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.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2008-01-29 06:33 am (UTC)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.