that scene is the one and only definitive evidence of Owen's bisexuality in the run of the show
I thought his edge-of-doomsday proposition to Tosh and Ianto in "Sleeper" was pretty unambiguous, even though it's not canonically followed up on. Without prior bias from the alien roofie scene, it was enough for me to categorize him instantly and affectionately as a disaster bi.
Yeah, I think as far as a sympathetic introduction to Owen, this episode works much better than either of the previous ones
It works much better for the entire team! Neither of the previous episodes seemed to have worked out exactly how damaged or amoral or callous the Torchwood team was supposed to have become in the line of duty and whether the audience should find it intriguingly edgy or warningly offputting or what. There's that scene in "Day One" where Owen, Jack, and Tosh are all watching the CCTV footage of Gwen making out with the sex alien—which they know has the potential to reduce her to a pile of fine orgasmic ash!—and it takes all three of them a long, reluctant moment to agree that they should probably interfere, which I just can't see happening even an episode later. Suzie actually stands out much less from her teammates, emotionally, in the first episode than she does by the time of "They Keep Killing Suzie."
But Jack's hot-and-cold, alternately hands-off and overbearing management style directly contributes to the team's general dysfunction in season one.
It suits the general theme of everyone at Torchwood being an emotional trash fire, but it was a good thing for everyone including the audience that he went off with the Doctor and sorted himself out (the process actually seems to begin with "Captain Jack Harkness" when he finally tells something true about himself to Tosh and goes back to kiss the man whose name he wears, but he backslides rather badly during "End of Days." It was absolutely not inevitable that Owen would shoot him).
... also, I have absolutely no idea when Jack and Ianto started sleeping together.
I thought it happened for the first time following the end of "They Keep Killing Suzie." Something about the way Ianto says, "If you're interested, I've still got that stopwatch" struck me as both bold for him and a little diffident, as if leaving room for Jack to turn him down, astronomically unlikely as that outcome might have been. I agree that without further references in dialogue or onscreen PDA, it's hard to tell. Delaying their first visible kiss until the season finale was an interesting choice. I wasn't sure what to make of it, except perhaps that it dramatically refutes Owen's sneer of a "part-time shag."
Oh good, I'm glad to hear it!
Thank you! Any demonstration of psychological healing rather than merely accumulating damage in this our year of everything 2020 is actually quite heartening to me!
What did you think of Owen's arc?
I have not yet finished season two! I have caught up on the rest of season one and am contemplating just watching straight through the first half of season two again as opposed to skipping ahead to "Reset" and continuing on. I can offer opinions on season one Owen, which in the second half consist majorly of "ouch." That is not a man who handles the discovery of emotional vulnerability well at all.
no subject
I thought his edge-of-doomsday proposition to Tosh and Ianto in "Sleeper" was pretty unambiguous, even though it's not canonically followed up on. Without prior bias from the alien roofie scene, it was enough for me to categorize him instantly and affectionately as a disaster bi.
Yeah, I think as far as a sympathetic introduction to Owen, this episode works much better than either of the previous ones
It works much better for the entire team! Neither of the previous episodes seemed to have worked out exactly how damaged or amoral or callous the Torchwood team was supposed to have become in the line of duty and whether the audience should find it intriguingly edgy or warningly offputting or what. There's that scene in "Day One" where Owen, Jack, and Tosh are all watching the CCTV footage of Gwen making out with the sex alien—which they know has the potential to reduce her to a pile of fine orgasmic ash!—and it takes all three of them a long, reluctant moment to agree that they should probably interfere, which I just can't see happening even an episode later. Suzie actually stands out much less from her teammates, emotionally, in the first episode than she does by the time of "They Keep Killing Suzie."
But Jack's hot-and-cold, alternately hands-off and overbearing management style directly contributes to the team's general dysfunction in season one.
It suits the general theme of everyone at Torchwood being an emotional trash fire, but it was a good thing for everyone including the audience that he went off with the Doctor and sorted himself out (the process actually seems to begin with "Captain Jack Harkness" when he finally tells something true about himself to Tosh and goes back to kiss the man whose name he wears, but he backslides rather badly during "End of Days." It was absolutely not inevitable that Owen would shoot him).
... also, I have absolutely no idea when Jack and Ianto started sleeping together.
I thought it happened for the first time following the end of "They Keep Killing Suzie." Something about the way Ianto says, "If you're interested, I've still got that stopwatch" struck me as both bold for him and a little diffident, as if leaving room for Jack to turn him down, astronomically unlikely as that outcome might have been. I agree that without further references in dialogue or onscreen PDA, it's hard to tell. Delaying their first visible kiss until the season finale was an interesting choice. I wasn't sure what to make of it, except perhaps that it dramatically refutes Owen's sneer of a "part-time shag."
Oh good, I'm glad to hear it!
Thank you! Any demonstration of psychological healing rather than merely accumulating damage in this our year of everything 2020 is actually quite heartening to me!
What did you think of Owen's arc?
I have not yet finished season two! I have caught up on the rest of season one and am contemplating just watching straight through the first half of season two again as opposed to skipping ahead to "Reset" and continuing on. I can offer opinions on season one Owen, which in the second half consist majorly of "ouch." That is not a man who handles the discovery of emotional vulnerability well at all.