SPOILERS THROUGH CHILDREN OF EARTH, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
Let's start with the tweet. Jane Espenson who is of course one of the writers on Torchwood: Miracle Day responded to something a fan said with the following tweet:
@Jane Espenson:
@suedehead81 @pamela_c81 Yes -- I've said that all along. No Ianto in TWMD. But that relationship affected Jack in ways we make explicit.
By the way if you're not following Jane you really should, she's very Torchwood tweety and also has lots of funny/adorable things to share. A+ tweeter and person so do that.
But back to this tweet. There was a lot of discussion amongst fans recently about the possibility of Gareth David-Lloyd making an appearance in TW: MD because of a suspiciously timed visit to the states. As far as I understand, that ended up being a trip to promote his upcoming SyFy channel movie Red Faction Origins. So I was pretty convinced Ianto wouldn't make a recovery or show up in unseen flashbacks.
But what I am wondering and what I am now less worried about is whether or not his presence will be felt at all. Being that this series is meant to be new fan friendly I was concerned that Ianto's existence and death would be something left in the past and ignored.
I am not delusional and we know enough about what happens with Jack in the new series to be aware that Jack is not going to spend all his time mourning and moaning about his long lost love. In all fairness time has passed and it's fair for the character to have healed at least somewhat. I am not anticipating fresh wound Jack. But what I want and what I am happy to hear is likely to happen is for Ianto to have made an impact. For he and Jack's relationship to have mattered and his death to have affected Jack.
In my mind the ideal way this plays out, short of Ianto's resurrection, is something similar to how in Doctor Who we saw the Doctor deal with losing Rose. Even if that's different, for obvious reasons, I liked how they made it matter without having to make it the focus of the show. He didn't go on about her endlessly, he didn't make a big scene, but he had subtle moments that showed he cared. And on more than one occasion he mentioned her and we understood that not having her affected him and he did miss her.
That is all I want. I want Jack to care, I want him to have subtle moments and if he uttered the name Ianto even once, even to a stranger in a bar, it would go a long way towards respecting what Ianto meant to Jack and the fans. And to see Jane tweet that the relationship affected Jack in ways (they) make explicit is incredibly reassuring. The word explicit is in bold and caps in my mind, I think that means they actually address it to some extent. And you know, I've been a fan of Jane's for quite a while and she's yet to steer me wrong. In Jane I trust.
I am looking at this blog now and I have rambled a bit and blog part 2 is also going to be a bit of a ramble so I think I'll actually save it for tomorrow, forgive me. If you want to read the article I am going to be talking about to get ready and also because it's great you can do so here: http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/27/torchwood-captain-jack/ BUT BE WARNED THERE IS A GIANT SPOILER so read at your own discretion or stop before the part in the article that says *SPOILER*. Then you won't be spoiled. Tomorrow I will address the spoiler but I will have a big red bold face spoiler warning and spoiler space to be safe. Don't worry.
So how do you guys feel about the Ianto thing? Do you think they should acknowledge it and move on? Should they subtly imply for fans in the know? Should Jack actually spend the whole time crying about it? xx
<3Dana
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