Jack ONLY asked for the date after he knew Gwen was engaged.
It's BS like this that make me want to throw my shoe at Gwack fans (not to say you are one, but this rhetoric smacks of Gwack). If you'll note Jack says and I quote "I mean, while I was away, I was thinking... maybe we could... you know, when this is all done... dinner, a movie.." where in that line does it imply "when I talked to Gwen and found out she was engaged I settled on"? It doesn't. Moreover, there is NO point for him to preface his asking Ianto out on date with anything about "while I [he] was away" because Ianto wouldn't be the one to think Jack was settling on him after the Gwen scene, because Ianto doesn't know about that scene. Therefore, the ONLY reason it is added is to explain it to the viewers... to stress that this has nothing to do with Gwen and was something Jack came to the conclusion of, well, "while I [he] was away".
If you didn't take that scene for what it was (subtextually thick) then you seriously missed the point of the scene. EVERY bleedin' interview on that scene (and review of critics) says it's a conversation in subtext. If they were merely talking about office fetishes, then it wouldn't have been stressed all over the place that they werent. The most telling line of Ianto's is "as long as it's not in an office" in regards to their date... pretty blatantly means "I don't want an office relationship anymore"... you don't even need a degree in English for that one! ^_~
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It's BS like this that make me want to throw my shoe at Gwack fans (not to say you are one, but this rhetoric smacks of Gwack). If you'll note Jack says and I quote "I mean, while I was away, I was thinking... maybe we could... you know, when this is all done... dinner, a movie.." where in that line does it imply "when I talked to Gwen and found out she was engaged I settled on"? It doesn't. Moreover, there is NO point for him to preface his asking Ianto out on date with anything about "while I [he] was away" because Ianto wouldn't be the one to think Jack was settling on him after the Gwen scene, because Ianto doesn't know about that scene. Therefore, the ONLY reason it is added is to explain it to the viewers... to stress that this has nothing to do with Gwen and was something Jack came to the conclusion of, well, "while I [he] was away".
If you didn't take that scene for what it was (subtextually thick) then you seriously missed the point of the scene. EVERY bleedin' interview on that scene (and review of critics) says it's a conversation in subtext. If they were merely talking about office fetishes, then it wouldn't have been stressed all over the place that they werent. The most telling line of Ianto's is "as long as it's not in an office" in regards to their date... pretty blatantly means "I don't want an office relationship anymore"... you don't even need a degree in English for that one! ^_~