torchwood 2.13

Part A: Love

Loved it.

Wow, I totally a.) did not expect to start crying and b.) realize how much I had grown to love Owen. I admit it, Fragments did it for me hard; I've liked him more and more since right before he died (the first time), but a lot about his first season behavior is clarified by his recruitment.

Random

(Plus, there's this entire thing with the ep with the guy who fucked with their memories that makes me twitchy; I hated Tosh the entire episode, beyond words to describe, and now I wonder what the hell the writers were thinking when they reversed Owen and Tosh's characters. Asshole is not more attractive when it's a woman than a man; then again, I never liked Cordelia Chase or Faith either, and by don't like, I mean, hated for a very long time. Faith grew on me; Cordelia never did.)

Part A, Continued

I would have liked to have more Grey development, because I like being conflicted. I totally understand his suffering, etc, except I just do not care. As is, Grey, didn't care, wanted to kill him. I think part of this is the actor sucked. A really unhinged performance would have helped, but it was like watching The Terminator, and who sympathizes with someone who doesn't change expressions? Or give any convincing--something. Anything. And I know it's possible; they had that chick who didn't know she was an alien spy and I loved her.

Owen died fantastically. I have a weakness for that moment. The look on his face as he turned toward the reactor, that flickering second of acceptance and humor and realization, that moment where everything he was and would have been came on like a light... I love when characters take death like this, not as an adversary or an enemy, but as a conquest. Bring. It. On.

Tosh broke my heart. I was counting down the seconds; I kind of hope they died together.

Part B: Not Love

Okay, here is the problem with the entire sequence.

Grey's master plan is to bury Jack alive, kill his team, and blow up Cardiff for the lulz, except boring lulz, becaues he's a freakishly boring adversary. So, buried Jack alive. On a planet. With people. Where no one will ever find him. Forever! Under Cardiff! And not bother to check and see if anything is ever built over that spot?????

Jack lets himself be buried alive. Okay, now. Penance. Right. Of all the ways to do penance, dying every few minutes buried in dirt? Really? Really?

I think part of the problem is, I didn't get a sense of horror--and people, that right there is twitchifying horror. But no. Jack tumbles in, blah blah blah, very Stranger, bear this message to the Spartans,that we lie here obedient to their laws. Very Spartan. That's the thing. A philosophy built on stupidity is still stupid. Dying for something--or being buried alive for something higher--yes, and that's both terrifying and workable and meaningful. This wasn't for something higher. This was for Jack's self-pity. He had a duty, and people that depended on him, and a situation that required his help. Flagellating yourself for almost two thousand years isn't noble and sure as fuck didnt' help much. It could have, should have, ended, or tried to end, on that grassy knoll with Grey either dead or Jack trying. Instead--he didn't. For no higher reason than his own guilt.

Things I Don't Get

1.) Six feet of dirt. Hands manacled. Coming alive every few minutes. Jack knows he's coming back every time. Before he dies--again--that's a good three minutes of digging. Even given shifting earth--he's able to dig every three or so minutes. He could have freaking gotten out. It would have taken a few weeks--I have never measured this nor do I wish to--but it's doable. If Buffy can do it in a few hours, Jack can manage in a few weeks.

2.) ...not even a little trauma from nearly two thousand years of this?

3.) Grey didn't even check to see what the fuck John threw in there? Why?

4.) Kill Grey. That is all. There's no redeeming value in him. I mean, seriously, The Joker has more redeeming value. At least he was interesting and insane.

5.) Okay, buried alive--stupid. If he was going for revenge, put Jack in a box and place him in a black hole. There. Done. As long as there are people around, and not unbreakable forces of physics, better guarantee.

Grey == very stupid evil.

Comments

[seperis.livejournal.com]

I seriously wanted to slap Jack for that one. What did he think Grey was going to do when he was done? Go quietly into the good night? JACK SHOW US LESS OF YOUR ISSUES!

And yes, exactly.

[threnodyjones.livejournal.com]

I wonder if that's why Jack was so freakishly, "I FORGIVE YOU GREY!" because it took him 1,874 years to figure out that no, Grey probably really didn't care about Jack's ascension to martyr.