Firstly, thank you once again for a wonderful review. With all the hype and sh** that gets dealt Torchwood's way every single week, it's always lovely to read an honest, funny, intelligent and FAN-FRIENDLY review. Everyone in this fandom needs somewhere to go to pull them back out of the internet crazies.
In the meantime, Rhys provides an excellent example of the best that normalcy can offer, with his courage, steadfastness, and good sense.
And that's why I don't get it when people talk about how much they hate Rhys. He's just... normal. He's normality. Which Torchwood so, desperately, needs a little bit of every so often. He may not be as flamboyantly handsome as Jack, as brainy as Owen or Tosh or as exciting as any of their jobs but damn it he's loyal, loving and exactly what Gwen (and the rest of them) wants and needs.
Jack has 160 years with of baggage in his head, and he's only now starting to work through it.
That's probably the most accurate line I've ever read about Jack and his angst / problems.
I think Jack and Gwen have reached the point where they enjoy being romantic in a platonic way.
Thank you! Thank you for someone else seeing it! I get that there's chemistry, which is brilliant because it is needed for any good relationship to work, but that doesn't always mean that they instantly have to sleep together. By God, don't get me wrong, they both obviously want to for a purely physical reason, but both (I think) recognise exactly what would come of it. They're flirty and passionate and intimate, but there's a deep-seated trust and camaraderie between them that I think is far more important to them. Both of them *provide* something for the other that neither wants to let go of - Jack gets Gwen's normality, stability and (sometimes) irrational human passion, and Gwen gets the exhilaration, protection and confidence that Jack imparts.
I'm probably just babbling, but what I'm trying to say is that I'm with you on the whole Jack/Gwen thing.
And re: Jack/Ianto, I also think that people are underestimating Ianto's dominance in the relationship. I think Jack's relatively unreserved and flamboyant personality just overshadows Ianto's. Ianto is naturally a very introverted person, so it's only logical to instantly assume that he's as distant and submissive with his partners as he is with everyone else. I think Ianto's known Jack for a while, knows exactly what he's like and wouldn't be so stupid as to get himself into a relationship where he knew the other person would just walk all over him. Ianto, fundamentally, is a character who does a lot of watching and studying of other people. He recognises Jack's relationships with other people and trusts him enough not to be a, well, "man-whore" in the way he is while he's single.
The only thing I really worry about (and I can't believe that I'm actually *concerned*) is that Ianto will fall quite deeply into the relationship where Jack will only let himself ever sit on the surface, bringing much heartbreak for the teaboy in later episodes.
*And I'm terribly sorry that was so long. You bring it out in us all.
no subject
In the meantime, Rhys provides an excellent example of the best that normalcy can offer, with his courage, steadfastness, and good sense.
And that's why I don't get it when people talk about how much they hate Rhys. He's just... normal. He's normality. Which Torchwood so, desperately, needs a little bit of every so often. He may not be as flamboyantly handsome as Jack, as brainy as Owen or Tosh or as exciting as any of their jobs but damn it he's loyal, loving and exactly what Gwen (and the rest of them) wants and needs.
Jack has 160 years with of baggage in his head, and he's only now starting to work through it.
That's probably the most accurate line I've ever read about Jack and his angst / problems.
I think Jack and Gwen have reached the point where they enjoy being romantic in a platonic way.
Thank you! Thank you for someone else seeing it! I get that there's chemistry, which is brilliant because it is needed for any good relationship to work, but that doesn't always mean that they instantly have to sleep together. By God, don't get me wrong, they both obviously want to for a purely physical reason, but both (I think) recognise exactly what would come of it. They're flirty and passionate and intimate, but there's a deep-seated trust and camaraderie between them that I think is far more important to them. Both of them *provide* something for the other that neither wants to let go of - Jack gets Gwen's normality, stability and (sometimes) irrational human passion, and Gwen gets the exhilaration, protection and confidence that Jack imparts.
I'm probably just babbling, but what I'm trying to say is that I'm with you on the whole Jack/Gwen thing.
And re: Jack/Ianto, I also think that people are underestimating Ianto's dominance in the relationship. I think Jack's relatively unreserved and flamboyant personality just overshadows Ianto's. Ianto is naturally a very introverted person, so it's only logical to instantly assume that he's as distant and submissive with his partners as he is with everyone else. I think Ianto's known Jack for a while, knows exactly what he's like and wouldn't be so stupid as to get himself into a relationship where he knew the other person would just walk all over him. Ianto, fundamentally, is a character who does a lot of watching and studying of other people. He recognises Jack's relationships with other people and trusts him enough not to be a, well, "man-whore" in the way he is while he's single.
The only thing I really worry about (and I can't believe that I'm actually *concerned*) is that Ianto will fall quite deeply into the relationship where Jack will only let himself ever sit on the surface, bringing much heartbreak for the teaboy in later episodes.
*And I'm terribly sorry that was so long. You bring it out in us all.