But it so happens that a couple of nights ago I watched a first season episode called "Captain Jack Harkness", and it's the first one in which they went beyond the "sexual ambiguity" I once commented on, right into pure gay romance. Even had the cliche of a ballroom dance with the happy couple in the spotlight...in 1941, no less. And yeah, I know what you mean, the lingering kiss between the two Captain Jacks sure made me squirm.

Seems to illuminate a difference in our worldview, though. As an unabashed liberal, I interpret squirming as a sign I need to stretch my mental horizons, as if the squirming was a mental muscle cramp to be cured with a good mental stretch.

I took as a given that the point of the episode wasn't just to make straight guys squirm, and looking for Russel Davies's intentions, I have to admit that I could glimpse a really sweet little romance. The fact that it was set in 1941, amid all that art-deco style yet in a world which would have rioted at the gay kiss, was a bit of romantic defiance at a hostile world. I'll bet that that episode was been a big hit with a certain kind of romantic gay guy.

As for the nuts and bolts of the story line, I'm behind you, so I can only observe that in this episode, it was established that Jack stole his identify from this other guy (making their romance more than a little narcissistic), and that Jack spent time in 1941 but wasn't really from there. He described himself as a "con man", a nicely ambiguous description.

I was starting to get a little bored with the series, as it seemed like they put all their creativity into the pilot, and the next dozen episodes were predictable and formulaic. Maybe it's routine on British TV, but the gay romance seemed groundbreaking by American standards, and the sheer audacity of it has somewhat rekindled my interest. What else will they do to surprise me? Dunno, but I live for surprises.