selenak

Some thoughts before tonight's season finale of Torchwood, unspoiled and speculative only. I'll probably write a post on the second season as a whole once I've watched the finale, but RL is being busy, so I'm not sure I'll find the time, which is why a bit of the season-overlooking will flow into this post.

Okay, regarding the "who lives, who dies, if any" question that comes with season finales. One of the pleasant surprises of this season was that I've come to care for the entire ensemble, instead of just finding one character (Owen) interesting and not caring one way or the other (either like or dislike) about the rest, which was the case for me in season 1. So if one or several should die, I know I'll grieve for whoever it is, but I'll keep watching, because by know, I actually like the show entire.

Odds: We can discount Jack (immortal, and main character) and Gwen (closest thing to leading lady; unless Eve Myles wants out, I don't think Chibnall, RTD & Co. will kill her off or let her decide to leave Torchwood, for that matter).

My money is on Rhys' survival as well, because they already played the "Rhys is dead, see Gwen lose it" card in the season 1 finale.

Owen - I'm not sure. What I am sure about is that after the finale, he'll either a) be permanently dead or b) have his zombie status changed in some fashion. What augurs for his survival is that Burn Gorman is the best actor in this ensemble, and given that the scriptwriters keep throwing meaty character arcs at him for two seasons in a row now, they know it. On the other hand, he's definitely not lacking work possibilities elsewhere, so - who knows?

Tosh: poor Tosh. The writing for her is much better this season than last (which, alas, isn't saying much, but I don't want to damm with faint praise - this season gave me a genuine sense of what Tosh is like as a person), and she finally got a story that didn't have to do anything with her love life, but I still reckon her chances of leaving the show either by tragic death or by deciding that since her indentured five years are up, she wants to enjoy freedom and figure out life beyond secret organisations for a while (with an option for Naoko Mori to return in later seasons) are pretty high, simply because I get the sense the writers still do not really know what to do with her beyond her relationship with Owen. So realistically speaking, I'd say that if someone gets killed off (or leaves in a non-lethal way), Tosh is a very likely candidate.

Ianto: hmmm. On the one hand, fannish darling, indeed favourite character for most of fandom, which is as good a survival guarantee as any. On the other, arguably the death that would hurt Jack the most, and I can't help but noticing that while everyone else got a backstory that isn't primarily about their relationship with Jack in Fragments, Ianto did not, which fits with the "you gave me new meaning" thing from Adam. And Ianto definitely won't leave via quitting, which is at least a possibility for Tosh. Ianto is the character other than Gwen who basically has what he wants from life right now - a happy steady relationship with Jack, work he finds fulfilling, his past loss of Lisa dealt with - and no unfulfilled hopes, agendas or desires we know about. That by the rules of TV never augurs well. Of course, if Ianto does get killed off, I'm going to hide from the internet (well, the Torchwood portion of same) because I can hear the outbreaks of "homophobia! it's all a conspiracy to get Jack together with Gwen!" already.

(For the record, even if Ianto gets killed in the season finale, I don't think Jack and Gwen will hook up in season 3. For starters, one of Jack's defining characteristics is the constant flirting and omnisexual thing, and if he were to have a relationship with Gwen similar to the one he has with Ianto now, complete with jokes, we'd get such gems like "Gwen looks good in a dress" or "pizza, Gwen, saving the world", which with a girlfriend would sound less Jack being Jack and more Jack being a male chauvinist pig. Secondly, this season had Gwen choosing Rhys over Torchwood generally and Jack specifically every time it counted, the writers give every sign of being fond of writing scenes for Eve Myles and Kai Williams together, and I very much doubt all of this will lead to a Gwen/Rhys split-up any time soon. See above for why I don't believe Rhys will die, either.)

Now, regarding the finale villain. Frankly, I rolled my eyes when Captain John came back for the final scene in Fragments, but something that might make his return into something for more interesting than a pale replay of the Doctor/Master relationship in DW has occured to me since then. Namely: much like Bilis was the frontman for Abaddon, John could be the frontman for the true villain, who is... none other than Jack's lost brother, Gray himself. Now THAT would truly be gutwrenching for Jack, and since the second season repeatedly touched on Owen being a replacement little brother figure for him, it could tie in Owen's mid-season arc as well. Also, it would mean I don't have to take John more seriously than I do.

(My John problem in a nutshell: they should never have gone for JM using the Spike accent and swagger, made his first scene with Jack a blatant rip-off from the Buffy/Spike scene in Smashed and then thrown in earth admiration/resentment directly out of the Doctor/Master book for good measure. It makes the character look incredibly derivative, a dull checklist of "stuff fans liked in..." instead of the colourful rogue they wanted to sell. Add to this that I found the chemistry between JM and JB practically non existant and hence their scenes incredibly forced, and, well. Yeah. Will pass. But if John's just a tool, then the character one dimensionality and derivativeness don't matter anymore.)

Gray as Jack's true arch nemesis could either play out as Gray as Connor - since this show likes their Jossverse parallels - which would probably end with Gray's defeat and either literal death or metaphorical death (good old retcon and a new life striking again) - or it could play out as Gray as an ongoing villain in the old Who tradition, who at the end takes off to plague Jack and the Cardiff gang another day.

Also possible: John is a frontman, but the true villain isn't Gray but another third party (maybe those invaders from Sleeper? Or the "monsters" of Jack's memories). Which would work but not be as angst inducing, and if Gray is just an innocent victim held hostage by either John or Third Party, he's as good as dead already. (The show doesn't need nice literal relations of Jack's; not much possibility for inner conflict.)

Lastly: given that they can't repeat the noise of the TARDIS as a dramatic cliffhanger conclusion and tie-in to DW, and given that Jack is announced as a guest star in season 4/30 but after all that emphasis on loving his team can't just ditch them without explanation as was possible at the end of s1, I'm going with