Torchwood on Starz (1 Viewer)

[David Weicker]

I haven't seen the episode yet (and no, I'm not mad about spoilers, so don't panic) but man - I would have never thought that a Who Villain (well, more accurately a Sarah Jane Adventures villain - but close enough) would have been behind this! Just yesterday I was discussing Torchwood over Chinese and said to my dining companion "You know, I bet The Risen Mitten has something to do with this! But naw - RTD would never bring in a plot device from 5 years ago in an episode that nobody in the Starz viewing audience* would have seen. That way lies fanwank madness!" Guess I was proven wrong. The Trickster is even a MORE obscure villain/plot point than the Risen Mitten! *well, a statistically low number at least. Sure there are the established Who/TW fans who are watching - but I mean of the average, Not-We demographic. The majority of the Starz viewers would never know about old villains beyond perhaps Daleks and Cybermen.

NOTE: Spoilers ahead for those who haven't watched this episode I originally mis-heard the villain's name. It sounded to me like the "Tracer's Brigade" - not Trickster. However, the Tricksters Brigade was mentioned in Turn Left, in which Donna stayed with the Colosanto family (who were eventually sent to an internment camp). Angelo's last name was Colosanto. Coincedence ??? I do think we finally know the symbolism of the Triangle. When the three men agree to 'use Jack', they grab each other's arms forming a triangle. Whether they are working with Angelo, or as a separate entity is still to be determined. I did notice that Angelo used the phrase 'Blessing' in this episode. Given the dates in the episode, Angelo would be over 100 now. Another good episode David

 

[Patrick_S]

I'm really interested to see how this all ties together. Since the episode has aired I'm not worried about spoilers but if you are please stop reading. If the "Miracle" has something to do with the Jack's blood that was taken when the mob was having their way with him, (very disturbing scene to say the least) I'll be puzzled. After all Jack's immortality is from the energy of the Tardis and I just can't see how his blood would somehow be minable to replicate it.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

* It would also cheapen the mystery. To be effective, a mystery has to give you the pieces you need to solve it early on, and then spend the middle period muddling the waters. If we aren't given the information needed to guess until the seventh episode out of 10, what's the point? "Children of Earth" opened with schoolchildren getting off a bus in Scotland in 1965. By the end of hour one, all of the main pieces of the mystery were in place. The tension was seeing how they all came together. With "Miracle Day", you could skip episodes two and three and all but the last five minutes of five without missing a beat story wise.

 

[Tony J Case]

NOTE: Spoilers ahead for those who haven't watched this episode I originally mis-heard the villain's name. It sounded to me like the "Tracer's Brigade" - not Trickster. However, the Tricksters Brigade was mentioned in Turn Left, in which Donna stayed with the Colosanto family (who were eventually sent to an internment camp). Angelo's last name was Colosanto. Coincedence ???

The Trickster gets name checked in two episodes with a Colasanto? Pretty strong evidence to me . . . except for RTD's love of reusing names. He's always recycling one surname or another - Tyler, Jones, Smith - so having a Colasanto may indeed not be a big deal. I guess we'll find out next week!

 

[Mikah Cerucco]

In Alias, the "live forever" guy was buried alive. In Heroes, the "live forever" guy was buried alive (and he'd been on Alias). In the Highlander movies and tv series, we've seen people killed and come back to life. We even saw "Claire 1.0" on Heroes who could feel everything, though she'd recover from it. I'm sure there are many more examples that escape instant memory right now. But watching Jack get killed over and over, knowing he feels the full pain of each wound and death was just flat out brutal. I almost had to turn away.


As for the sex scene(s), I did turn away. I simply didn't want to see it.

 

[NeilO]

But watching Jack get killed over and over, knowing he feels the full pain of each wound and death was just flat out brutal.

That was horrific. I wonder what will happen when Jack and Angelo meet again. Is Angelo just bait or what?

 

[Jeffery_H]

In Alias, the "live forever" guy was buried alive. In Heroes, the "live forever" guy was buried alive (and he'd been on Alias). In the Highlander movies and tv series, we've seen people killed and come back to life. We even saw "Claire 1.0" on Heroes who could feel everything, though she'd recover from it. I'm sure there are many more examples that escape instant memory right now. But watching Jack get killed over and over, knowing he feels the full pain of each wound and death was just flat out brutal. I almost had to turn away.


As for the sex scene(s), I did turn away. I simply didn't want to see it.

I too thought the death scenes were gruesome given this is based off a sci-fi show. Also, I would agree VERY much about the sex, turned them off too and didn't want to see that for sure. They have gone way overboard on that stuff and seem to want to make a point of just putting it in your face all the time. I had the show figured out from the start given how it started with one of the most vile characters being so evil. The first thing I thought when I saw the PR lady was she was a demon or is the devil by the way she acted and loved such human manipulation. That's how true evil works, manipulation, deceit, etc. and she sure was hiding a lot you could tell while reveling in everything happening. As it turns out, it seems like this may be close because Angelo made some sort of pact with the devil or something to become like Jack. Should be interesting to see if Jack faces just part of something evil or the devil himself. The Doctor faced him a couple of times or at least thought to have done so but you can't really destroy it (only God can win the battle). It will be unique to see how Jack does it if this is true without the Doctor.

 

[Kazz]

I thought they said the Tracer's Brigade too, now when I look at the Tardis Wiki I see that they have it confirmed that it was the Tricksters who were behind the assassination attempt on the president. I worried when Starz picked this series up that it would somehow lose it's connection to the Whoniverse, but having Jack mention the Doctor and now a tricksters brigade mention....Well despite the mediocrity of this miniseries I am now made happy that this show stays in continuity.

 

[NeilO]

I worried when Starz picked this series up that it would somehow lose it's connection to the Whoniverse, but having Jack mention the Doctor and now a tricksters brigade mention....Well despite the mediocrity of this miniseries I am now made happy that this show stays in continuity.

Of course when you have an event of this magnitude in the Whoniverse, you just have to wonder, "where is the Doctor?" I wonder if there is going to be some explanation here of why he is not able to show up or never found out about this. Or whether there will be a reference to this in the second half of the Doctor Who season.

 

[NeilO]

Just one more episode to go. I have a bad feeling about the American part of the cast.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Of course when you have an event of this magnitude in the Whoniverse, you just have to wonder, "where is the Doctor?" I wonder if there is going to be some explanation here of why he is not able to show up or never found out about this. Or whether there will be a reference to this in the second half of the Doctor Who season.

I've always seen the Doctor as sort of an intergalactic tourist. When he ends up someplace where heroism is required, he steps up to the plate, but he's not actively seeking out trouble. If it's a choice between Auschwitz in 1943 or London during the Olympics in 2012, he's going to go for the Olympics. Since the Miracle (whatever it is) is presumably going to get resolved in next week's episode, from the Doctor's vantage point Miracle Day is probably just those several months in 2011 when nobody died and humanity did some very ugly things.

 

[NeilO]

I've always seen the Doctor as sort of an intergalactic tourist. When he ends up someplace where heroism is required, he steps up to the plate, but he's not actively seeking out trouble. If it's a choice between Auschwitz in 1943 or London during the Olympics in 2012, he's going to go for the Olympics. Since the Miracle (whatever it is) is presumably going to get resolved in next week's episode, from the Doctor's vantage point Miracle Day is probably just those several months in 2011 when nobody died and humanity did some very ugly things.

I was thinking last night that there might be an actual explanation due to the events of Miracle Day. We know how disturbed The Doctor was when he first saw the immortal Jack Harkness. What if, whatever change was done to the morphic field also made it so that no one could time travel to Earth at this time. Thus for these few months there just was no way for The Doctor to interfere.

 

[spshultz]

When I was watching last night I heard them say the season finale was next week. I thought this was a mini-series and was finished this year?

 

[David Weicker]

This was the fourth "season" (called 'series' in the UK) of Torchwood. The first two 'seasons' were of the monster-of-the-week variety. The third 'season' was a five episode single story. All of these were originally broadcast in England on the BBC (and produced by the BBC, well BBC Wales). This 'season' was a ten episode single story (and was produced as a joint effort between the BBC and Starz), and next week is the final episode. Because this 'season' and last 'season' were both single stories, they can be considered mini-series. So, the confusion comes from the terminology - in America, we call them 'seasons', in the UK, they call them 'series', and also because this was a single story, it resembled a mini-series. However, based on its ratings, and the Producer willing to come back, it may have additional 'seasons' on Starz and the BBC. There is no decision made yet that this is the last, and there isn't a guarantee there will be more. David

 

[spshultz]

Sorry to be a bother but does this mean that in this weeks up coming episode they will wrap it all up with and not leave us hanging?


Truth be told, I have actually enjoyed this go around of Torchwood and hope they do it every year. I wish it were on weekly again like Doctor Who is.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Yes. The Miracle Day storyline will resolve on Friday. If the show returns, it will be with a whole new story.

 

[NeilO]

Just saw the finale. It was quite a blast. There were some expected things and some unexpected things. Overall, it was a good series, though they easily have told it in fewer episodes. I wonder if it would feel better if you had it on DVD and could easily run from one episode to the next.

 

[Matt Hough]

I was delighted when I had heard Torchwood was going to be ten episodes, but they didn't need ten episodes to tell THIS story. Still, I was satisfied where we were left at the end of the finale, and if there are any more episodes, it's as good a place as any to start.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I was delighted when I had heard Torchwood was going to be ten episodes, but they didn't need ten episodes to tell THIS story. Still, I was satisfied where we were left at the end of the finale, and if there are any more episodes, it's as good a place as any to start.

I agree. I liked where it ended, I liked where it began, and they could have told everything in between in about three or four episodes. If they'd opened the first episode with the jar of blood, it would have made the mystery a lot more compelling. The last episode was fun, even if it didn't justify the slog to get to that point. I loved turning Rex into another Jack; it creates a ying to his yang. We've see how living for centuries has transformed Jack. What kind of person might it turn Rex into? Any future Torchwood has to have Jack at the center, but it's fun knowing that there's someone like him out there. This run has had a shortage of WTF sci-fi moments, so it was nice to see a couple "what the hell is going on?" moments in this episode. Keeping the Three Families viable was also nice; I always like to have additional interesting bad guys floating out there in the Who-niverse waiting to be drawn upon.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

Originally Posted by MattH. [url=/t/311691/torchwood-on-starz/60#post_3849182]

I was delighted when I had heard Torchwood was going to be ten episodes, but they didn't need ten episodes to tell THIS story. Still, I was satisfied where we were left at the end of the finale, and if there are any more episodes, it's as good a place as any to start.

I agree. I liked where it ended, I liked where it began, and they could have told everything in between in about three or four episodes. If they'd opened the first episode with the jar of blood, it would have made the mystery a lot more compelling.

The last episode was fun, even if it didn't justify the slog to get to that point. I loved turning Rex into another Jack; it creates a ying to his yang. We've see how living for centuries has transformed Jack. What kind of person might it turn Rex into? Any future Torchwood has to have Jack at the center, but it's fun knowing that there's someone like him out there. This run has had a shortage of WTF sci-fi moments, so it was nice to see a couple "what the hell is going on?" moments in this episode. Keeping the Three Families viable was also nice; I always like to have additional interesting bad guys floating out there in the Who-niverse waiting to be drawn upon.

I liked the potential for extending the story as its obvious the families weren't done yet. I can't tell if the ending felt rushed because it was, or because it took too long to get there.