I JUST REALISED!!

[tencrush]

WHY I HATE FROM OUT OF THE RAIN SO MUCH.

It just... so little thought went into this episode when it comes to characterisation, like I and many other people have mentioned, it just DIDN'T MATTER who was the centrepiece of the story, there were no character-related reasons for it to be Ianto, it could just as easily have been Tosh, or anyone. The writing focussed SO MUCH on getting the plot across to the viewer (and IT EVEN SUCKED AT THAT), that no thought went into which character was fulfilling what role.

IF I COULD REWRITE FROM OUT OF THE RAIN, it would go like this, and it's really very simple and it solves a myriad of problems of exposition and such whilst at the same time dealing with some bits and bobs of characterisation and answering some questions that are still mulling around in the minds of your average avid fan:

OPENING SCENE: Carnies. Weirdness. Spooky, yah, cut to credits.
NEXT BIT: Guy does stuff with film, Jack hears spooky music in the Hub, asks Ianto WTF? Ianto tells him to STFU and hands him his coat. Jack and Ianto go to Electro for night out.
REST OF EPISODE: Same, with slightly less exposition needed due to Jack already being clued up, giving us a bit more time to let the baddies actually be scary.

SIMPLE AS THAT. Seriously, if anyone had put any thought into this episode from a character arc perspective, that's how it would have played out. It would have shown us quite cleanly that Jack and Ianto do indeed have a relationship that involves more than sex in the Hub, which I believe is what the writers would like us to believe. At the same time, the resulting spookiness would have amusingly shown us how patently impossible it is for these two to keep their work and private lives separate, which would have been a nice segue into the shagging in the Hub in Adrift (without the shagging in the Hub coming across as QUITE SO CARNAL, but more of an acknowledgement that they're really just going to have to get it where and when they can.) Clean. Simple. Easy as that. AMINORITE? YUS?

Comments

[erinnthered.livejournal.com]

I agree that the 'date gone bad' scenario would have been much more appealing.

I do think that the producers lucked out on EM not being able to do those scenes. Given the way her character developed for the rest of the season, it would have contributed to her Mary-Sueness. Instead, we got a moment between Jack and his boyfriend. As it should be, really.

I still dislike SB more. I don't like a plot that requires one of the main characters to be a selfish cow in order for it to work. There is no reason that a script like that should open up with a main character looking like the bad guy. That was horrible. Lazy is too kind.

[rowanswhimsy.livejournal.com]

I give EM a lot of credit. Between Meat and SB, the writers really created a situation where Gwen could have been loathed by much of the audience. But I think EM has invested so much emotion in her scenes with KO that the Gwen/Rhys relationship has saved Gwen as a character. I just cheered when I heard her say that Gwen loves Rhys from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. EM sounds absolutely charming.

[erinnthered.livejournal.com]

I totally agree!

Until The Rift I wasn't sure how she saw things. I didn't know whether she was playing both sides, or trying working on the Rhys relationship. It seems was the latter, and I am happy for it. I think she needs to step up and be more firm with the writers. She could easily push for less of a selfish, Super!Gwen type. On first impression, it seems she's not like that at all.

That's the funny thing about SB. I did like Gwen in it, except the writers tried really hard to make me hate her by putting her in that reprehensible situation. I blame the writers entirely for that mess. It's the premise that makes me cringe.

[nobleroman1.livejournal.com]

Could you clarify the "EM not being able to do those scenes" comment? Was she not available to do the scenes or did the show decide to give the scenes to GDL? I believe I read an interview by CT in which she stated that when the writers compose the scripts, they do so in generic manner, i.e., there is no specific character in mind.

[erinnthered.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to comment on Treganna's method, except to say that that might explain a lot of what I don't like about some of her episodes.

EM wasn't available because she was shooting another episode. Ianto's role was increased. He was still the guy who went to the cinema, he just wasn't the guy in the boardroom scene.

[nobleroman1.livejournal.com]

Thanks for clarifying. I'm going to have to rewatch that boardroom scene.