Torchwood: Series 1

EVERYTHING CHANGES ★★★★
An anagram of Doctor Who becomes a spin off series. It would take a while for Torchwood to find its own identity, as it starts out as an odd mixture of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, CSI, and The X-Files. That's not to say the pilot isn't entertaining. Like Rose Tyler and Maria Jackson, the show's premise is introduced through the eyes of Police Constable Gwen Cooper, played by the lovely and talented Eve Myles. Her interest is peaked when Torchwood arrives on the scene of a murder and promptly commandeers the investigation. Gwen, not to be dissuaded, witnesses the strange group use an alien gauntlet to briefly bring the murder victim back to life. This sets Gwen and, in turn, the audience on a journey to learn more about Torchwood and its leader, former Ninth Doctor companion Captain Jack Harkness. Quite a lot has happened to Jack since we last saw him resurrected on the Game Station in 'The Parting of the Ways'. How he managed to travel from the future to present-day Cardiff and become leader of this branch of Torchwood is shrouded in mystery for now. Although one important twist is revealed: Thanks to Rose, Jack is now immortal. 'Everything Changes' doesn't offer much of an opportunity to explore Torchwood's personnel—Suzie, Tosh, Owen, and Ianto—other than the group being fond of ignoring protocol and taking the alien tech they've recovered home to play with. Like UNIT before them, for a covert group, Torchwood isn't great about being secretive, as everyone—excluding Gwen—seems to know about its existence. The subplot of serial killings in Cardiff takes a backseat until the episode's climax, although the identity of the murderer was fairly obvious. It boggles the mind why the confrontation took place right outside Torchwood's hub where cameras would be watching, and, one would assume, recording events. Although the pilot has its teething problems, the episode does make a strong start to a promising series.


DAY ONE ★★
An alien that feeds on orgasms and kills. Yes, Torchwood really went there.  Okay, fess up. Who actually wrote this script? Because it seems like a horny 13 year-old whose only knowledge about sex is from watching porn had his sticky fingers all over this. No effort is made to understand this alien threat, and, if not for Gwen's mistake, it would have remained sealed within the rock that fell to Earth. So, if the alien specifically traveled to our world for an orgasmic fix, how did it plan on achieving this trapped in a meteor? To keep it short, 'Day One' is not a bad story, it's just not very good.


GHOST MACHINE ★★★
Three episodes in and Gwen Cooper is the only fleshed-out character in a regular cast made up of five. I have no idea who these people are; even Jack—no longer the happy-go-lucky guy who traveled with the Doctor—remains an enigma. At least this episode is an improvement on the previous installment. An alien device allowing users to emotionally experience past and future events opens the door for several possibilities. Sadly, these are squandered. This could have been an excellent venue to explore predestination and the paradox of free will, with Bernie having seen his own death, while Gwen has a vision of Owen having murdered a rapist, played by an unrecognizable Gareth Thomas of Blake's 7 fame. A good story, but something of a wasted opportunity.


CYBERWOMAN ★
Garbage. How anyone in the world thought this was a good idea is simply beyond me. It's bad, and not even in a so-bad-it's-good way. An hour of insulting the audience's intelligence with a steaming load of ridiculous shit. Embarassing from start to finish. The worst episode of Series 1? No contest.


SMALL WORLDS ★★★
Sapphire & Steel creator P.J. Hammond takes a stab at Torchwood in a tale that comes as close to magic as anything Doctor Who related ever has. Fairies are creatures from the Dawn of Time—so, friends of Fenric, then?—who periodically find a Chosen One—a human child—whom they watch over and protect until it's time for the child to become one of them. The catch? Fairies are evil mischief makers akin to gremlins. The story attempts to flesh out a little of Jack's past, but it amounts to nothing. Torchwood continues to push its boundaries by featuring a pedophile and an abusive stepfather, but it feels like a desperate attempt to say "we're on at a later time, look how adult we are." I found it difficult to have much sympathy for Jasmine's mother. She couldn't be bothered to get off her ass and pick Jasmine up from school, let alone notice anything wrong with her daughter. Honestly, I think Jasmine is better off with the Fairies.


COUNTRYCIDE ★★
Torchwood's homage to the horror genre opens with a cliché of a woman stopping her car and investigating a body lying in the road. This leads to a series of predictable set pieces taken from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. In its favor, the episode finally makes an effort to explore the regular cast of characters to see what makes them tick. Isolating the group in a tense environment works wonders. The story goes to great lengths to subvert expectations of alien involvement, and it's something of a disappointment when the baddies are revealed to be human cannibals. Although there's a bit of gore with skinned corpses and dismembered body parts, what turns my stomach is the "sex talk" between Gwen and Owen. The dialog is toe-curlingly cringe-inducing. Terrible.


GREEKS BEARING GIFTS ★★★
Toshiko gets a chance to shine. She has been a complete stranger up till now, hiding in the background while the more dominant characters take center stage. Reminiscent of 'Earshot', a memorable episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, an alien pendant allows Tosh to hear everyone's thoughts while she grows increasingly attracted to the mysterious Mary. With Tosh's crush for Owen revealed in the previous episode, I felt her pain when she inadvertently learned about Owen's affair with Gwen. Unrequited love sucks.


THEY KEEP KILLING SUZIE  ★★★★★
Torchwood finally fulfills its promise of the series' pilot, and becomes a worthy Doctor Who spin off, with its strongest and best episode to date. A series of murders tied to the team's deceased colleague Suzie pushes Jack to make the drastic decision of using the resurrection gauntlet again. But the only one who can make the alien object work is Gwen, with disastrous consequences. It sets in motion a complex plan that turns into an engaging and remarkable tale. More like this please. Also, bonus points for the beginning of Jack and Ianto's sexual relationship, which will eventually blossom into a romance that will strengthen both characters tenfold.


RANDOM SHOES ★★★★★
'Love & Monsters' done right. A remarkable and touching piece of work, focusing on an ordinary man—Eugene Jones—and how the acquisition of an alien eye leads to his death and, ultimately, drawn into Torchwood's orbit, particularly that of Gwen Cooper. Paul Chequer gives a lovely performance as Eugene, who, in a unique twist, becomes a ghost after swallowing the Dogon eye. It offers him the unique opportunity to put his life in perspective while influencing Gwen's mind as she investigates his death. Tragic, comedic, as well as incredibly insightful, writer Jacquetta May crafted an absolutely beautiful tale. Just gorgeous.


OUT OF TIME ★★★★★
Three excellent episodes in a row? It might have taken half a season, but Torchwood found its groove and delivers another heartfelt story. Instead of an alien threat, the rift deposits an airplane from the 1950s on Torchwood's doorstep, and its three passengers make an impact on the lives of Jack, Gwen and Owen. A little gem which serves as a wonderful character piece, with no enemy to fight except the culture shock of modern day life. Gwen's friendship with Emma brings out the best in the former police constable. Gwen takes on a protective big sister role, and it's a welcome surprise when her long-suffering boyfriend Rhys learns of Gwen's lies to cover for her double life at Torchwood. Owen benefits tremendously from his romance with Diane. Under all those wisecracks and casual sex hook-ups, it's nice to see Owen as real person for the first time. For me, Jack taking care of John turned out to be the saddest of the three journeys the characters embark on. There's an interesting juxtaposition of two men who are not only lost in time, but have also lost everything and everyone they loved. I would be lying if I said I didn't tear up when John discovered his now elderly son, Alan, suffering from Alzheimer's disease in a nursing home. Heartbreaking.


COMBAT ★★★★
Torchwood vs. Fight Club. Noel Clarke—Doctor Who's own Mickey Smith—delivers a terrific script which explores Owen's anger over losing Diane, while Gwen and Rhys' relationship implodes. Clarke rather masterfully balances all the regular characters, and I do believe this is the most confident we've ever seen Ianto, who adopts an appealing sarcastic air. The investigation into a murder tied into the kidnapping of Weevils draws Owen into the shady world of slimeball extraordinaire Mark Lynch. When Lynch brought Owen to his flat and started to undress, I'm not sure if I was relieved or disappointed he and Owen didn't throw themselves into a flurry of angry sex. Gwen has had an interesting journey over the course of Torchwood's first series. Working for Torchwood turned into something of a drug for Gwen and, as a result, her relationship with Rhys suffered horribly. Here, her actions are selfish and ugly as she confesses her affair with Owen to Rhys before drugging him with retcon. Needless to say, it does not paint Gwen in the best light. The most frightening aspect of the episode isn't the brutal cage fights, it's the final scene in which Owen scares the Weevils. Shudder.


CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS ★★★★★
Achingly beautiful. Whispers of ghostly music lead Jack and Toshiko into a trap orchestrated by the mysterious Bilis Manger, trapping the pair in 1941. This opens the door for the most character development Jack has enjoyed all season. While his past remains a riddle wrapped in a conundrum, Jack meets the real (and very dreamy) Captain Jack Harkness and divulges that he chose the name back when he was a "con man". Thus begins a rather wonderful star-crossed lovers romance between Jack and the real Jack, who is destined to die the next day. For me, this is John Barrowman's finest episode of the season. He's simply brilliant, with a depth to his emotions that is truly something to behold. The climactic sequence between Ianto and Owen where they are at odds over opening the rift is nail-bitingly gripping. The final scene is gorgeous, too.


END OF DAYS ★★★
Continuing on from the previous episode, Bilis Manger's trap ensnares Gwen, Ianto, Owen, and Toshiko, tricking them into opening the rift and setting the demon Abbadon free. Fragmented would be a good description of the Torchwood team here. All except Jack are tempted to open the rift by someone they've lost, with Gwen pushed to the breaking point when Bilis Manger brutally murders Rhys. Frustratingly, no one divulges their encounters with dead loved ones, which would have gone a long way to figuring out someone wants Torchwood to unleash forces best left alone. And that's a huge problem. After everything these characters have been through together, Chris Chibnall's script depicts them as having not grown to trust each other one iota. They're ready to kill one another rather than work together, and it's depressing to watch all that development thrown out of the proverbial window. The only thing I like is at last the cards are fully on the table. Jack sacrificing himself to stop Abbadon works well, and the CGI monster is suitably impressive. Gwen keeping vigil by Jack's side was sweet, but shouldn't it have been Ianto? And we never learn who Bilis Manger was or how he could flit about through time. It makes me feel cheated. The cliffhanger, however, is the best bit by a country mile.