S01.E03: Ghost Machine

[indeed]

Whilst chasing a man, Gwen retrieves an unusual machine that allows the user to see back into the past. It is considered dangerous, and no members of Torchwood are permitted to use it. But Owen has other plans, and witnesses a violent murder that took place over forty years ago. Using the information he gathered, Owen starts to track down the still-living murderer.

Jack: Run a full check. Births, marriages, deaths. Criminal record, passports. However long it takes, wherever he is, we'll find him!

Owen: Found him...He's in the phone book.

...

Ah, yes. This is the one with the infamous gun training scene. *shudder*

[itsmeyousee]

I can't really remember this ep, mainly what i have in my head is they are all a bunch of thickies , Tosh and Owen have joined the Club.

Sorry Indeed you might have to help me out cause i don't want to rewatch to remember it properly. I just remember thinking the best thing about this ep was the previews for the next ep LOL

[Swansong]

This is the episode where Gwen proves she really doesn't know how to handle sharp instruments.First Day One where she throws a sharp instrument at Owen like she's throwing a dart which ends up embedding in the sex alien pod and then in this she holds a knife with sharp end facing out so someone can conveniently impale themselves on it. I'd say at this point she probably needs to go on a refresher safety course, but training is apparently optional at Torchwood unless it allows Jack to cop a feel. And rape is apparently only rape if it happens in back alleys. Ianto is literally decoration to the point that his role basically boils down to standing around holding trays of mugs that everyone around him just ignores. He does have that one quip about Splott and his eyes which always reminds me that even though his characterization is paper thin I really like "weird, 'is that supposed to be funny?' Ianto" to "sassy Ianto". Tosh hasn't yet become the sum total of her crush on Owen so I actually like their interactions in this episode. Burn Gorman does a really good job of selling Owen's freak out at having to physically experience that girl's rape, but I just can't get over the complete disconnect between his actions in the pilot and this episode. Owen shows no self-awareness at all and neither does the writing really and that's kind of messed up and not in a good way.

 

I find the gun-training scene more cheesy than sexy. Like I get why others find it sexy, but there's just too much cheese for me what with the way they have Gwen shooting like she's out of some cheesy western and there is this moment where Jack is trying to push her hair out of the way, I guess, and it's like he's never handled hair before so that kind of always makes me laugh. EM and JB have pretty good chemistry I think, mostly as friends, but I think the show just tries way too hard to sell them as superhotsexy that it often comes off as more funny than sexy to me. The only time it ever feels natural to me is when they're dancing at her wedding. Also I guess a part of me feels if they're going to make sexual harassment a part of Jack's charm and training methods then at least don't make the team seem quite so useless when it comes time to show them using their weapons. Because it makes it hard to take him seriously. And we are supposed to be taking him seriously, right?

[indeed]

I find the gun-training scene more cheesy than sexy.

oh, yes. Major cheese going on there. And, for me, it accomplished the exact opposite of what it was supposed to. Although I do get the feeling at times that this show wants me to roll my eyes a lot...

And we are supposed to be taking him seriously, right?

I want to say yes, but...?

[itsmeyousee]

Thanks for the reminder. I thought the "gun scene" did show chemistry bewtween Jack and Gwen but it wasn't innocent fliration like Ianto and Jack in EC and it made Jack come across as creepy to be honest as the Boss of TW. He was like Owen as a guy except Owen wasn't very Owen well compared to the last two eps anyway. Spray rape , then goes down to Carys even though they have worked out by now what the deal was with her. But in this one he is distraut cause he had to feel what happened as oppose to inflicting it onto a chick. Why would i give a toss and why does Tosh ?

 

And i just remember this  Gwen and the buttons this time, isn't it ? Nice to know she learnt a lot from the last ep.

Edited June 11, 2014 by itsmeyousee

[Swansong]

So I watched the episode. It's kind of eh and I don't have much to say about it that hasn't been covered already. Better than Day One and the team mostly behave like grown ups so that's a plus. EM's big eyes acting gets quite a workout in this episode so I thought about Captanne often since I know what a big fan they are of it. lol The special effects are terrible. The scenes where Gwen sees herself holding the knife is kind of laughable.

 

A few observations:

 

Tosh gives the most useless description of a suspect ever lol. Man in a hoody in a sea of men wearing hoodies. Worst he has a jacket over the hoody so you can't even see it. Why not say man running since he is the only man running at that point besides Jack and Owen.

 

Why is Lizzy standing in the middle of a tunnel talking to herself? It looks like she's having a conversation with her imaginary friend. Is that supposed to be a manifestation of her thoughts or something? Because otherwise it's a bit of an unintentionally funny moment.

 

Jack is kind of stroppy at the beginning of this episode. That also made me laugh. Also he really is the exposition fairy of this show.

 

Gwen does her mostly by rote Debbie Downer bit when Jack suggests using the ghost gizmo to track Bernie Harris ("it could be dangerous, blah, blah, blah) and then promptly takes it home so she can play around with it for funsies.

 

Ianto apparently spends this episode down in the basement with cyberLisa because he's mostly a no show which might also explain why the team are still able to take alien tech off base without anyone apparently noticing. This episode does explain why he's able to sneak Lisa into the Hub without being spotted though.Did it really need four people to talk to Bernie Harris in the pub?