So far, the fourth series of Torchwood has been a bit all over the place. We had a really good opener, and then a poor second episode, but it has got increasingly better with every installment since then. Here are my quick opinions on the two latest episodes, titled ‘Middle Men’ and ‘Immortal Sins’.
Following last Week’s episode, which saw the death of Doctor Vera Juarez that suitably shaked up things up, and the sudden realisation that the ’Overflow Camps’ are basically a modern day version of Hitler’s concentration camps, ’Middle Men’ has the task of getting everyone out of these horrible camps, getting Gwen back to the states while also offering a few more hints about the Miracle that would set up future Episodes nicely. The Episode did all of this nicely I suppose but did it have to take an entire episode to accomplish all of these things? This should have taken fifteen minutes or less! I mean at this rate the pacing is just glacial. It feels like nothing is getting done here! What happened to the Torchwood team that could infiltrate the government in seconds and find out what's going on immediantly so they can set about solving it with heaps of drama thrown in? This is the sixth Episode blast it, and what have we learnt so far about this Miracle?! Godamned nothing apart from the fact that it makes everyone immortal, which was explained in the first ten seconds of the show!!! Basically I was hoping that things would have at least gone somewhere by now, like throw in a relevation that would have posed more questions at the least. It took SIX Episodes just to find out ONE word that MIGHT lead us to whoever caused this Miracle, ’The Blessing’?!! Miracle Day sure is taking its DAMN TIME to get anywhere! *SIGH* Now aside from the fact that we’re one step closer to the finish line with little in the way of ground actually broken when it comes to the Miracle, the actual content of this Episode is really quite good I suppse. The scene with Jack and that guy from Ghostbusters was intriguing, and I wish we could see more of that Phicorps character in future Episodes. That sick man Malony was torturing Rex with the pen was squeamishly awful, and Esther beating the sh*t out that guy was again a nice bit (FINALLY SHE DOES SOMETHING…AGAIN!). The explosion of the facility matched with the big cliffhanger at the end was again, great T.V. But I still can't help but feel disappointed with this Series. So much potential, and yet its only been half realised...Oswald Danes not being in this Episode was a odd, because I had come to like his character and understand that he was a constant in every episode, but oddly enough I didn’t really miss him. In fact, I’d almost say the show is better without him, much more focused on Torchwood now than some evil pedo murderer. So all in all, Middle Men was good in quality but not on quantity if you get my drift.
The next Episode, ‘Immortal Sins’ was nearly a masterpiece as far as I am concerned. Yes, take away the misplaced gay sex scenes and this could be the perfect Episode. The Ep introduces us to Angelo, a long ago boyfriend of Jack who is infinitely linked to the Miracle in some way shape or form (what he has to do with the Miracle I don't know). We are introduced to him via flashbacks, intercut with short scenes from the Present that explores a new angle to Jack and Gwen’s relationship which proves to be quite shocking at times. The strength of the Episode is by far John Barrowman as Captain Jack, playing to every emotion in the book (including lust…) and being nicely paired with his Italian friend. Gay romance aside, you really believed in the relationship between these two. Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper has also produced some fine acting material her when it comes to that scene with her and Jack crying death threats to each other in the car. Best scene of the entire series so far, hand’s down. The second best scene of the Series was also in this Episode oddly enough, when the locals find out about Jack’s immortality (thanks to Angelo) and proceed to cut him to bit's every time he wakes up. It was a horrible scene, especially with that heart poundering hymn going on in the background (music was superb in this Episode). It represents precisely what makes Torchwood so good: the dark, gritty and quite frankly realistic and adult tone the Series has welcomed. It's the kind of thing that Children Of Earth, one of the best science fiction mini-series ever, thrived upon. Now with the really good stuff out of the way, let's get on to the bad stuff, which basically count's towards one thing: the ten minute gay sex scene half way through that made us all wretch. What the heck was the point in that? If you ask me it was gratuitous to the point of disgust, not to mention extremely uncomfortable! Did the writers think it would attract more gay viewers or something? I don’t know, if you ask me they could have spent those ten minutes on much better stuff than simply sex. There was no point to it at ALL. Oh well, at least John Barrowman seemed to like it, although perhaps a bit to much…
So with Miracle Day now entering it's final act, hopefully things will really be heating up next Week, or least I hope so...The last Episode has really got things going, please don't mess it up! And Angelo better still exist for a reason and not just some excuse for more gay sex!
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