It’s funny to me that Torchwood being a Doctor Who spin off - you’d expect it to be somewhat the same amount of family friendly
Then you watch the “Countrycide” episode and realize it’s the most horrific, terrifying, straight-from-hell TV show that you’re now addicted to. And there’s no going back… ever
ok, so it’s been a few days since i’ve watched captain jack harkness (aka the episode where jack and tosh get sent to the 1940s) and it just feels completely false to me that tosh doesn’t feel any anger at being placed in a situation that she has stated to be personally traumatic for her. after tosh expresses her fears about being stuck in a time period close to the pearl harbour attacks, the discussion immediately shifts towards discussing jack’s experiences in the 1940s! and when tosh ends up facing the samepersecution as her grandfather, we don’t get her reaction or any scene where she actually talks about how she feels, nothing! how can you have a character, particularly a british japanese woman facing anti-asian racism during ww2 andnotfocus on her reaction to a moment you have previously established as frightening for her?
yes, you could argue that tosh’s way of ‘processing’ is by immediately trying to solve problems and getting to work. sure! but i can’t help but draw parallels to ianto, who is similarly defined by his work and service to others in the earlier episodes, but his anger and frustrations are still given fair treatment, particularly in the cyberwoman episode. also, this is more of a note on torchwood/doctor who as a whole, but if you’re engaging with narratives of oppression and not actuallycentring the experiences of the characters from the oppressed group, particularly their justified anger, then who is this story for? to push a saviour narrative about how altruistic the white leads are? or using racism as ‘set dressing’ while the episode ultimately focuses on the pain of the white lead? (as many people have already mentioned, the family of blood is an egregious example of this with how it treats martha).
again, i’m only midway through season 2 and i’m hoping that the show ends by delving into tosh’s psyche in a more interesting and meaningful way. they almost got there with greeks bearing gifts and i can see what they were trying to achieve in to the last man. but also, what is it with all of tosh’s extremely few standalone episodes heavily featuring a storyline where she needs to emotionally/physically service the needs of a white guest character? usually achieved by manipulating tosh and taking away her agency? mary in greeks,tommy in last man and in an extremelygross way with adam. and they never address it again!
listen, i love tosh. i think naoko mori gives a fantastic performance and i think her empathy, capability in tough situations, and predilection for defining herself by her achievements are all really interesting traits. but at times the writing for her character feels dangerously reminiscent to say, someone like glenn in the walking dead, who was also the sole asian lead actor in a predominantly white genre show. steven yeun puts it best in this interview, that there’s just frustration at being consistently reverted to “dependable, supportive, benign” asian sidekick for the white leads.
»Character Posters; ＴＯＳＨＩＫＯ ＳＡＴＯ ❝I just wanted to say, it’s okay. It really is. Jack, you saved me. You showed me all the wonders of the universe and all those possibilities. And I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.❝
- stayed by the bed of a dying man and comforted him into the dark and even though he was extra cynical and depressed himself (being undead n all), he talked him through his fear and his pain and in the end he still tried to save him last-ditch from death
- called his mom after suffering from a 2 day memory warp he couldn’t remember but he remembered the echo of being closer to her and he wanted to check up on her and then they argued and he hung up
- in the memory warp he was so embarrassed by thinking of gwen having sex he avoided the topic altogether until adam forced it out of him
- made a Big Confession of Love and when he was turned down, brought her flowers of apology with the explanation that he wanted her to be happy but that their friendship was more important than any feelings he had for her
- those last two literally only occurred in the alternate memory when his insecurities, cynicism, and sadness were taken away, leaving the kindest, sweetest person ever to walk the planet
- i’m so fucking upset.
Hey so like. Adam had to push out other memories to make room for himself.
Did he… did he erase his fiancée?
Honestly, Adam probably did. Since Tosh asked Owen if he’d ever felt the same way that she (thinks she) feels for Adam, and he said no. But he felt that way for Katie years ago, so either Adam made him forget her and that’s why he said no, or he only said no because he was thinking about how that’s how he feels about Tosh but didn’t want to do the Big Confession of Love yet so he denied it.
But it was Katie’s death that really pushed Owen over into being cynical and depressed. Sure, his relationship with his mom contributed to it too, but losing Katie seemed to be the last straw since he didn’t seem as damaged in Fragments as he did in Season 1. So, since he still remembered his mom during Adam, he probably forgot about Katie. Adam probably also made him forget about Diane too since Owen was suicidal after Diane left. Katie was the reason he feared commitment, he knew what aliens and the rift could do to the people he loved so he didn’t want to love anyone like that again, and he was literally terrified by how attached he became to Diane. Making him feel even worse when she left right after he was finally vulnerable and ready to give himself to someone again.
That’s why he never acted on his feelings for Tosh when he wasn’t influenced by Adam. He knew how she felt about him, and he knew he cared about her enough to give her a chance with one date once she got the courage to actually ask him out. Deep down he really loved her since Adam didn’t make him love her, he just changed his personality, but then he lashed out at her and tried to push her away because being a dead man walking on top of all the damage he already had made him not even want to try at that point. And he admits to Tosh In Exit Wounds that it was his fault that he never noticed how he felt until it was too late.
It’s the language that Owen uses in his Big Love Confession that shows he really did love Tosh (since I’m sure there are people out there convinced Adam made him think he did). He said “I think, in fact, I know that we would be amazing together” and that’s exactly what he said to Gwen in Countrycide when trying to seduce her: “We’d be amazing.” He tells Diane that he’s scared of how he feels and in Adam it’s him thinking of his mom saying “seize the day” that gives him the bravery to admit his feelings to Tosh because he needed to be brave to do it. Telling Diane “All I see is you. All I can think about is what you’re wearing, what you’re thinking, what your face looks like when you come.” and telling Tosh “I actually ache for you. Physically, when you’re in the room, I just want to reach out and touch you.” Yes, the only reason the confession occurred was because his memory had been altered, but what was said was all Owen.
How much he valued her friendship and happiness was always there too even without Adam’s influence since we saw that he sent her a homemade birthday card with a picture of them in Greeks Bearing Gifts. And when he was worried about her being hurt by Tommy going back to his own time. When he said “You touch her again and I will kill you.” to Captain John before being shot. He was all for a pool date that he thought was a friendly outing with her and the team, and asked about it when it didn’t happen. He thanked her for always being there for him ever since the Space Pig. He proved his own stupid “I don’t do flowers and I definitely don’t do apologies” comment wrong when he apologized to her in Exit Wounds for everything.
Basically, Doctor Owen Harper is the best. And the Tosh/Owen ship will forever cause me pain.
Also, Adam making Owen forget about Katie in order to be less cynical and the alien in Katie’s brain made her eventually forget Owen is a heartbreaking parallel. Both of them were forced to forget the other by an alien. Wow. How does Torchwood hurt so much all these years later?
The parallels between Owen saying he’s always loved Tosh and her telling him during his two minutes also definitely hurt and there’s so many other parallels too. And I’m so glad you left me an essay, thank you, but also ow ouch this hurts so much
Wow this fandom still keeps giving and making you think after 11 years.
