Somehow I doubt Gwen would have suffered the same exact fate if she was in Ianto's position (including the barely there relationship screentime).
Jack was hardly tied down. This was the first series that really started to address their relationship. And what we got was quite unimpressive IMO.
Ianto was a plot device. He didn't have to die IMO. Killing his own grandson was enough to chase Jack off to lick his wounds for a while...and meet up with the Doctor. (And I'm not a big fan of always having to manipulate the characters and events of Torchwood in order to service the needs of Jack's guest appearances on Doctor Who.)
Other things that weren't necessary? "Die like an ugly dog." "You're queer." "Is/was he gay?" "Let's make the most of the time I have...unless Rhys' beans are involved." (paraphrasing) Oh, and a pretty stupid setup for the moving death scene.
Re: RTD is a homophobe? Don't make me laugh.
Jack was hardly tied down. This was the first series that really started to address their relationship. And what we got was quite unimpressive IMO.
Ianto was a plot device. He didn't have to die IMO. Killing his own grandson was enough to chase Jack off to lick his wounds for a while...and meet up with the Doctor. (And I'm not a big fan of always having to manipulate the characters and events of Torchwood in order to service the needs of Jack's guest appearances on Doctor Who.)
Other things that weren't necessary? "Die like an ugly dog." "You're queer." "Is/was he gay?" "Let's make the most of the time I have...unless Rhys' beans are involved." (paraphrasing) Oh, and a pretty stupid setup for the moving death scene.