One Sentence Review

A suberb penultimate episode, that nicely strips us of hope before the inevitable victory in the finale

Episode Synopsis

Find it here

Thoughts and Analysis

Things finally rack up a gear in the penultimate episode, and there are alot of questions answered, but there are still a few remaining. There are also a couple of things that you would normally expect in the finale. Though given that it is Russell T Davies (RTD) in charge of writing Torchwood I am sure that there will be some Deus ex Machina to clean things up.

The “Clement” Arc

This ark apparently comes to an end with Clements apparent death, but given RTD is writing he will probably come back to life after 10 minutes when his connection is reestablished.

So we learn that in 1965 the reason the children were handed over was to get a cure for a new strain of flu. We still dont know for certain why he was left behind when his contemporaries were taken though. It also appears that his abilities were probably due to some sort of link with the 456, the nature of which is unclear.

Even if he doesn’t come back to life, I suspect that it will be something about why he was left behind or his abilities that will provide the key in combating the “456″

The “456″ Arc

This really steps up a gear and we find out they will use the children for some purpose, when we see a child from 1965 hooked up to some machinery with the alien.

They also have threatened to kill everyone on Earth if the children are not handed over, which to me seems a slightly hollow threat, as they obviously need the children so while the virus (which IMO acted way too fast) demonstrates they have the capability to kill everyone, actually carrying though is another matter.

There is still the nagging matter of given that they can control children, why dont they just gather them themselves. The only possibility I can think of is that the power is limited to stopping children and causing them to speak, they cannot make them do anything else.

I do think there was a bit of a missed opportunity in this episode however, since at the beginning when we learn the details of the 1965 incident, it appeared that while creepy they may have good intent. There was therefore a chance to play on that for a bit, perhaps by having the “456″ show that there is some threat to Earth which they can save us from, which we initially think is not due to them, but later is.

There are still a few questions unanswered about the “456″ motives, which will hopefully be cleared up in the finale.

The “Torchwood” Arc

So the Torchwood team are back in the game and fail spectacularly with the well thought out plan of going to the “456″ and calling their bluff. Which “shockingly” (given that its the penultimate episode which is bound to end up with things looking bleak) fails. I have to say in terms of likely hood of success I would give Jacks “plan” fairly long odds in the realm of millions to one. Still, theres always tomorrows episode to come up with a sensible plan.

We also have Ianto’s death which given that it is the penultimate episode and not the finale will probably be temporary especially given that RTD was writing, the death seemed slightly pointless and its not as if they have not brought Torchwood members who died mid season back to life before. Then again perhaps RTD will surprise me in a good way for a change, unlike what he did in the season 4 finale of Doctor Who.

The “Family” Arcs

Nothing much happened in either ark, we have a brief glimpse of Alice and Steven to remind us that they are still alive, but it is not clear if they were released as per Gwens instructions or are still held captive.

As for Ianto’s sister we basically have a set up for them fighting the police/army when they come to collect the children in the finale tomorrow.

The “Home Office” “Government” Arc

So the other countries find out about the 1965 incident, and call the PM a “very naughty boy”, okay thats not 100% true but it’s essentially what happened.

So rather than have Lois exposed by Bridget, they decide to have her confess herself in order to get the Torchwood team back in the game. This makes me wonder, why bother having Bridget give Lois all those nasty looks, if they are not going to use her to expose her once its too late to do anything about. It just seems to me that they put the looks in there to mislead people deliberately when there was no need to. There’s nothing wrong with a little misdirection, it just helps for it to be about something that matters more than this point.

On the otherhand the cabinets rationalising was compeltely believable and is what I would expect to actually happen if this situation ever really arose, my only problem with this was that given that it is a world problem, I would have liked to have had some input from other countries on a unified program for getting the 10% together

Other Thoughts

While I may have moaned about little things I may not have liked, this should not be taken to mean I disliked the episode as this is not the case. As I actually thought it was the best of the 4 so far, and gives me hope that the finale will also be a superb episode.

Normally I would not be worried about this but given RTD track record with Doctor Who finales, and his apparent love of Deus ex Machina I just worry that he may do something similar tomorrow, and have Jack come up with something out of nowhere that solves the problem and restores the status quo with no lasting impact.

On the other hand the season 2 finale of Torchwood demonstrated that unlike in Doctor Who, RTD is willing for their to be a significant and meaningful cost to a victory and have people properly killed off. I just hope that these instincts are maintained in the finale of Children of Earth.

Episode Rating

9/10