Re: Torchwood Miracle day: ep 103 "dead of night" grade and disscussio
I'm finally catching up with this, so I feel qualified to comment at last.
All the hoo-haa about the sex scenes - YES they were necessary.
For Rex and Vera, it was about two exhausted people just trying to get a little bit of comfort in the middle of the chaos. Which Rex then promptly ruined with the line about Vera murdering her mother. At least he had the sense to look guilty after that.
For Jack and the bartender, it was not Jack deserting or placing pleasure over business. It was him exploring what it's like to be mortal for the first time in thousands of years - getting drunk, getting hangovers. He had a one night stand with an outrageously hot guy, but all it did was remind him of the good old days. Hell, the bartender guy even chatted up Jack by complimenting the coat, which is exactly what Ianto always used to do. It's inevitable he would be reminded of Ianto.
That's what the drunk dial to Gwen was all about - Jack has no-one, he's as alone as he's ever been, he can screw as many people as he wants but that's not making a connection and he knows it. The only one he has a connection with anymore is Gwen (what with the rest of them being dead, as Rex was also asshole enough to point out), so he tries to affirm that that connection is still there. Which is when Rhys calls and Gwen quite clearly chooses him over Jack. That scene just made me feel sad for Jack.
many people said:
<snip> I didn't care for the sex scene <snip>
I wonder how many people are saying this, when what they really want to say is, "I didn't care for the
gay sex scene" but know they can't get away with it? Not all of them, I'm sure, but I just can't picture people being up in arms if there had only been a straight sex scene - claiming that it was unnecessary and a waste of time and showed a bad side to the character and the rest of the excuses.
And for those who want "gay love" portrayed on TV just like "hetero love," is that really want you want shown? Walk into a bar, grab a guy and go somewhere and get boned? Sure, that kind of thing is shown with men-women too. But at least Jack and Ianto had some kind of meaningful relationship.
It happens. It happens with straights, it happens with gays. Therefore it is a valid depiction. And of course it's not the right time to try and start a "meaningful relationship" - it's the apocalypse. Everyone's gonna be randomly fucking their brains out. As least Jack has the sense to still have safe sex.
There are enough depictions of gay relationships on TV these days that it's possible to have a little variety in the characters and their relationships. So this really isn't a problem.
The problem I had with that scene is that you DO NOT hit on the bartender. Of course he's hot and flirty - that's how he gets his tips - but it's pointless to flirt back because those guys work till four am and then have to clean up. I learned that the hard way a long time ago.
And, then going after the pedophile by himself without telling anyone too was also irresponsible. Both acts diminished him as the leader of the group. You can't count on him.
I agree with you, but Jack's always done that. It's not a new flaw in him. And it has always been presented as a flaw - that he shuts people out and doesn't tell them what he's up to. So that's just consistency really. Not once has it ever been presented as the right thing to do.
Actually, Gwen really kicked ass this week. In addition to the aforementioned flirt with then knock out the security guard, I also liked it when the rest of the gang was trying to find a car to break in, checking for unlocked doors, and she just breaks a window and declares that to be their car. She's really becoming a cool character. Not that there was anything wrong with the character before, she just seems more cooler than before.
I think the difference is that she just doesn't mess around anymore. In the past she would have agonised over what was the right thing to do - she's over it. Now she just does it and doesn't give a shit. She's the Honey Badger of Torchwood.
Oh and Jack and Gwen talk about how much they miss Ianto. What about Owen and Tosh?
Probably to avoid overloading the new American audience with too much backstory.
Talk about making a mountain out of a mole-hill. Jack's sex scene has got to be the most over-hyped and exaggerated thing yet. All this yammering about a GRAPHIC GAY SEX SCENE and all it turns out to be is 30 seconds Jack and another guy naked, making out, with Jack thrusting his ass back and forth. Yeah, we don't see that sort of thing on TV every day, and I haven't seen it in very many movies either. But come on, that is not worth the amount of discussion it stirred up before the episode aired.
I believe the furor was made actually over the supposed cuts to the scene, not the scene itself. The BBC edited it because they are a mass broadcast channel which goes out to everyone regardless. Starz on the other hand are a subscription-only channel - you can't get it without going out of your way to ask for it. That's the reason for the different edits.
But then
The Sun newspaper took quotes by Barrowman out of context and made it sound like he was pissed at the BBC over it, which he wasn't. So they created a false controversy to get attention -
quel surprise. The fact that there was a gay sex scene at all was used as promotion, certainly, but never as controversy. If anything the controversy was over the cutting of the scene. It was in favour of
more gay sex, not less.
I like that they alternated between the gay and the straight sex scenes so that those who are more insecure might have to question the source of their excitement. This must have been a tough one for them.
Exactly. Cutting the two together presents them as equal and equivalent, as it should be.
- what a nice ass - ARGH, IT'S A GUY'S ASS."
Oh HELL yes. I mean seriously, did you see that ass? JFC.
Sex issues, if that was left in what exaxctly was cut
The BBC version left out the actual copulation. It showed Vera and Rex kissing, and Jack pushing Brad to his knees. Then we went straight to the naked-in-bed-afterwards scenes. Which means they cut out the straight part of the scene just the same as they did the gay part.
Constantly telling me what an ATM is or the correct side of the road to drive on as if Gwen wouldn't know all those things.
That stuff was laid on with all the subtlety of a brick to the balls, I agree. As was the bit in the warehouse, where Gwen says "You've heard about PhiCorp, Jack, they're blah blah blah." Stunningly clumsy exposition and a real disappointment from Jane Espenson. Thankfully she made up for it elsewhere.
Something else I'm mildly disappointed about is the repetition of themes and ideas, as others have pointed out. The series starts with people trying to kill Torchwood members, exactly as CoE did. The scene with concocting a poison antidote is straight out of "The Unicorn and the Wasp." Esther pining after asshole Rex is Tosh/Owen all over again. I'm not going to call for RTD's death as some idiots do, but still, it's mildly disappointing.
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