elisi | CoE re-watch, Day 4 & 5 + a little Ianto meta.

So, it wasn't actually as hard as I thought it'd be. It probably helped that Darcy was there, whose automatic response to J/I is to roll his eyes and mutter things about Teh Gay... (If it was two girls, his reaction would be v. different. He's such a *guy*!) Anyway, I managed to keep my composure almost entirely (the moment that *really* hurt was Gwen straightening the tie. Actually, just Gwen's reaction overall. *sniff*).

And I knew to close my eyes for Steven's death, so...

Anyway, Darcy... well his overall opinion is that Days 1-3 were very well written drama ("much better than the usual Torchwood crap!"), but Days 4 & 5 descended into melodrama, which (in his opinion) is cheap & easy. Also he felt cheated out of a big space battle - if you have a *nasty* alien in a tank, you are *obliged* to have a giant battle according to him.

Oh and he didn't like the ending - if *he* had written it, then Jack would have reappeared a few seconds later, wearing a sombrero, a Hawaiian shirt and carrying a ukulele and a donkey pinata, saying "Hey - why the long faces?" because for him it'd have been 3 million years... (I'm sure you can see why I HAD to share that mental image with y'all! *g*)

ETA: How could I forget? After we'd finished watching he was looking up news stories on the internet, and came across an article about Ianto fans setting up a petition to bring him back (and in the process raising £1800 for Children in Need, since he died 'saving the children of Earth'), the article including quotes like 'I am so hurt, it feels like a member of my family died!' - Darcy dearest laughed and laughed.

ETA2: He also observed (whilst watching Day 5 when they children get taken away) that of course the real joke was the mere idea that the government could ever arrange anything on that scale in that short a time... *g*

A thought about Ianto Jones

Now, when re-watching something struck me - namely that Ianto is the driving force behind the 'Standing up to the 456' plan. There is the J/I conversation, where Ianto asks Jack why he never told him, and Jack asks "What should I have done?" to which Ianto replies "Stood up to them. The Jack I know would have stood up to them." (from memory - are there transcripts yet?) It has been noted how of course Ianto is from that bottom 10%, and I think that this makes it incredibly personal to him - it is, quite literally, his family on the line, which ties in with Denise Riley (the female politician) twice over: 1) The 'how am I supposed to look my brother [sister] in the eye?', and 2) It's clear which people are useful for society (Able student but not exceptional, one minor conviction for shoplifting in your teens. Number of temporary jobs, mainly a drifter, until two years ago...) Standing by the tank, Jack is the one talking philosophy, Ianto the one who just wants to put the point across. (Speak softly and ~~carry a big stick~~ bring a Jack Harkness.)

Actually re. the two points I raised - we see that one of those 'expendable' people solves the 'What about nieces & nephews?' problem by being willing to die for them...

Now I think that Jack's actions (to a certain degree at least) come from him wanting to be the hero Ianto sees in him... Ianto has gone from 'You're a monster!' to 'I believe in you!', and (as we saw in that conversation) refuses to let Jack get away with pretending that he (Jack) doesn't care.

So... my conclusion is that Ianto was there because he wanted to be there. Not as Jack's 'sidekick', but as a pissed-off human standing up for his race. The fight was *his* more than any of the other's. And that works for me.