# Question for a Torchwood newbie \[open spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025 "2008-09-04T17:58:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/21 "2008-09-05T04:20:58Z")
Oh, yeah, we’d have totally understood if you’d called him that. \>\_\> ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/22 "2008-09-05T12:13:50Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > I always thought that Owen had fishlips. Sort of like a google-eyed guppy. > > And Gwen’s gaptoothedness and expressions make her look a bit dim. > > Tosh, Ianto, and Jack are nice to look at, though. Yeah, if Gwen would just fix her teeth and touch up her hair a little bit, she’d be a knockout. I think. Definitely too good for Owen. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/23 "2008-09-05T12:33:42Z")
I don’t think Gwen looks dim - I like that she’s gap-toothed, adds to her personality. I must be a weird one, because I really like Owen’s weird looks and (to me at this stage in my viewing) amoral behaviorl. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/24 "2008-09-05T13:21:27Z")
> [@Hamadryad](#): > > I don’t think Gwen looks dim - I like that she’s gap-toothed, adds to her personality. > > I must be a weird one, because I really like Owen’s weird looks and (to me at this stage in my viewing) amoral behaviorl. Personally, I think Owen’s dead sexy. (Once you get past his douchiness, that is.) But everyone knows how weird _I_ am! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/25 "2008-09-05T13:22:45Z")
I agree that Owen looks like a monkey, but then I’m a self-confessed Ianto fan. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/26 "2008-09-05T17:29:25Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > What makes Owen’s frogface aspect more annoying is, every time there’s a dirty scene in an episode I catch, it seems to involve HIM… > > In a cast that includes Captain Jack, Ianto, and Tosh, it’s always Owen getting down. \>\_\> (Occasionally Gwen, too, but she was with Owen the one time I saw her in that situation…) You’re forgetting Rhys, Gwen’s official boyfriend. We got several views of his back end. I came to like him as a character–but would have preferred to see a bit more of Jack. Or Ianto. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/27 "2008-09-05T18:11:34Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > I agree that Owen looks like a monkey, but then I’m a self-confessed Ianto fan. Yeah, I like Ianto. It was really weird, though. In the first five or so episodes Ianto really seemed like he wasn’t really part of the team - just the butler. I realize that, yes, he is the butler as part of his employment, but at first it seemed like he was just a guy that buttled and, well, that was it. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/28 "2008-09-05T18:58:32Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Who, in my opinion, has a face kind of like a monkey. Anyone? Anyone? I find him attractive in a weird way, but then, I am also attracted to David Tennant, whom a friend describes as ‘the bastard offspring of a Muppet and a dustmop’. On the other hand, Burn Gorman has the _worst_ American accent I have ever heard. I always figured that’s why his role in [Penelope](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472160/) was such a bit part. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/29 "2008-09-05T19:39:25Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > You’re forgetting Rhys, Gwen’s official boyfriend. We got several views of his back end. I came to like him as a character–but would have preferred to see a bit more of Jack. Or Ianto. Yeah, no kidding! Out of all the hotties on the show (damn near everyone) and the one whose ass is shown is freaking _Rhys_?! Multiple times even. RTD is a bastard for that. David Tennant’s Doctor is the sexiest thing I have ever seen. Your friend is a nutter. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/30 "2008-09-05T19:46:52Z")
I actually think Rhys is quite cute, in a cuddly way, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/31 "2008-09-05T20:05:26Z")
Owen always reminded me of a Willem Dafoe knock-off. I’ve never found that look attractive. Captain Jack always reminded a bit of a Tom Cruise knock-off, but I try really hard not to think about it. Rhys is definitely cuddly cute. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/32 "2008-09-06T00:35:58Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > –but would have preferred to see a bit more of Jack. Or Ianto. Oooh, clearly you didn’t see the Season Two episode where Gwen got all high-and-mighty about a case and walked in on Ianto and Jack in a very compromising position, complete with references to naked hide-and-seek (which Jack “always cheats” at..) 😃 I left that one on the DVR for a while. 😃😃 I am firmly an Ianto fangirl. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/33 "2008-09-06T03:06:07Z")
Rhys is pretty much the only thoroughly likeable and sympathetic person on the show, and to me he is extremely attractive. Owen, despite or perhaps because of his many flaws, grew to be my second favorite character, after Rhys. Sadly, he ended up having the same plot as roughly 99% of all my favorite characters. That plot being… in a cemetary. For realsies, I have the worst damn luck with my faves. BTW, Tosh was my third favorite. Naturally. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/34 "2008-09-06T03:58:08Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Rhys is pretty much the only thoroughly likeable and sympathetic person on the show, and to me he is extremely attractive. > > Owen, despite or perhaps because of his many flaws, grew to be my second favorite character, after Rhys. Sadly, he ended up having the same plot as roughly 99% of all my favorite characters. That plot being… > > in a cemetary. For realsies, I have the worst damn luck with my faves. BTW, Tosh was my third favorite. Naturally. Heh. I liked Suzie ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/35 "2008-09-06T04:24:16Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > Oooh, clearly you didn’t see the Season Two episode where Gwen got all high-and-mighty about a case and > > walked in on Ianto and Jack in a very compromising position, complete with references to naked hide-and-seek (which Jack “always cheats” at..) 😃 > > I left that one on the DVR for a while. 😃😃 I am firmly an Ianto fangirl. Oh, I did see that scene! Let’s hope for more “balance” in future seasons. (Although next season will apparently be only 5 episodes long.) ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/36 "2009-01-16T04:03:35Z")
So I decided to drag up this thread instead of starting a new one since my question is related. I just started watching Torchwood, I am only up to Season 1, episode 9. I am just curious if every single character is bisexual? I know from previous history in Doctor Who that Captain Jack will do anything with a pulse, male, female or alien. But I have seen at least 3 other characters show bi tendencies and another one is iffy. Gwen makes out with the girl infected with an alien parasite. Granted it was explained that the girl/alien was emitting powerful pheromones but Gwen was the only one who snogged her and she seemed to want to keep doing it even when the girl/alien said Gwen didn’t have the right equipment. Owen used the sex spray mentioned in this thread and ends up supposedly going home with a man and a woman. Tosh, despite an unrequited love for Owen, ends up having a lesbian affair with a female alien. And Ianto, who had a girlfriend who ended up a Cyberwoman, seems to enjoy Jack’s attentions and in one episodes comments to Jack about still having his stopwatch which is good for other stuff. To which Jack gets all excited and says he will send the others home early and for Ianto to meet him in his office. Now I have no idea what they could do with the stopwatch but Jack seemed a little too excited about it for it not to have been sexual in nature. So the only one in the Torchwood facility that I haven’t seen do anything possibly bisexual is the Weevil. I realize that this show is supposed to be more adult than Doctor Who but it almost seems like they can’t decide what their characters are supposed to be. Is it always like this? Also, am I supposed to like Gwen? I find her a bit despicable and sometimes I want to punch her right in the gap in those teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/37 "2009-01-16T04:32:06Z")
AFAIR, that’s the only scene in which Gwen shows any sign of attraction to a female. Owen is pretty much exclusively straight, but he is kinky. I don’t think that threesome was out of character for him at all. Ianto’s stopwatch was definitely something sexual; he and Jack continue their flirtation/relationship for the rest of the series. He also never, AFAIR, seems the least bit attracted to any of the women on the show. The Cyberwoman was maybe an anomaly, but he’s definitely supposed to be bi. Tosh, I suppose, was also meant to be bi, but I don’t think she ever had another lesbian affair on the show. It definitely took the writers a while to figure out the characters. I think it was some time during season two that they finally gelled. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/38 "2009-01-16T20:06:11Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > …I am just curious if every single character is bisexual?.. > > I realize that this show is supposed to be more adult than Doctor Who but it almost seems like they can’t decide what their characters are supposed to be… > > Also, am I supposed to like Gwen? I find her a bit despicable and sometimes I want to punch her right in the gap in those teeth. First: Being bisexual does not mean that you ‘can’t decide what you’re supposed to be.’ Second: It’s been a while since I’ve watched the show, but Gwen was sort of annoying. Her husband was even worse. Their relationship reminded me at times of Metal Gear Solid 2. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025/39 "2009-01-16T20:34:32Z")
What? I love Rhys! He was what made Gwen worth having on the show. That and her looks, but they never really took advantage of that. For a supposedly “sexy” show, they sure showed a lot of ugly people! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-a-torchwood-newbie-open-spoilers/462025.md?page=1)