Children of Earth - Day Three

[fictional]

Where to begin?

This is a moody, tense episode that unfolds carefully, and delicately -- teasing out the reveal of Jack's complicity in these worldshattering events. But, I was already fairly certain of said complicity, so I don't know if that -- the slow, piece by piece nature of it -- was entirely necessary. Similarly, I think Peter Capaldi did a superb job of communicating the tension of the moments with the 4-5-6, but after a while, a short while, my soul stopped vibrating along with him.

So, in effect, I think this episode suffers a bit from its, dare I say, middleman-ness. Because of its position in the arc, it can only advance the plot so far, and no further, so I felt us spiralling slowly toward this emotional climax, where I wanted it to dive in and forward and carry me away on a inexorable wave of squee, as the first two episodes did. And the aliens -- okay, but not great. I need a little more from them. And I found Clement and the "queer" moment oddly troubling, though why I cannot quite put my finger on.

Despite these caveats, it was still chock full of moments I adored. Gwen teaching her boys to be criminals and watching them execute these lessons: delightful! The contact lens moment - perfect! And I cannot say enough words about how Gwen continues to wow me this series. Funny, sweet, tough, compassionate, gorgeous... she's just amazing. This writing has made me a full on Gwen fangirl, and I'm a little sad that this wasn't the Gwen we had all along. Speaking of kick ass girls, Alice didn't have a lot to do in this ep, but like the Evil Civil Service Woman says, she's her father's daughter sure enough. And I like it!

Moving on to the rest of the team: in some ways, I feel like Ianto and Jack have already had the "I'm ephemeral and you're forever" conversation before, but I suppose that was just in a billion fics (including ours) and also in the radio play, so I guess it's all right to have it there on screen. And they did a nice job. I love how Jack's all, "we're saving the world... well, all right, just a quickie!"

As for Jack himself, I have no trouble believing that the Jack of 1965 sacrificed those kids in order to make the 4-5-6 go away. It's a clear cost-benefit analysis, and I think that he would have found it an easy decision. This is a Jack who was alienated from the human race -- they die, while he goes on -- and I think making that abstract, utilitarian decision fits with his character perfectly. It is not the Torchwood that he remade in the Doctor's image, perhaps, but I think that Torchwood only existed after 1999, when he took over the Hub, and even more after TW 1 was destroyed. And Jack has changed. The Jack of 1965 might have taken Frobisher's family hostage. But he's not just a better man than Frobisher now, he's a better man than he used to be, for whom the ends do not justify the means.

Why U.N.I.T. isn't trying to use Martha Jones' super phone to reach the Doctor, I've not the faintest idea, but what I think is interesting is, when Jack dealt with the 4-5-6 the first time round, he had no access to the Doctor's 'higher power'. He was all alone, on the front lines, doing the best he could. He did what he had to do, faced with what I can only assume to be an overwhelming force (Dear TW Writers, why are they so overwhelming? I'd like to see some explanation of this, please! I have, for almost the first time, faith you will provide - Love, Kali). This set the terms of this engagement with these aliens; they appear, we give them twelve kids, they appear again, and thus can reasonably expect we'll cave and give them more. Why not? Jack (and Frobisher and the rest) played the game on their grounds, and by their rules, so now he's stuck.

Or so they think. But he's Captain Jack, and they're Torchwood, so it will all be okay.

But this nuanced, shades-of-greyness is what I love about Torchwood, so basically, this is freakin' awesome. It's complicated. Differing perspectives, all of which are true. And this even applies to Gwen; they've FINALLY given me a Gwen, who -- when she unleashes the Wrath of God onto good ol' Capt. Jack -- will simply make me sit back and cheer, "you go, girl." And Jack's still a bastard -- love the whole reveal of them knowing about the pregnancy before Rhys. Better man or not, our Jack does like to be all "dance, puppets, dance!" on occasion. And I wouldn't have him any other way.

I love this show.

Oh, and I wrote fic! It takes place during "Day One". How did those boys break into that triple locked car?