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This mouse is driving me mad...
Torchwood, though. Where all the mice seem to behave themselves, and nobody ever has any problems with their computers. Probably because the computers are alien, and don't go wrong like Earth ones do. They probably just do weird things instead; either that or Ianto just has all the mice really well trained. I suspect the latter. One withering glare from him would put any errant piece of computer equipment in its place. But anyway - "Adam". And that's two episodes by Cath Treganna in a row, which annoys me rather. I'm sure she's only doing two episodes this season, so that's both of them gone before we're mid-season. She's my favourite Torchie writer! No fair! Okay, so we've still got PJ Hammond's episode to go, which is sure to be awesome; and the other writers are no slouches, sure. I had hoped to have the Treganna episodes spread out a bit more, though. Something to look forward to, you know? And the bloody mouse has stopped working again. Grr. Yes, I know. Get a new one. But they all seem to die so quickly. And I can't get near a shop until Monday anyway, and maybe not even then. Also, it's bloody awkward plugging a new one in. And yes, shutting up about mice now. Back to "Adam".
Adam is a nothing - a concept rather than a being. He needs to insert himself into memories in order to exist. The episode begins with him as an established member of Torchwood 3, with everybody convinced that he's been amongst them for three years. He's subtly altered everybody in order to slip himself into their memories. Owen is shy and bumbling; Toshiko is brimming with confidence and self-possession (and is a bit of a bitch, to be honest), and thinks that she and Adam have been an item for the past year. The problem is that Adam's fiddling has done strange things. Gwen forgets who Rhys is, and Jack is plagued by flashes of memory from his distant past. Ultimately it's Ianto's Adam-less diary that lets the secret escape - though not before Adam has tried to cover his tracks by forcing memories of committing murder into Ianto's head.
It's a very effective episode, as always from Cath Treganna. Not big on humour, though it is in there. Quite a bit of introspection, and a lot of character material. I found it a bit slow in places, to be honest; but Wednesday turned out to be a highly complicated day, so I might not have been watching it in the right frame of mind. A rewatch some time is inevitable, so I'll have to see what I think of it then.
Nicely written, then, and a very good central idea. Interesting to see flashes of Jack's past, too. I'd heard that we'd see such things during season two, which worried me rather. I like mystery in a character like Jack. I don't like the answers to too many questions. Happily, though, many questions still remain; and I think we may have a few more into the bargain. Good also to see Treganna getting to add more colour to her "worst creatures you could possibly imagine" from back in "Captain Jack Harkness". We still haven't seen them, which might well be a good thing - again, it's good to have some mystery - but we did see the carnage that they wrought in Jack's colony, separating him from his younger brother, and killing his father. Jack said in "CJH" that he went to war against those creatures when he was a boy, so I wonder if he left home then. There seemed to be a huge gulf between him and his mother when they were beside the body of his father.
Nice perfomance from Bryan Dick as Adam. I've not heard of him before, though his casting seemed to create some excitement in various places online, so obviously he's done other things. At this point I would ordinarily go to check, but I couldn't be bothered fiddling with the mouse. Ah ha. Okay, managed it without, though I think I may just have killed the tab key. Apparently he was in Blackpool, which I have seen. Indeed I have the DVD. Ah well. Nobody could ever accuse me of being observant. He's good as Adam, anyway, particularly when forcing memories into Ianto, and when begging for his life at the end. Jack doesn't kill him exactly, but by removing all memory of him from the members of the team, he banishes him back to the Void; which is probably just as bad, in all honesty. Hard to see what else he could have done, mind. Adam's final bid for freedom is clever, though. He encourages Jack to remember his last happy memory with his father, and then inserts himself into it. If he removes Adam, Jack will also be removing that last happy memory. Of course he does it, though not without distress. Bit lacking in empathy there, I'm afraid, but then I'm not a big one for memory - not really having one at all. :) Where was I. Oh yeah. Jack's memories are very well done. His colony is nicely realised on a Welsh beach, with the futuristic stuff understated but obvious. Good performance from the little feller playing young Jack; last seen in the first episode of Primeval, playing the boy who first discovers Rex.
So that's episode five, then. Pretty intense, and well put together. Good little touches, such as the way that Adam was slipped into the opening title sequence, as though he really had been there all along. My only query really is that of Rhys. He saw Adam, and is sure to remember little things like Gwen completely forgetting who he is! So how can Adam be gone if all memory of him wasn't erased? Maybe Jack will slip Rhys an amnesia pill sometime. I wonder if he had to dose up Myfanwy as well?! ;)
Pictures...
Adam's manipulations cause Jack to see chunks of his past -
in this instance, his younger brother seems to appear in a Torchwood cell.
With no memory of who Rhys is, Gwen panics when she finds him in her flat.
Adam manipulates Jack's memories.
Young Jack looking out across the colony where he lives.
Jack and his younger brother with their father.
Jack looks into his past, and sees the invasion of his colony.
Jack watches his younger self discovering the body of his father.
Adam forcing memories of murder into Ianto's mind.
And Jack helping to convince Ianto that they're not real.
Jack's last happy memory with his father and brother.
Jack teases Ianto about the contents of his diary.
That was not fun. I definitely need a new mouse...!
However, next time on Torchwood - Martha Jones! :)
Torchwood, though. Where all the mice seem to behave themselves, and nobody ever has any problems with their computers. Probably because the computers are alien, and don't go wrong like Earth ones do. They probably just do weird things instead; either that or Ianto just has all the mice really well trained. I suspect the latter. One withering glare from him would put any errant piece of computer equipment in its place. But anyway - "Adam". And that's two episodes by Cath Treganna in a row, which annoys me rather. I'm sure she's only doing two episodes this season, so that's both of them gone before we're mid-season. She's my favourite Torchie writer! No fair! Okay, so we've still got PJ Hammond's episode to go, which is sure to be awesome; and the other writers are no slouches, sure. I had hoped to have the Treganna episodes spread out a bit more, though. Something to look forward to, you know? And the bloody mouse has stopped working again. Grr. Yes, I know. Get a new one. But they all seem to die so quickly. And I can't get near a shop until Monday anyway, and maybe not even then. Also, it's bloody awkward plugging a new one in. And yes, shutting up about mice now. Back to "Adam".
Adam is a nothing - a concept rather than a being. He needs to insert himself into memories in order to exist. The episode begins with him as an established member of Torchwood 3, with everybody convinced that he's been amongst them for three years. He's subtly altered everybody in order to slip himself into their memories. Owen is shy and bumbling; Toshiko is brimming with confidence and self-possession (and is a bit of a bitch, to be honest), and thinks that she and Adam have been an item for the past year. The problem is that Adam's fiddling has done strange things. Gwen forgets who Rhys is, and Jack is plagued by flashes of memory from his distant past. Ultimately it's Ianto's Adam-less diary that lets the secret escape - though not before Adam has tried to cover his tracks by forcing memories of committing murder into Ianto's head.
It's a very effective episode, as always from Cath Treganna. Not big on humour, though it is in there. Quite a bit of introspection, and a lot of character material. I found it a bit slow in places, to be honest; but Wednesday turned out to be a highly complicated day, so I might not have been watching it in the right frame of mind. A rewatch some time is inevitable, so I'll have to see what I think of it then.
Nicely written, then, and a very good central idea. Interesting to see flashes of Jack's past, too. I'd heard that we'd see such things during season two, which worried me rather. I like mystery in a character like Jack. I don't like the answers to too many questions. Happily, though, many questions still remain; and I think we may have a few more into the bargain. Good also to see Treganna getting to add more colour to her "worst creatures you could possibly imagine" from back in "Captain Jack Harkness". We still haven't seen them, which might well be a good thing - again, it's good to have some mystery - but we did see the carnage that they wrought in Jack's colony, separating him from his younger brother, and killing his father. Jack said in "CJH" that he went to war against those creatures when he was a boy, so I wonder if he left home then. There seemed to be a huge gulf between him and his mother when they were beside the body of his father.
Nice perfomance from Bryan Dick as Adam. I've not heard of him before, though his casting seemed to create some excitement in various places online, so obviously he's done other things. At this point I would ordinarily go to check, but I couldn't be bothered fiddling with the mouse. Ah ha. Okay, managed it without, though I think I may just have killed the tab key. Apparently he was in Blackpool, which I have seen. Indeed I have the DVD. Ah well. Nobody could ever accuse me of being observant. He's good as Adam, anyway, particularly when forcing memories into Ianto, and when begging for his life at the end. Jack doesn't kill him exactly, but by removing all memory of him from the members of the team, he banishes him back to the Void; which is probably just as bad, in all honesty. Hard to see what else he could have done, mind. Adam's final bid for freedom is clever, though. He encourages Jack to remember his last happy memory with his father, and then inserts himself into it. If he removes Adam, Jack will also be removing that last happy memory. Of course he does it, though not without distress. Bit lacking in empathy there, I'm afraid, but then I'm not a big one for memory - not really having one at all. :) Where was I. Oh yeah. Jack's memories are very well done. His colony is nicely realised on a Welsh beach, with the futuristic stuff understated but obvious. Good performance from the little feller playing young Jack; last seen in the first episode of Primeval, playing the boy who first discovers Rex.
So that's episode five, then. Pretty intense, and well put together. Good little touches, such as the way that Adam was slipped into the opening title sequence, as though he really had been there all along. My only query really is that of Rhys. He saw Adam, and is sure to remember little things like Gwen completely forgetting who he is! So how can Adam be gone if all memory of him wasn't erased? Maybe Jack will slip Rhys an amnesia pill sometime. I wonder if he had to dose up Myfanwy as well?! ;)
Pictures...
Adam's manipulations cause Jack to see chunks of his past -
in this instance, his younger brother seems to appear in a Torchwood cell.
With no memory of who Rhys is, Gwen panics when she finds him in her flat.
Adam manipulates Jack's memories.
Young Jack looking out across the colony where he lives.
Jack and his younger brother with their father.
Jack looks into his past, and sees the invasion of his colony.
Jack watches his younger self discovering the body of his father.
Adam forcing memories of murder into Ianto's mind.
And Jack helping to convince Ianto that they're not real.
Jack's last happy memory with his father and brother.
Jack teases Ianto about the contents of his diary.
That was not fun. I definitely need a new mouse...!
However, next time on Torchwood - Martha Jones! :)
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