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Torchwood - Fragments, thoughts about THAT scene
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kateorman had a really out-there theory that there were erections involved in this encounter. (No! Surely not! I JEST, KATE.) 
The theory suprised me because it hadn't yet occurred to me that there might be people out there who thought there were NO erections involved in this encounter. Though it does seem the jury's still out on who was most excitable, Jack or Ianto.
But yeah, my theory is that there was MUTUAL trouser stirring going on here. And it's what's finally punched Ianto in the face as to what he's willing to do and what that ACTUALLY means. In theory, with the jeans and the cruising and all the rest of it, sex has always been a part of the plan, but here's where it hits him what he might actually have to do. And, to really bring on the tears: THAT HE MIGHT ACTUALLY ENJOY IT. How much of a betrayal is that?
I think there's a whole other level to this scene which isn't even really about sex at all, and it's about enjoyment and fun. I don't know if you've noticed, but Ianto's having fun with Jack, catching Myfanwy, it's all adrenaline and running around and laughing, and this is a guy who, one would assume, has a cybergirlfriend IN HIS SHED as we speak. One that he's been looking after and is obviously desperate to fix since Canary Wharf happened, and since Canary Wharf happened, I can't imagine this guy's been having much fun. At all. You see, I think it's not just the fact that there's attraction and arousal going on that worries Ianto, it's the fact that he is actually having fun. His whole objective is to save Lisa, the girl he can't live without, and in saving her, or keeping her safe in any case, he may well end up proving that he CAN live without her. Which defeats the object of the exercise. Not only, I think, do his tears signify his own disgust at the levels to which he'll stoop and the fact that he might even enjoy stooping to them, but also every single one of his doubts and fears about whether saving her was actually the right thing to do. Did he do it for her or did he do it for himself? Should he have just let her go? I think this moment of doubt and tears also shows us the point at which saving Lisa to Ianto, who presumably has since Canary Wharf, been running on adrenaline and single bloody-mindedness, starts to become less of a love thing, and more of an obsession. He HAS TO save her now, in order to prove to himself that he did the right thing saving her in the first place and that he's doing the right thing in stooping to the levels he'll stoop to to save her now. He's effectively trapped himself.
That's my take, anyway. Well, part of it. I've had trouble talking about this episode because GDL really, really blew me away with this one, more or less leaving me dribbling on the sofa for a few days. He conveys SO MUCH IN SO LITTLE TIME, again, as always. Awe-inspiring. I think I could discuss this one for MONTHS.
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I thought that Ianto was operating the way a girl who wears low-cut tops to a job interview does-- she isn't offering to sleep with the boss, but she is very much using sex to her advantage.
So Ianto definitely included sex in his plans, but I'm not sure physicality was ever on the table.
Except that then it was, and it had nothing to do with Lisa. As you say, mutual attraction-- and not just sexual attraction, either. I think Ianto found that he liked Jack, liked working with Jack, and that he honestly wanted the job, not just wanted it because it could help Lisa. But of course, he also knew that he was only using Jack, lying to him, and betraying Torchwood-- it's a double-edged sword. He gets the job right at the exact moment he is wondering if he actually wants it. (And wondering at all is a betrayal of Lisa.)
I love it because there's so much more than sex going on. Oh, GDL.
This also allows an interesting reading of S1. Every time Ianto interacts with the team or does something cute... he isn't lying or being duplicitous. Instead, it's like that moment he is laughing and rolling around with Jack. It's got to be torture.
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