback they showed seemed to contradict the info that was on the Beeb's website at some point about Owen basically having been struck off after inappropriate relationships with patients - that seemed much more likely to me, particuarly in view of how he behaves in early S1. But if he doesn't join Torchwood immediately, that could have occurred between what we see in Fragments and before Season 1. *represses thoughts of more Owen fics*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

There can never be enough good Owen fic. Stop the repressing!

[phineyj.livejournal.com]

Haha, well maybe when I've decided what to do with the Jack/Ianto/Gwen post-Fragments angst I'm several thousand words into!

[phineyj.livejournal.com]

Great reviiew! I can't agree enough about the Tosh sections. I normally rewatch TW episodes a day or two after they air, but I can't bring myself to re-watch this one because I really don't want to see Tosh's parts again. The prison was just so repellent - you could even see their breath in the air it was apparently so cold. I was not at all impressed with Jack's behaviour in that one, to the point I actively enjoyed that Owen got to give him a black eye (if that was later, I am now confused about what flashbacks were in what order). It's a good thing Burn Gorman has such excellent acting skills or his whole backstory would have been quite cringeworthy.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Tosh's flashback was five years ago, Owen's was four years ago, so Tosh's flashback was definitely earlier than Owen's. However, Ianto's was only 21 months ago, and his flashback came between Tosh's and Owen's, so we jumped somewhat in time.

Word on Burn Gorman's acting skills.