Torchwood Episode Discussion (Spoilers for all eps aired in the UK)

[travis]

Just watched ep 5 and have to say I really did'nt like this ep. Fund it to be a bit to dramatised and not believable don't know why but that how I felt after ep.
I've enjoyed the last four but found this one disjointed.
Oh well hopfully the next will be exciting

[Albion]

Best moment, other than the 'dead' comment that made Jack taken aback: The spoiler from next week

I'd forgotten about that. Yes, I was really excited to see that, too. Looking forward to it.

Albion

[ShadowMaat]

BWAHAHAHA!!! Dear gods...

Spoiler:

The whole Jack/Ianto slasher's paradise at the end of the ep was BRILLIANT! LOL! Loved it! And I loved the IM convo on the Hub site, too. Adds to the fun.

Mostly a great ep, although for someone who kept nattering on about how much more brilliant Gwen was compared to her (enough with the word anvils, SHOW DON'T TELL!), Suzie was pretty damn diabolical to set up her own resurrection thing. How would she know that it'd stick, though? She couldn't make anyone re-live for more than two minutes, the odds of anyone getting it to work permanently had to be pretty slim.

I also wonder why they didn't simply destroy the glove as soon as they realized the connection was there, but whatever. Ianto's comment about gloves coming in pairs was nicely ominous, but not nearly as spooky as Suzie's comment about the thing in the dark coming for Jack. So many ways to interpret that. And is it REALLY coming for Jack, or is it just coming?

Really wish they hadn't gone the "I had no one to talk to" route with Suzie because THAT card is getting overplayed, too.

All in all, I'm happy with the ep. And while there's something a bit creepy about that last scene, there's something hilarious about it, too.

*huggles Ianto*

[Madeleine]

This thing in the dark, is it connected with Jack's inability to die, perhaps? Maybe Jack's undeaths here are stacking up in the afterlife as something else.

I don't think Suzie had finished implementing her plan when she topped herself. She was still tinkering with the glove, the rest of her system was in place so she might have just trusted to luck. She seemed pretty unbalanced and irrational, both before and after her death; her judgement was certainly suspect. One of her first things was to ask who was using the glove, presumably cos that was the one part of her plan that she hadn't got under control: not to teach anyone else to use it, or to get it to work more than a short while.

Stopwatch? Crikey, LOL. The mind boggles.

[The Signal]

This thing in the dark, is it connected with Jack's inability to die, perhaps? Maybe Jack's undeaths here are stacking up in the afterlife as something else.

Thats what I was thinking too, and I'm guessing that whatever it is will somehow be involved in the finale.

As for the glove, well yes gloves come in pairs (fantastic moment for Ianto there, SO ominious! Also "Risen Mitten" and "Life Knife" brilliant ) but they also come in opposites, one left, one right, one life, one death? Perhaps Jack CAN die?

Overall, a great episode, some fantastic moments for all the class (even Toshi, which is a rare thing indeed). The only thing that I didnt like was the lack of development on Suzie's dad, was there supposed to be something else to that or did I briefly nod off when she explained herself?

8/10

[ShadowMaat]

My fanwank is that he abused her- physically, emotionally, sexually, whateverly- and was getting her revenge knowing that since she was already dead she could hardly be prosecuted.

However, while I understand the need to get revenge, isn't slowly rotting away worse than a quick suffocation/strangulation?

[Albion]

I really enjoyed this one. Two in a row - wow. Have to say that next week's looks pretty good, too.

I loved Jack's 'not one bit' and that he shot Suzie right off the bat. Although, I thought his continuing to pump bullets into her was a bit of overkill after a time. He knew it wasn't going to do any good until the glove was destroyed and after it was destroyed he'd already shot her enough times for her to die, then. Blasting a few more rounds off seemed rather...petty. <g>

Loved his boyfriend ramble when Gwen stormed through his door. LOL.

Didn't like so much that, once again, the plot hinged on one of the team going off on their own half-cocked, blindly trusting someone they should have known to be wary of and ditching the rest of the team in the process. Gwen's dumbness went up a few more notches. Why everyone thinks she's wonderful, I have no clue. She's a complete liability so far.

Yet again, we get mixed ship signals. Is Gwen with Owen...or pining after Jack? What was that soulful look between the two of them at the end, with that deeply suggestive song lyric about 'finding the one' in your life all about? I wish they'd stop hopping around on that one. And Gwen is still dangling poor Rhys on a line apparently, too. Time to resolve at least that relationship decently.

Have to break ranks and say I absolutely loathed the Ianto/Jack stopwatch dialogue. Dear Gods. <shudder> Just wrong on so many levels. Not least because I now have the impression that half the time this team are spending their time less working and more screwing around in the office whenever the opportunity presents itself. It's getting to look more like a swinging singles party than an elite alien hunting, crime solving organisation. I keep expecting Jack to bring out his car keys in the middle of a problem or someone to start playing spin the bottle. Did love Ianto's 'gloves come in pairs' comment though.

Loved the policewoman! They said her name at one point, but I've forgotten it. Would love to see her again as a recurring character.

So, all in all, thoroughly enjoyable. Great to see Suzie back again, if only temporarily and there were a ton of lovely character moments to satisfy me. Suzie's plan was a little convoluted and pretty much hinged on every little piece slotting into place with perfect timing, nothing going wrong. Unlikely, but I can suspend disbelief on that one. Never stopped me enjoying a good Agatha Christie novel, either.

Oh and LOL'd at Jack's little parting, 'Torchwood' as they left the cells, to set the decoy guy off again. He's a minx.

And with the last two eps of the season being labelled

Spoiler:

'Captain Jack Harness' and 'Apocalypse'

I suspect that the 'darkness coming' comment is leading up to a season cliffhanger. <g>

I, too, went to the abuse place re her obvious hatred of and desire for revenge on her father. But, yeah, it didn't seem to make sense to set all this plan in motion just to go yank his tubes out, when he was dying a slow, painful death anyway. Ah, well. As someone else said, she wasn't exactly the most rational bulb in the box.

Albion

[ShadowMaat]

The detective lady is played by the same actress who played Jabe the tree lady in DW's "End of the World." I loved her in that role, too.

[Pitry]

Yay! Excellent episode. loved it.

Ianto and Jack, the're so cute together

Not a lot to add to the commetns you all made otehr than likewise... pretty ominous indeed, the things in the dark and the second glove... ("life knife"! mwahahaha) - but shoudln't Jack know what's no the other side? He was, after all, dead at some point.

[ShadowMaat]

Death is coming to collect. Muahaha.

[Flyboy]

IANTO AND JACK!



For once I'm actually very happy about their use of slash in the show. I dunno why I hadn't paired them before, but... HELL YES.

*ahem* anyway. Slasher within me aside.

Loved the episode, really did focus heavily on how Torchwood f***s absolutely everything that they touch up. Liked the suspense and the police involvement was pretty slick. I wonder what they'll do with Max?

The darkness thing is of course quite nice.

But what hits me most about this as well as the first ep is the whole "nothingness" after death. Really makes you question things.

[ShadowMaat]

Some on TWOP are theorizing that the nothingness could be the Void.

And while this whole scary thing coming through the dark thing is wonderful in its own way, I think it'd be kinda funny if it turned out to be something good. Maybe it was only Suzie's own fears (or the guilt/whatever of her actions) that made her fear whatever it is. Some fear God as much as they fear Satan...

[Pitry]

Speaking of Satan, tehy already hinted Satan does exist, Satan's Pit and all that jazz....
I do like the idea of the Void.

[ShadowMaat]

Okay, I caught three possible references to Doctor Who in the ep. The (Bad) Wolf Club, the 3D glasses on Jack's monitor/desk and the "narrows it down" comment from Jack when looking for Max at the club. Were there any that I missed?

Also I thought the set-up of the crime scene was interesting. Everything was WHITE- floors, walls, bed covers, even the pumpkins in the pic on the wall. The photo over the bed (which had fallen down) was black & white, as was the couple. Made all the splatters of red blood that much more vivid.

[Willow'sCat]

But what hits me most about this as well as the first ep is the whole "nothingness" after death. Really makes you question things.

I actually find that refreshing, I am not in any way religious so nothingness is believable to me, it is the glowy lights and meeting dearly departed that ruins it in my mind. Give me bleakness/nothing/ a void after death and I am happy.

I liked this one, still having problems with the show wanting to say too much too soon... some nice moments though including Ianto naming the glove the "risen mitten" and also his line about gloves coming in pairs (you know I thought that about the glove on Angel that time...sorry I can't help it, I just keep thinking Angel) and of course the stop-watch thing, I have no idea what that was all about but I liked it.

I would have expected Owen to be more cut up over Gwen maybe dying but the way he kept spieling off how long she may have left made me really wonder if he can ever have any real feelings for anyone... even the bit at the end when he holds her didn't ring as true as it could have.

Over all not a bad ep, but still waiting for some big B.I.G reveal to make it all seem worth while. I just hope they don't go with a cliff hanger as we still don't know if we will be getting a series 2.