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mllelaurelThere's a scene in the fourth episode of Torchwood where Jack behaves rather badly. He's pointing a gun at Ianto, screaming at him and telling him to clean up his own mess (i.e. kill Lisa) or else. I kept thinking about that scene in terms of, what was Jack trying to accomplish? What did this say about his morality?
And then, I realized the answer to both of the above questions is 'nothing'. This is not a strategic move on Jack's part. This is not Jack deliberately being a bastard. This is Jack losing his shit. Up till now, we've never seen him really snap, so at first, I couldn't place or justify it. But think about it:
From the sound of it, Jack may well have run into the Cybermen, in his Time Agent days, so he *knows* how dangerous and terrifying they are. And one's just been let loose. In. His. Office.
He's just been electrocuted. Fatally. Twice.
Then, he got up from it, alive again and thrown right back into the action.
He's just been betrayed in every way by someone he's trusted and cared about. Remember the last time a trusted co-worker pointed a gun at Jack? She didn't just point; she fired. Jack's trust issues are already on a shoestring budget, and Ianto didn't exactly help.
So Jack just loses it. Under those circumstances, so would I. In fact, I might even say some of the *same* horrible things, if it were me. Does Jack mean any of it? Yes and no. He means it when he says Lisa's too much of a threat to risk, but I don't believe he means the cruelty to Ianto.
In fact, I have proof he doesn't. As soon as he gets himself even a little under control, he and the rest of the team go in. They're the ones who shoot Lisa, so that Ianto doesn't have to, regardless of what Jack had originally said.
Does it make the scene any less nasty? No. But it does make more sense, if you think of it as a long-overdue temper snap, rather than a relatively calm decision, which it's not.
ETA: You know, this may say heaps about me, that my first response was an analytic one, and I only considered the emotions afterward. Damn my Lit major inclinations. Damn them.
In other news: Declassified. I *love* how John Barrowman starts channeling Jack halfway through his interviews. Whoo, method actor!
And then, I realized the answer to both of the above questions is 'nothing'. This is not a strategic move on Jack's part. This is not Jack deliberately being a bastard. This is Jack losing his shit. Up till now, we've never seen him really snap, so at first, I couldn't place or justify it. But think about it:
From the sound of it, Jack may well have run into the Cybermen, in his Time Agent days, so he *knows* how dangerous and terrifying they are. And one's just been let loose. In. His. Office.
He's just been electrocuted. Fatally. Twice.
Then, he got up from it, alive again and thrown right back into the action.
He's just been betrayed in every way by someone he's trusted and cared about. Remember the last time a trusted co-worker pointed a gun at Jack? She didn't just point; she fired. Jack's trust issues are already on a shoestring budget, and Ianto didn't exactly help.
So Jack just loses it. Under those circumstances, so would I. In fact, I might even say some of the *same* horrible things, if it were me. Does Jack mean any of it? Yes and no. He means it when he says Lisa's too much of a threat to risk, but I don't believe he means the cruelty to Ianto.
In fact, I have proof he doesn't. As soon as he gets himself even a little under control, he and the rest of the team go in. They're the ones who shoot Lisa, so that Ianto doesn't have to, regardless of what Jack had originally said.
Does it make the scene any less nasty? No. But it does make more sense, if you think of it as a long-overdue temper snap, rather than a relatively calm decision, which it's not.
ETA: You know, this may say heaps about me, that my first response was an analytic one, and I only considered the emotions afterward. Damn my Lit major inclinations. Damn them.
In other news: Declassified. I *love* how John Barrowman starts channeling Jack halfway through his interviews. Whoo, method actor!
