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Oh great Rassilon, where to begin...
Two episodes of Torchwood this week, in a fabulous double bill to wind up the first series. I was going to say that it was some of the best television that I've watched this year, but given that this year is only two days old, that wouldn't have been nearly as complimentary as I'd intended... so let's just say that it was bloody fabulous, and leave it at that.
The first episode of the double bill was "Captain Jack Harkness", and I think this might be my favourite episode of the series. It's a close run thing, with "Small Worlds" and "Out Of Time" coming in close on its heels - not to mention "End Of Days" - but "CJH" might just have the lead. Even the colours and the 'look' of the episode were perfect. Jack and Tosh get caught in a temporal hiccup in an old dance hall, and are transported back to 1941 - where they run into an American volunteer called Captain Jack Harkness. A real, actual 1940s one, as opposed to a sneaky time-travelling conman one. Thing is, Our Jack knows that this Other Jack is due to die the next day, on patrol - and as the evening progresses, and he gets to know this Other Jack better and better, this knowledge is breaking his heart. Meanwhile Tosh is trying to get messages back to the rest of Torchwood so that they can be brought back out of the past; and a very strange and creepy building manager - the same man both in the past and the future - seems to be up to something.
There's a lovely building tension in this episode. Jack and Jack are attracted to each other from the outset, and as time passes, and Our Jack tries to tell Other Jack that he should make the most of tonight, Other Jack slowly begins to accept that it's not some local girl that he wants to spend the time with - it's Jack. Beautiful stuff, with the perfect resolution, and more layers of mystery for good old Jack. And it's pissed a fair few people off, so bravo for that too. Did that sound childish? Who cares.
When Jack met Jack. ;)
And then on to episode thirteen - "End Of Days". Owen has opened the Rift a crack to retrieve Jack and Toshiko from 1941. The strange building manager from the previous episode is popping up all over the place. People are appearing from other times, bringing death and disease with them, and the Torchwood team see dead loved ones, all bringing the same message - open the Rift fully, and everything will be okay. The local hospital is swamped following an outbreak of the Black Death, Owen is going into meltdown from the accumulated events of previous weeks, not mention guilt at having been the one who cracked the Rift open in the first place, and nobody is listening to Jack when he tries to tell them all that it's a trap. Somebody has set this up, and he needs to know why. The team aren't paying attention anymore, though. They've never truly known who Jack is or where he came from, and people that they love are appearing, telling them to open the Rift. There's chaos all around, and they're taking over. Jack faces down a mutiny and is killed by Owen - and by the time he manages to come back to life, the Rift is open, they're in the grip of an earthquake, and it's painfully clear that everything has not been made okay again. Outside a giant monster has appeared, and all who are touched by its shadow die instantly. Jack sees only one way to defeat it - to see how it copes with his limitless lifeforce. So it's off for one big showdown with the Big Bad Beastie. Go Jack.
Mutiny
Jack vs The Beast
Jack Harkness 1 Big Bad Beastie 0. Game over.
And so that's that until the autumn. I have loved this series. Might have let that show here and there...
The countdown to series two starts here, folks. :)
Two episodes of Torchwood this week, in a fabulous double bill to wind up the first series. I was going to say that it was some of the best television that I've watched this year, but given that this year is only two days old, that wouldn't have been nearly as complimentary as I'd intended... so let's just say that it was bloody fabulous, and leave it at that.
The first episode of the double bill was "Captain Jack Harkness", and I think this might be my favourite episode of the series. It's a close run thing, with "Small Worlds" and "Out Of Time" coming in close on its heels - not to mention "End Of Days" - but "CJH" might just have the lead. Even the colours and the 'look' of the episode were perfect. Jack and Tosh get caught in a temporal hiccup in an old dance hall, and are transported back to 1941 - where they run into an American volunteer called Captain Jack Harkness. A real, actual 1940s one, as opposed to a sneaky time-travelling conman one. Thing is, Our Jack knows that this Other Jack is due to die the next day, on patrol - and as the evening progresses, and he gets to know this Other Jack better and better, this knowledge is breaking his heart. Meanwhile Tosh is trying to get messages back to the rest of Torchwood so that they can be brought back out of the past; and a very strange and creepy building manager - the same man both in the past and the future - seems to be up to something.
There's a lovely building tension in this episode. Jack and Jack are attracted to each other from the outset, and as time passes, and Our Jack tries to tell Other Jack that he should make the most of tonight, Other Jack slowly begins to accept that it's not some local girl that he wants to spend the time with - it's Jack. Beautiful stuff, with the perfect resolution, and more layers of mystery for good old Jack. And it's pissed a fair few people off, so bravo for that too. Did that sound childish? Who cares.
When Jack met Jack. ;)
And then on to episode thirteen - "End Of Days". Owen has opened the Rift a crack to retrieve Jack and Toshiko from 1941. The strange building manager from the previous episode is popping up all over the place. People are appearing from other times, bringing death and disease with them, and the Torchwood team see dead loved ones, all bringing the same message - open the Rift fully, and everything will be okay. The local hospital is swamped following an outbreak of the Black Death, Owen is going into meltdown from the accumulated events of previous weeks, not mention guilt at having been the one who cracked the Rift open in the first place, and nobody is listening to Jack when he tries to tell them all that it's a trap. Somebody has set this up, and he needs to know why. The team aren't paying attention anymore, though. They've never truly known who Jack is or where he came from, and people that they love are appearing, telling them to open the Rift. There's chaos all around, and they're taking over. Jack faces down a mutiny and is killed by Owen - and by the time he manages to come back to life, the Rift is open, they're in the grip of an earthquake, and it's painfully clear that everything has not been made okay again. Outside a giant monster has appeared, and all who are touched by its shadow die instantly. Jack sees only one way to defeat it - to see how it copes with his limitless lifeforce. So it's off for one big showdown with the Big Bad Beastie. Go Jack.
Mutiny
Jack vs The Beast
Jack Harkness 1 Big Bad Beastie 0. Game over.
And so that's that until the autumn. I have loved this series. Might have let that show here and there...
The countdown to series two starts here, folks. :)
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