Call me Spammy McSpammerson today

[webbgirl]

There's an update to the Captain's Log on the BBC America: Torchwood site for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

I love having the little extras that go along with the episodes (even if we don't get as many as the UK site...grrrr).  One of the great things in this one

The paragraph where he talks about being concerned about Gwen's engagement.  He talks about it in terms of being concerned whether she'll be able to handle keeping things from Rhys or she'll have to leave Torchwood to be with him.  It offsets the "true love" vibe that a lot of people were getting from that initial scene.

Yes, I realize this is not actual 'canon' but it's nice to see this perspective on the scene.

Comments

[jesshelga.livejournal.com]

Thank goodness. Because Jack/Gwen strikes me as all kinds of boring and dumb. I'd prefer to watch Jack/Tosh, if they want to go all het stylez on us.

Your spam is the best spam. Polls about candy, Torchwood...I have no complaints.

[webbgirl.livejournal.com]

Jack/Tosh gives me pretty thoughts. So does Ianto/Tosh.

But yeah, I'm not much on the Gwen/Jack vibe either. I might as well watch Remington Steele or Moonlighting if they're going to go there.

Your spam is the best spam.

I aim to please with the yummy!

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

Tosh has this extra edge which Gwen doesn't have, no matter how much she tries. I find her infinitely preferable and less obvious than Gwen - mostly because the writer/producers haven't spelled out her every dilemma and personality quirk to her detriment.

[jesshelga.livejournal.com]

mostly because the writer/producers haven't spelled out her every dilemma and personality quirk to her detriment.

That's an outstanding assessment of Gwen and why I often find myself rolling my eyes at her. I get the feeling that by making her so "fallible" and "human," we the viewers are supposed to find ourselves reluctantly rooting for her in spite of infidelity, general incompetence, spazziness, et cetera. Yep, when I do root for her, it's very reluctant.

I like to call this The Ally McBeal Effect.

[ximeria.livejournal.com]

Heh, does it matter if it's not actually canon? It comes close being on the site, and I can actually buy that explanation -- especially because if I don't, I'll still consider that scene way too heavy-handed on the twu wuve thing -- I still think Jack fancies his whole team -- wouldn't be Jack if he didn't.

[webbgirl.livejournal.com]

I still think Jack fancies his whole team

Absolutely! Which is why I get mad when I see posts from folks saying he doesn't care at all about Gwen. I think he'd shag the entire team given the opportunity. I just think he has different sorts of relationships with each one of them.

THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT IANTO WAS HIS BACKUP PLAN!!!

Sorry. I'm getting tired of seeing that one too. He's just not an 'either' 'or' sort of guy. He's more of a 'both please' sort.

[ximeria.livejournal.com]

See, Ianto being the back up plan was the first thought that hit me as well, and it saddened me. But if you take into account that Jack has a realtionship of some sort with every team member, the scene with Gwen will feel less heavy handed, less 'in your face' and it means Ianto was never the back-up plan. Especially not if you couple it with Jack's 'slip'. "I came back for you...." and he's looking directly at Ianto. The 'all of you' come a moment too late to be anything but an 'oops, gave that one away' -- and if Jack gives it away, that he did come back and a lot of his reason for it is based on IAnto being there -- he actually hands Ianto a whole heck of a lot of power over himself -- which I think both intrigues him/turns him on/scares him a little. Which just makes Jack all the more human.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

I know that's what I wrote in my review - it came across thoroughly as if Ianto was a backup for Gwen's not being available.

Frankly, I think the reason it came across as so het was because of the way Gwen's actress played the scene. She's playing Gwen in the standard "Must be the romantic female lead" mode.

It's beyond raging for me when I hear het-fanatics go on and on about Gwen/Jack (just stick "Sam" in there and I'll froth at the mouth) and just go all gooey over a het romance, as if it's a requirement even for a SF show.

[webbgirl.livejournal.com]

You're not the only person's review that I saw with that, and I get where it's coming from. I had an initial EWW reaction to that whole scene too. I think you're right in that a lot of it comes down to the actress as well. I just don't think she conveys 'subtle' all that well. I'm not sure the writers do it the best either since they seem to have to re-explain the scenes after they've aired. I'm really hoping they work on that next season.

I know that even the Jack/Ianto stuff is probably a bit more romance than you'd like *g*, but I tend to view the show as more of a workplace drama where they happen to deal with aliens. Plus, RTD couldn't do a show without fucked up relationships to save his life.

I see a shipper-war a brewin' fast right now, and I'm kind of hoping folks on both sides chill a bit. Gwen isn't my favorite character, but I'm not quite ready to dump the whole show completely yet. Now, if she dumps Rhys for Jack and still is portrayed as being the 'heart' then I'm outta there.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

Actually...the Ianto/Jack asking-him-out-for-a-date thing didn't bother me, surprisingly. I think it's because, although in a way, it's a standard dating/romance thing it's flying under my radar because it's different, and the actor who plays Ianto is actually playing it with some intelligence and not by default.

As for Gwen being portrayed as the "Heart"? Jury is still out, but the way RTD writes his women (in a Victorian fashion, with the atitude that women are the ones who carry the morals and conscience of a society forward, whilst men are savage beasts) I'm not holding my breath. Far as I'm concerned, the way he's written her, and the way she's been played, hasn't exactly given the character a leg to stand on.

(and how many metaphors do you think I can mix up?)

[agentotter.livejournal.com]

You know, it's funny, because my whole thing about that scene is not that I'm totally Ianto/Jack-centric (though I am) or that I hate Gwen (I actually don't, but I do wish she was better written)... I just was annoyed that it was so kind of... out of character, I guess? I know they're a bit slapdash on characterization a lot of the time, but it did seem very forced, like they were trying to shove in a scene there to appeal to all 'ships or play all the angles. (And certainly with Jack it's apropos to have him playing all the angles right into all the beds, but in that case you'd have to write him that way, rather than having him drop all of these like "I care deeply about you in a monogamous way" moments that really just make him seem dishonest and a bit oily, when he's having those moments with everybody.) And I think it's purely because they had this notion of "we're going to have sexual tension between these characters" and didn't make any adjustments to that idea when it turned out that the two characters just have no chemistry. (And considering that Jack could have chemistry with a shrub... :D) I found her attraction to Owen much more believable because at least there was some genuine emotion there, even if it was based on mutual hatred (and self-hatred) and all sorts of wacky issues. I mean, clearly they're capable of adapting ideas -- Ianto wasn't even supposed to be around at this point, so all of this stuff with him has had to be written sort of off the original plan -- but they just don't seem to be willing to change it up with Gwen and Jack and try something different.

I think it is interesting how they've been handling Jack since he came back, though, and I think they could go cool places with how he relates to his team after. Because he does seem to have done a lot of thinking during that lost year, and I'm sure it wasn't all "1001 lascivious acts to perform on Ianto." I have to imagine that he spent a lot of time thinking about how he's spent this enormous portion of his eternal life just waiting for the Doctor and not really living to a large extent, and not really connecting with people. And I have to imagine that he's had to shift his thinking quite a bit as well with the revelation that even the Doctor can't set him right with the immortality thing. He's got a lot to adjust to, and I think they're already going the right direction with it with making him more open to the team (well, a bit) and more demonstrative and less of the "do what I said because I said so" sort of guy and more sort of a part of things at Torchwood rather than just observing them from his office tower, you know?

I do wish they had a bit more talent in the lead roles, though. I love Barrowman but it grates on me that I can always see him acting and he hardly ever just seems natural, and Eve Myles always seems like she's just trying way too hard. Even Burn Gorman, whom I adore utterly, has a tendency to get over the top. I do like Gareth David-Lloyd the best out of the lot, but I'm also biased.

Anyhow. Gareth's said that the episodes are getting a bit more ensemble this year so I'm hoping that things will depend less on the Jack and Gwen interaction and more on all of them relating as a team. And possibly having orgies.

[webbgirl.livejournal.com]

And I think it's purely because they had this notion of "we're going to have sexual tension between these characters" and didn't make any adjustments to that idea when it turned out that the two characters just have no chemistry.

I think that's a really good point. I think the show tied themselves into the idea of Jack and Gwen from early on, and never really let it go. Even after it was clear that the Jack/Ianto pairing sparked the viewers (and seemingly actors) a lot more. That's actually kind of sad to think given how 'progressive' the show is supposed to be.

I've liked Ianto/Gareth from the beginning, but my love for the character and actor have grown by leaps and bounds in the past couple of weeks. It's not *just* the Welsh accent anymore. *g*

Orgies are an EXCELLENT idea.

[szeretni.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank god! I'm thinking that it might just have been accidental, that it looked shippy.

*sighs happily* :)

To me it's canon, alright. I'll never accept Gwen/Jack. And I mean never. :P

[webbgirl.livejournal.com]

I'll take whatever they'll give us that isn't Jack/Gwen. *g*

[nebt-het.livejournal.com]

I thought that was great and wonder if they looked at fan reactions and used the blog to help clear that up? I loved the dig about the not checking the pockets- I was thinking the same thing! I can't believe BBC America cut the Vera part of the group scene. I am going to have to watch You Tube from now on!

[webbgirl.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of thinking they might be reacting to fan reactions with these. Which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on which side of the equation you're on. *g* I'm just wondering if they're going to end up starting all out shipper wars with that stuff.

I missed that they cut out the Vera part. I'm watching each ep at least twice. British then American version. It did seem like there were a lot fewer cuts than last season though.