Torchwood: End of Days

Three weeks? I don't believe it. But as the 50th anniversary celebrations are (almost) behind me, hopefully I can find some more time for this.

(Originally written 10/9/13)

I like that this is a season finale which draws on lots of things which have been happening throughout the season, as opposed to One Underlying Mystery. Though I’m not one who subscribes to the idea that Torchwood Three are fundamentally crap at their jobs (unlike some people I know), it is funny to think that this is the climax of that crapness. Whoops, we opened the Rift and now people are out of time, whoops, we opened the Rift again and now Abaddon is killing everyone.

But what is it that finally causes one of Torchwood’s employees to get the sack? Not secretly bringing a Cyberwoman/alien lesbian into the base, or misusing alien technology – no, it was Owen asking Jack who he is (after defending his opening of the Rift). I have to admit that I side with Owen on this one, as Jack never actually says that they should have been left in 1941 (in fact he didn’t seem to mind Tosh leaving the equation everywhere at the time). Furthermore, Jack wasn’t helping in the slightest – he wouldn’t say who he is and he wouldn’t offer an alternative. Besides, why does the Rift Manipulator even exist if they’re not allowed to use it?

There were a lot of big moments for Gwen this episode. She got totally burned by Jack when she argued “All your staff have feelings, Jack - even Owen” and Jack retorted “Well, you would know” (I didn’t know anyone besides Tosh knew about the affair?). Then she finally realises how important Rhys is to her when he’s so brutally killed – what a heart-wrenching reaction from Gwen. A bit of a shame though that it’s so similar to Rory’s death in Amy’s Choice:

• Amy/Gwen have been fooling around behind their boyfriend’s back
• Boyfriend is tragically killed
• “What is the (fucking) point of you?”
• Boyfriend comes back to life

There was also a similarity to Combat – in that episode the Weevils were said to be telepathic and to feel each other’s pain, whereas in this episode they’re said to be time-sensitive. I can’t tell if the writers are trying to actually make the Weevils more interesting creatures, or just giving them new powers every time they need to explain something in a hurry.

And if we’re talking about parallels, I’ve got to mention the elephant in the room – Jack as Jesus. First he’s betrayed by those closest to him, then he has to die to save us all, then he comes back to life after a few days. That’s painfully obvious.

And why was Jack so weak coming back after being shot? Pretty sure he’s always been fine coming back from the dead, except after Abaddon. I wonder if it’s just so they had an excuse for him to lean on Ianto? I certainly got my usual warm fuzzy feeling when they kissed.

This season was honestly a lot of fun. Even when the characters did stupid things, the stories were interesting and went in a lot of different directions. I’m a bit more familiar with Series 2, so we’ll see if it gives me as many surprises as this one did.