S01.E06: Countrycide

[indeed]

Whilst investigating a group of unexplainable deaths in a village, the Torchwood team are separated. Discovering further, Jack, Gwen and Owen find a scared man, hiding from the thing responsible for the murders. But Tosh and Ianto go that one step extra, and locate the killer, who wants them as their next victims.

Owen: I hate the countryside. It's dirty, it's unhygienic. And what is that smell?

Gwen: That would be grass.

Owen: It's disgusting.

...

All Jack wanted was a nice team bonding moment. Instead, he got awkward kissing "campfire" games, cannibals, and out-romanced by Owen. Not to mention cheesy rescue music...

"Here he comes in a ruddy great tractor..."

[itsmeyousee]

I do love the "ruddy great tractor music" LOL

 

I just watched this ep and i love it all except the end. The end really ruins a brilliant ep, one using what happen as an excuse for Gwen to cheat, when you knew she was already going down that path. A right royal cop out for that character. Two i have a real problem with Gwen demanding to understand why they did it ? I'm not saying that she shouldn't be in shock or overwhelmed and confused and scared to death. Of course she should be , they were cannibals but she was trained as a Policewoman. There isn't any anwers, just like if they were serials killers , the job is to stop them and put them in gaol. There is no logical answer to that question, why would she ever think there was ? Gwen Police training seemed to exist then completely fly out the window in the next ep.

 

But onto the good stuff Ianto/Tosh love these two in the ep, all the way through. Absolutely loved Ianto dig about Lisa in the great snogging game and Tosh muttering under her breath about Gwen with Owen. Loved how scared Ianto was but he kept trying his hardest, i find it refreshing for fear to be shown. It should be scary especially for the guy that works in the office but that doesn't stop his determination, just like Tosh. She didn't breakdown until she thought she was safe with Owen and Gwen. Even Jack was scared but more because he had no idea about what they had gotten themselves into.

[Swansong]

 

I'm not saying that she shouldn't be in shock or overwhelmed and confused and scared to death. Of course she should be , they were cannibals but she was trained as a Policewoman. There isn't any anwers, just like if they were serials killers , the job is to stop them and put them in gaol. There is no logical answer to that question, why would she ever think there was ? Gwen Police training seemed to exist then completely fly out the window in the next ep.

I find Owen kind of gross especially at this point, but I think he pegs it right in his earlier 'come-on' when he suggests she's bored with Rhys and looking for excitement in her life.  I feel like at this point the show seems determined to frame a lot of her character flaws and bad behaviour as 'but for Torchwood' so I do think they kind of a cop-out on embracing the idea that her poor choices suggest intrinsic character flaws and not that Torchwood is corrupting her especially since by this point it's not as if she's even been there that long. I also think it does her character a real disservice. I end up finding her insufferable and annoying in ways I likely wouldn't find her if the show just owed that more than sometimes she can be a selfish dick or not admit it and then immediately cop-out of it.I don't even need for her to have a particular awareness of that, but the show should at least own it. This is really summed up for me in that scene in Greeks Bearing Gifts when she and Owen destroy some of Tosh's work when they're fooling around and she gets rightly mad, but the show wants us to feel bad for Gwen because Tosh is mean to her. But it's her speech at the end of this episode that always gets to me. If we buy it we're supposed to assume that Gwen, the police officer, never considered that a part of her job would involve her dealing with the worst humanity is capable of and that it's only now that she's with Torchwood that it's become a thing for her. I feel like a big part of the problem is they want us to take her seriously as a trained and relatively experienced police officer, but they also want her to be a kind of naive wide-eyed ingenue because she's supposed to be the audience surrogate who are also learning these things for the first time and those two things seem to awkwardly co-exist.

 

This episode is clearly framed so that Jack, Gwen and Owen can play out their love triangle so the 'spares' are lumped together, but I'm glad because I love when Ianto and Tosh get to interact and I love their interactions here too. I'm not a fan off this episode. It's kind of over the top in really silly ways and I have a hard time buying that the police were having such a hard time solving this crime when the villagers have bodies randomly lying around just for anyone to find. Were the cannibals planning to eat that meat too or are they just killing to kill at that point? Still wouldn't explain why they don't bury the bodies, though. Don't they care about the smell?  lt's supposed to be an ordinary village, but why does it seem so abandoned? Are we supposed to believe they've eaten all the other villagers too.? The framing of it is kind of weird.

 

A part of me kind of wishes the scenes where the team are camping had been longer so we could have got to know the team a bit better because I think the show could have benefited from that at this point and because, for better or worst, these are the characters the audience are supposed to follow from episode to episode, but they seem to get worst character development than the guest characters. Also Ianto reveals he's still bitter about Lisa's death and this isn't worth a follow up?  I'm not sure Ianto being scared is supposed to be perceived as anything, but a mark of weakness he's supposed to later make up for, but I like it too. The show and RTD, in particular, seem to espouse the idea that real bravery is jumping in without a thought no matter the consequences and both Jack and Gwen naturally fit that mold, so it was nice to see something different, sort of. I like that he's cautious and admits he thinks something is fucked up when he thinks that. I already liked Ianto before this, but this is the episode, ironically, that really made me like his character, probably for all the reasons I'm not supposed to find appealing. He does later head butt the main cannibal so I guess that's his redemption although I assume that's because he's also a bit nuts.

[indeed]

I feel like a big part of the problem is they want us to take her seriously as a trained and relatively experienced police officer, but they also want her to be a kind of naive wide-eyed ingenue because she's supposed to be the audience surrogate who are also learning these things for the first time and those two things seem to awkwardly co-exist.

Yes, a big problem. I didn't get the impression early-on that Gwen was all that experienced as a police officer. I think if they would have kept her a bit green instead of trying to make her seem experienced and knowledgeable whenever they felt like it, it would have helped with her role as (literal-ha) wide-eyed ingénue/audience identification character.

I'm not sure Ianto being scared is supposed to be perceived as anything, but a mark of weakness he's supposed to later make up for, but I like it too. The show and RTD, in particular, seem to espouse the idea that real bravery is jumping in without a thought no matter the consequences and both Jack and Gwen naturally fit that mold, so it was nice to see something different, sort of. I like that he's cautious and admits he thinks something is fucked up when he thinks that. I already liked Ianto before this, but this is the episode, ironically, that really made me like his character, probably for all the reasons I'm not supposed to find appealing.

Ianto seems like more of the audience identification character because he is scared and he does question and he is more of the outsider in this team. So, yeah, if he hadn't hooked me already, Ianto would've won me over in this episode. Edited June 19, 2014 by indeed

[Swansong]

 

Yes, a big problem. I didn't get the impression early-on that Gwen was all that experienced as a police officer. I think if they would have kept her a bit green instead of trying to make her seem experienced and knowledgeable whenever they felt like it, it would have helped with her role as (literal-ha) wide-eyed ingénue/audience identification character.

Yeah I don't get the feeling she's supposed to have been on the force all that long, but I assume she's supposed to be a bit along from her probationary period, which is two years, but sometimes I have a hard time believing she's even that far along. I tend to feel differently though. They seem to want her to go from green p.c to the head of the organisation in a couple of months so I think having her already pretty reasonably experienced and knowledgeable as a police officer would have made that transition more believable and I don't think it would have hurt her role of audience surrogate because dealing with alien and otherwordly stuff would still be a new experience for her and presumably the audience. Or just made her the boss and had Jack be the mysterious new guy, but that's a different show. lol. 

[indeed]

Well, yes, if they were going to make her experienced, then I probably would have been fine with that Gwen, but RTD didn't present her that way in his setup episode. Nor did she seem like a woman held back or under appreciated who just needed someone to give her a chance. She just seemed green. She could have been new to the alien world and a seasoned professional (sort of like Sam Tyler dealing with Gene Hunt) butting heads with Jack in this new reality of hers. They just weren't consistent (shocker!).

What was really annoying was they were still pulling Clueless Gwen in season 2...after supposedly running Torchwood for months. But the city crumbles and she's the only one who can lead the emergency services! Good thing that didn't involve GPS...

Anyway, I know this episode is a bit silly, but I like it (as long as I stop it after Jack saves the day). Ianto in jeans--that's enough right there. LOL A team outing, on location shooting, and the rare pairing of the "spares", Tosh and Ianto. Plus, it's creepy and a bit X-Files reminiscent. AND all of the characters get a decent amount of screen time--a true ensemble episode (even though they're split off for a good portion).

[Swansong]

 

Well, yes, if they were going to make her experienced, then I probably would have been fine with that Gwen, but RTD didn't present her that way in his setup episode. Nor did she seem like a woman held back or under appreciated who just needed someone to give her a chance.

I think they wanted her to be all things. The inexperienced PC who just happens to be amazing at everything she turns her hand to. The ordinary everywoman who no man can resist.

 

 

But the city crumbles and she's the only one who can lead the emergency services! Good thing that didn't involve GPS...

Lol! Of course. What would Cardiff do without PC Gwen Cooper?

 

 

Ianto in jeans--that's enough right there. LOL A team outing, on location shooting, and the rare pairing of the "spares", Tosh and Ianto. Plus, it's creepy and a bit X-Files reminiscent. AND all of the characters get a decent amount of screen time--a true ensemble episode (even though they're split off for a good portion).

I like that stuff too that's why the episode isn't a complete wash for me. I find even if I don't like the episode there are at least some things I like about it.

[itsmeyousee]

I don't think experience has much to do with it. I think any Police person would have been shocked and horrified by that. But she would be taught about interviewing nut jobs to be blunt and knowing that there is no logic or sensible answers. Otherwise all the Police would turn into nut jobs if they were expecting that.

 

I think my problem is Gwen is really expecting to understand like there is an answer. But why would she think that way ? She had a job that already dealt with the crap people do to each other. I don't think you can understand why you would ever smash someone head in for bumping into you or someone who puts their kid into the hospital more bad things etc. But that's what Police deal with. She was the wrong character to put that onto. Not that any of them would qualify since they have all been through the mill. But if they were just trying to add to her horror, i think they did it badly. Just like what happened and not being able to talk about it is why Gwen screws Owen. When we see in the ep before they find anything Gwen is already interested, even if Owen is gross, Gwen doesn't seem to mind.

 

I also think all the supposed "love triangles" are set up in this ep. Cause while i didn't go back and watch some of the early ones i really don't remember Tosh being interested in Owen until this ep and the "great snogging game". Then there is Ianto/Jack look interupt how you will LOL So another two love triangle could come out of that Jack/Ianto/Gwen, but also Jack/ianto/Lisa. Like was Jack jealously and that explains his anger in Cyberwoman. I'm not saying he was but it can be seen like that. And it why it's to be honest i love the "great snogging scene" not so much for the game cause i'm sorta with Owen on that LOL but the all the different bits you can see or assume or guess at in it.

[Swansong]

 

I think my problem is Gwen is really expecting to understand like there is an answer. But why would she think that way ? She had a job that already dealt with the crap people do to each other. I don't think you can understand why you would ever smash someone head in for bumping into you or someone who puts their kid into the hospital more bad things etc. But that's what Police deal with. She was the wrong character to put that onto. Not that any of them would qualify since they have all been through the mill. But if they were just trying to add to her horror, i think they did it badly. 

 

Yeah it's not that she's shaken up and horrified.She does almost become someone's lunch after all and if they'd left it at that I wouldn't think anyway about it, but they have her acting surprised that sometimes human beings do horrible things to each other just because (I mean she shouldn't have to be a cop to get that she could just watch the news, but since they made her PC you'd think her experiences on that job would have somewhat clued her in) and  making this speech which makes me wonder if she even understands what police officers do. It's an even more bizarre character moment in an episode whose whole point seems to be that humans behave worst than the aliens suggesting that if she were still a police officer, humans doing horrible things to each other is exactly the kind of reality she'd be faced with as part of the routine of her job. It doesn't make her seem like she has more humanity than anyone ever. It just makes her seem really clueless and kind of a shitty police officer.  

 

 

Just like what happened and not being able to talk about it is why Gwen screws Owen. When we see in the ep before they find anything Gwen is already interested, even if Owen is gross, Gwen doesn't seem to mind.

 

Lol! When Owen has her up against the tree and they realise someone is watching them there's a moment when it looks like she's still debating whether to keep snogging Owen or actually go after the person. It always amuses me. So yeah I don't think she decides to have sex with Owen because they discover cannibals living in the Welsh countryside. Although even for cannibals they are really gross.

 

 

I also think all the supposed "love triangles" are set up in this ep. Cause while i didn't go back and watch some of the early ones i really don't remember Tosh being interested in Owen until this ep and the "great snogging game". Then there is Ianto/Jack look interupt how you will LOL So another two love triangle could come out of that Jack/Ianto/Gwen, but also Jack/ianto/Lisa. Like was Jack jealously and that explains his anger in Cyberwoman.

Tosh and Owen seem like mutual friends before this episode. I actually don't mind their relationship prior to this episode. It's more like it eventually becomes at the beginning of s2. But from this point ugh. I get that relationships like this exist in the world, but Tosh deserves so much better than to be Owen's verbal whipping board. What happened to the character from Day One?  To be honest though I have no idea what expression JB is going for in the snogging game after Ianto brings the mood down with all his Lisa talk. Is he going for annoyed, jealous, stern? I don't exactly think it's his finest acting moment. Lol.

[itsmeyousee]

I haven't quite worked out how to quote properly yet Swansong, so i'm just replying to you.

 

It's like the writers forgot what job Gwen used to have and to be honest they make her seem like a right twit by doing that LOL It made it harder to empathise with her cause to me you are left with her looking completely selfish and her needs are far more important than the rest of the Team and look at them. I mean it's alright for Ianto to take the most of the horror in Countrycide but then leave him by himself cause the ex PC can't understand that humans hurt each other , truly WTF

 

As for Jack's look , i don't know what JB was going for either but that's the fun of the snogging game.Is Jack pissed that ianto slammed down Gwen Jack's supposed "heart of Torchwood"" or is he pissed that after Jack tried to lighten the mood Ianto brought in right back down again or is he just pissed cause Ianto brought Lisa back up again or is Jack jealous of Lisa ?

 

Personally i think it's a combo of two and three. Jack put a lid on the brewing trouble with Gwen/owen/Tosh but then ianto made them all feel uncomfortable as he brought up his girlfiend that they killed. And that seems to be something Jack avoids cause he doesn't avoid Ianto or not trust Ianto at this stage. But he doesn't seem to want the fact that Lisa was killed brought up, maybe Jack's feeling guilty or something..Because it seems like more than just discomfort , everyone else feels uncomfortable about it but Jack seems angry about it.

 

 

[Swansong]

Once again like the idea more than execution. I can't decide if it's the writers that got carried away or the props people, but I'm amazed the police had so much trouble solving this crime. The villagers are literally leaving bodies abandoned around their houses.  lol. 

 

These people clearly don't watch horror films since the first rule of horror films is split up so the murderer or monster can pick you all off one by one. Which they accommodatingly do.

 

Also, Jack stop fondling the staff and send them to a self-defence class or something. Both Gwen and Owen have weapons against one armed man, but they're the ones who give up their weapons? Even if Gwen is supposed to be inexperienced Owen is supposed to be a trained agent.

I've been complaining that I wish they'd use the fact that Gwen is a police officer better, but after this episode I think I'll stop because clearly that's what they're trying to do that in this episode and the results are kind of bad. From her whinging to Jack about how she should be home with Rhys to her I need to know moment. I get that the situation is freaky, but it's a bit moronic for someone who planned to be part of the police force to be acting like, but for Torchwood she wouldn't be stumbling onto dead bodies. Aliens aren't the only things that commit murder. When people commit murder it's normally police not Torchwood who would investigate. If anything she should be lamenting she thought Torchwood would get her away from having to deal with the worst of humanity and yet here they are. Other than her scene with Owen when he's fixing her up her character moments are kind of crap and more unintentionally funny than effective.

 

I think Tosh bragging about no cell  being able to keep her  would be more effective if they hadn't then shown her not actually being able to escape. Maybe they were setting up something for her and forgot about it after this episode.

[indeed]

When people commit murder it's normally police not Torchwood who would investigate. If anything she should be lamenting she thought Torchwood would get her away from having to deal with the worst of humanity and yet here they are.

That could have been interesting and far more understandable for a woman who wanted to be a police officer if she could have thought that working for Torchwood would help her think better of humanity by assuming she'd be exposed to nasty/naughty aliens. But then she finds out that humans really are the worst and seeks comfort in Owen's arms. No, instead we're supposed to believe that Gwen thinks she lives in a world without mass muderers and cannibals. And she's a cop. OK...

[Captanne]

Ianto in natural light and casual clothes.

 

Yeah.

 

Someone give me an amen.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Captanne

[indeed]

Amen!

It makes my favorite list just because we see Ianto in casual clothes and outside on location (with the rest of the team)!

Edited July 27, 2014 by indeed

[Dizzy76]

Swan song: I liked everything you said!

 

Indeed: Agreed

 

Captain's:  YES!  Amen

[Ceindreadh]

Ianto in natural light and casual clothes.

 

Yeah.

 

Someone give me an amen.

 

AMEN!!!

 

Torchwood was already on my watch list, but this was the episode that put Torchwood on my 'plan my entire evening's viewing around' list. 

And I put the blame squarely on Ianto.  (I still believe that he should have been the audience identification character rather than Gwen)

That he was clearly scared of his wits but still willing to sacrifice himself to let Tosh get away, that's a true hero.

(and yes, he did look hot in jeans  ;-)

 

 

IIRC, this was also the episode that set off my loathing for Gwen.  Starting with her ridiculous 'who did you last snog' game.  Tactless enough if you take two seconds to think about the fact that for one of your co-workers you can be pretty sure that the last person they snogged had only recently died.  And even if Gwen had forgotton about Lisa when she'd suggested the game, she gets reminded of the whole Cyberwoman situation by Owen's answer and two seconds later she's *still* gobsmacked when Ianto mentions Lisa.  (heart of Torchwood my arse).

 

Then we have her giving up her gun and getting captured.  Her insistence on 'having to know' the why behind the cannibals.  And her clear shock that there are bad people in the world.  (I know Cardiff isn't exactly murder central, but as a police officer, surely Gwen should have some experience in crime?)

 

And then of course there's the ending with Gwen and Owen.  Poor little Gwen not having anybody to shag, um, I mean 'talk to' about the days events.  Blech. 

[Captanne]

The character development in this episode that particularly struck me was Ianto's.  

 

We now know he's a T1/Canary Wharf survivor and everything amazing that Cyberwoman implied.  

 

With "Countrycide" we see that Ianto is terrified -- he has a healthy sense of fear (he's not some superhero, he's a bit of a chicken) -- but that he is also an incredible survivor.  He's clever as hell and uses a combination of smarts (finding the Rover) and pub-brawl estates blue-collar bashing (the head-smash) to make it out alive.  And, no surprise, in hopes of getting Tosh out of there first.

 

This, folks, is why CoE is such unmitigated BULLSHIT.  Ianto would never, ever in a million years have walked into that room with the Muppet in a Box.  He wouldn't have let, Jack, either.*

 

*Ianto may know Jack is immortal but he also knows that Jack does suffer death.  He would never want Jack to suffer. 

 

ETA:  High fives all 'round for the chorus of amens!  I would say this is a Ianto Revival!  

 

But, the "revival" of Ianto is unlikely.  Sigh.  (Play on words, however sad, is intended.)

Edited July 27, 2014 by Captanne

[itsmeyousee]

The character development in this episode that particularly struck me was Ianto's.  

 

We now know he's a T1/Canary Wharf survivor and everything amazing that Cyberwoman implied.  

 

With "Countrycide" we see that Ianto is terrified -- he has a healthy sense of fear (he's not some superhero, he's a bit of a chicken) -- but that he is also an incredible survivor.  He's clever as hell and uses a combination of smarts (finding the Rover) and pub-brawl estates blue-collar bashing (the head-smash) to make it out alive.  And, no surprise, in hopes of getting Tosh out of there first.

 

This, folks, is why CoE is such unmitigated BULLSHIT.  Ianto would never, ever in a million years have walked into that room with the Muppet in a Box.  He wouldn't have let, Jack, either.*

 

*Ianto may know Jack is immortal but he also knows that Jack does suffer death.  He would never want Jack to suffer. 

 

ETA:  High fives all 'round for the chorus of amens!  I would say this is a Ianto Revival!  

 

But, the "revival" of Ianto is unlikely.  Sigh.  (Play on words, however sad, is intended.)

Amen for Ianto in casual gear

 

And a Hell yeah to quote Crichton from Farscape to everything you said Captanne especially the part in bold