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Is it just me, or is every kiss between Jack and Ianto hotter than the last one?
The Torchwood mini-series event got underway on BBC America last night. In 1965, a busload of Scottish orphans was abducted by an alien race codenamed the 456 by the British government, all except for one boy, Clement McDonald, who managed to escape. This wasn't a random alien abduction however. These kids were delivered to the 456. I suspect the reason why won't reflect well on the administration of the time. Even the current administration doesn't want anything to do with the issue. They don't have much choice. Periodically, every child in the entire world stops dead and turns into a receiver that broadcasts a message: "We are coming back." Whether the 'we' refers to just the 456 or the abducted orphans remains to be seen. Whatever is going on, the government not only doesn't want Torchwood's help, it's ordered the assassination of Capt. Jack Harkness. Yeah. Good luck with that.
Gwen Cooper found Clement McDonald, now going by the name Timothy White, in a psychiatric facility. He was the only adult in the world who stopped with the children. He also has an extremely acute sense of smell, which allowed him to determine whether or not Gwen was lying to him, that Gwen was pregnant, and that armed government types had arrived at the facility to collect him in time for him to escape. Those same armed government types, who have some of the same equipment Torchwood does, managed to kill Jack (repeatedly) in order to plant a bomb in his abdomen. Jack accidentally discovered the bomb in time to save Gwen and Ianto Jones, but the Hub is a total loss.
With the focus of this fast-paced mini-series event being on action, I was worried that character development would get the shaft this time around. Not so. We got to meet Jack's daughter Alice and his grandson Steven. Alice doesn't want Jack anywhere near them because the danger that follows him around tends to lead to collateral damage (and she's right--Jack was there to see Steven because he wanted a child to study to see why the children were stopping and who was broadcasting through them). We also got to meet Ianto's sister and her family. Ianto also has little contact with his family, but for a different reason. He has nothing in common with them anymore. Once you've saved the world a few times, it's hard to sit down and gossip about who's dating whom in their working-class neighborhood. His life is just so much bigger than theirs, and he can't talk about it because everything he does for Torchwood is classified (apparently only Gwen gets a free pass to blab about Torchwood to everyone she meets).
Jack and Ianto were also working on quantifying their relationship. Ianto kept pointing out the number of people who referred to them as a couple, while Jack hates the term 'couple' even though they've basically been one since late in season one. Ianto still seems to be afraid that the normally promiscuous Jack will kick him to the curb any second. Meanwhile, Ianto's not afraid to dish out the hugs when Jack gets killed multiple times on the same day.
So far, this mini-series event has been a rocket ride without sacrificing character development. I'm looking forward to seeing what the 456 want and why the government would ever give them a busload of orphans.
The Torchwood mini-series event got underway on BBC America last night. In 1965, a busload of Scottish orphans was abducted by an alien race codenamed the 456 by the British government, all except for one boy, Clement McDonald, who managed to escape. This wasn't a random alien abduction however. These kids were delivered to the 456. I suspect the reason why won't reflect well on the administration of the time. Even the current administration doesn't want anything to do with the issue. They don't have much choice. Periodically, every child in the entire world stops dead and turns into a receiver that broadcasts a message: "We are coming back." Whether the 'we' refers to just the 456 or the abducted orphans remains to be seen. Whatever is going on, the government not only doesn't want Torchwood's help, it's ordered the assassination of Capt. Jack Harkness. Yeah. Good luck with that.
Gwen Cooper found Clement McDonald, now going by the name Timothy White, in a psychiatric facility. He was the only adult in the world who stopped with the children. He also has an extremely acute sense of smell, which allowed him to determine whether or not Gwen was lying to him, that Gwen was pregnant, and that armed government types had arrived at the facility to collect him in time for him to escape. Those same armed government types, who have some of the same equipment Torchwood does, managed to kill Jack (repeatedly) in order to plant a bomb in his abdomen. Jack accidentally discovered the bomb in time to save Gwen and Ianto Jones, but the Hub is a total loss.
With the focus of this fast-paced mini-series event being on action, I was worried that character development would get the shaft this time around. Not so. We got to meet Jack's daughter Alice and his grandson Steven. Alice doesn't want Jack anywhere near them because the danger that follows him around tends to lead to collateral damage (and she's right--Jack was there to see Steven because he wanted a child to study to see why the children were stopping and who was broadcasting through them). We also got to meet Ianto's sister and her family. Ianto also has little contact with his family, but for a different reason. He has nothing in common with them anymore. Once you've saved the world a few times, it's hard to sit down and gossip about who's dating whom in their working-class neighborhood. His life is just so much bigger than theirs, and he can't talk about it because everything he does for Torchwood is classified (apparently only Gwen gets a free pass to blab about Torchwood to everyone she meets).
Jack and Ianto were also working on quantifying their relationship. Ianto kept pointing out the number of people who referred to them as a couple, while Jack hates the term 'couple' even though they've basically been one since late in season one. Ianto still seems to be afraid that the normally promiscuous Jack will kick him to the curb any second. Meanwhile, Ianto's not afraid to dish out the hugs when Jack gets killed multiple times on the same day.
So far, this mini-series event has been a rocket ride without sacrificing character development. I'm looking forward to seeing what the 456 want and why the government would ever give them a busload of orphans.
