On The Psyche of One Captain Harkness...

[fangrrl_squees]

Thank god for fans far more observant than I.

There were several moments in Everything Changes where Jack's behavior rang false - to me, at least - most notably when he was talking to Gwen in the bar and explaining that he'd just whacked her up with an amnesiac and would soon forget everything she'd learned about Torchwood, concluding with something along the lines of "Including me, which will be a terrible shame.".

The line was delivered so strangely that it brought me up short. The timing seemed off, Jack's expression was insincere, and his tone of voice... it just didn't gibe with his body-language. At first, I thought it was a combination of Jack being his usual aint-I-fab? self, John Barrowman having an off take and the editor using what s/he had on hand to make the best of it. A convergence of non-ideal circumstances resulting in a moment that disturbed the pace of the scene. A case of Oh well, not every scene can be perfect.

Then, lo and behold, someone far more perceptive than I described it as Jack uses narcissism to help drive Gwen away. The light-bulb goes on, and I start thinking. It all started with wondering if perhaps Jack's a lousy liar - hard to believe, given his con-man past, but it's also clear that he took a shine to Gwen right away, so maybe the idea of Gwen forgetting about him really does upset him. I'm enough of a gooey sentimentalist to find this rather endearing.

Gooey sentiment aside, I agree with the idea that Jack was, indeed, putting on airs to drive Gwen away. It's easy to forget that Jack must have a certain skill at manipulating people. He was - and in some ways, still is - a con-man. A con man is willing and able to say whatever has to be said for his personal gain, and he's believed when he says it. If seeming a bit repellent is going to help keep Gwen away from Torchwood, then so be it. I strongly believe that Jack's life to date was largely fueled by keeping out of emotional entanglements, by saying whatever needs to be said at a given moment and looking out for Number One at all times. Silly fangrrl had lost sight of all that. Oops.

Given all that, and the fact that Jack lives down a hole under the Hub (it's shown in the Declassified for Day One) and, well, I'm starting to perceive Jack as one emotionally distant fella. and I feel a little sorry for him, which I didn't expect. I tune in wanting my slightly-campy hawtness and, dammit, I start getting all sympathetic to the character and stuff. Fortunately, I dig that, too.

Mindless shagging is, of course, the best way to avoid emotional intimacy, that's a given. For all his talk of "being a citizen", Jack's physically cut himself off from the 21st century world - if the living-down-a-hole thing isn't enough, remember that beautiful and perhaps not entirely pointless, after all shot of him on some unlikely bit of architecture, surveying the landscape? You don't get much more (physically) detached than that. And, although he might blend in with the locals, he's a stranger to this place and time. The culture shock, alone...

What interests me is that Jack doesn't seem to be making an effort to fully integrate with his current home, despite having taken on the job of helping it. Otherwise, he'd be living in some cute little semi-detached and drinking something stronger than water down at the pub or at dinner with the team.

(Tangent: The question of why Jack doesn't seem to indulge in the sauce is fodder for a whole other post, but I strongly suspect it ties in to an ongoing need to exert what control he can over his life - god knows, he's been batted about by outside forces enough. Why go out of one's way to lose control again?)

Why is Jack working for Torchwood? What's in it for him? There's got to be something because the self-sufficient con man hasn't been entirely reformed by his association with the Doctor and Rose.

A steady income, a roof over his head without too many questions asked, an exciting life, an opportunity to be the first person to get his hands on time-travel equipment. Those are all valid motives and I suspect some aspect of any/all of them will be addressed during the course of the show.

I've read some speculation that Jack's in Cardiff because he's waiting for the Doctor to find him. I like that theory, as it makes a lot of sense, given the evidence so far. Jack's staying close to the Hellmouth space/time rift, because he already knows that the TARDIS finds it strangely irresistible. There's the not entirely-unreasonable notion that the Doctor might track down and want back that hunk of genetic material currently bubbling in a jar. If Jack's got the clearance (and it's likely he does) to know the story of Torchwood's foundation, then he's got a reason to believe that the Doctor and Rose are still gadding about together, after they left him on Satellite 5 - because wouldn't have Rose mentioned meeting Queen Victoria, had it happened in her subjective past? Of course she would - no-one can resist dropping that sort of name. It adds up, in its way.

Why is Jack waiting for the Doctor? There are several potential reasons:
- The Doctor has a time machine. Jack's out of his element in the 21st Century, and wants a ride to somewhen more of his suiting.
- Jack simply misses the Doctor and Rose, and wishes to return to their gallavantin' ways.
- Contraiwise, Jack may indeed be a fully reformed character, but isn't as sure of himself as he appears, and craves the approval of his role model(s). He wants reassurance and an attaboy.
- Jack wants to give the Doctor a piece of his mind after being left on Satellite 5. Ditto Rose and just what the bloody hell did she do to him? Indeed, it might be Rose that Jack really wants to see again, and oh dear, that won't end well, will it?

This has been burbling in my mind for a couple of days and, if nothing else, it's given me stuff to chew on for jack_harkness_ (no luck finding a Torchwood RP for him yet, sigh. There might be something in early December). I'm looking forward to seeing Jack's character explored a little more over the course of the show. 'Course, my regular readers know I'm a character junkie.

All this because I thought Barrowman had an off delivery in a single shot. Silly fangrrl forgot the first rules of filmmaking - everything is deliberate and don't waste anyone's time.

PS, I realize how ironic this post is, coming immediately after my rant about fans who over-speculate. Oh well, I never pretended to be perfect, or even consistent.

Comments

[agentxpndble.livejournal.com]

An addition: Jack will have found Rose's name (and Jackie's as well) on the "list of the dead" in the whole Cyberman/Dalek war and I don't think he would have had any reason not to believe it. So really, he thinks Rose is dead and he's waiting for the Doctor.

It makes perfect sense that he would have returned to Cardiff. And Torchwood London is destroyed (or in shambles) - I kind of look at the Cardiff branch as a "wild west outpost" kind of deal, pretty much put together on Jack's initiative and not really the tight, military outfit Torchwood has been before.

I thought it was a bit convenient that Jack wound up in this space and time but a friend mentioned that he might have been looking for the Doctor and Rose because of his "condition" and this was the best place to start. How he got here must have been basically hitching a lift with someone - So he's probably stranded now.

I'm skimming through yoru post pretty quickly... I may have more to say...

[agentxpndble.livejournal.com]

PS I completely agree with everything you say about Jack and Gwen, Jack's motivations/character, etc.

I feel pretty sure there is a cannon reference to this show being placed after Doomsday in Earth's timeline... However, I could just as easily be totally making that up in my own head. ;-)

[fangrrl-squees.livejournal.com]

It's definitely after Doomsday - Jack mentions "A Cyberman in every living room" to Gwen, and Torchwood 1 being destroyed so... My money's on it being post-Doomsday.

[fangrrl-squees.livejournal.com]

So really, he thinks Rose is dead and he's waiting for the Doctor.

Good point. Unless, of course, he's hoping that the (relative) past Rose pops up, but that's just silly.

(Our grammar has almost no room for accomodating discussion of time travel. Very awkward!)

*nod* the question of how Jack got the 21st century in the first place is a tantalizin' one. My personal theories range from "Went to Cardiff after leaving satellite 5, desperately bodged something together with scavenged equipment, threw a switch and hoped for the best" to "Just woke up there one day, with ANOTHER hole in the memory" to "There's another Time Lord left running around and he's got a nasty sense of humor", etc, etc.

In some ways, I hope they *don't* answer the question of how Jack ended up here/now...

[agentxpndble.livejournal.com]

In some ways, I hope they *don't* answer the question of how Jack ended up here/now...

I don't really *need* an answer, I don't think it's important. I think the bottom line is that he got to Cardiff 2006 because he was *trying* to get there - Not some convenient accident.

In some article somewhere I read that this immortality/no-death thing is going to me a main story arc - Jack is completely absorbed with finding out why this happened to him and how it can be fixed and then there's his feelings about having been clinically dead. Already, we've had a bit of him exploring this (that corpse they brought to life in ep 1.) So he wants to find the Doctor - That's the only hope, really he has of cracking this nut. It was, after all, the TARDIS that did this to him.

I wonder how Jack feels about "losing" Rose... He was fond of her too.

[fangrrl-squees.livejournal.com]

I agree with you - I don't *need* an answer as to how Jack got to Cardiff. But I'm also one of those people with an overdeveloped curiosity bump, so it's itching quite a bit! ;)

*nod* I've done a bit of poking around about how Jack felt about dying. Boiled down, it's kind of like the old adage about falling and the sudden stop. Being dead was easy, being alive again, that's the tricky/surprising/difficult bit...

It might take an act of god (or much booze) to get Jack to admit it, but I like to think that he was quite upset to "lose" Rose. If/when Jack finally meets up with the Doctor, I rather hope the information that she's okay, just elsewhere, gets imparted. Some consolation would be nice at that juncture.

Of course, if one gives the "OMG, Gwen is soooo Rose!" crowd any credence, then maybe Jack's (consciousy or otherwise) looking for a new Rose. Not sure how I feel about that, honestly. I mean, "Vertigo" is one of my favorite films and all but... well, that sorta behavior just ain't healthy.

[gemstar69.livejournal.com]

Fond of her? He absolutly adored her. I wouldn't be surprised if the Doctor has a black eye in the closing shot of series 3 :)

[ladykoori.livejournal.com]

I wonder if there is any guilt on Jack's part over Rose being dead.

Dead Rose is obviously post-Satellite 5 Rose, even if he doesn't know she was still traveling with the Doctor. So the Rose he thinks is dead is the Rose who he knew and cared about. So while he can't die, Rose is dead. Granted, is in in no way responsible for her death and he was probably dealing with Cybermen issues of his own. But still there could be guilt.

The amount of information known about what happened inside Canary Warf (or however its spell, stupid American here) would be really interesting to know. Does Jack know the Doctor and Rose were there and does he know Rose was saved by Pete? If he does know Rose was saved the guilt factor goes away.

(I swear that all made more sense in my head)

[agentxpndble.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure where guilt would come into Jack's feeling about her death... From his perspective, she continued on with the Doctor and he probably only would have found out about her death when he went looking for records/info on her family, etc. in trying to track her/them down when he arrived on Earth 2006.

Maybe being Torchwood himself, he would have had access to files that would have given info that she was transported over to the other universe... That's something to think about, I suppose. But if there were no Torchwood files written up, all he would have seen is the official lists. Some ideas:

1) Torchwood has a full file on the Tylers making it to the AU - The Doctor stuck around after, made sure they were listed as dead, some of Torchwood remained and created a file.

2) Torchwood file with limited info because the Doctor stuck around and made sure they were listed as dead AND kept the real info out of the file.

3) No Torchwood file at all - Torchwood London completely dismantled. Doctor stuck around and made sure the Tylers were on the death lists but that's all the records there are.

A lot depends on which of the three it is - From the standpoint of Jack's angst-level.

[fangrrl-squees.livejournal.com]

Personally, I believe that Option 3 is the most likely, given the Doctor's past behavior with this sort of thing.

Furthermore, who would have survived to make a report that suggested anything other than what the Doctor wanted known as true? I honestly can't remember anyone who lived throught the end of Torchwood 1 that wasn't either the Doctor, or in the AU by the end of it all...

However... it's not beyond the realm of doubt that Torchwood has found out what happened via other means. A couple of good psychometricians and some jiggery-pokery with time in that area, and surviving Torchwooders could have figured it out. Jack's manner doesn't suggest that's the case but... well, the boy can lie like a rug, when needs be. :)

Argh! Too many potentialities! Brain go ouch now.

[hippiebanana132.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I like those theories. I'd just sort of been figuring that he'd have some sort of alerts system set up so that he's made aware of any data that shows up mentioning 'the Doctor' or 'Rose Tyler' (and let's face it, Torchwood certainly have the technology and the computer-hacking skills to make that possible). I'd never thought about how that information could come about.
Though, either way, I'm quite sad he (presumably) already knows. I wanted *some* sort of Rose reference in series three or Torchwood, whether it be Jack finding her name on the list of the dead or finding Ten in series three and spazzing over how Rose isn't there and the Doctor has a different head. Looks like we're not going to quite get either.

[otoselkie.livejournal.com]

He probably knows that the Doctor and Rose were involved in the whole Cyberman thing. There's probably footage from security cameras inside Torchwood 1 (which would also explain why he has 3D specs hanging off his lamp).

[fangrrl-squees.livejournal.com]

I'd missed the specs!

*squees quietly*

It's my own personal theory that, given the leet haxxorin' available to Torchwood, that Jack has read a whole lot of UK govt. files on the Doctor and his activities. I didn't buy into Nine's "virus" wiping him off the net. "Love and Monsters" showed how effective that was, and such a virus wouldn't impact the paper records that governments love so much.

So, indeed, it's plausible that Jack knows an awful lot more about the Doctor at this point than he ever has, and has an inkling of what happened at Torchwood London.

However, *my* knowing whether or not Jack knows all that stuff isn't keeping me awake at night. Well, not much. I did have some weird half-awake thoughts at 2AM today, I'll admit... ;)

[emmarrrrr.livejournal.com]

On the subject of your RP character!

I am in the motions of creating a Torchwood RPG on teh LJ.

x_torchwood_x. Tadah!

[fangrrl-squees.livejournal.com]

Roxor!

Now for the key questions:

1) Do you want/need a Jack?

2) Is there a particular vision/direction you're pursuing with this game? Or are you rounding up the usual suspects, picking a starting point for the game and saying "go!"

3A) Have you mod'd an online game before? If so, may I take a gander at it/them to get an idea of your style?

3B) Are you of the free-for-all style of online RP, or of the more traditional tabletop-type model (a GM throws out plot nubbins, players pick up or ignore as they see fit) or a mix of both?

If the answer to 1) is "Of course, you silly person, else why'd I mention it to you?" I'll cheerfully add you to jack_harkness_' F-List, so you can see my take on the character and if it would fit your vision.

Y'see, as a longtime GM myself, I'm v. sensitive to the fact that not every character suits every game, and everyone wants something different, ergo, never assume that every Jack will fit every Torchwood - does that make sense?

[emmarrrrr.livejournal.com]

1; Yes plz. <3

2; Oh, definately just picking a start point and yelling 'go!'

3a; No, so I'm quite new to this.

3b; Probably a mix of both - I'm not sure. I'd love if you'd help me mod it - it's my first online RP like this.

[fangrrl-squees.livejournal.com]

Truth be told, I'm not looking to mod another game, as I don't think I could dedicate the time requred to ride herd on a bunch of maniacs like me!

However, I've written a lot of advice for LARP GMs, a lot of which carries over to all sorts of game-mastery. take a gander (http://www.skaro.com/larpdex.html).

Furthermore, if you like, I'll ask some pals of mine who are *excellent* online mods to share their thoughts and advice. It's entirely possible that one of them also might be keen on joining, probably as Gwen, if you've room?

and, by the time you read this, you should be on Jack's F-List. There's only about 40 entries all told, and the ones at the beginning are particularly relevant, as they're written before I started reacting to game-stuff in tardis_tour

[ladykoori.livejournal.com]

The levels of psycho-anaylsis that could be done on this character could make a persons head explode. I have this mental thing in my head working out comparing the encounter with Gwen to the encounter with Rose however my thoughts don't seem to want to work themselves out.

You make some very good points, and they'll be interesting to revisit at the end of the series.

Also, do you mind if I friend you?

[fangrrl-squees.livejournal.com]

Feel free to friend. This journal is 100% public, so don't be surprised if I don't friend you back, as it's sort of unnecessary, unless I decide I want to take a look at your journal through this ID and not my non-fannish LJ. As the name suggests, this LJ's solely dedicated to my squeeings about various sci-fi. Obviously, I'm on a Torchwood kick right now. ;)

The other majority subjects are Doctor Who in general, and Blakes 7, with a smattering of other things, just FYI and all that. :)

[ladykoori.livejournal.com]

I did get that vide, but I usually like ot ask first just out of politeness.

I'm getting the distinct impression that I need to see Blakes 7. All the Doctor Who people seem to be big on it.

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

I did get that vide, but I usually like ot ask first just out of politeness.

'Tis appreciated, thanks.

re: Blakes 7. Oh, it's marvellously awful, but still an important show in its own right. In many ways, you could sorta see it as the Torchwood of its day in that it was the Beeb's go at doing a more serious, more adult SF show than Doctor Who - which at that point was firmly entrenched as family viewing, skewed a bit towards the kids.

I've been re-watching B7 lately and had forgotten how bleak it occasionally got - I remembered the wobbly sets and frequently silly dialogue, and not the actual strengths of the show that kept it going for four seasons. Definitely check it out, but start with the first season. By the end of the final season, it had collapsed into camp.

[iko.livejournal.com]

*drool*

Torchwood, Doctor Who, and Blakes 7?
Fan-freaking-tastic!

[boji.livejournal.com]

...would soon forget everything she'd learned about Torchwood, concluding with something along the lines of "Including me, which will be a terrible shame.".


Looking at these lines out of the context of the scene I can't help wondering if Barrowman meant the line in a totally different way subtextually. Maybe it's not about Gwen forgetting him at all, maybe it's a moment of truth and pain, hidden by sarcasm and levity in which he's referencing who forgot him. And who left him behind.

[fangrrl-squees.livejournal.com]

*nod* that is, indeed, another way to interpret it.

It's the sort of thing that keeps fans like me talking for ages - oh, wait, I already did. :)

[iko.livejournal.com]

What interests me is that Jack doesn't seem to be making an effort to fully integrate with his current home, despite having taken on the job of helping it. Otherwise, he'd be living in some cute little semi-detached and drinking something stronger than water down at the pub or at dinner with the team.

I get the feeling that Jack is a wanderer, like the Doctor and Rose. He isn't inclined on making homes for himself. I think he recognizes that his stay in Torchwood is temporary; he has his reasons for staying in this one place and time but he will move on... or his reasons will be fulfilled and he will decide to stay.

I believe Jack believes that Rose is dead. She's in the manifest, after all, of the dead post-invasion. But there is no evidence of the Doctor's demise and I believe Jack is waiting for the Doctor to return, because the Doctor has the answers. The cure for his immortality, perhaps. Jack is imbued with the Tardis' power. Perhaps there is a part of him that wants to return to the Tardis; it's his home?

I generally don't want to overspeculate either. hee hee. I just want to be along for the ride. And oh, it does feel like a fantastic ride.