Torchwood 2.13 Exit Wounds

[selenak]

Like Oscar Wilde, I can resist anything but temptation, and the temptation to say "I told you so" sometimes is irresistable, so I might as well give in. John as the frontman and Gray as the true villain of the episode - check. Gray as Connor - check. And yes, those deaths. About which more in a moment, because of course they were the heart of the episode, but I like to get the other stuff out of the way first.

Firstly, memo to Chris Chibnall: if you pinch pay homage, pay attention not to give into the ambition to go over the top with it. Because Jack's 1900 plus stint under the Earth was just too much. ("You think three months is tough? I'll give you two millennia!") Angel's three months under the sea were something that I could imagine, and feel the horror of, plus we got a realistic (well, for a fantasy show) pay off when he was back at the surface, hallucinating and drinking Wesley's blood. Jack being immediately coherent after two millennia and telling old team Torchwood what to do with him so he won't cross his own timeline completely destroyed what emotional believability was left. (Especially since not too long ago, I've read a terrific Heroes fanfic dealing with the consequences of burying someone immortal alive for "even" a few months.) Similarly, Angel and Connor in Home works (well, for me, but I'm aware I'm still in the minority of fans) because we've spent 1 1/3 seasons knowing Connor, so the mall scene is heartbreaking; we don't know Gray, and it's a little tough to feel for Jack's grief for him when we simultanously just lost Toshiko and Owen. Though I will say Barrowman manfully resisted the temptation of overplaying this time, and at any rate I'm not sure we're even meant to feel a similar impact to the whole Angel and Connor thing precisely because of the way Tosh and Owen were written.

This complaint aside, this episode was a good and truly heartbreaking season finale. Gwen and Rhys are more than ever my favourite couple on this show (in the sense of romantic pairing, not in the sense of "favourite two characters"), drawing strength from another, Gwen stepping in as leader as she did when Jack left last season was great, Rhys and Andy working together was fab, and lo and behold, I've warmed up to John Hart somewhat. I think it was the "how self-absorbed are you to have bought my spurned lover act?" (slightly paraphrasing) thing, that and the fact JM was - imo, as always - not simply going through a routine of mannerisms this time but gave the character a non-derivative life of his own. Also, the two times we see Jack hugging both Gwen and Ianto at the same time underscored the affection there going all three ways, and again I ask, fanon, why do you insist on creating angst where there isn't one because neither Ianto nor Gwen seems to have the slightest envy or problem with how Jack feels for either of them? I'm tentatively considering regarding them as an OT3 minus the sex where Gwen is concerned.

But enough about everyone else, because of course I'm still whimpering here. Oh Tosh. Oh Owen. Despite Owen being my favourite character on this show, I think if someone has the right to complain to her writers, it's Toshiko, not for this episode or her exit as such (magnificent sequence, that) but for the way she generally tended to be underwritten on this show. Because Owen had an arc leading him right to this point, plotted, mapped and played out beautifully. Tosh did not. And yet, and yet, right now I'm so overwhelmed the sheer emotional force that I don't feel like complaining on Tosh's behalf, either. I knew it was going to be a permanent death for Owen when he entered that nuclear plant (because if they killed him permanently, it would be via a method that didn't leave him in still surviving parts, such as beheadings or more shootings, but with something that destroyed his entire body at one stroke, and the two alternative endings for his storyline were either a "cure" for his zombie condition or a permanent death), and when Gray shot Tosh, I knew that was going to be it for her, too. This certainty did not lessen the devastating impact. Both their ways of dying were so them, Tosh's bravery and endurance so she'd keep alive long enough to save the day, Owen of course raging (this is a show set in Wales, you just have to think of Dylan Thomas and his poem there!), and no, having died before would not lessen that - and then Tosh's words ending that and getting the ability for selflessness which along with being a selfish git is also part of Owen at work again. That last conversation, just right - I think if he had said "I love you" it would have felt over the top or fake, but saying "we missed each other" felt so real, and I'm crying now, damn it. They did never become a couple, and perhaps that was best because it might never have worked out, with Owen's brokenness and dark side, and Tosh's self esteem issues, but here they were, drawing strength from each other at what each knew were their final moments, and the quiet tenderness of that just breaks me.

The aftermath, with Ianto watching first Owen's, then Tosh's CV on the computer screen while Jack packs Owen's things away and Gwen Tosh's, and the grief of the survivors, and then Tosh's cheerful recorded message -

Yes. Crying. But not cursing. Oh, show.

Comments

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Almost throughout, I kept muttering "selenak's hit the jackpot here."

But I seem to be the only person who didn't like the episode because I thought it was rather dull - the big problem being that Gray was two-dimensional, and just not forceful enough for a super villain. And then, when it came to the deaths - well, obviously I was disappointed to lose Owen, though it's probably best for Burn Gorman's career not to do more than two seasons, and the deaths themselves were fine, but I found all the subsequent emoting too sentimental, and found myself in a "just get on with it" state of irritation.

Also, when Jack came out of his box and his first words for "I forgive you", I did a bit of eye-rolling. We've already done all that over on Doctor Who.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

the big problem being that Gray was two-dimensional, and just not forceful enough for a super villain.

His motivation made somewhat more sense than the "you didn't want to spend time with me" thing that was John Hart's pretend-motivation, plus he as the opponent is far worse for Jack, but otherwise I agree. Especially, as I said above, when you compare it to where they ripped this plot off from, because the Angel-Connor storyline competes with the Darla arc as my favourite storyarc from Angel.

Also, when Jack came out of his box and his first words for "I forgive you", I did a bit of eye-rolling. We've already done all that over on Doctor Who.

To repeat what I said in my pre-finale thoughts about John as a Master copy (only now with Gray): it just suffers by comparison, even when it's a self-rippoff instead of a Whedon-ripoff. Mind you, that's the Doylist perspective. Watsonian-wise, it makes sense for Jack, offers fodder for meta, and when I get around to my overall s2 post, I'll have something to say about the three forgiveness-instances and why the Master and Gray couldn't accept it while Owen could.