This episode is intended to close off arcs which have stretched back throughout the season and, in many cases, it does. We see another side to Captain John, who gives various hints throughout the episode that he doesn’t really want to hurt anyone. We also meet Jack’s long-lost brother, who has not only managed to escape “those creatures” (they couldn’t think of a name for them?) that took him when he was a child but has also devised a plan to get revenge on Jack, yet despite all this he couldn’t find the time to change out of his rags.
Owen and Tosh get standout moments, with Owen finally coming to terms with his death and Tosh giving everything she possibly could before hers. This is the Tosh I saw in Fragments – doing incredible things under dire circumstances. Though I did wonder why they even bothered breaking her arm in Fragments when it doesn’t affect her in the slightest this episode – I think it’s just so we know why she has some industrial-strength painkillers handy and so she can tell Owen, as she’s clutching her bloody stomach, that it’s “just my arm”. I also wonder why their Torchwood staff photos look like they’ve been snapped at random.
One arc which I don’t think is sufficiently covered in Gwen/Rhys/Andy. Of course there’s an emergency on so there’s not much time to talk, but as far as we know, the last time Gwen saw Andy she was fobbing him off and telling him he couldn’t join Torchwood. Now he’s quite happy to call in her help without a word about the incident – about the only follow-up to that episode is that he insults Rhys and calls him a “lucky sod”. Then, the “amazing” Gwen, having given orders to all of Torchwood and the cops, proceeds to do absolutely nothing. I know some people are leaders, and there was some crap about Gwen needing to stay at the station, but with Cardiff in tatters (by the way, those shots of the Weevils coming out of the sewer in slow-mo were so cool), surely Gwen could have done something more to help.
Gunshot count for the season: 4. On average, that’s almost one every three episodes.
This season took me longer to get through than Series 1, so I can’t quite remember all of it. It seems that it was more consistent than the first series but less ambitious – many episodes were quite good but didn’t evoke much emotion from me (unless they involved Janto). Series 1 allowed me to feel emotions both negative and positive, especially during its surprising moments of brilliance.
One thing’s for certain: the emotions will run high during Children of Earth.
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