Favorite Fictional Character --- Ianto Jones

If there is a theme going on this month, it appears to be scifi characters, which is odd since I don't enjoy scifi all that much.  I think the fact that the first two characters this month, Steve Jinks and Ianto Jones. are gay or bisexual, happens to be more of a coincidence than anything else.  I think what the two of them really have in common is that while they aren't the main characters of the shows they were in, they tend to act as the heart of the show.  They are the truly good guys, the ones that can be counted on to be there when they are needed, in any capacity.

When we first met Ianto, he was the quiet guy in the shadows of Torchwood.  He was the public face, and the guy who brought the tea, but that's about it.  After a while his presence starts to push further and further into the forefront.  He is there when he is needed, and in any capacity that he is required to fulfill.  The fact that he has a huge secret, involving an ex-girlfriend, comes out later.  And even though Ianto made a huge mistake in that regard, he is quickly forgiven, and sets out to prove himself all over again.  But even in that mistake, his reasoning and his emotions make him all that much more relatable, identifiably human.

As the show progresses, so does his involvement in the field, and the danger he is placed in.  The other development, the one I did not see coming, was his growing relationship with Captain Jack Harkness.  At first, it appears to be more about the sex, as far as Jack is concerned anyway.  I think Ianto had his heart in in from the beginning, he just doesn't seem to be that much of a casual relationship kind of guy.  But over the course of their relationship, I think it got to be more about love on both of their parts.  You could see the emotions in the way they talked, interacted, and touched each other. And I know by the end, when Ianto is killed, that Jack really did love him, even if he never said it.  

Watching their relationship grow, was akin to watching Ianto's role in Torchwood grown.  It seemed that as his relationship with Jack solidified and grew more certain, that his confidence grew as well.  He became more assertive, and more willing to put himself out their, not just for the team, but for his own benefit as well.  He was a fascinating character to watch, and one that was killed off to soon.  I'm not ashamed to admit it, but when he died, I felt real emotion, and some of my love for the show died with him.

Torchwood: The House That Jack Built by Guy Adams

Synopsis From Back Cover: 

Jackson Leaves - an Edwardian house in Penylan.

Built in 1906, semi-detached, three storeys, spacious, beautifully presented.  Left in good condition to Rob and Julia Wallace by Julia's late aunt.

It's an ordinary sort of a house.  Except for the way the rooms don't stay in the same place.  And the strange man that turns up in the airing cupboard.  And the apparitions.  And the temporal surges that attract the attentions of Torchwood.

And the fact that they first owner of Jackson Leaves in 1906 was a Captain Jack Harkness...

Part of me is saddened that I've read this book and part of me is still bouncing up and down for joy.  The sadness comes from the fact that this was the last Torchwood book that I owned and the store I would buy them from, no longer exists.  Which means, unless I buy some on line (which I hate doing) this will be my last Torchwood read for a while.  The bouncing is caused by the awesomeness that this book was and how frickin excellent it felt to delve into the world of Captain Jack and the rest of the team.

I'm a sucker for a haunted house story.  I tend to devour every single one I come across and rarely ever walk away disappointed.  Now I'm not saying this book would hold up to Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, but it's a fun, energetic spin on the genre.  The fact that it marries the haunted house with Torchwood means the book took the concept in a whole other direction than anything I've ever seen before.

Because of the time disruptions that Captain Jack has been so fond of making in the past, present, and future; some temporal beings have been attracted to the planet.  Unfortunately for the planet, those being are hungry for that energy and are trying to rip a whole in the fabric of reality and consume the entire Earth.  Now you may be asking yourself what the hell does this have to do with a haunted house story, and you would be right to ask that.  Normally alien life forms bent on destroying the planet have nothing to do with ghosts and spirits walking the halls of a home.

The focus point these beings decided to focus on was the home formerly inhabited by Captain Jack.  It's there that they feel they will be able to break through and get their hunger sated.  Their constant attacks though, ripple through time, altering the history of the house.  It causes the history of the house to become more violent.  People who lived there and lived there happily, suddenly die violent deaths.  Deaths they never experienced the first time around.  The constant barrage also alters the flow of history in the house.  It causes images of the past to appear in the present, it allows people from the past to actually materialize in the home, people who don't have the best intentions of the current occupants in mind.

Thankfully, though as usual it's a very close call, Captain Jack, Gwen, and Ianto are able to save the day, albeit with some help that like all things Torchwood, carries it's own baggage.

I'm grateful for this dose of Torchwood, but sad that it ended so suddenly.

Torchwood: Bay of the Dead by Mark Morris

Synopsis From Back Cover:

When the city sleeps, the dead start to walk. 

Something has sealed off Cardiff, and living corpses are stalking the streets, leaving a trail of half-eaten bodies.  Animals are butchered.  A young couple in their car never reach their home.  A stolen yacht is brought back to shore, carrying only human remains.  And a couple of girls heading back from the pub watch the mysterious drivers of a big black SUV take over a crime scene.

Torchwood have to deal with the intangible barrier surrounding Cardiff, and some unidentified space debris that seems to be regenerating itself.  Plus, of course, the all-night zombie show.

Not that they believe in zombies.

I don't think it's ever going to be possible to explain how much I love all things Torchwood.  There is just something so addictive about the show, especially Captain Jack.  I'm not sure what it is, but I can never get enough of it.  Last year I discovered the books, and since I don't like to order online I've had to get them as I find them.  This is only the second one I've read but I can't wait until I discover the rest of them, at least 12 more to go.  All I know is I'm a Torchwood addict.

Now that I got that out of my system, can I just say I don't know why zombies and Torchwood were never paired together on the screen.  They are a perfect fit.  Over the top violence and gore, cheesy monsters, and crazy explanations just fit into the universe created by Russell T Davies (the producer of the TV show).  What I loved about this book, especially since I'm starting to feel zombies are being overdone, is that I'm not sure I've ever seen this explanation used before.  I won't give it totally away but think of the "Femme Fatale" episode of "Friday the Thirteenth: The Series" and you may get an idea of where the zombies come from, though not the whole story.

This book takes place after the tragic deaths of Owen & Tosh, so Jack, Gwen, and Ianto are joined by Rhys and Andy, Gwen's husband and old partner.  It was nice to see Rhys given a more pronounced role in the book since he's more of a supporting character in the show.  I've never been a big fan of his because despite of enjoying Captain Jack's affairs with men, especially Ianto, I always though Captain Jack and Gwen should have a romp in the hay.  Here though he shined, I can understand what Gwen sees in him, so that desire for Jack and Gwen to hook up has been negated a bit.

If you are a fan of Torchwood, Sci Fi, zombies, or just wonderfully written zany fun, I would encourage you to pick this book up and devour it.  For me, this was a great way to get a Torchwood fix while waiting for the new season to make it to the US.  I only hope that I can quickly get in a few more fixes as well.  That may come from what I just discovered earlier this week,  that there are audio/radio episodes.  They are available on CD.  I only found them on Amazon, but I'm going to try and locate them another way first.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Captain Jack Harkness

This weeks pick for my favorite fictional character is the magnificent Captain Jack Harkness from the BBC show Torchwood.

For those of you who are not familiar with the show, Torchwood is a spin off of Dr Who and takes place in Cardiff. Torchwood is a organization that deals with supernatural and alien mischief so that the rest of us can have a normal life. The job is dangerous and team members are habitually killed off. Thankfully not Captain Jack though.

What can you say about Captain Jack that isn't obvious from the picture. He's gorgeous, bisexual, dashing, witty, sarcastic, dangerous, and can't die. He literally can't die. He was blown into pieces in the third season and his body regenerated. Even he is not quite clear why he can't die, though you can tell at times that he wishes he could.

He is a pretty complicated character that has changed over three seasons. His real name isn't even Jack Harkness, that is still a secret he is keeping to himself. We do know that he is from the future and his family was killed by aliens when he was a boy. He won't hesitate to kill human or alien if they pose a threat and the whole time he will smile and utter a witty remark. Throughout the seasons he has become more human as far as his interactions with those around him. We've seen him care about his teammates, fall in love, and then lose everything. He is the Hero of myth made more human with a ton of flaws. He is Coyote and Loki made human.

For those who have never seen this show I strongly urge you to devour every episode and get caught up with the rest of us.

Torchwood: Something in the Water by Trevor Baxendale

I have been going through serious withdrawal from Torchwood (the best Sci Fi show ever) and I had been seeing these books around but had not picked one up before.

Well the absence of Captain Jack and crew became too much for me the other day so I had to go buy one of the books. This isn't the first book in the series but it was the first one they had available, so into my hands, out the door, and into my house it came.

I was not disappointed by the story, it felt like I was watching a really good episode of the show and it was nice to see Tosh, Owen, and Ianto again. Those three characters are highly missed by me and I wish they could be brought back to life on the show.

So anyway back to the story the basic concept is you take the legend of Jenny Greenteeth, make her the last survivor of an alien race, strand her on Earth, and make her bent on taking control by creating homunculuses of herself. She uses a bacteria that infect human males and uses their bodies as incubators to grow the little tots. Now I know this sounds cheesy as hell and it sort of is, but it's done in a way that only Torchwood can do. Nothing was lacking in this book the humor I expect, the danger and action that compels the storyline, and the oh so wonderful Captain Jack. Captain Jack makes Torchwood for me and he doesn't let me done in this book. I can't wait for my next trip to the store so I can buy the next book in the series.

Synopsis From Back Cover:

Dr. Bob Strong's GP surgery has been treating a lot of coughs and colds recently, far more that is normal for the time of year. Bob thinks there's something up but he can't think what. He seems to have caught it himself, whatever it it - he's starting to cough badly and there are flecks of blood in his hanky.

Saskia Harden has been found on a number of occasions submerged in ponds or canals but alive and seemingly none the worse for wear. Saskia is not on any files, except in the medicals records at Dr. Strong's GP practice. But Torchwood's priorities lie elsewhere: investigating ghostly apparitions in South Wales, they have found a dead body. It's old and in an advanced state of decay. And it is still able to talk.

And what is it saying is "Water hag"...

Torchwood: Children of Earth Miniseries

I just got done watching the 5th and final episode of Torchwood:_Children_of_Earth and it was, in my opinion, one of the greatest hours of television I have ever had the privilege to see. I wanted to do a quick review of the entire 5 part miniseries so I can try and convince a few of you who didn't watch it buy the DVD when it comes out in a few days. It might help if you watch the first two season first, but I think you would still enjoy COE without watching them.

This was a much darker look at humanity and what people are willing to do for the "greater good" than the past few seasons. The basic premise is that aliens called The 456, after the frequency they communicate on, come to Earth and demand 10% of the Earth's children to use as a drug. The opening scenes where the aliens start to talk through the children is harrowing and not going to be forgotten by me any time soon.

Now is this was all the plot involved it may have been a bit boring. However with the characters of Captain Jack, Gwen , and Ianto out to try and save the world it was anything but that. We find out that the aliens visited once before and Captain Jack was one of the people who turned 12 children over to The 456. If not The 456 would have unleashed a virus onto the planet killing millions. It was a decesion that would later come back to haunt him when a child whom escaped the abduction confronts him.

We also discover that Jack has a daughter and a grandson named Stephen. Who end up being used as pawns by the government to try and control what Jack and Torchwood does in regards to the aliens. This was after they tried to kill all three memeber of Trochwood by blowing up their bas of operations.

Now the aliens are back to demand more since their first racket succeeded so well. The aliens say they will wipe out the entire planet if their demands are not met. The reminder of the show deals with how the government gives into the demand and how the decision to hand over 10% of the Earth's children is made. If was dismayed by how believable it was to watch government officals sit around a table and decide which children will be sacraficed and which spared.

In the last episode we watch children be yanked out of schools, homes, and even parent's arms to be used as sacrifices to the greater good. Watching society break down out of fear born out of self preservation was fascinating to watch over the last five nights. You want to hate the Gov. officals who are making these decisions but you can't quite get there. They are almost as much the victim as the children. How do you choose between 10% of the children and the entire population of the planet?

Now naturally the day is saved in the end but not without Captain Jack having to make the impossible choice of sacrificing his grandson to save the world. It was a gut wrenching ending that had me in tears for the second time. The first was the death of my favorite character in the fourth episode of the miniseries. Now this is not new to fans of the show as both Owen and Tosh were killed off last season.

I'm not sure I'm fully fleshing out the details and emotions this show made me feel over the last week, but I hope this gives you enough information to want to watch it for yourselves.