As this episode begins, it appears we’ve finally found the secret of how to get fired from Torchwood: be the living dead. But wait, no, by episode’s end Owen’s back as Torchwood’s doctor. I can’t say I was saddened by Martha’s departure though, as Freema Agyeman’s acting style seems more at home in the kid-friendly Doctor Who. I also wish I could erase her kiss with Jack from my mind – it was just so messy, and Jack’s open eyes made it look quite uncomfortable, so why did it have to happen?
This episode certainly had a nice knack for showing how dull Owen’s life/death was; I particularly enjoyed the shots where he just stares into the distance, the music repeating in the background. Of course the finger-breaking scene is totally cringe-inducing, though I’m not sure I really believe in what prompted it. Tosh comes into Owen’s apartment and starts talking to him like they’re “an old married couple”, according to Maggie, but since when has Tosh ever spoken so much and in such a flippant way? Is this meant to be a hint that she was just stalling because she didn’t know what to do, or poor characterisation?
(While we’re on Tosh, this is now the second time she’s told Owen she loves him when she thinks he’s about to die. The first time she and Owen talked about it; this time there’s nothing. She’s really starting to annoy me now.)
I didn’t have much to take note of during the first half of this episode, but things started to get interesting once Owen got around to infiltrating Henry Parker’s house. His smile when he destroyed the generator was appropriately creepy, and his speech to Parker’s security guard was delivered with a confidence the Doctor would be proud of. He is very lucky that he was talking to a crap security guard though; seriously, who just stands there, lets a guy walk up to you and take your gun and knock you out?
Now Owen finally approaches Parker’s bed, and the music climaxes with Owen’s Theme (I pretty much bought the Torchwood soundtrack solely for this theme, so you can tell I’m a fan of it). To me, this really felt like the payoff of the episode. Parker was brilliantly performed by Richard Briers, but I have to admit, I wasn’t entirely sure what point it was making about death. One minute Parker’s desperately clinging to life (i.e. the Pulse), the next he’s pitying himself for lying in his own piss and being fed through a tube. Then he dies, without being able to make peace with himself. Owen later tells Maggie that she should choose life if there’s the slightest glimmer of hope, but did Parker have that hope? We’ll never know for sure.
(I’d also like to see Owen reflect on whether or not he had that hope after Diane left, particularly during his conversation with Maggie, but yet again this was not to be.)
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