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

[off_coloratura]

Oh my god, if they had used From Out Of The Rain to develop the Jack and Ianto relationship while upping the creepy, I think it would have been my favorite of the season. What a wasted, wasted opportunity.

When the hell are you going to start working for BBC Wales already?

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

no thought went into which character was fulfilling what role.

I said at the time that it seemed like a season 1 script where the writer had crossed out 'Gwen' and written 'Ianto' on half the lines - apparently it's now been said in interviews that Ianto was indeed given some of Gwen's scenes and lines in the episode. It really shows.

[antelope-writes.livejournal.com]

I think what bothered me the most is how stifling the entire script was. Let's face it, EVERYBODY in the main TW cast can act their socks off (although not necessarily in every combination)...and they were so tied up in cheesy lines and campy scripts that they couldn't actually do anything. And it was the worst kind of camp, the camp that doesn't know it's camp and takes itself seriously, unlike the high camp of SB where they just had all kinds of fun with it. It's like the script thinks it is saying "I'm an artist!" when in reality it, "no, honey, you work at a shop."

On the rare occasion that the actors got some script they could *do* something with, like going to see Christina in the hospital or talking in Jack's office, it was lovely and sweet. Unfortunately that was all of, what, five minutes out of a 50-minute episode?

[tya-rc.livejournal.com]

Well, your theory is totally validated by the fact that Ianto was given lines that were initially Gwen's. The characters were considered perfectly interchangeable for the plot, indeed.

(Except that joke about Owen, which would have FAILED on any other character, of course.)

[overlady-hikki.livejournal.com]

Have you read sam_storyteller's re-write of From Out Of The Rain?

(http://sam-storyteller.livejournal.com/127247.html)

Own opinion: I haven't quite figured out for myself why I dislike it so. But your reasoning makes sense (does it ever not?)

Edited because I am shit at HTML tags.

[solitary-summer.livejournal.com]

I'd have loved that version. It's not that I expect them to live in each others pockets and never do anything on their own, but this is something that clearly means something to Ianto, and he managed to convince a less than enthusiastic Gwen, but didn't even ask Jack? That's a bit weird.

[nobleroman1.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I do love your version.

I found it bit extreme that because he heard some spooky music, Jack went tearing off in search of Ianto because of his local knowledge. That coupled with the way Jack was shown speeding through the streets of Cardiff to get to the Electro was simply drama for the sake of drama.

[justinej.livejournal.com]

I am so with you on this. It could be removed from the series altogether and I wouldn't miss it! Such a crying shame and an opportunity missed. That's the problem with having lots of different writers, although everyone else seems to be on the same page.

Two of the writers at the rift have been commissioned to write the next two books which should be brilliant because they have a good understanding of the programme now.

[rowanswhimsy.livejournal.com]

On second viewing, I didn't dislike it as much. In fact, it's got a lot of nice Jack/Ianto interaction that shows how well they work together as a team. I always attributed Ianto's over the top emotion as the fact that he functioned in the 'Gwen role' as the 'heart' of the team since it was a Gwen-lite episode.

[iko.livejournal.com]

What I loved about this specific episode was the imagery. I thought it was quite rich and I felt there was a lot of effort to make it really atmospheric. I liked that it tried to present the story from Ianto's perspective, but I do think that it felt very generic (a quick substitution of Gwen for Ianto and still have it make sense is not good).

I still think and like the idea that the story could be told from Ianto's perspective and trace his contributions to solving a case. It needs to commit to it, though. Really follow him, so we don't get conversations that Ianto isn't privy to (with exception of the baddie POV).

I do love this idea:

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.

I think very much in character for Ianto and Jack. And you're really right about too much time is spent with Jack trying to be clued up.

Rewatching bits, Jack offers almost no information about his time with the carnies and no resolution to how he got out of being involved with them. That did bothered me. It's almost like there's too much material and they are trying to make the storyline believable in only a single episode.

Also, the whole "Ianto, I need your local knowledge" is really... it doesn't make sense. Ianto's been in Cardiff for how long compared to Jack?

So many nifty ideas, just not brought together well.

the resulting spookiness would have amusingly shown us how patently impossible it is for these two to keep their work and private lives separate

Yeap! It would make for an interesting contrast to Gwen/Owen last season.

[love-jackianto.livejournal.com]

'...that no thought went into which character was fulfilling what role.'
That's what I said when the episode first aired. There was so little character development that it could have been written for ANY sci-fi show(or even a supernatural show). It was billed as a Ianto-centric episode but it wasn't, there was more character development for him in Fragments. I just hope they don't get Hammond to replace CC.

Love your rewrite, if only you could write for the show. They already 'borrowed' you Ianto!ManWhoreSpy idea.

[(Anonymous)]

Good idea. I always fancied the idea that, due to Ianto being quite affected by what happened we could have had him and Jack talking (poss with touching) in an emotionally intimate way at the end instead of the another old roll of film / Jack hears music, how creepy (not) stuff. Something like the end of Sleeper with Jack / Gwen or Captain Jack Harkness with Jack / Tosh. Your idea of them doing something at the beginning's probably better though.

[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.