While it's still totally fresh in my mind...

[clo_again]

There was so, so much I loved about these two episodes that I'm going to list what I didn't like first before I forget it in the rush of squeeful YAYNESS.

> Bilis (I kept wanting to call him Bilquis and I can't think why) was pinned as the Big Bad awfully quickly in the first episode, without really enough supporting set-up. Likewise the equations and the convenient way Tosh had half, though I think I might've missed a sentence or two there which would give that particular plotline more depth. That was really my only complaint about the first of the two episodes, apart from that I don't think they really exploited the chance for beautiful camera work/cuts between the two times as much as they could've done. Generally though, it was a thing of beauty the whole way through and probably takes my 'favourite episode of the series' vote. The look on Jack -- and (it does feel weird to type this) original!Jack's -- faces as they danced broke my heart, it was so beautifully acted and shot and--

Oh wait, this is meant to be the stuff I didn't like. Right. Ahem.

> Once again they chose to rely on mediocre CGI only for the Big Bad without bothering to support it with physical effects (make-up effects on the people who collapsed, explosions/buildings crumbling where he trod on them, lighting effects, news reports, ie. anything cheap but clever to back up the computer work. It really can be done and I'm sure it would've made a difference here) and I think Abadon's impact severely suffered for it. The point about his shadow killing all it touched negated my first impulse -- that they should've made it go dark to heighten the atmosphere and hide some of the cheap computer work -- but I've found time and again with this show and Doctor Who that they use CGI as the be-all-and-end-all, which it really can't be when you don't have the mega budget to back it up. I was left sinking back on my seat after having been on the edge of it for the last hour and fifteen minutes going "...Look, Godzilla's in Cardiff!" Not a huge failing when the rest of the episode was brilliant enough to work without resting soley on the scaly shoulders of the monster but it would've helped carry the resolution of Jack's 'sacrifice' and given it more weight if they'd used physical effects to give him more presence.

> I wanted the light coming from Jack as he 'died' to be heart-of-the-TARDIS-gold. In fact, I was quite majorly disappointed that it wasn't, more than I was with the monster. Given the ending, you think they would've been able to at least give the fans of both shows a little nod like that so easily. Curses on them.

> The shot of them all after Owen shot Jack implied a shift in sides against him and their original plan, so it was jarring to suddenly have them cheerfully scanning retinas given that Gwen was the only one to suspect (know? good question at that point) his immortality and this is *Jack* who they'd just seen Owen shoot in front of them with not really much -- any? -- justification. Little bit of a fudging with character development for the sake of time there I suspect.

>... I would've liked to see Bilis crop up earlier in the series, especially when that shop could have easily been written in at some point. (Unrelated note; I had one of my rare "I'VE BEEN THERE!!" moments about that arcade. I walked past that shop, not that I noticed that one particular but still!!) I know they might've recognised him too soon then but it would've been a nice trick and they might not necessarily have twigged right away who he was if it'd been a brief appearence earlier on. Also, where did he get the piece of Hub computer from? No one even seemed to question it (I know he could've nipped in and nicked it but why? When he *wanted* them to open the Rift?) I was expecting Jack to have taken it with him for safe keeping and plant it for Owen to find but nope. Bit of a weird loose end to leave there.

> Abadon ceased to be the main focal point of the last episode when the scenes of dead!Jack (gods that was creepy) and then especially him with the others went on so long. A little tightening I think might've gone a long way there but I lovedlovedloved the ending, so it's more of a tiny nitpick than anything I'd really like to be different.

Clutching at straws now I think, because there was really very little to find fault with in these episodes. All the stuff that's annoyed me beyond words over the series, all the things I whined and bitched and nitpicked at -- gone. Fixed. They either shot and replaced the camera people or sent them to film school before these episodes because the camera work, epecially in the time travelling episode, was just stunning. The shots of Gwen just catching snatches of the past were probably some of the best shots and editing in the series. Gorgeous.

> Jack, oh Jack. I'm sorry I ever bitched at you for your emo angst this series. I'm sorry you didn't get to have mad passionate sex with your ever so hot American captain (no matter how tricky that would be to fanfic, what with the same names and all). You broke me into tiny pieces time and again in these two episodes -- dancing, opening up to Tosh, the look on your face when hugging a hysterical Gwen, the way you looked so fucking peaceful when you were, effectively, dead. I'm so glad you got your a the Doctor back because you fucking well deserved it after that hour and a half of being fate's whipping boy. Fuck yes. Now just make sure you get some hot Doctor sex as payback for him going off and abandoning you all that time ago.

> Gwen sitting beside a dead Rhys, looking very, very pale and doing a fan-fucking-tastic job with a very difficult couple of scenes.

> So is Jack and Ianto being fuck buddies canon now? I didn't quite catch what Owen said to him about being a shagging buddy, no matter how many times I rewound (not that I did. Um. Honest.) The snog at the end certainly implied a canonness.

>I'm trying very hard to think of more things to say before I squee but I can't and it has to get out: JACK AND THE DOCTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!! I cannot *wait* for the new series of Doctor Who because JACK. And DAVID TENNANT. May go splodey from squee and hot and the joy. Though I was anticipating it a little from the beginning when Owen commented that the power to the jar kept failing -- don't have a gun on the wall in the first act unless you intend to use it by the third right? -- but I wasn't expecting something that bloody definite. Life? Is good. And filled with hot men shagging through time in a blue box. Ahem.

I can't think of anything else to say and I have an episode of Grey's Anatomy to watch before I go to bed but I'll rewatch both eps -- I'm pondering an entire Torchwood marathon in fact, maybe this weekend -- sometime soon and give a more detailed list of pros and -- the very few -- cons. God. They kept me hanging until the last but they so came up with the goods in the end. Hell yes.



*breathes out* Hell of a good way to start the New Year.

Comments

[kindoftrouble.livejournal.com]

Owen said to Ianto something like 'just because you're his part time shag' but HOLY CRAP OMG THESE EPISODES.

[clo.livejournal.com]

OMG I KNOW. If they can keep this up next series, it will be awesome. :D

[make-a-move.livejournal.com]

I was shaking and shouting and crying for about the last twenty minutes. Ianto smelling Jack's coat made me cry like a little girl. I am a sucker for men crying.

[clo.livejournal.com]

I was watching it at 2am, so I was trying -- and failing -- to freak out quietly. The 'rents said in the morning that they knew it must've been good because they could hear the thud of me falling off the sofa from upstairs.

The coat bit broke me too. Oh Ianto. I hope they carry on the Jack/Ianto when Jack gets back from his Doctor!sex next series.