Written By: Catherine Treganna
Directed By: Andy Goddard
Air Date: 13th February, 2008
Summary: Someone's screwing with their memories, and who the hell is Adam anyway?
We start off with our usual pre-teaser montage, containing shots of all six members of Torchwood. Well, seven if you include Myfanwy NotAPteranodon. We segue into... Gwen and Rhys having a good laugh. Tch. Ten seconds into the show and I'm not seeing angst? Torchwood's slipping. They're in extremely high spirits, although Rhys makes a joke that it's because Gwen just can't wait to get back to work. She says that having him to come home to makes it all worthwhile, and he responds in the time honoured fashion of men everywhere by pretending to be sick, and she laughs and hits him with her shoe. Aww. They're all well adjusted and stuff.
It won't last.
In the Clubhouse, Jack produces a metal box containing “unlabelled class D artefacts” (though why they've escaped Ianto's tyrannical hold of the archiving system is a question which I'm sure will haunt us all, as will the question of what class D means anyway). He tells Tosh to get on it, and she answers distractedly, not looking very interested.
Someone with blonde hair walks behind Jack, though it provokes no reaction from the Captain or anyone else for that matter.
“Owen, you can help,” Jack says, turning to... oh lord. It's Brains.
Seriously. Thick black glasses. He's even wearing a cardy.
Jack carries on, addressing our new face as Adam, giving orders and asking if “Adam” is ok with that.
“Have been for the last three years,” he says, cheerfully, putting paid to the idea that Jack's been on a recruiting drive since we last saw him.
Gwen arrives in the Hub, hurrying up the stairs with an unapologetic 'sorry I'm late' expression on her face.
“You're late!” Jack says.
“Yes, Paris was lovely thank you.” Aww. So she's been on a romantic holiday. Bet the forms for taking leave were last used sometime in the Seventies, given the way that none of them ever seen to get out of the Hub. She hangs up her coat, spies Adam and asks, “Who the hell is this?” which, let's face it, is what we're all thinking.
The rest of the team, however, don't see anything odd, and are staring at her like they think she might need to extend that holiday some. Adam brushes off her statement with a joke, and puts a hand on her shoulder, urging her to Remember.
We see flashes of memories of Gwen and Adam, working at the computers, drinking coffee... and suddenly Gwen can't seem to remember that it was ever any differently. There's a long, odd pause and then her expression clears, and abruptly turns into a smile, and she greets Adam with a hug.
**
After the usual credits sequences, which doesn't even give you enough time to pop into the kitchen and switch the kettle on, we're looking at Adam's personnel file as he writes it. Tosh spots him fiddling with it, and approaches, asking what he's doing. He brushes it off, and so Tosh shrugs, and holds up a gold-looking box with elaborate patterns on its outside, asking Adam if he knows anything about it. Adam professes ignorance, before he reaches out, and clasps the back of Tosh's neck.
We see more sepia-toned flashes. Tosh and Adam sharing shy looks, and a kiss.
Back in the real world, she smiles, and doesn't object when he leans forward and kisses her, and he brings up that it's the anniversary of their first kiss (how... soppy). She seems charmed. Brains seems less so. As he comes up from the autopsy bay, he stops and looks rather embarrassed.
Tosh asks if he's ok, and Brains protests that he's ok. He's just not used to the whole 'kissing in the workplace' thing. Although, given that he works for Torchwood, I think it's probably in his employment contract.
Adam gives Tosh a kiss and says he'll see her tonight, but the moment she turns away, his smile falls to a flat, angry looking expression.
**
Jack's wandering through the cells, probably looking for the pair of trousers he left down here last time he and Ianto. As he walks past Janet's cell, the weevil grows and snarls, banging its hands against the glass. In Weevil speak, that translates to, “Your mother smells of elderberries...”
“Save it,” Jack says, pausing for a minute to get in Janet's face, before he carries on walking.
Off camera, Janet gives him the finger.
Jack continues past the next cell, empty save for a small boy...
Hang on. Small boy? We see a flash of a small hand being let go, and then Gwen calls out, distracting Jack. By the time he turns back to the cell, it's empty again. Apparently, Gwen's bored with actual work, since she just came around to... did she just slap his backside?
“Did you miss me?” she asks, with a grin.
“Were you gone?” Jack returns, teasingly making as if to grab her. In virtually exactly the same manner as she did with Rhys in the opener, she shrieks with laughter and dances away, Jack chasing her as far as the door, where he looks back at the still empty cell.
Janet takes the opportunity to give a low snarling growl that translates to, “How about getting some toilets in here, jackass?”
**
The gang are all hanging around the Hub, and only Tosh seems to be doing any work. She's musing that there was Rift activity a couple of days earlier, but nothing seems to have come through.
“Apart from me,” says a small, eerie voice, as a tiny furry creature pops its head around Tosh's monitor, paper cheese in its paws.
Not a new alien, no. It's a toy, held by Brains, and Tosh looks less than amused. In fact, she looks like she'd like to take the little critter and stick it in a toaster. Then she'd do the same to the little toy he tried to give her. After a second, she plasters on a smile.
“What's that?”
Brains is laughing in a rather adorably awkward way, waving the creature around. It also squeaks. “It's a screen cleaner,” he says, “I thought you might like it.”
Aww. That's actually a very thoughtful gift.
“Do you like he?” he asks, uncertainly.
“Just what I need,” Tosh says, still with that smile, though you get the feeling its just hiding some very sharp teeth, “A small rodent watching me while I work.”
She starts to walk away, and Brains looks at the toy a little sadly.
Of course, that wasn't cutting enough for Tosh. She pauses, and turns back. “I think I'll call it Owen,” she says, before vanishing.
Brains sighs, and heads into the autopsy room. Ianto and Gwen, sitting on the sofa together, share a giggle.
“He's like a little puppy bringing her sticks,” Gwen says, gleefully, “When's he gonna realise he's got no chance?”
Ianto responds that he's idolised her for years, and Adam, watching it all, says that he thinks it's rather sweet. I think the word he's actually thinking of is 'entertaining'.
**
Gwen arrives back home, and looks rather surprised to find that all the lights are on. She drops her back and then, looking baffled, picks up a second set of keys lying around, examining them carefully. Behind her, Rhys emerges in a dressing gown, towelling his hair, and sneaks up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Or at least he tries to. Gwen freaks before he gets even a small snuggle in. He laughs, saying he didn't mean to frighten her, and she demands to know how he got in. When he professes to live there, she brandishes the nearest knife, and then, at the first opportunity, pulls her gun out. She demands to know who he is and what he wants. When he tries to tell her she knows himl, she pulls out her phone and calls Jack to come help save her from the freaky stalker guy who's in her living room. When Rhys protests that he lives there, she screams at him to “Shut it” then adds, to Jack, “Hurry, Jack, he's a nutter.”
For living with Gwen? Oh, I bet that's exactly what he's thinking right now.
Jack and Adam have arrived in the WoodMobile, and get buzzed up by Gwen. They burst into the flat, and are rather baffled by the fact that Gwen is holding a gun on her boyfriend. Rhys demands to know what they've done to her. When Jack denies it, Rhys goes off on one about “pills that make you forget” and lunges for Jack. When Gwen tries to intervene, it all gets a bit hectic until Rhys, obviously anguished, says, “I bought you the bloody ring you're wearing.”
Gwen holds up her hand, and, sure enough, there's an engagement ring there. She stares at it like she's never seen it before. Adam, who's just been watching up to this point, offers to take her back to the Hub, while Jack stays with Rhys. Gwen threatens to kill him if he comes after her again on her way out of the door.
Not a good start to a prospective marriage, really.
**
Brains examines Gwen, but can't find anything wrong. He admits he must be missing something, otherwise she'd remember Rhys. My first thought would be 'blood test for retcon' but what do I know? I just watch this stuff.
At the flat, Jack's setting up a video camera (and I swear, if this is some 'niche market film' that he and Rhys are about to make, I may just be traumatised for life). It's all in the goal of making Gwen remember, apparently. Jack asks questions about Rhys and Gwen and their lives together. How they met. They met at college apparently, and their first kiss took place in a supermarket.
Adam asks Gwen, who's watching the feed in the Hub, if she remembers. She does, she says, sort of. She remember the events, but not the feelings.
Rhys is still talking, explaining that his habit of kicking off caused her to nickname him “Rhys the Rant” (which sounds like an adorable name for a children's TV puppet character), and then she kissed him. And he decided then and there that he would “marry this bloody mad woman, even if it kills me”.
In this show, that's really not a promise you should be making.
**
Brains has been examining the gold and ornate box o' doom, and Tosh comes to check up on him to see what he's come up with. The box is still refusing to give up its secrets, and Brains says, awkwardly, “Not doing very well, am I?”
“Going to be a long night,” Tosh says, without looking at him, and completely ignoring any sort of nigglings of compassion for another Human being in favour of pulling her laptop over.
“That's why I brought some sandwiches,” Brains says, brightly, producing two tupperware boxes. It's smoked salmon, Tosh's favourite, apparently.
“How did you know that?” Tosh asks, in wonder.
Brains looks shy, and Tosh makes a decision. “I need a beer,” she declares, and heads out of the room ahead.
“What, while we're working?” Brains asks, in horror. When Tosh gives him a 'you must be kidding me' look, he backtracks. “Oh yeah, yeah, of course.” Tosh is already halfway down the corridor, ignoring his babbling as he yells out, “Uh! Not for me though! Thanks!”
**
Ianto's brought Gwen home, and Rhys, who is now fully dressed, looks over anxiously as Gwen enters, edging into the room like there's a live tiger waiting for her. Jack tries to leave them alone, but Gwen practically grabs onto him.
“Don't leave me, Jack,” she whispers, terrified.
“You'll be ok,” he assures her, pulling her arms away and leaving them alone. Ianto gives Gwen a wink and a quick thumbs up, saying the same thing without repeating the dialogue, and follows the boss man out of the building.
Outside, Jack takes the opportunity to quiz Ianto. He's not been in the fortress of doom to hear Brain's diagnosis of nothingness.
“Temporary amnesia,” Ianto says, getting to utter the 'well duh' line of the evening, “Owen's checking possible causes. Oh.” He throws a bunch of keys at Jack, apparently quite happy to let him drive.
Jack's about to get in the car when he spies the little boy from the cells, standing by a street lamp. He stares, while Ianto mentions a weevil sighting. Clearly he's not listening, as Ianto has to call his name a few times to get his attention. When Jack finally looks towards Ianto, he asks, sounding a little desperate,
“Can you see him?”
Ianto may start to think that estate agent is a better job than Torchwood officer, if his colleagues all start acting crazy. “Who?” he asks. Predictably, when Jack turns back around, the street's empty again.
He gets into the car, clearly shaken, telling Ianto he'll drop him at the Hub, and check out the sighting. Ianto gets into the passenger side a lot slower than a rather anxious looking Jack does. He looks at him with concern.
“I could come with you,” he offers, “It's been a while since we went hunting together.”
Because alien hunting is exactly the sort of fun jaunts that the Torchwood crew enjoy sharing with their friends. Afterwards they go out for a beer and some curries.
Jack brushes him off, claiming he'll be fine, and puts his seatbelt on. Not that he really needs to, of course, but Ianto would probably be very annoyed if they got into an accident, and Jack's body shredded the windscreen. The blood would just be impossible to get off the upholstry.
**
Brains is thumbing through some files when Tosh returns, beers in hand, urging him to “live a little” before sitting up on the tabletop, crossing a pair of rather shapely legs which become even more apparently shapely given the length (or lack thereof) of her skirt. She calls it a celebration, since she and Adam have been together for a year now.
She proceeds to go on and tell him about how wonderful Adam is, how her stomach flips when he touches her, and Brains looks distinctly uncomfortable.
“Don't worry,” Tosh says, with a grin, “You'll meet the right girl one day.”
Brains looks like he wants to say something, but ends up asking if she really thinks he looks like a rodent.
“Come on,” she says, “We're going to crack this box if it kills us.”
Seriously. Stop saying things like that. It can't end well.
**
I don't think we've been in the sewers in Torchwood before (unless you count their secret headquarters), but Jack doesn't seem to have a problem with diving right in as he drops down a ladder, brandishing his 'bigger than anything the X-Files had' torch, a piece of hardware so large the characters generally seem to wind up balancing it on their shoulders.
Really, guys. I'm starting to think there are compensation issues at work here.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Jack says, sounding less like a fearless leader, and more like someone who's a bit nervous about facing down an alien menace (i.e. Like a normal person and as such very unlike Jack Harkness). He creeps through the tunnels, and hears a splash, which he chases after.
He comes across a man, in the same sandy coloured clothes the little boy was wearing, with a pair of goggles around his neck.
“Get out,” the man says, stepping forward, “Get out, son.”
“Dad?” Jack looks stunned.
“Run!” The man yells, and that's exactly what Jack does, running to the surface and abandoning his torch as he reaches the surface, staggering away from the sewer access, breathing hard.
“Jack?”
Adam's there. Jack asks where the hell he came from, and Adam reminds him that he came here with him. Remember? He puts a hand to Jack's shoulder. Oh. Right. Of course he remembers.
“Are you ok?” Adam asks, staring, “Jack, what did you see?”
“My past,” Jack says, looking hopelessly confused.
**
Gwen and Rhys are sitting on the sofa in their flat, Gwen looking at photos and not looking like she really wants to be there. She drops a framed photo on the table.
“If what you say is true,” she starts.
“It is,” Rhys says. “We love each other-” he tries to reach out and take her hand, but she pulls away, nervously.
“But how could I forget that?” Gwen says, not looking at all convinced.
Rhys gets up, looking for something to eat, though apparently there's nothing. He was planning to take her out for a meal, not wanting their weekend away in Paris to finish. He sounds heartbroken.
**
Jack is stalking his way across what looks like a playground, hands in his coat pockets, steadfastly ignoring Adam, who's walking behind him, calling out.
“Jack! What about the past?” Adam hurries to catch up. “Is it about your childhood?”
That stops him. Jack pauses, and turns, but doesn't say anything. Adam approaches, planting his hand on Jack's shoulder.
“I've always been here for you. Right from the very beginning. I'm the one you can confide in, Remember?”
Jack looks torn for a moment, but only a moment. “It was meant to be buried,” he says, “I buried the memory over a hundred and fifty years ago. Why now?”
I never get over how he looks very good for his age.
He starts to walk away again, and Adam carries on, urging him to remember, that maybe his subconscious has been blocking things, that he can't block out the past forever. Jack tells him that he can't afford to remember. Adam won't take no for an answer.
“Jack, talk to me, please.”
“Why?”
Adam offers to help him, even though Jack clearly doesn't want to remember. Relenting, Jack comes to a standstill, and closes his eyes.
“Where are you, Jack?” Adam asks.
It's Tatooine, apparently. Or what a beach on Tatooine would look like if they'd had any oceans. Pale yellow sand dunes, and as we see Jack as a young boy, standing there, we see that he's looking across at an oddly shaped construction, looking like a lot of subes mashed together with the odd metal strut leaning out. This, we're told, is the Boe-Shang Peninsula, his home in the 51st century.
I still say it looks like Tatooine. If any small domed droids come wandering up, with golden humanoid companions muttering “oh my circuits”, I think George Lucas' is gonna be on the phone before you can say “Jabba the Hutt”.
Apparently, in Jack's home, they lived under the threat of invasion, and, one day, the invasion came from 'horrible' creatures. What creatures, we don't know, but we can hear their shrieks as Jack describes it.
We see Jack's Dad grabbing Jack and the small boy we saw earlier. “Go, take Gray,” he urges, “Keep him safe.”
Gray, Jack tells Adam, is his little brother. He looks like he's having his heart ripped out as he's forced to remember.
Young!Jack tries to get his Dad to come with them, but Dad is going to go fetch their Mum, and yells at Jack and Gray to run. So they do, Jack holding his little brother's hand as they pelt up the sand dunes, along with all the other screaming people.
“One minute,” Jack says back in the present, pacing away, breathing hard, “I was holding his hand.” We see Gray slipping out of Young!Jack's grip, though the older boy doesn't immediately notice. “I don't know when he let go.”
Jack is standing in his own memory, watching the younger version of himself yelling for his brother. The young boy searching through the beach, which is now littered with dead bodies. He runs all the way home, back to the strange building. There, he finds his dad, unmarked except for a single wound over his heart, looking bleached and pale.
Older Jack watches as the younger screams for help. He searched for years, he says, but never found the body.
“It wasn't your fault,” Adam says.
“I let go of his hand!” Jack yells, in return, “It was the worst day of my life. And it's the last thing I want to remember.” He walks away, and Adam makes no move to follow him.
**
Brains and Tosh are working on the box still, and Ianto is making himself useful by propping up a wall. Tosh is rather unimpressed that the box, tainted with meson energy is, in fact, wood. She seems faintly disgusted, in fact. Brains suggests it fell in the crate by mistake, to which Tosh responds to with a scornful, “Yeah right.”
“Sorry,” Brains mumbles, “S'a stupid idea.”
“I think Jack brought it in,” Ianto pronounces, eyeing the box.
“No,” Tosh says, “I'm sure Adam found it on an excavation a few months back.”
Ianto looks at Brains, who's rather miserably staring at the table, and seems to take pity on him by standing up to Tosh on his behalf. “I'll have a look in the diary,” he offers, with a smile, “I like to log the interesting stuff.”
“You write about artefacts in your diary?” Tosh sounds quite entertained at the thought.
“Among other things,” Ianto says, mysteriously, giving Tosh a wink.
Second wink in an episode. Ianto's on fire tonight.
Tosh chuckles as Ianto leaves them alone. Brains tries to strike up a conversation, to which she responds with the sort of taciturn coldness you'd normally expect from an attractive Hollywood “strong female protagonist” (although in those cases, it's usually accompanied with the threat of violence). He asks if she's alright, and she says that Adam hasn't called yet.
And because I love what Brains says next so much, I'm going to reproduce it faithfully.
“Ah, sure he will. I know I would. If it was our anniversary. Wouldn't disappear. In fact I would cherish you.”
Aww. Owen.
“Aww, Owen,” Tosh says, scrunching up her nose as she packs the box away.
“Yeah, no no. Really, really I would. In fact I wouldn't let you out of my sight, Tosh. Because... I love you.”
“What?” Tosh's face falls.
“Yeah, there we are. I've said it. I love you. I always have, actually. Ever since we started working together. In fact I actually ache for you. I mean, physically. When you're in the room I want to reach out and touch you-”
“Owen,” Tosh tries to interrupt, with growing horror.
“I can't keep this secret any more. My mum said to me 'seize the day' and so I'm seizing it. And, you know, I've got so much love to give you, Tosh. And you won't know that unless I tell you, so here I am telling you that I love you! I know there's Adam, ok, but, you know, in fact, I know, that we would be amazing together. If you would only just give it a chance.”
Tosh shuts the lid of her laptop with a bang and looks away.
“Oh god,” Brains says, perhaps realising exactly how deep the hole he's just dug himself is. “Say something?”
“That,” Tosh says, harshly, “Is completely inappropriate.”
That sound you hear is Tosh crunching Brains' heart under her bootheel. She's angry at his admission, and storms out, saying she's with Adam.
She's unable to resist a parting shot, though. “And even if I wasn't, you're not my type. Never will be.”
Left on his own in the room, Brains can only give a soft “oh” in response.
**
Gwen and her stalker are out shopping in the supermarket. Or rather Rhys is shopping, Gwen is fretting. It's clearly taking its toll on Rhys, this whole “amnesia” thing, given as he sounds sort torn up that he's lost his “girl, [his] best friend”, and then the kid at the tills has the gall to answer his phone and walk off.
Rhys is incensed, launching full flow into a rant about kids and customer service, throwing the money on the counter. Gwen can't help herself but start to giggle, and when Rhys notices, she calls him “Rhys the Rant”. She relates how he always rants, and sounds like she's about to start crying. She sort of remembers something, and it's enough to give poor Rhys hope.
He takes her hand (and his shopping), and she doesn't let go.
**
In a darkened Den of Mystery, Ianto is sitting alone on the sofa flipping through his diary, checking out the entries of interest.
Dear Diary, Only two cups of double macchiato espresso today, v.v. good.
He flips through some more pages, his expression intense.
Dear Diary, Tried to move the cabinet in Jack's office into new cubbyhole. Think it's too small. Jack says tapemeasure says it's not. Spent twenty minutes trying to move furniture. Think tapemeasure's lying.
Flip, flip.
Dear Diary, Still the prettiest.
Ianto puts the diary down, panic starting to creep in by what he's been reading, or, rather, what he's not been reading. He leans forward, pressing his fingers to his lips, and when he leans back, Adam's sitting there, on the sofa next to him, and Ianto, understandably, leaps up, because that's just freaky that normal people shouldn't do.
Well, normal Humans, anyway.
“My diary...” Ianto says, “You're not in it. Everyone else is. Why would I leave you out when you've been here so long? Like I'm remembering a man who doesn't exist.”
Adam, who had been flipping through the diary, shuts it, an angry expression on his face. Suddenly, he drops it. His hand is fading in and out of existence. Ianto demands to know who he is. Adam slams him into a wall and threatens to fill Ianto's head full of fake memories if Ianto crosses him. Because that, apparently, is how he exists.
Ianto wants to know what he did to Gwen. Turns out it was just an unfortunate side effect of inserting himself into her memories. Some of the other stuff, the stuff related to Rhys in this case, got pushed out.
“Jack has to know,” Ianto says, but before he can make any move to telling anyone, Adam grabs him, and puts his hand to Ianto's forehead. His eyes roll back and he starts convulsing. That really doesn't look pretty.
“Remember this,” Adam says, spitefully.
We see a blue-tinged flash of Ianto, expression muderous, bent over someone who's clawing at him. We see a woman getting tossed into a pile of rubbish, and then Ianto bending over her to strangle her.
“You didn't mean to kill her,” Adam tells him, “You just couldn't stop yourself. Remember this.”
We see Ianto punching another woman to the ground, before moving to strangle her as well.
In the real world, Ianto sounds like he's choking, sliding to the ground with Adam's hand still on his forehead. Imagine if you will, gentle reader, your poor reviewer sitting through this scene with her hands covering her mouth, reminding herself that it's just a TV show, but ohgodthatshorrible. Perhaps I have a low threshold, but I find implicit violence far more disturbing than guts and gore (see: Sleepers).
“I didn't do that,” Ianto says, in tears, as Adam pulls his hand away.
“Oh yes you did,” Adam says, no longer in contact with Ianto, but still writing memories into his brain like an editor rewriting a manuscript. “And she wasn't the first.”
We see Ianto in this pseudo-memory chasing some poor girl against the shutters of a shop, then stalking around someone else.
“Good old Ianto, loyal Ianto. Roaming the streets at night for bait.”
“My... diary.” Ianto's trying desperately to resist what Adam's doing to him.
“All Human record is a lie,” Adam says, throwing the diary away, as Ianto is dragged along behind him in the false reality of constructed memory. “You twist it into what you want to believe.” Back in the Hub, Adam backs Ianto up against the stairs. “But we know the rot in your heart. You crave flesh.”
“No, please,” begs Ianto.
Adam grabs him again, hand against his head, and Ianto convulses. “Remember it,” he repeats, over and over, as we see hints of the murders that Adam has planted into his brain. “I helped you dump the bodies. It's me you called.” He plants a firm kiss on Ianto's mouth (thus fulfiling our same-gender kiss quota for the episode) and clutches Ianto's head against his chest in a parody of a comforting hug. “You know, I forgot what a rush it is, feeding in the bad stuff.”
And then he's gone, leaving Ianto stuck somewhere between reality and his memories. In his memories, he's sitting in the street, a woman's body dead nearby. He curls up and starts screaming.
**
Jack apparently never gave up his 'standing on the rooftops' habit, and is stuck somewhere in his own memories, remembering finding his father, and his mother running up. She sobs when she sees her husband and clutches at Jack, and then asks where Gray is. Not only does Jack's name remain intact (they only ever call him 'son'), but while Franklin, Jack's father, has an American accent, his mother has an English one.
Jack tells her that he lost Gray, and his mother breaks down, sobbing. Jack stands watching in the memory, asking why now.
Then we cut back to him on a rooftop in Cardiff asking, “Why now?” to the camera.
Sorry, mate, even the director doesn't have any answers to that one.
**
Gwen, dressed in an appropriately covering full set of pjamas, gets into bed, with Rhys sitting on the edge looking nervous. She pulls up the duvet to cover herself as she sits down, and Rhys moves closer, not wanting to look at him.
She says she's getting there, even though the memories are a blur. Rhys is despondant, but Gwen tries to be positive saying that they'll “find it again”. Rhys admits that he was worried she just settled for him, which, actually, is a valid worry, because she's occasionally implied that that's exactly what she's done.
He kisses her, quickly, and she doesn't immediately pull away. He asks if it jogs any memories. She says it felt like the first time, but that it “was nice”. He leans forward and kisses her neck, and she says she likes it. Rhys grins and says he knows.
“Remind me some more?” Gwen suggests, glancing significantly towards the bed.
How can any fiancee say no to that?
**
Team Sex is apparently living up to their moniker tonight. Tosh and Adam are getting quite happily “busy” in her flat (apparently installing memories of brutal murders is a turn on for some aliens). There's a bottle of wine, mostly drunk, lying on the floor nearby. As they get on with things, Adam pauses to ask her how far she'd go for him.
“Would you die for me?” he asks.
“Yes,” she says, utterly besotted.
I'm telling you. Those kind of statements are always trouble.
**
Jack's back from taking in the aerial view of Cardiff.
“Jack,” a whispery, hoarse voice, calls out behind him.
Jack freezes, looking momentarily terrified. He slowly turns, then sags in relief. “Ianto,” he says, with a smile that says 'gosh, I'm such an idiot' at his own paranoia, and walks towards the other man, who's sagged against the railings of the stairs, in more or less the same position that Adam left him in. Ianto's staring off into space, looking almost dead.
“You have to put me in the vaults,” Ianto says, sounding like he's trying not to start weeping. “Lock me up. I killed three girls. Strangled them.”
“Stop kidding around,” Jack says, sounding almost slightly angry.
“I'm serious,” Ianto says, his voice hoarse. “I murdered them in cold blood. I took their bodies and-” He abruptly leaps to his feet, looking around, panicked. Jack backs off slightly. “You have to lock me away,” Ianto repeats, “Before I turn on you.”
He tries to run past Jack and, presumably, to the vaults, but Jack grabs him on the way by. “Hey!” He yells, “Come here.” He grabs at Ianto's arms, although Ianto initiatially tries to brush him off. “Come here.” Ianto stills, and Jack frowns. “What's happened to you?” When Ianto can't answer, Jack pulls him into a hug, arms wrapped around him.
“I'm a monster,” Ianto whispers, as he rests his head on Jack's shoulder.
Oh please. You're too cute to be a monster. And Jack's going to prove it. With the aid of a big stick with a green glowy bit on the end.
No. Not that stick.
The scene shifts to Jack's office, where Ianto is sitting in the chair opposite Jack's desk, jacket off and sleeves rolled up, while Jack sets up some sort of alien device which is, apparently the best lie detector on a planet. It's also the most user friendly. It has a green light on top. If it turns red, it's a lie. I think it would definitely win a usability award. He prompts Ianto to start talking.
“My hands... on her throat... and it felt so good.” Ianto sounds like he relishes the memory too. Jack glances worriedly down at the lie detector, which is still green. “Squeezing the life out of her.” Abruptly, Ianto looks horrified by his own words, as he looks at the device. “It reads as truth,” he says, sounding panicked.
“I don't believe it,” Jack says, firmly. Second girl.
“She tried to get away. But I was too quick. Pleading.” A small, tight smile crosses his lips. “And I... I didn't care. Something in me wants to kill.”
“No,” Jack says, abruptly pulling out the glowy stick, standing. “Something's changed you. You're not a murderer. I'm certain of it.” He strides out to the main Hub, squeezing Ianto's shoulder as he goes.
Jack certainly sounds more certain than Ianto looks.
Jack starts pulling up CCTV footage. He finds images of Adam pushing the memories into Ianto's brain, and all the time where there was suspicious physical contact between Adam and members of the team before they all suddenly seem to change.
“Come here,” Jack says, grabbing Ianto and pushing him in front of the monitors. “Just look.” He leaves Ianto staring, at the footage, running into the autopsy bay, discovering that there's no blood sample from Adam. Ianto pokes the computers, and pulls up Adam's personnel file. Last updated 24 hours ago, it seems.
The lights suddenly come on as someone puts some coins in the meters, and the doors start to open. With something that has the ring of long practice, Jack and Ianto assume 'nonchalant' poses, Jack grabbing the nearest notebook, while Ianto stuffs his hands in his pockets. I expect all fangirls to go through their DVDs and figure out how many times they've been caught in this same 'we're not doing anything, honest' pose.
Not that they really needed to worry. It's Brains, carrying a massive bunch of flowers. He stares at them. They stare back. Ianto glances between them, looking panicked, and practically flees the area. Jack stands still, for a moment, but then disappears when Tosh arrives with Adam. She 'awws' at the flowers, though Adam shrugs when she glances at him. She sniffs them appreciatively, and looks at the card.
Brains apologises for what he said last night, saying he just wants her to be happy, and not jeapardise their friendship, although, based on what I've seen so far they don't really have much of a friendship, it's more her being scornful. Gwen also turns up, although Rhys didn't think she should come in, she decided to anyway (so it's nearly business as usual between those two then). Apparently her memory is sort of returning, though it's not there yet.
Jack glares at Adam from his office, while Ianto stalks the upper levels, similarly glowering.
Adam says they'll take care of her, and urges everyone into a group hug. Ianto tries to walk by, but Adam pulls away and comes after him. When Adam reaches for him, Ianto pulls away. Adam doesn't exactly look pleased. “Listen, I could murder a coffee,” he says, tossing his jacket down on a chair.
That's apparently as far as Jack's willing to let it go. As Adam sits down and then leans back in his chair, he's aiming his gun at the back of Adam's head. Gwen, Tosh and Brains notice the sudden weapons brandishing (how could they not? It's been at least three days since any of them pulled a weapon on the others) and stare, confused.
“Talk to me, Adam,” Jack prompts, “If that's even your name.”
Adam and the others try to laugh the tension away, but Jack doesn't back down. He tells them Adam's been feeding himself into their memories. Tosh asks if it's a sick joke. Brains chips in with his own protests. Adam tries to reach out and touch, but Jack warns him off.
“All I know is that when I think of my team I see you there but I don't feel anything for you. No pride. No warmth. You. The one who I can confide in. The one who unburied the dead.”
Aww. He thinks of his team with warmth and pride? Methinks there'll be time for another group hug when this is all over. For now though, Jack is kicking himself that he didn't notice it when Gwen abruptly lost her memory. He's figured out how the whole 'memory rearranging' thing works, and how it can affect their real memories. Adam tries to deny everything, and Jack grabs him out of his chair, ordering him to the vaults.
“No!” Tosh has pulled her own gun out, pointing it at Jack first, then Gwen and Brains when they try to calm her down. She demands they let him go, screaming at Jack to “drop the gun!”. Ianto, who had been edging close behind her, reaches out, wrenching the gun out of her hands. He gets the weapon away and she screams after Adam.
**
Adam is now a next door neighbour of Janet, telling Jack that he only did what he had to to survive. He begs not to be killed.
“You changed us,” Jack says, accusingly.
“For the better,” insists Adam, “You didn't remember who you were. I helped you. Look at Owen, all his cynicism gone. He's a different man now, selfless, happier. And Toshiko too. She's never been this confident.”
Gwen lost the memory of her dearly loved fiancé, and Ianto became convinced he's a murderer several times over. You can see why Jack might be a tad sceptical about the purity of Adam's motivations.
Jack demands to know why them. They have unique memories, Adam says, especially Jack (“Some hidden, some absent” which might possibly be the only oblique reference to his two missing years since his very first episode). It's what drew him, apparently. Good job, says Jack, since the best thing they do is to wipe out aliens. Adam gets frantic as Jack starts to walk out, yelling after that they can't kill him.
“You always remember what you killed, don't you Jack?”
Now which of Jack's unique memories might he be referring to there?
**
“Our memories define us,” Jack says, to the group assembled in the conference room, “Adam changed those memories, changed who we are. Now I have to help you.”
Yes, but who's going to help him?
If he's wrong, Jack says, Adam will still be there, in the end. He turns on what looks like a Winamp visualisation, and urges them back to 'before we all met' and to think of something that makes them what they are.
Gwen thinks of Rhys, meeting him at college, thinks of a stupid joke he told. She laughs out loud.
Brains thinks of his birthday at age 10, when his Mother spent the day screaming, telling him she didn't like him.
Tosh thinks of maths club, the beauty of numbers.
Ianto thinks of meeting Lisa, falling in love. It made him feel alive.
Brain thinks of how his Mum packed his bags when he was sixteen.
Gwen thinks of her first kiss with Rhys.
Tosh thinks of her first flat, and how she didn't have a housewarming, because there was no one to invite.
Ianto's face has changed from the smile he wore when thinking of Lisa to the anguish of losing her.
Gwen says she loves Rhys, Jack shifting uncomfortably as she speaks, then looks up, still caught up in the hypnotical spell, and locks eyes with Jack. “But not in the way I love you,” she says.
Jack's response is to hand her a small white pill and brush his fingers against her cheek.
Tosh thinks of how there has to be more to life, how she's waiting for someone to see she's special.
Jack touches her shoulder, and hands her a pill. “I saw it,” he tells her.
Owen thinks of how saving lives is never enough. Who's going to save him?
Jack lays a hand on his chest, dropping a pill in front of him. “I will,” he says.
Ianto thinks of how coming to Torchwood in Cardiff gave him meaning again. As Jack approaches, he turns and looks up at him. “You,” he says, simply.
Jack reaches down, kissing him on the forehead. He doesn't say anything this time, just dropping the tablet in front of Ianto.
They're short term amnesia pills. They should wipe out the last 48 hours, and let them forget Adam. Ianto is first, hurriedly swallowing the pill and then one by one they take the tablets, and Adam, down in the cells, starts to splutter like a image breaking up.
Tosh resists. She switches the screen back to the CCTV of Adam. She's going to lose so much, she says. It's the one thing she's wanted all her life, for someone to see her as special. Jack says it wasn't real, but Tosh is convinced that it doesn't matter. He loves her, she loves him, it's no different than being real.
“He forced it on you,” Jack says, gently, “You have to let it go.”
She finally, reluctantly, takes the amnesia pill. “Goodbye, Adam,” she whispers, folding her arms and laying her head down on them.
Gwen starts to slump forward to the table, and Jack catches her gently. The others are already sleeping. He walks out, leaving them to lose their memories.
**
Adam is looking considerably weaker. When Jack arrives, he points out that he's the only one left.
Adam begs not to be sent into non-existence. Jack says he's going to wipe out the last two days from his mind, and Adam points out that he gets to keep the bad memories, because they were always Jack's. He says he can help Jack remember the last good memory of him and his dad.
Why, Jack asks. Adam spins a story about offering a favour, after being released from the void.
Jack seems torn. On the one hand, this alien accidentally hurt Gwen, deliberately hurt Ianto, and changed them all. On the other...
He wants those good memories.
He agrees. He clsoes his eyes, going back to when he and his Dad were playing with Gray on the beach, colourful pinwheels spinning in the breeze. The ball they're playing with gets knocked away, and Jack goes to chase it. And... there's something that wasn't there before...
In the real world, Jack's happiness and laughter melt away abruptly.
It's a young boy, asking if he can play, saying his name's Adam.Young!Jack is a clever cookie. He pushes Adam-in-the-dream to the ground. His Dad appears, asking what's going on, and moves to help Adam up. Young!Jack tries to stop him, but the moment that Jack's Dad touches Adam, the alien seems to come fully into the memory. Disheartened that his son was so unkind to a stranger, Jack's Dad and Gray head off.
“No,” the adult Jack is there, calling after his dad. “We don't leave yet. We play some more. It gets dark. We light a fire. Mum joins us.” And yes, he says Mum, which sounds odd in an American accent.
Adam's changed the memory. Jack chases after his Dad in the memory, and in reality, sobs that he wants the real memory back. Adam tells him to let him live. The box contains the last good memory, of Jack, his Dad, and Gray. He'll always live as long as Jack remembers it.
Jack produces his own amnesia pill. Adam yells that if he wipes Adam out, he'll forget his Dad. Forever.
Jack swallows the pill. Adam, collapses, wracked with pain, and Jack slides down the wall, the memory of dunes in his mind turning to a sandstorm that whips around, obscuring everything. He's left yelling out for his dad and Gray, even as he falls asleep.
The cells are empty when Jack wakes up, though his face is damp with tears, and he only looks a little surprised at being there.
The rest of the team are at their computers, pawing through the databases, wondering how they've lost two days. Jack has no idea what they're talking about. Ianto produces a tray full of mugs, saying they've all lost 48 hours. Tosh reports that the computers have been wiped. They all seem remarkably unconcerned at having lost two days, though Jack points out that Tosh seems to have gained an admirer.
She pulls out the card that came with the big bouquet of flowers that Brains gave her. “To Tosh, love and apologies, Owen.” Her face lights up. “They're from you.”
Owen sniggers. “In your dreams. No, I don't do flowers.” He takes the card off her and reads it. “And I definitely don't do apologies.”
Tosh looks disheartened, but when he hands the card back, Owen gives her a smile., and she seems to get what he didn't say.
In his office, Jack takes the mysterious gold box out of its plastic freezer bag, and a piece falls on the floor. He picks it up, examining it curiously as Ianto walks in.
“Did you er-” Ianto glances about, uncertain.
Jack hold up a certain book. “Found your diary,” he says.
“Yep, been looking for that,” Ianto says, with the air of someone trying desperately not to snatch said diary away and trying to be nonchalant about what it might contain.
Jack smirks and hands it over. “And for the record,” he says, as Ianto's about to make his escape, “Measuring tapes never lie.”
Ianto closes his eyes and with his back to Jack and his face to the camera, distinctly mouths: Fuck
“Hey!” Jack yells, as Ianto gets outside the door. Tea boy pops his head back in. “Who's Adam?”
The freezer bag is labelled 'Adam's Property'.
“Don't know,” Ianto says, and disappears again.
Jack looks at the small piece that fell on the floor, and finds where it fits into the box. Nothing happens. Unimpressed, he sets it down, prepared to ignore it and go back to work, but he only gets a few steps away when the box opens. He picks it up, finding a small compartment inside.
He tips it out into his hand; a stream of golden sand, exactly like the sort you'd find on most beaches, falls into his palm. Jack frowns at it. It seems to provoke something... like he ought to remember something about it... but he lets it drop to the ground.
After all, you can't miss what you never remember having.
When is an AU not an AU? When it's, well, this.
Leaving aside the comparisons to the novel “Border Princes” (comparisons I don't feel would hold up too well, given that the nature of the alteration of memory in that book is much more benign than Adam's), fiddling around with memory is not a new concept on Torchwood. It's something they do all the time. They've retconned over 2000 people. Jack lost two years of his life (and when are they going to get back to that freaking plot point). Suzie messed with one guy's mind so much she turned him into a psychotic killer.
What's interesting is what it does to them. We simultaneously see how the Torchwood team could have turned out if the world was different, and what makes them who they are. I can see this as an AU story so easily. Tosh is a bitch, Owen is a quietly studious sort who wears his heart on his sleeve, Gwen isn't engaged to Rhys, Jack's past isn't a mystery, and Ianto's a murderer. You can't get much different from where they were.
But their real personalities still shine through. Tosh's obsession with Adam is an outgrowth of such a painfully longstanding loneliness. Ianto is so horrified at the mere thought of being a murderer that the first thing he does upon receiving the memories is to try and get Jack to lock him away, for the safety of everyone else. Owen... actually, no, Owen's so completely different. It's relying on Jack not having strayed too far from his own original life that he's the only one who can put events in motion to fix things.
Which is where we learn more about the characters than we ever have. Gwen remembers why she loves Rhys, but admits she loves Jack. Owen reveals that his mother hated him and kicked him out when he was sixteen (and that would probably fuck anyone up). Tosh has spent her life feeling alone, with only numbers to comfort her. Ianto, just like Gwen, is defined by the people he's loved (Lisa, losing her, then coming to Cardiff and Jack).
Jack isn't defined by his childhood memories. He buried them. For what reason, we don't know, but when the choice comes to take the pill to get rid of those memories, and Adam, it's not a choice he wants to make, but he makes it easily enough. He loses the memories. In Gwen's gradual recovery of her memories of Rhys there is still some hope for Jack, and the possibility of him returning those memories to himself. It's a glimpse of Jack, but nothing more. I can't help but think that whatever the creatures that invaded his home were (that killed so many of the population quickly and with little damage) are going to become important at some later date.
So, Jack, naturally, remains as great a mystery as ever. I think if the writers do ever tell us something substantial, I might just die of shock.
I wasn't convinced by Adam, I will admit. He didn't seem to have the physicality of menace that I felt the character needed. When he was torturing Ianto, I didn't feel swept up in what he was doing. While Llyod-Davies was chewing the scenery like it was covered in chocolate, Bryan Dick seemed not to be following it through with equal intensity, which left the scene feeling woefully lopsided. He didn't strike me as a sneaky menace. Frankly, Adam came across as a spiteful child, inserting himself into memories, then forcing Jack to lose his when he was threatened with death.
Perhaps that was the intention, I don't know, but, as I say, I was unconvinced. Some of the direction in the above scene was, I think, a little off as well. He kisses Ianto, rather forcefully, but I never got a sexually dangerous vibe from him, even in his scenes with Toshiko. I would contrast that immediately with (same scene, I know) Ianto almost, but not quite, kissing the girl he's murdering. That was chilling. Adam's was not.
Likewise between Jack and Adam, where Adam forces Jack to think of his childhood, there's a lot of expression and gesturing (which is always a hint of a theatrical actor), but that isn't returned from Adam. It's jarring, and speaks to either poor casting or poor direction.
Other things of note include that Ianto keeps a diary. According to the website, he draws circuits in it. Is he secretly an engineer or something? Jack's mother is still alive, even if if his father isn't (or at least, she wasn't killed at the same time). Even without her memory, Gwen still loves Rhys.
Next Week: Martha's back. Except it's not next week. It's this week if you have BBC Three. Goddammit. That means I have another review to write.
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