Jack
has two shows to contend with, so there’s a lot of potential for Big Damn Hero
moments. Of course, given Jack’s
condition post-“The Parting of the Ways,” risks of derring do don’t carry quite
the same risk, so I’ve got a mix of different stuff here in the interest of
variety (spoilers.)
Disposing of the Bomb (Doctor Who: Series 1,
Episode 10 – “The Doctor Dances”)
Not
that this post is entirely without
“Jack sacrifices himself for…” moments, because he wasn’t always immortal. This is a nice, lowkey scene that I just
love. Jack finds himself with a German
bomb on his spaceship with no way to jettison or defuse it, having agreed to
dispose of it for the Doctor and Rose.
After a (very) brief freakout, he takes a breath, accepts that there’s
no way out, and calmly gets himself a drink.
Now that’s style!
Staring Down Daleks (Doctor Who: Series 1,
Episode 13 – “The Parting of the
Ways”)
Okay,
one more “Jack sacrifices himself for…” scene, but again, it’s not so much the
fact of it as it is how he does it. Jack
has been leading the charge to engage the Daleks to buy the Doctor the time he
needs, and he’s now the last man standing.
Backed into a corner with multiple Daleks coming at him, he empties
every weapon he has before squaring his shoulders, looking them right in the
eyestalks, and throwing off a cocky rejoinder as he’s about to be exterminated.
Realizing Mary’s Game (Torchwood: Series 1, Episode
7 – “Greeks Bearing Gifts”)
Good
last-minute save from Jack here. Mary is
about to make her escape – she wants to take Tosh with her, she’s prepared to
kill Gwen to do it, and no one knows what to do. Enter Captain Jack, who’s anticipated Mary
and manages to totally play her, reprogramming her own transporter to use against
her. Not bad.
Removing the Engine Clamps (Doctor Who: Series 3, Episode 11 – “Utopia”)
The
rocket to Utopia can’t take off without removing the engine clamps, but thanks
to sabotage, no one can enter the room where they’re being housed and
live. Naturally, Jack volunteers. It’s not so much the inherent danger here –
although, immortal or not, spending multiple minutes in a room flooded with
radiation has to suck – as it is the larger scene. As Jack removes the clamps and presumably
feels the wildly-unpleasant effects of the radiation, he confronts the Doctor
about why he was left on the Game Station, and the two men have a
heart-to-heart about Jack’s immortality.
I like that, regardless of how he feels about the Doctor, Jack doesn’t
let him off the hook for what he did.
Confronting PhiCorp (Torchwood: Series 4, Episode
6 – “The Middle Men”)
No comments:
Post a Comment