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Torchwood Speculations
Oct. 19th, 2006 05:13 pmThought I'd go and type this up, before it gets Jossed six ways from Tuesday, in a few days.
On The Subject of Jack's Missing Memories
Here is what we know: Steven Moffat threw in that tidbit on a whim, with a 'do what you will' attitude. There were no concrete plans; just a bit of a wrench in the works. (See the Empty Child/Doctor Dances commentary for reference.) We also know that Torchwood will very likely address the issue. It's not something you can ignore indefinitely, after all.
There are four main theories as to why two years of Jack's memory got wiped/blocked. (And personally, I'm leaning toward blocked. More possibilities and room to maneouver, that way.)
Option 1: Jack stumbled onto something he wasn't supposed to see. My problems with this possibility are twofold.
Judging by Jack's exuberant and fond reminicences, in Boom Town, I'm willing to say that the Time Agency is not your stereotypical Evil Corporation(tm). They may have secrets, sure, but I doubt they'd be all that dark and hideous. Of course, my saying this won't keep the writers from veering off in that direction, if they want to, but if that's where they choose to go, I'll be pretty disappointed in them.
Additionally, you don't spent two years stumbling into dark secrets. If this was the case, only a single, specific memory would be missing. Evil Corporations(tm) tend to be more subtle than that.
Option 2: Jack himself did something unethical and/or dangerous.
If so, why didn't the Time Agency fire him? Hell, if he was a loose cannon, I doubt they'd let him surf the timestream, running petty cons, the way he was doing until he met the Doctor and Rose. Missing memories or no, his danger factor would have remained the same, and there's no way he wouldn't have been captured. Let's face it, Jack's a somewhat capable conman, at best, and he'd be up against the pros. My impression is that the Time Agents tollerate his antics; might even be amused by them.
Option 3: Something traumatic happened to Jack, making him unfit for work, or even general function. In this case, the memory wipe would have been an act of mercy, if a somewhat misguided one.
This possibility I won't entirely discount. Jack apppears to be one of the most stable characters I've ever had the pleasure of working with, but he's not a machine. I'm sure he does have a breaking point. However, once again the 'two years' thing comes into question. What kind of trauma lasts that long? The only thing I can think of is that he may have been some kind of prisoner of war. But if the trauma is that ingrained, he'd still retain body memory and associative triggers, even if the conscious memory of the experience was blocked.
I also don't see Jack ever consenting to a procedure like this. If that's what happened, it was done for his good, but against his will. Which could explain why there was no one at his side to brief him, when he woke up with a sizeable chunk of his memory missing. Either way, that was a rubbish oversight, I think.
Option 4: Jack was involved in a highly classified project, and the best way to keep it classified was to make everyone involved forget of its existence. In this scenario, the block would have been performed with Jack's full confidence, and he'd have likely gotten his memories back fully intact, sooner or later.
Of course, he wouldn't remember giving his permission, when he wakes up. Again, someone should have been there to brief him/smooth things over. Or maybe there was, and he just didn't believe them. Either way, I think this possibility is by far the most likely.
One other option remains, however.
Option 5: The Time Agency had nothing to do with the missing memories, regardless of what Jack thinks. If that's the case, the possibilities are endless.
Clearly, I've spent waaaay too much time thinking about this. Nonetheless, the possibility exists that I altogether overlooked something. If so, comment and fill me in, and I'll see if I can revise this.
On The Subject of Jack's Missing Memories
Here is what we know: Steven Moffat threw in that tidbit on a whim, with a 'do what you will' attitude. There were no concrete plans; just a bit of a wrench in the works. (See the Empty Child/Doctor Dances commentary for reference.) We also know that Torchwood will very likely address the issue. It's not something you can ignore indefinitely, after all.
There are four main theories as to why two years of Jack's memory got wiped/blocked. (And personally, I'm leaning toward blocked. More possibilities and room to maneouver, that way.)
Option 1: Jack stumbled onto something he wasn't supposed to see. My problems with this possibility are twofold.
Judging by Jack's exuberant and fond reminicences, in Boom Town, I'm willing to say that the Time Agency is not your stereotypical Evil Corporation(tm). They may have secrets, sure, but I doubt they'd be all that dark and hideous. Of course, my saying this won't keep the writers from veering off in that direction, if they want to, but if that's where they choose to go, I'll be pretty disappointed in them.
Additionally, you don't spent two years stumbling into dark secrets. If this was the case, only a single, specific memory would be missing. Evil Corporations(tm) tend to be more subtle than that.
Option 2: Jack himself did something unethical and/or dangerous.
If so, why didn't the Time Agency fire him? Hell, if he was a loose cannon, I doubt they'd let him surf the timestream, running petty cons, the way he was doing until he met the Doctor and Rose. Missing memories or no, his danger factor would have remained the same, and there's no way he wouldn't have been captured. Let's face it, Jack's a somewhat capable conman, at best, and he'd be up against the pros. My impression is that the Time Agents tollerate his antics; might even be amused by them.
Option 3: Something traumatic happened to Jack, making him unfit for work, or even general function. In this case, the memory wipe would have been an act of mercy, if a somewhat misguided one.
This possibility I won't entirely discount. Jack apppears to be one of the most stable characters I've ever had the pleasure of working with, but he's not a machine. I'm sure he does have a breaking point. However, once again the 'two years' thing comes into question. What kind of trauma lasts that long? The only thing I can think of is that he may have been some kind of prisoner of war. But if the trauma is that ingrained, he'd still retain body memory and associative triggers, even if the conscious memory of the experience was blocked.
I also don't see Jack ever consenting to a procedure like this. If that's what happened, it was done for his good, but against his will. Which could explain why there was no one at his side to brief him, when he woke up with a sizeable chunk of his memory missing. Either way, that was a rubbish oversight, I think.
Option 4: Jack was involved in a highly classified project, and the best way to keep it classified was to make everyone involved forget of its existence. In this scenario, the block would have been performed with Jack's full confidence, and he'd have likely gotten his memories back fully intact, sooner or later.
Of course, he wouldn't remember giving his permission, when he wakes up. Again, someone should have been there to brief him/smooth things over. Or maybe there was, and he just didn't believe them. Either way, I think this possibility is by far the most likely.
One other option remains, however.
Option 5: The Time Agency had nothing to do with the missing memories, regardless of what Jack thinks. If that's the case, the possibilities are endless.
Clearly, I've spent waaaay too much time thinking about this. Nonetheless, the possibility exists that I altogether overlooked something. If so, comment and fill me in, and I'll see if I can revise this.
