To the Last Man
Jan. 31st, 2008 01:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fairyd123Oh Toshiko honey!
You sure know how to pick them!
After the all guns blazing start to the series that was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Sleeper the pace slowed down considerably for To the Last Man finally giving all the characters time to breathe. To the Last Manwas a very bittersweet and melancholy love story. Classic ghost story, romantic melodrama and sci-fi chestnut all rolled into one. None of the elements were particularly original and thematically it was a little too similar to Captain Jack Harkness with its tale of a brave selfless soldier doomed to a tragic fate that team Torchwood cannot prevent - no matter how much they would like to. And yet despite the slight feeling that I'd seen it all before I thought the episode worked incredibly well.
It was a beautiful character study of Tosh, who up until now has been without a doubt the most over looked and under characterised of the Torchwood team. It was hard not to fall in love with Tosh in this episode. She's so lonely that she looks forward to the day that Tommy gets defrosted to the extent that she excitedly rings the day on her calendar and wants to look her foxiest for him. As Tommy pointed out she wasn't conscripted into Torchwood but she has allowed it to consume her to the extent that all she is is her work. She makes plans she'll never follow through and buys books she knows she'll never read. Torchwood is her home and her prison and she's let herself get into a comfy rut. (Albeit with the most fabulous pad I've ever seen - I loved all the warm honey tones) And then along comes Tommy - who knows who she is and what she does and is probably the only person in Tosh's life ever to call her a "daft lass". No wonder she falls so hard for him. My heart just melted when she confessed that she had been worried that he was going to see her growing old
But as with all great love stories it can never go anywhere and ultimately Toshiko has to become like the generals Tommy despises and send him off to his death. And even though it kills her to do it - she still does it. Tosh never suggests that actually they could run away together, never once tells Tommy that no he doesn't have to go back to 1918. Because she's forced during the course of the episode to grow up and she knows what's truly at stake - it's an interesting comparison to Gwen who was quite willing to rip the world to shreds and fuck the consequences when Rhys died.
The episode also benefited from another really wonderful guest actor who just broke my heart. Lost little boy and hero all in one. And yes I cried when he called himself a coward and Tosh called him her brave dashing hero. Destined to die a "coward's" death even though he saved the world. Heartbreaking.
I do wish that Jack and Tommy had had a proper scene together though. Tommy accuses Jack of being the general safe and sound in his bunker whilst sending the troops over enemy lines but of course Jack has been both soldier and general. At Torchwood he's the general - he's the one who hands a tiny girl over to a malevolent force in order to save the world, he's the one who guns down Lisa in front of Ianto's eyes because she's too dangerous to be allowed to live, the one who orders Tosh to convince Tommy to go back to 1918 even though he knows it will result in his death. But he's also been the soldier. We know he enlisted when he was very young and saw his friend killed in front of him, he fought in WWI and probably WWII and when he's in Doctor Who he's the soldier to the Doctor's general. He wasn't ordered to go on the suicide mission on Gamestation 5 but the Doctor wasn't going to talk him out of it. And Ten is utterly cavalier about Jack's life - sending him into that radiation chamber to die a thousand deaths in Utopia. Jack must understand what Tommy was going through so it was a shame they didn't get a chance to properly speak - but then this was Tosh's story.
It was also great to see Jack being a good leader for once. In series 1 he was a diabolical leader. He was so mired in his depressive state that he didn't much care for his colleague's emotional state and frequently made things worse by antagonising them. But in this episode he repeatedly shows just how much faith he has in Tosh. He lets her go home with Tommy, trusting that she will return him at the time he's needed. He moves when she asks him to and lets her convince Tommy into returning to 1918. He lets her do the psychic projection thingy (it does have to be said that that sequence of the episode made absolutely no sense to me but I guess handy mcguffins which allow Tosh to say goodbye aren't meant to actually make narrative sense) and at the end he thanks her for what she did. It's good to see that he's learned.
This was another episode in which I liked Gwen. I liked that the first thing she did upon hearing about Torchwood's sealed orders was too try and open the box. It's what I would have done and she had this really cute look of mischievous glee on her face while she was doing it while Jack stood watching like a tolerant parent. Her Nancy Drew impersonation by visiting the abandoned hospital was entorely in character but I was a tad disappointed at how inept she came across there. You're a trained police woman sweetheart and you carry a gun - so why are you backing away manically from a man with one leg?
What I loved the most about the episode though is the continuing look at the friendships that have developed between the members of the team. I doubt they'll ever address how long Jack was gone and therefore how much time the team had to bond. It's beginning to look like showing them as a team was a real mission statement for this series and it's clearly something that the cast were keen on as well (James Moran admitted in his journal that the lovely bit in Sleeper where Ianto offers his arm to Gwen for support wasn't in the script and must have been added by Gareth and Eve). I liked Gwen (and Jack) teasing Tosh about her date with Tommy and Gwen and Ianto cooing like a couple of schoolgirls over how cute the old Torchwood boss was. Gwen barely interacted with Ianto last series and now she's comfortable enough with him to actually tell him off for moping - I love it!
And Burn Gorman is owning me this series. I found Owen pretty repugnant last year but the Tosh/Owen scene was just beautiful. Burn was absolutely wonderful in that scene completely selling how worried Owen is for Tosh and how he doesn't want to see her get hurt. Just lovely.
We seem to be continuing with the Ianto is Gareth characterisation but as its quite fun I guess I'll live with it. Loved him rolling his eyes when he realised that he was going to have to go and get the tea for everyone when Tommy woke up.
There wasn't much I didn't like. The musical director might want to leave Moby alone given that his stuff has been used in absolutely everything and that particular song was used in a Without a Trace episode about a kidnapped child which left me an emotional wreck and I was confused by Tommy's speech to Tosh in the bar as he seemed to be saying that he was woken in 1919 and 3 weeks later WWII broke out - only 20 years out - but maybe I misheard.
And as for the Jack/Ianto scene? Dies.........
I get increasingly fed up with the fanon concept that because Jack is "omnisexual" he can't be faithful to anyone or truly love anyone. So to hear Jack actually say that he'd loved people was wonderful. That whole sequence was just gorgeous. The Jack/Ianto relationship was so unequal last series and yet now they're at the stage where they can joke about whether Ianto would miss him if he left. Jack may not say "I love you" in that scene - but he really doesn't need to . And Ianto initiates the kiss - and it's a hell of a kiss. Just lovely.
All in all I think Helen Raynor is forgiven for the monstrosity that was the Dalek two-parter in Who last year.
Well almost.
Favourite lines:
Ianto: In his own time. Would you go back to yours if you could?
Jack: Why? Would you miss me?
Ianto: Yup.
Jack: I left home a long time ago. Don't know where I really belong. Maybe that doesn't matter anymore.
Ianto: stammering I....Don't you get lonely?
Jack: Going home wouldn't fix that. Being here I've seen things I never dreamt I'd see. Loved people I never would have known if I'd just stayed where I was. And I wouldn't change that for the world.
You sure know how to pick them!
After the all guns blazing start to the series that was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Sleeper the pace slowed down considerably for To the Last Man finally giving all the characters time to breathe. To the Last Manwas a very bittersweet and melancholy love story. Classic ghost story, romantic melodrama and sci-fi chestnut all rolled into one. None of the elements were particularly original and thematically it was a little too similar to Captain Jack Harkness with its tale of a brave selfless soldier doomed to a tragic fate that team Torchwood cannot prevent - no matter how much they would like to. And yet despite the slight feeling that I'd seen it all before I thought the episode worked incredibly well.
It was a beautiful character study of Tosh, who up until now has been without a doubt the most over looked and under characterised of the Torchwood team. It was hard not to fall in love with Tosh in this episode. She's so lonely that she looks forward to the day that Tommy gets defrosted to the extent that she excitedly rings the day on her calendar and wants to look her foxiest for him. As Tommy pointed out she wasn't conscripted into Torchwood but she has allowed it to consume her to the extent that all she is is her work. She makes plans she'll never follow through and buys books she knows she'll never read. Torchwood is her home and her prison and she's let herself get into a comfy rut. (Albeit with the most fabulous pad I've ever seen - I loved all the warm honey tones) And then along comes Tommy - who knows who she is and what she does and is probably the only person in Tosh's life ever to call her a "daft lass". No wonder she falls so hard for him. My heart just melted when she confessed that she had been worried that he was going to see her growing old
But as with all great love stories it can never go anywhere and ultimately Toshiko has to become like the generals Tommy despises and send him off to his death. And even though it kills her to do it - she still does it. Tosh never suggests that actually they could run away together, never once tells Tommy that no he doesn't have to go back to 1918. Because she's forced during the course of the episode to grow up and she knows what's truly at stake - it's an interesting comparison to Gwen who was quite willing to rip the world to shreds and fuck the consequences when Rhys died.
The episode also benefited from another really wonderful guest actor who just broke my heart. Lost little boy and hero all in one. And yes I cried when he called himself a coward and Tosh called him her brave dashing hero. Destined to die a "coward's" death even though he saved the world. Heartbreaking.
I do wish that Jack and Tommy had had a proper scene together though. Tommy accuses Jack of being the general safe and sound in his bunker whilst sending the troops over enemy lines but of course Jack has been both soldier and general. At Torchwood he's the general - he's the one who hands a tiny girl over to a malevolent force in order to save the world, he's the one who guns down Lisa in front of Ianto's eyes because she's too dangerous to be allowed to live, the one who orders Tosh to convince Tommy to go back to 1918 even though he knows it will result in his death. But he's also been the soldier. We know he enlisted when he was very young and saw his friend killed in front of him, he fought in WWI and probably WWII and when he's in Doctor Who he's the soldier to the Doctor's general. He wasn't ordered to go on the suicide mission on Gamestation 5 but the Doctor wasn't going to talk him out of it. And Ten is utterly cavalier about Jack's life - sending him into that radiation chamber to die a thousand deaths in Utopia. Jack must understand what Tommy was going through so it was a shame they didn't get a chance to properly speak - but then this was Tosh's story.
It was also great to see Jack being a good leader for once. In series 1 he was a diabolical leader. He was so mired in his depressive state that he didn't much care for his colleague's emotional state and frequently made things worse by antagonising them. But in this episode he repeatedly shows just how much faith he has in Tosh. He lets her go home with Tommy, trusting that she will return him at the time he's needed. He moves when she asks him to and lets her convince Tommy into returning to 1918. He lets her do the psychic projection thingy (it does have to be said that that sequence of the episode made absolutely no sense to me but I guess handy mcguffins which allow Tosh to say goodbye aren't meant to actually make narrative sense) and at the end he thanks her for what she did. It's good to see that he's learned.
This was another episode in which I liked Gwen. I liked that the first thing she did upon hearing about Torchwood's sealed orders was too try and open the box. It's what I would have done and she had this really cute look of mischievous glee on her face while she was doing it while Jack stood watching like a tolerant parent. Her Nancy Drew impersonation by visiting the abandoned hospital was entorely in character but I was a tad disappointed at how inept she came across there. You're a trained police woman sweetheart and you carry a gun - so why are you backing away manically from a man with one leg?
What I loved the most about the episode though is the continuing look at the friendships that have developed between the members of the team. I doubt they'll ever address how long Jack was gone and therefore how much time the team had to bond. It's beginning to look like showing them as a team was a real mission statement for this series and it's clearly something that the cast were keen on as well (James Moran admitted in his journal that the lovely bit in Sleeper where Ianto offers his arm to Gwen for support wasn't in the script and must have been added by Gareth and Eve). I liked Gwen (and Jack) teasing Tosh about her date with Tommy and Gwen and Ianto cooing like a couple of schoolgirls over how cute the old Torchwood boss was. Gwen barely interacted with Ianto last series and now she's comfortable enough with him to actually tell him off for moping - I love it!
And Burn Gorman is owning me this series. I found Owen pretty repugnant last year but the Tosh/Owen scene was just beautiful. Burn was absolutely wonderful in that scene completely selling how worried Owen is for Tosh and how he doesn't want to see her get hurt. Just lovely.
We seem to be continuing with the Ianto is Gareth characterisation but as its quite fun I guess I'll live with it. Loved him rolling his eyes when he realised that he was going to have to go and get the tea for everyone when Tommy woke up.
There wasn't much I didn't like. The musical director might want to leave Moby alone given that his stuff has been used in absolutely everything and that particular song was used in a Without a Trace episode about a kidnapped child which left me an emotional wreck and I was confused by Tommy's speech to Tosh in the bar as he seemed to be saying that he was woken in 1919 and 3 weeks later WWII broke out - only 20 years out - but maybe I misheard.
And as for the Jack/Ianto scene? Dies.........
I get increasingly fed up with the fanon concept that because Jack is "omnisexual" he can't be faithful to anyone or truly love anyone. So to hear Jack actually say that he'd loved people was wonderful. That whole sequence was just gorgeous. The Jack/Ianto relationship was so unequal last series and yet now they're at the stage where they can joke about whether Ianto would miss him if he left. Jack may not say "I love you" in that scene - but he really doesn't need to . And Ianto initiates the kiss - and it's a hell of a kiss. Just lovely.
All in all I think Helen Raynor is forgiven for the monstrosity that was the Dalek two-parter in Who last year.
Well almost.
Favourite lines:
Ianto: In his own time. Would you go back to yours if you could?
Jack: Why? Would you miss me?
Ianto: Yup.
Jack: I left home a long time ago. Don't know where I really belong. Maybe that doesn't matter anymore.
Ianto: stammering I....Don't you get lonely?
Jack: Going home wouldn't fix that. Being here I've seen things I never dreamt I'd see. Loved people I never would have known if I'd just stayed where I was. And I wouldn't change that for the world.
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 01:49 am (UTC)When you said about the time Jack was with the Doctor, I was going to say a year, but then the world was set back, so we have no idea how long he really was away.
Ianto and Jack make my heart melt.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 02:05 am (UTC)I think Jack can only have been gone for a couple of months as the team forgave him pretty easily and you'd think there would have been more fall out if he'd been gone longer but it would be nice to know.
And Jack and Ianto were utterly adorable in that scene - playful and sincere and just so so sweet.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 03:01 am (UTC)Yes, it makes sense, because a year would be too long, then again, TW has been willing to forget things in the past. I hope we'll find out.
They were! It's amazing how a few minutes of screen time together make me all squeey inside.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 02:40 am (UTC)I think he meant three weeks later "his time" -- one day for each of the years between 1919 and 1939.
Everything else? I *so* agree with you on it all.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 03:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 11:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 03:47 am (UTC)FWIW, Chris Chibnall (in an interview with SFX) said Jack had been gone between two weeks and three months - my guess is 4-6 weeks- but I don't think that will ever be explicitly stated, given the way the series seems to be headed.
I'm happy to see that Gwen isn't fighting Jack for control of the team. She's definitely improved for me this series, although I still sometimes have a bit of difficulty accepting some of her actions as those of a policewoman with several years of experience on the street under her belt. I did like the gleam in her eye as she tried to open the time-locked box, and yes, I'd have done the same.
I'm also much happier with the way Owen is written in this series, and love seeing what Burn Gorman's bringing to the character. It's really nice to see Owen being so caring toward, well, everyone.
I thought the actor playing Tommy did a spectacular job of portraying the character. He completely sold me on the idea of Tommy's innocence and fragile state of mind. I hated to see him go back to 1918, knowing what he was going back to, and my heart went out to poor Tosh who did what she had to with a smile to save the world. I wouldn't have wanted to see Tosh and Tommy in present day Torchwood as a couple, but as a doomed couple they were great.
Re Tommy's comment about WWII being three weeks after he woke up in 1919, at the end of WWI, that struck me as odd, too...but WWII would have started about twenty awakenings later for Tommy, so I'm assuming that's what he meant.
And, yeah, my favourite scene has to be the Jack/Ianto one, too. It makes me sigh happily and go "Awwwwwww", and Jack's lines further underscore that now is when and here is where he wants to be.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 11:29 pm (UTC)And Jack/Ianto - just adorable.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 07:30 am (UTC)I seldom leave you comments (my bad) but you do so well capturing the essence of each episode.
Thank you.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 11:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 08:52 am (UTC)I don't have much to add, you covered most of my thoughts on it (especially about the Jack/Ianto - just a lovely scene).
I did note that TW must pay Tosh well, as I'm told that gorgeous big pads in Cardiff aren't cheap!
Didn't get why the girls cooed over the 1918 TW guy. I thought he was very ordinary looking. Was that just me?
I wasn't puzzled by the WWII thing. To me it was obvious that Tommy meant it was twenty awakenings later for him - ie, 1939.
I loved watching Burn as Tosh was put in the psychic whosis mcguffin. Carefully expressionless, but his concern coming through so clearly. Well done, Burn!
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 11:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 10:24 am (UTC)I meant that Gwen seemed to think the Torchwood bloke (I am blanking on the character's name) from 1918 was cute - the guy who, with his female partner, made sure Tommy was stashed away for the future.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 09:31 am (UTC)Or in the words of my 12 year old, "Aw, just shoot him!"
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 11:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 12:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 11:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 06:49 pm (UTC)Oh, man. I hadn't even thought of it like that, but it's true and it is absolutely heartbreaking.
"Being here I've seen things I never dreamt I'd see. Loved people I never would have known if I'd just stayed where I was. And I wouldn't change that for the world."
I had mixed reactions to this line. One hand, I thought it wonderfully sweet that Jack is saying how important his time with Ianto has been. And I get that when he says, "If I'd stayed where I was" he means his original future time.
But...
A part of me also sort of saw this as the sign that ultimately, it's Jack's fate to move on. Because he CAN'T stay in one place. At least not in the solid, lasting relationship-sense because no matter how much he might love someone, he will ultimately outlive them. So he just propels on to new places and new times to meet and love new people.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 11:36 pm (UTC)Jack will always ultimately outlive those around him but that doesn't mean that they're not important to him during the time that they're together. I think his time with the Doctor and his year on the Valiant made him realise that he isn't like the Doctor - forever skipping town before the consequences are felt. Jack built Torchwood and its his family - he could have travelled to a million worlds with the Doctor - but why leave the one place where he actually belongs and people love him?