Oh, I know. The first time I saw it I thought that was one of the saddest moments, not even so much because of Ianto, but because of what it said about Jack. It still is, in a way, but after two rewatchings I've somewhat reconciled myself to it, because 'I love you' is there from Jack's 'I take it back, but not him' to 'Don't leave me, please' anyway...
On a meta level Jack doesn't say it because GDL and JB hated the first draft of the scene, where Jack actually did say 'I love you', thought it was too tacky or something, and wanted it changed, or at least that's what transpired from a recent convention.
On a in-character level? (IMO; embarrassingly long Jack/Ianto post is in the making...) Because Jack is feeling guilty as hell - because he helped bring about the situation in the first place, because he miscalculated so badly, because he allowed Ianto to come along, quite possibly right down to hiring Ianto in the first place (not even so much for his skills, but pretty much mostly because he fancied him), or not firing him post-CW; maybe also because of all the times when he should have said it, but didn't. 'Don't' in the sense of 'You shouldn't, I don't deserve it.'
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Date: 2009-10-12 07:23 pm (UTC)On a meta level Jack doesn't say it because GDL and JB hated the first draft of the scene, where Jack actually did say 'I love you', thought it was too tacky or something, and wanted it changed, or at least that's what transpired from a recent convention.
On a in-character level? (IMO; embarrassingly long Jack/Ianto post is in the making...) Because Jack is feeling guilty as hell - because he helped bring about the situation in the first place, because he miscalculated so badly, because he allowed Ianto to come along, quite possibly right down to hiring Ianto in the first place (not even so much for his skills, but pretty much mostly because he fancied him), or not firing him post-CW; maybe also because of all the times when he should have said it, but didn't. 'Don't' in the sense of 'You shouldn't, I don't deserve it.'