Meat, was a little patchy, I felt.

I felt the same. But the thing is, I can't really explain why, there was just something in the episode plot that just felt a little missing, it was good, but just lacked something to make it better.

Your Jack and Gwen theory seems quite plausible, if my brain was working today I may be able to add something to that :D And Ianto has to be my favourite this season so far because of his great one-liners!