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Last week’s digression almost brought Torchwood back into its classic British territory: long-winded flashbacks of a doomed romance and many woeful rooftop scenes. We’ve seen nothing as ridiculous as a half-converted Cyberwoman yet, but for one joyous, fabulous moment, the entire plight of the human race seemed to be a product of Captain Jack’s inability to keep it in his pants. Or, as smooth-talker Rex so eloquently put it this week, “So the whole world got screwed just ‘cos two gay guys had a hissy fit?”
Well, not quite, Rex. The blame seems to lie primarily with ‘The Family,’ a mysterious organisation that obtained some of Jack’s blood when he was being used as a human pincushion (make that knife-cushion) in the 1920s. For once, it looks like a real trail that Torchwood can actually follow, but that’s the trouble with mysterious organisations – they’re, um, mysterious, so there’s no information about them. Esther can’t even find them on Google…
The woman we saw at the end of last episode is Angelo’s granddaughter, although why Olivia Colasanto (Nana Visitor) needed to take hostages in order to lure Jack to her grandfather’s bedside is still unclear. Couldn’t she have just asked Jack to come along nicely? Ancient Angelo is in no position to do any talking in his comatose state, having kept himself alive as long as possible for Jack’s return. All Jack can do now is hold his hand and prattle on about how “you would have liked Ianto” – enough to make anyone die of boredom, which Angelo promptly does. Yes, he actually dies! There’s a ‘null field’ transmitter under his bed turning him mortal, suggesting that Jack was right about his theory of 'morphic fields' all along.
Back on board are the CIA, led by Allen Shapiro (John de Lancie), a man with an ego to match Jack’s (who cares, it’s worth it just to see an American call Gwen “English” again). But it’s been so long since we last saw the CIA that this reunion isn’t as satisfying as it could have been. Esther’s character continues to blossom at this point, as she discovers her sister is volunteering for Category One, adding some much needed tenderness to the episode and emphasising the urgency to solve Miracle Day. Rex, on the other hand, fears a solution – will he die come the end?
The Kitzinger Crew also made a very welcome return this week, with Oswald Danes and Jilly Kitzinger’s tenuous partnership close to breaking point. The end is nigh for Danes, who has been given his very own category, Category Zero, grimly suggesting that America will happily follow the preaching of a convict as long as he’s executed at the end of it (really?). In an explosive confrontation with Kitzinger, Danes lashes out, but finally his PA gives as good as she gets. Lauren Ambrose remains one of the stand out actresses of the series, playing an intricate character that is repulsed by Danes’ crimes, but doesn’t hesitate to join The Family when asked.
Yet another episode that raised more questions instead of giving enough answers, ‘End of the Road’ finished with Jack being shot, Gwen being deported and Esther being… Esther (i.e. crying). However, there was enough tenderness, humour and action in this episode to keep it interesting, even if it started to indicate that extra-terrestrial technology was the closest we’d get to seeing proper daft aliens this series. Bring back the King of the Weevils, I say.
If you've kept up so far, don't miss Torchwood's penultimate episode on BBC One, Thursday 9pm.
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