2.09: Something Borrowed

[Dave]

Having to work before her Hen night, Gwen is bitten on the arm by an alien shapeshifter. This leaves her carrying more than she bargained for the night before her wedding to Rhys.

This was a vast improvement on last week, but I thought it was another example of Torchwood not knowing where it was going. If they had made this an out and out Comedy episode it could have been extremely funny, but I couldn't take the more serious scenes seriously. For example, was I meant to laugh at Tosh and Banana in the web, or instead think about the man on the floor next to them who had just been snacked upon. Or am I wrong, is that a kind of black comedy itself?

There were some very funny one-liners again, and again, I think the idea iself was wonderful, it was just it's execution.

 

[Lucien21]

It was ok.

The bit where Rhys punched Jack for calling his mother (Nerys Hughes) Ugly was funny, as was the Chainsaw bit.

The rest of it was a bit naff.

There is no tension between Gwen/Jack at all so pretending there is just looks fake.

One of their friends is brutally murdered upstairs and they still go through with the wedding and they must have asked for a volunteer to do the DJ duties.

Weird.

 

[Mad Tam McC]

A good episode.

And they made all the guests forget the events! So wouldn't they wonder what happened to the dead man. He was there and then suddenly disappeared. If you think about it, it just wouldn't work. Everyone would be forgetting the same parts of the day.

 

[Lenny]

I liked it. Good idea, but the episode was somewhat... corny in parts. I mean, an uber-powerful gun in the back of the jeep? I'd have preferred for the chainsaw to come into play, personally. And I didn't really like how Rhys managed to use the alien scalpel thing so easily.

Still, it was a good episode.

 

[DarthDom]

I quite enjoyed it. It was certainly better than last week. Although I couldn't quite believe how stupid Owen was for sending Gwen off on her own while he shows Rhys how to use the alien scalpel. There is a man-eating, shape shifting alien on the loose, who could look like anyone and you send the person it's after off on their own saying "We'll be along in a minute". I know it is a horror genre staple - akin to "Hey this is a spooky old house. Lets split up and look for clues!" But come on really. That sort of thing really spoils it for me.

And that is just the start of my nit picking. Why would the alien start behaving like Jack anyway and start start canoodling with Gwen in front of the mirror. Did it know there was latent sexual tension between Jack and Gwen. Why didn't it just rip her head off while it had the chance?

I agree that it would have been great to see Rhys chop his mum up with a chainsaw. I'm sure Freud would have had something to say on that matter.

Yet again though Jack saves the day. Is he ever going to fail? At least the world wasn't saved by Jack dying and coming back to life, which is the Torchwood "Get out of Jail Free Card" of every plot. And now with Owen dead, they've got another one. Soon all the gang will have "Super Powers". I thought the hole point was that the team were all human and that it was their access to alien technology that gave them the edge, not the invulnerability of their leader and now their medic (I know Owen's situation isn't the same and he can be hurt, but he can operate in many areas where living humans can't).

So far I would have to say that Adam has been the best episode. Apart from all the guff about Jack and his Dad. I'm not a big fan of Jack, and I don't really know where all this sexual chemistry between him and Gwen has come from. I must have missed something last series. My wife and daughter think he is great ( and his alter ego John too - they've even bought some of his albums!) but I just find him annoying. Don't get me wrong I think he did some great things in the first series, I like the episode where he met the real Captain Jack Harkness for example, but I just find it unbelievable that everyone in the show wants to sleep with him. He has got good teeth though. I still think Gwen is the best character, she's the everyman I suppose. Especially now that Owen is "dead". They've certainly sexed her up for this series though. Funny considering they've toned down the more blatant sexual stuff, well a bit.

Anyway that is enough of my rant.

 

[Dr.Jackson]

I quite enjoyed this episode despite the few nit-picky bits that have already been pointed out. It had the good Torchwood mix of drama, aliens, humour and stupidity.
There were a couple of moments when Jack was being light-hearted with Gwen that felt a bit forced, but whether these were intended as a kind of 'smile though your heart is breaking' points since he was uncomfortable, is a bit unclear as I'm sure someone would have said something.

A few moments raised a chuckle, some good throwaway gags, like Ianto cutting in to dance. I liked the Evil Dead reference and the scene where Jack thinks Rhys's mum is the alien was quite amusing.

The writer of this episode used to work on soaps, so that would have helped with the drama of something going terribly wrong at a wedding, since nothing goes smoothly in the soaps, apparently. So it's Eastenders + aliens = Something Borrowed, or something?!

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

My favorite line was when Jack complained that Ianto always agrees with Owen ever since he died, and Ianto answered he'd been brought up not to speak ill of the dead.

 

[steve12553]

Especially if they're still doing most of their talking.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Not to mention still perfectly capable of assaulting you with a scalpel.

 

[vivienne16]

I had just finished deconstructing "Something Borrowed" into a alternate present version of Arthur and the Round (oblong) Table.

Jack is Arthur; Gwen is (well Gweniviere); Ianto is the page/knight/coffee boy.

Torchwood named to honor Dr. Who and sometimes Jack needs a DOCTOR
(Dr. Who aka Merlin)

Now this face of BOE thing makes me wonder. Is Jack now less than Arthur (he's not in his final form), or, is he MORE like Arthur than ever because he does live to be so old and sage and quasi eternal albeit impotent (figuratively) life.