I'm still processing and don't have the time to rewatch now or for the next few weeks, but I'm willing to forgive a lot just for Jack's arc and the way Jack and Gwen's relationship developed. And it's definitely interesting to look at MD in connection with the rest of RTD's work...

I really hated the 'What?!' Apparently Benjamin Cook convinced RTD to drop it at the end of JE because it didn't fit the serious tone of the ending, and this is where he thought it was a good idea to reintroduce it? Torchwood?

Clearly they wanted to keep at least one new character for a potential next season, but that's a dangerous game to play if you don't even know it'll happen, and they should have found another way, IMO. It should have ended with the deaths, because this is what the world became again... It'd have made a better point, IMO.

Ianto ain't coming back because it's an adult show that treats death in an adult way

I haven't even thought about that. Does RTD have a death wish, deciding to actually bring a character back from death after that?

Torchwood is still one of the best things on television at the moment - it's arguebly addictive :) - but MD's quality has been up and down like a yoyo.

Oh, it definitely is addictive. I'm already hoping there will be another series, although looking at the general reaction that's probably highly doubtful...