Why a whelk...

I too felt a lot like this about Adrift. Looking back, I loved the Jack/Ianto stuff this season from KKBB to Adam, then I think I got a bit annoyed during the Martha-Owen arc because while yes, they admitted their relationship to Martha, and Ianto discussed it with Owen, there's very little actual Jack-Ianto interaction in those episdoes. The only thing that stuck me as significant in those episodes is when Jack gives Ianto the slightest nod, and Ianto immediately understands that Jack wants him to give Owen his gun back -- but that's just way beyond subtle! Then I got hopping mad at the Jack/Gwen stuff in Something Borrowed, and wasn't very much appeased by From Out Of The Rain, because while Jack and Ianto spent most of the episode together, THEY NEVER ACTUALLY TOUCHED! Yes, there was a lot of implied intimacy between them, but for a minute there I thought I was watching a regular buddy show like the Stargates (SG-1 or Atlantis, take your pick), where, you know, slash is strictly SUBTEXT! With Adrift, I'd seen spoilers saying Ianto was going to go behind Jack's back to help Gwen, so the moment he trailed after Jack in the conference room scene, I knew what was going on, and I totally fell in love with that scene. Plus the scene where they talk to Gwen after being interrupted. The nekkedness in the hot house was okay, but their interaction with Gwen afterwards is what really seals it for me. And Fragments -- I just love love love the Jack/Ianto part in Fragments. It really brackets and clarifies their relationship, not really contradicting anything we've seen before but giving them deeper texture and layer. And I don't know whether I'm the only one who feels this way, but the almost-kiss at the end felt just as hot as the kiss in To The Last Man. So looking back on the season as a whole, they really did manage to space out the Jack/Ianto stuff right, but they did have me worried a bit right around the middle!

Now hoping they get it right with the finale...