Torchwood Review - Series 2

So after the success of the first series (which was largely negative among critics, but positive for fans of the show and Doctor Who), there was no doubt that another season would be in the works. Bigger, better and funnier, this is Torchwood Series 2:

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

So taking place after series 3 of Doctor Who (Just use that as an excuse to find out where Jack went to after the first series ended), the team now led by Gwen (all the cast from the first series, reprise their roles so I won't go into too much detail there), enter themselves into a hostage situation with an alien blowfish. Jack returns, shooting the blowfish in the head and back at the hub, the team questions him about why he left, which he responds by saying that he found his Doctor. During a murder investigation involving rift energy, Jack gets a hologram call from a man he knew as his former colleague and lover, Captain John Hart (played by James Marsters) and after a bit of a bar fight, the 2 of them head back to the hub with the rest of the team. He reveals that there are bombs set up in the area which he must defuse in time and the team agree to help him, but decide to keep a watchful eye on him, in case things go wrong. But what is he really planning? Starting off the new series, I thought this was a pretty strong episode. There's a lot of humour throughout which doesn't hold back in anyway and it manages to establish the overall series storyline, which we'll get to later on. 9/10

Sleeper

The team are sent to investigate a crime scene which involved 2 fatally wounded robbers and a couple. Jack suspects that the female of the couple was responsible and while she has no memory of the incident, Jack and the team take her back to the hub to analysis her, which eventually reveals to everyone that she is an alien sleeper agent which is yet to be activated and believes to be human via memory transplants (according to Jack that is). The team discover that there are other sleeper agents out there who have also been activated and assigned different goals and will dispose of anything that gets in their way. Can Torchwood stop them before all hell breaks lose? Watch to find out. I thought this was a great episode with a lot of action, suspense and races against time. This series is off to a good start, let's see if it can retain this greatness. 9/10

To The Last Man

As everybody knows, the Torchwood hub is home to a lot of frozen bodies, some of which come from different time periods. This episode explores the possibility of using one of those bodies to save the world. The frozen body is a man called Tommy (played by Anthony Lewis) who was a young WW1 solider and was taken by the 1918 Torchwood team and leave instructions for future members to be aware that he may need to be used to save the world. In the present, he is taken out, once a year for medical check ups. He is given day release and Toshiko elects herself to accompany him. Certain things begin to happen at the hospital he was in (but in the present day) and it then becomes apparent to the team that this is the day that he will save the world, but can he do it and will his feelings for Toshiko get in the way? Watch to find out. Its another great episode with some great acting and character development all around and I enjoyed watching it. 9/10

Meat

Now a lot of you know that Rhys, Gwen's boyfriend, has been very unaware of Gwen's actions and what she does as a job, but in this one, that all changes. While on delivery, Rhys's secretary calls him and tells him that one of his employees and friends, has been killed while transporting suspicious meat, which when Torchwood arrive, deduce that its alien meat. Rhys notices that among the team, is his fiancee Gwen. Throughout the episode, he follows Gwen and towards the middle, she makes the confession that she swore to never tell him, but will this confession make Rhys believe her and what is the deal with this alien meat? Watch to find out. As a whole its a very good and emotional episode which does resolve something that we have been wanting to happen since the last series ended and as a whole, it's another very strong episode. 9/10

Adam

The team come across an alien who calls himself Adam (played by Bryan Dick) and using the power of memory manipulation, makes the team believe that they have known him as a member of the team for 3 years which causes the team to see things differently from their real selves. Gwen loses all memory of Rhys, Jack is haunted by memories of his lost brother Gray (which is part of the series overall storyline), Ianto believes that he is a serial killer and Toshiko and Owen go vice versa where Owen is the one that's madly in love with Toshiko, but Toshiko couldn't care less and falls in love for Adam. Can their memories be restored by this maniac? Watch to find out. Its a very strong episode that explores Jack's past a lot more than before as well as seeing all the team from a different perspective, which on the whole, works very well indeed. 9/10

Reset

In the first of the 3 episodes with Martha Jones (the series 3 Doctor companion, played by Freema Agyeman), the team discover that a series of murdered people, were cured prior to their deaths by a professor called Copley (played by Alan Dale) in a secure medical facility called The Pharm. With the technology being at an all time high for Torchwood to hack, Martha decides to go undercover to infiltrate the facility as a test subject. What will she find in there, who is this Professor Copley and what's in store for Owen? Watch to find out (I know that you're possibly getting annoyed by me saying that now, but I can't give out spoilers because it ruins the whole review). Its good to see one of the strong companions of the Doctor return in glorious fashion and the episode as a whole is very good with character development for Martha and Owen which is great. 9/10

Dead Man Walking

In a state of shock, the team have to come to terms that Owen is no longer active. Jack rushes to a fortune teller who tells him to find something that he desires. That thing turns out to be the other resurrection gauntlet, which was rumoured to exist by Ianto in an episode of series 1, which is surrounded by a house full of weevils. Despite the others telling Jack to not do it because of what happened previously, Jack awakens Owen using the glove to allow them all to say their goodbyes (and unlike the other glove, this one can last for 2 minutes). As expected, Toshiko confesses her love for him, but somehow, like with Suzi, he manages to survive but unlike her, is using energy from an unknown source to be alive. Owen's life has changed dramatically as explored in this episode. Character development for Owen comes in full force and we get to see a completely different side to him, than before. 8/10

A Day in the Death

This episode is more of an episode dedicated to Owen and continues from where the last one left off as we see him try to get used to being like Jack, but as a dead man than an immortal man. The events of the episode are explored in flashbacks which he tells a woman who wants to commit suicide. The team decide that with Owen now dead, he is relieved of his position which is given to Martha, despite that she doesn't want his job. Can he get his job back and is he the same man that he once was? Watch to find out. As the last episode to feature Martha, I thought this was a good extension of the last episode that ends on a happy(ish) note for Owen. 8/10

Something Borrowed

Its Gwen and Rhys's wedding, but a shape shifting alien, gets its offspring inside Gwen's womb and with the wedding being the following day, Gwen must now seek the help of Rhys and her Torchwood colleagues to help her get the offspring out, while also dealing with the mother of the offspring. Another episode that wraps up a few series storylines and its actually a very good, action packed and funny episode. All the things that I like which is great. 9/10

From Out of the Rain

An old cinema in Cardiff called the Electro, gets transformed by local residents into a historical museum of film, airing old celluloid films as part of the many exhibits. However, the film takes a life of its own and a number of characters come out of it into present day Cardiff and scatter themselves about the place. This attracts the attention of Torchwood when Ianto alongside Gwen and Owen go to see a film there and discover Jack in the film they see and Jack does admit that he did appear in some kind of travellers film back in the day. The travellers seem to have the power to take ones life by drawing their last breath into a single flask, making them drop dead as it were, presumably in the hopes of becoming real. Its up to Torchwood to stop them. Now I'm not entirely sure if this episode is just serving as filler as it doesn't really add anything to the main storyline, but after the last one, I think its fair to say that we all deserve a break from the madness that this show is known for. Still, it's a pretty solid episode, using what might be an original idea to some, but for others, it might just be something done already. Either way, I found enjoyment in this one so let's end it at that. 8/10

Adrift

Gwen finds out that a boy named Jonah has gone missing for 7 months and gets in contact with her old police colleague and reoccurring character Andy Davidson (played by Tom Price) to help her out. When she finds out that Jonah's mum is starting a support group, the 2 of them attend, but discover that Jonah wasn't the only person missing. Gwen continues her investigation in the hopes that Torchwood would be willing to help and while Jack wants Gwen to stop the investigation, she chooses to carry on regardless. What is Jack hiding, will this affect Gwen and her relationships with her colleagues and her husband and who is this Jonah? Tune in to find out. Again, I'm not entirely sure if this is another filler episode, but I will admit to say that at least we get some more character development with Gwen and Jack. It is very emotional at the climax, but it ends with most things wrapped up, for now. 8/10

Fragments

The team come across signs of an unidentified life form and go to investigate. The enter a building and as the Internet meme goes "Its a Trap" and the building explodes on top of them. As Gwen is running late, she and Rhys go to the building to recover the team, while they each have flashbacks of each other being recruited into Torchwood. So for anybody wondering, this is the only episode where you can find out how each member, was recruited into Torchwood (except for Gwen who we already know about and Suzi which might be down to everybody's disinterest in her character) and for each of the characters stories, its not in order, but makes as much sense as anything and the episode ends by establishing what the last episode will be like. 9/10

Exit Wounds

So we now come to the finale of the second season and boy its one you definitely don't want to miss. Captain John Hart returns to wreck havoc across Cardiff by setting off some bombs scattered across the place before taking Jack back in time to meet his long lost brother, Gray (played by Lachlan Nieboer as adult and Ethan Brooke as a child) who has some truly cruel plans for him and his team. Can Torchwood control the madness in Cardiff, can Jack return home and who is Gray really? Tune in to find out, but it will end badly for some. As the series finale, I thought this was a great episode that ties all lose ends, let's some of the much loved characters go on a high and its very action packed and emotional too. A great end to a very strong series. 9/10

So as a whole, series 2 is even better than series 1 with a lot of strong episodes and a lot of humour throughout, with some of the best acting around. 9/10