wintercompanion | Meta Month of March: Ep Discussion: Boom Town

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Meta Month of March: Ep Discussion: Boom Town

What do you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?

So it goes: Through Mickey's eyes we are re-introduced to Team TARDIS. And quite a few things have changed since last we saw them! The Doctor, Rose, and Jack are finishing each other's sentences, Jack is working on the TARDIS all on his own, and they're all relaxed with each other, the wariness from the end of last episode gone.

Into time and space!

It's the only time we get the Doctor/Rose/Jack team on a normal adventure - well, what passes for normal for them! We have their first (The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances) and their last (Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways), and we know there must have been quite a few in between, but this is the only one we get to see. Jack is flirting with the Doctor, and in one scene (How come I never get any of that?) Doctor/Jack is paralleled and contrasted to Rose/Mickey. The Doctor trusts Jack to work on the TARDIS all on his own while everyone else leaves, and even when things go wrong, the Doctor doesn't just take over; Jack and he keep working on it together. Quite a change.

Also, once again (as usual when Jack is involved) there is so much joy and glee and fun around. Until ...

At last you have consequences.

For some reason, this episode doesn't get much love, perhaps because of that shift in tone. But it's one of my favourites - there's something about it that's quintessential Who to me. We get a fun romp - Jack telling tall tales, silly chase sequences, geeking out over the tribophysical waveform macrokinetic extrapolator, Rose learning how to say "Raxacoricofallapatorius" ... and then - you think you are so clever! - then, it all comes to a screeching halt: They have the death penalty. And what was a silly romp turns serious as Team TARDIS has to face the consequences of what they do. For once, there's no running away. No moving on to the next adventure. For once, they have to look the consequences in the face. And there's no easy way out.

Of course because this is Doctor Who and not Torchwood, we do get the TARDIS-ex-machina at the end, so they don't actually have to make that choice in the end: She's an egg! - But in the mean time, we get a very serious examination of what the Doctor's adventures mean for those not travelling along. This is an episode of outside perspectives, Mickey and Blon showing us the parts we don't normally see: friends and enemies, those left behind, the consequences. Brilliant.

What do you think? Here are a few questions for your consideration, in no particular order:

How much time has passed since The Doctor Dances? The Team TARDIS dynamics have changed a lot - they're very clearly a team now. But at the same time, Jack has apparently never asked about the broken chameleon circuit before.

How serious is the flirting? At this point the Doctor is very obviously flirting back; does he mean it? Would it have gone anywhere if they'd travelled together longer, if Bad Wolf hadn't already been looming on the horizon?

The Doctor gives Jack that weird look when Jack rattles off his plan, but how serious do you think the Doctor really is about being in charge?

Blon's insights into the Doctor (I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor.) are every bit as devastating as his insights into her (That's how you slaughter millions.). This shades into the next episodes a bit, but how much of that do you think Jack is aware of?

And here's something else that's not strictly about this episode, but still: What we didn't know back then was that the Torchwood Three Hub is right under the Plass - and that while Team TARDIS are running all over the city, Jack Harkness is there a second time. What do you think older!Jack is doing that day? Watching his own past? Deliberately not looking? How did he stop Torchwood from interfering with Blon's plans before then? They must have noticed, after all.

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I love this episode so much. I love the Doctor flirting with Jack.
'You're such hard work!'
'But so worth it!'
I especially love the questions it asks about taking someone to their death. Annette Badland s brlliant in this. She is both kind to the pregnant woman and a killer ruthless enough to take out Cardiff to escape. The dinner with the Doctor is one of my favouirite scenes as she explains what she can do. Also love that she mentions bondage in Doctor Who for a first date. Jack appears very much part of the team with the Doctor and Rose. Mickey is sidelined a bit and rather whiney in this one.
The question of what Torchwood is up to is answered in many fics. I've written one myself called One Night in Cardiff. I also wrote one called Under the Doctor set after the episode whcih brings Jack and the Doctor together. It must have been agony for Jack to see them there and not be able to do anything about it and to see his then mortal self. I must say that I'm glad he went back to the coat rather than the jacket.
So all in all this is a much unloved episode that I love and have watched many many times.

It's really an amazing episode - so much in it! And you're right, Annette Badland is a huge part of why it's so brilliant - she really sells the complex villain, and I'm so impressed that they managed to get this out of the cartoony Slitheen of all creatures!

I love that the Doctor flirts back - he's actively encouraging Jack at this point. Damn, I really wish there'd been a lot more episodes before Bad Wolf!

As for Mickey, I never liked him much, but this was the first time I really felt for him.

Do you have links to your fics, maybe? I think I read them at some point, but don't remember much. And yes, I really feel for Jack, having to watch that and not being able to do anything. *hugs him*

I must say that I'm glad he went back to the coat rather than the jacket.

Hahaha, yes, no doubt about that! :D

All my one shots including those two are here.

http://iolo1234.livejournal.com/36554.html

K
xx

Thank you!

Yay, links!

This is a tough ep for Mickey - in the same way it's tough for Blon, though, I think - SOMEONE has to speak the uncomfortable truths?

And Blon is *excellent* - in no small part because she's strong and complex against two strong, complex men. She really does have both of their numbers - and the ruthlessness to use every identified weakness against both of them. Which, basically, equals: flirting, Rose, and the TARDIS, not necessarily in that order. :)

She really does have both of their numbers - and the ruthlessness to use every identified weakness against both of them. Which, basically, equals: flirting, Rose, and the TARDIS, not necessarily in that order.

:D :D :D

(I really love Blon's complexity. Such a fabulous character.)

I also love this ep to bits. Exactly for all the reasons you've put out there: the shift in tone, the huge strides Team TARDIS have clearly made together, and all that implied backstory that ficcers have been filling in ever since.

I vaguely recall reading somewhere that "officially" Jack put the Hub in lockdown to avoid disrupting the timeline, but it would've been nice to actually *see* that ep. They do enough flashbacky stuff, it could've been worked in, and it's a shame they didn't.

It's so nice to hear other people love this ep too!

And OMG yes, I'd really have loved seeing that particular flashback. *sighs*

This is also why I'm so fond of the three Team TARDIS novels. None of them quite have the same sense of just the joy of the team, much less the Doctor/Jack flirting that this ep does though.

Ah well, what they don't show is more fodder for fic. *toddles off to read the ones that were just linked above*

I completely agree about the three novels. I love them, but it's just not nearly as much fun as seeing them all three on the screen. Even the audiobook versions. :D

There are audiobook versions? Who reads them? *scurries off to amazon*

Oh, let me think! One's Tony Head, one's Camille Coduri, and one's... Stuart Milligan, who played Nixon.

Ooh, Tony Head! Love his voice. Can't find them at Amazon though. Drat. But now I know they exist, I'll keep looking. Thanks for that!

I don't know that I'd call it a TARDIS ex machina, looks more like a deus ex TARDIS to me, or considering the gender maybe a dea ex TARDIS...

...but Jack/Doctor!

They've clearly been through a lot together by now, although considering how much the Doctor and his friends go through on a daily basis, it might not have to be as long time-wise as we'd expect. There's a quote in Bad Wolf that never sat well with me, as it seems to contradict their close relationship here, but I'll leave that till the proper time.

Sadly, I do not get any sort of interested vibe from the Doctor here. I've seen too many similar flirty comments tossed about in fun by friends who are comfortable with each other but not at all romantically interested. I think Jack isn't entirely joking, but there's nothing in the Doctor's demeanor to suggest that he acknowledges this. That said, there's obviously a very high level of trust and respect and enjoyment of each other's company, so it certainly doesn't preclude something more than friendship, if you want to approach it from that angle.

I love the Doctor's reaction to Jack's plan. He feels the need to reassert his dominance here, which is totally legitimate because Jack and Rose are guests in his TARDIS, after all. I get the feeling that Jack pushing his boundaries and the Doctor reminding him who's boss is an ongoing dynamic by this point. Whereas in TEC/TDD the Doctor would have taken offense and probably shot down the plan (on a trumped-up reason if necessary), here he takes it in stride, calling Jack out on insubordination but then paying him the compliment of adopting his exact plan, and he does it with a smile. Love the way Jack backs down, too--Sorry, awaiting orders, sir! The whole exchange practically screams "We've had this conversation umpteen times already, and we both know perfectly well where it's going, but we're having it again just to needle each other."

I'm not sure Jack was ever that fazed by Blon's whole guilt trip. He might've been uncomfortable with the tense atmosphere, but my overall impression of his character is that Jack has more of a black-and-white mentality than the Doctor. Either you qualify as a bad guy, in which case Jack has no problem killing you, or else he likes you and will let you get away with just about anything. Because of this, I'm guessing that whatever Jack knows about the Doctor's darker side, it simply doesn't bother him much because the Doctor is one of the good guys.

I don't know that I'd call it a TARDIS ex machina, looks more like a deus ex TARDIS to me

Well, yes, that too, but literally the console opens and heart of the TARDIS comes out of the machine. *g*

I can never decide if there's anything under the Doctor's flirting at this point. I agree, it doesn't have to mean a thing - people say stuff like that all the time. But I just can't see any real evidence either way. (More episodes! We needed more episodes before Bad Wolf!)

The whole exchange practically screams "We've had this conversation umpteen times already, and we both know perfectly well where it's going, but we're having it again just to needle each other."

Really? Because that look the Doctor gives Jack when Jack just rattles off the plan ... that looks to me more like surprise than anything. "WTF are you doing?" - This is actually one of the moments that gives me a feeling they can't have been travelling together very long.

but my overall impression of his character is that Jack has more of a black-and-white mentality than the Doctor

I'll have to think about this, because I've never looked at it that way ...

TARDIS ex TARDIS?

Hmm. Maybe I need a rewatch. I don't honestly remember the Doctor's facial expression, just getting that impression from the scene as a whole. Partly because they were competing for the alpha male position for the entirety of Jack's first two episodes, and so I can't really see the Doctor being surprised that Jack would try to take over the operation, regardless of how much time had passed since then. Not unless it was their very first adventure and the Doctor thought that Jack would still feel humbled by the nanogene incident, and that just doesn't jive with the opening scene. Also partly because if Jack really intended to run the show without at least half-expecting that he'd get shot down, I'd expect him to put up more of a fight than "Awaiting orders, sir!" It's the speed with which he backs off, without even attempting to defend the merits of his plan, that tells me he must be well-acquainted with backing off and that he's confident the Doctor will either accept the plan or come up with a better one. Furthermore, as far as I can recall, he doesn't bat an eye when the Doctor does a complete 180 and says "good plan. Anything else?"

You know, that's a good point - the way Jack's presenting his plan, he has to be deliberately poking the Doctor. It's the only thing that makes sense. And so he knows (and expects) the Doctor will react accordingly.

Really? Because that look the Doctor gives Jack when Jack just rattles off the plan ... that looks to me more like surprise than anything. "WTF are you doing?" - This is actually one of the moments that gives me a feeling they can't have been travelling together very long.

That's so interesting - because I'm in

magic_7_words's camp - it feels like a long-running conversation, and the Doctor playing the expected straight man, to me. I feel it as more of a "Blah, blah, *eyeroll*, Good plan, let's go!" kind of thing. :)

On the black/white issue: I think Jack has shades of grey in his morality - I think he has to, given what we know of his past - but I think when it comes to loyalty, he has an on-switch and and off-switch. And for the Doctor, at this point, it's all the way on. So Blon's revelations - I don't think they'd sway him in the heat of the moment. But they might give him substantial pause later, when he has time to process?

I think Jack has shades of grey in his morality - I think he has to, given what we know of his past - but I think when it comes to loyalty, he has an on-switch and and off-switch.

Oh, yes, I absolutely agree with that. I don't think Jack's particularly black-and-white when it comes to right or wrong, but for loyalty? Utterly and completely, yes.

As for Blon's revelations - I wonder if he thought back on them after he was abandoned. (I keep getting back to that today ... can't wait for that discussion, it seems! *g*)

Good point about a loyalty on/off switch. I was trying to reconcile Jack's willingness to kill with all the crap he lets his friends get away with--not only the Doctor leaving him for dead, but Torchwood disobeying direct orders, shooting him, hiding Cybermen in the basement, etc.--but he can forgive them while still recognizing that they've screwed up. So it isn't that he doesn't recognize shades of gray, just that he doesn't let them distract him when it comes to decision-making... maybe?

This is off-episode, but now that we're on the subject of Jack's morality, I'm trying to work in his actions at the end of CoE. The Doctor would never have done what he did (in my opinion--though it's a tough comparison, because if CoE had been written as a DW episode, he wouldn't have had to make the choice; there'd have been a third option), and I postulate that this may be because Jack finds it easier than the Doctor to turn off the part of his brain that gets hung up on "this is a horrible thing I'm doing" and listen to the part that says "it's the only way forward, therefore it's the right thing." The ability to pare complicated issues down to binary options, e.g. "The Doctor: friend or foe? Friend. Okay, glad we settled that." Or something.

Edited 2012-03-13 01:29 (UTC)

I think Jack knows shades of grey perfectly well, but he's action-focused and will settle on a solution and go through with it.

the Doctor would never have done what he did (in my opinion--though it's a tough comparison, because if CoE had been written as a DW episode, he wouldn't have had to make the choice

I think he could have - he did during the Time War, and he was ready to do it in The Beast Below. It would have broken him, but he could have. But as you say, it's DW, so he's spared having to go through with it. Jack, on the other hand, probably finds it easier to put off the "too horrible to contemplate" thoughts until he's done with the action. He's better at compartmentalising.

"The Doctor: friend or foe? Friend. Okay, glad we settled that." Or something.

Hee, yes, that! :D

I do love Boom Town too, and for so many reasons: the vibe between the three of them, Jack and the Doctor flirting, both Jack and the Doctor so protective of and worried about Rose when Blon takes her hostage - and the Doctor-Blon scenes. To me, this is some considerable time after ED/TDD - I'd say a couple of months at least. The Doctor clearly likes Jack - no suspicion and no remaining digs about his character; he listens with more than interest to Jack's stories; he trusts Jack to help with TARDIS maintenance and is happy to leave him alone working on the ship; and, although it's not explicit, it's pretty clear that Jack knows what the Doctor is and how special the TARDIS is. And the vibe between the three of them is adorable. They're all so happy and carefree here - until things start to go wrong, and the Doctor and Rose are separately confronted with things they might have reason to be ashamed of. Jack - oddly, for an RTD episode - gets off scot-free from any angst-causing scenarios, but then that's more than made up for from here on :(

"In-between" stories that take place between the previous two episodes and this one are my absolute favourite for S1 (OT3, though, not Jack/Doctor), though I did write one fic where Torchwood-Jack can't resist letting himself into the TARDIS (with a hidden agenda) but is found by Nine.

The only thing I don't like about the episode is that it leads directly into the beginning of the end of their time together: Nine's regeneration and Jack's abandonment.

I remember that fic! That was a good one. Sad, but good. :-)

Jack - oddly, for an RTD episode - gets off scot-free from any angst-causing scenarios,

YES. Exactly this. Instead of angst, he basically gets an ep where he makes out with the TARDIS. And EVERYBODY has angst coming up. I wonder if he had a separate similar "called on it" moment - or whether his moment was generated internally, as a part of joining Team TARDIS, when they turn into the set of relationships we see at the beginning of Boomtown.

Jack - oddly, for an RTD episode - gets off scot-free from any angst-causing scenarios, but then that's more than made up for from here on :(

Oh, good point! I suppose it makes sense here that he's not included in the "oops, consequences!" spiel because we haven't known him long enough, and in particular we haven't known him at all as a member of Team TARDIS. He got hit in the face with the consequences of his happy-go-lucky conman lifestyle just previously, too ...

The only thing I don't like about the episode is that it leads directly into the beginning of the end of their time together: Nine's regeneration and Jack's abandonment.

Oh, yes. It's the beginning of the end. :(

Augh. LJ ate my comment. Trying again - and without reading other comments yet.

1) You really, really capture what I love about this ep, and what makes me think, every time, that I really need to watch it more often than I do: that light-switch change from fun and frothy to high-stakes, hard, and bone-deep.

2) Re: the passage of time - I leave this at the nebulous answer, "enough". :D Several adventures, I think. I don't think they've been together long enough for shippy relationships, but the bond is there and the trust is solid.

3) Flirting: My OT3 and slash-loving heart says oh, my, yes, it would happen if Bad Wolf wasn't on its way - and then says, "let's invent ALL THE WAYS IT HAPPENED between Boomtown and Bad Wolf." (Because that, I buy.) At this point, though, I don't think the Doctor's full-on in earnest when he flirts, but I do think he's in the neighborhood of "half-in-jest, oh-wait-maybe-some-earnest".

4) That weird look: You know, to me, that reads almost as much like flirting - or at least friends giving each other grief - as "Buy me a drink first." Jack knows he's yanking the Doctor's chain by rattling off a plan - but he also knows it's a good plan - and the Doctor knows that he's the straight man playing for a reaction. And that it's a good plan. :D Generally, I think at this point Jack's acknowledged that as a general rule, the Doctor's in charge. What I'm less sure about is what happens when Jack really, deeply disagrees, and how far he's willing to push it (as compared to, say, Rose and Gwyneth and the Gelth on Rose's second trip out). I do think it says LOADS, in the confrontation with Blon, that Jack looks immediately, unhesitatingly, and completely to the Doctor before he moves the extrapolator - I *love* that moment, and really, the way he handles that whole scene. He knows how the Doctor's going to play it, and he follows that scenario even though you can see him wishing for action. I don't think the Doctor's got Jack on a leash - the very idea would give battle-weary Nine HIVES, I think - but I think to Jack, there's a commanding officer vibe. I wonder if the two of them (Nine, particularly) don't have to struggle with that a little? The Doctor has the habits of a soldier and doesn't want them, and Jack spent his exile pretending not to be a soldier, which could make falling into a chain of command a sort of comfortable alternative.

5) Re: Blon. Interesting. I really *don't* have an answer to that. Certainly, I don't think Jack knows about the Time War beyond maybe the bare outline. But I think (as we talked about in Empty Child/TDD), there's something of an instant recognition of like to like - and maybe that's all the detail Jack needs? If he wouldn't want someone exploring his own details, he wouldn't push the Doctor for his?

6) Oooh. Maybe he gets sneaky with retcon - or cooks up some out-of-town emergency for the rest of the team, and watches on the CCTV while his team snoozes in the conference room/volunteers to stay and hold down the fort?

2) "Enough" makes sense. *g*

but I do think he's in the neighborhood of "half-in-jest, oh-wait-maybe-some-earnest".

Yes, in the end that's where I fall as well.

You know, to me, that reads almost as much like flirting

That's an excellent point! Clearly it's been too long since I thought about this ep. Because given the way Jack rattles off his plan, he has to be deliberately poking the Doctor, and he must know the reaction he'll get. And the Doctor of course, as you say, plays along.

What I'm less sure about is what happens when Jack really, deeply disagrees, and how far he's willing to push it

Oh, excellent question! I'd love to know this too, and I can't tell either. The thing is, I think its actually essential for Jack's journey that this hasn't happened - the whole Satellite Five abandonment would be a different story if they'd had serious disagreements before. As it is, Jack's still in the "unconditional" phase of the relationship, and the Doctor's yet to be toppled off the pedestal.

I wonder if the two of them (Nine, particularly) don't have to struggle with that a little? The Doctor has the habits of a soldier and doesn't want them, and Jack spent his exile pretending not to be a soldier, which could make falling into a chain of command a sort of comfortable alternative.

Oh, interesting take! *ponders*

If he wouldn't want someone exploring his own details, he wouldn't push the Doctor for his?

That's a great point, I absolutely agree. He thinks he knows enough. But obviously he doesn't, considering Satellite Five ... *pets him*

watches on the CCTV while his team snoozes in the conference room

Hee! I like that idea. :D

Oh, and I meant to say:

"let's invent ALL THE WAYS IT HAPPENED between Boomtown and Bad Wolf." (Because that, I buy.)

I think the problem is that we know there are only two adventures between this and Bad Wolf. There's Raxacoricofallapatorius, then Japan, then the Game Station, right?

Well, yes, if you insist on being bound by canon. *Handwave* :D

Who says they didn't go to Raxacoriofallapatorius twice, hmm? Or take five different piloting attempts to land on the right planet in the right century? Especially if the TARDIS decided the three of them needed more time together... ;-)

Edited 2012-03-12 22:26 (UTC)

Oooh, I haven't seen that take yet! Someone definitely needs to write that!

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Meta Month of March: Ep Discussion: Boom Town

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