SPOILER WARNING: POST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE EPISODE

One Sentence Review

An excellent set up episode, with a tense build up and explosive finale

Episode Synopsis

Posted Here

Thoughts and Analysis

The abbreviated third season of Torchwood begins with a bang, and left me thinking that at least I only have to wait until tomorrow to find out what happens next. This may be the only good thing about this series only being 5 episodes long as it means we don’t have to wait as long to find out what happens.

From the setup episode it appears there will be a number of distinct arcs going through the series. The “456″ arc, The Clement arc, The Torchwood Arc, The Family arc and finally The home office arc.

The “456″ Arc

This is what I am calling the centerpoint of the story, the “456″ aliens and the control of the children and its repurcussions. From this episode we learn very little about the aliens, except that they have been to Earth before and the British government seem to have had some dealings with them.

The Clement Arc

This is what I am calling Clement McDonalds story. From this episode it appears that he was one of a group of children who aside from him were taken by the 456 aliens. From all the hints we have been given it appears fairly obvious that the British Government were complicit in this incident, the only question is why? He also appears to have got some sort of special “sniffing” ability as a side effect of this encounter, but unfortunately he appears to have gone slightly crazy as a result of it as well.

The Torchwood Arc

This is covering what happens to the Torchwood team as they investigate the mystery of the 456. At the moment it appears that the Government has turned against them for reasons unknown with the blowing up of Jack from the inside. The main question is why, all I can figure is that they did not want Torchwood to discover what happened in 1965

The Family Arc

We were introduced to Captain Jack and Ianto Jones family in this episode, and so much time was spent with them, it appears obvious that they will have a role in the forthcoming episodes but I dont know what, unless it is to put a “normal” perspective on the incidents with the children. Though we did have the revelation that Jack has a daughter (now his apparant age) and a grandson. I also think that there has to be some significance to Ianto having the Torchwood car stolen, perhaps it will lead people hunting the Torchwood team down the wrong track.

The Home Office Arc

Here is where we see things from the “villains” perspective, or at least the people trying to cover it up. From what we have seen so far it appears likely that Lois Habiba may have a key role in helping Torchwood later on in the series. It appears that the department we see, is responsible for dealing with and potentially covering up incidents with Aliens, what is not clear is why they want Torchwood out the way.

Other Thoughts

I thought that this was overall quite a tightly written episode, the only parts that dragged for me where the family scenes in the middle and Gwen talking to Rupesh. On the topic of Rupesh, while I understand the need for his character it may have been more effective if he had actually been a part of the team before his betrayal of Jack. This would have made the shooting of Jack all the more shocking when it occurred. While it did make for a nice red herring that you think Rupesh is one thing but turns out to be another, for me his betrayal of Jack and him getting double crossed by his boss came too soon, though I did appreciate the results.

At the moment though we are left with more questions than answers, but at least there is less than 24 hours to wait for the next episode. It is too soon to say for certain if the 5 night event format will work for Torchwood, but if the rest of the episodes are as good as this then it looks like it will.

Episode Rating

8/10