Aliens Among Us: Love Rat

"We've either got a zombie on our hands or something mean enough to carry one off."

Writer: Christopher Cooper
Format: Audio
Released: 19th October 2017
Series: Torchwood 5.05

Featuring: Captain Jack, Gwen, Tyler, Mr Colchester, Orr, Andy

Synopsis

Captain Jack Harkness is dead, and that's the simplest thing that's happened to him in the last few days. Even the manner of his death is surprisingly complex, especially when it turns out that he hasn't come back alone.

While Torchwood try and cope with a new mayor and a terrorist cell, they also have to deal with what, at first, looks to be a plague, and then turns out to be something far, far worse.

Verdict

Aliens Among Us continued in excellent fashion with Love Rat. It was a brilliant way to kick off the second boxset of the official fifth series of Torchwood and the story arc swung straight back into gear. It kicked off where Superiority Complex left off and I thought the opening sequence was actually quite shocking and disturbing. Captain Jack was literally, as Gwen delicately put it, shagged to death and that set the tone for the episode ahead. One thing was very clear, despite being a part of the Doctor Who universe, this is a very different show and really isn't aimed at the younger audience. I thought the premise of the story was very good and shared obvious similarities with Day One and I like how Torchwood has the ability to explore sex in a much wider and more detailed way than Doctor Who ever can. It's a huge part of society and seeing how quickly an infection can spread was really intriguing. Sex featured a lot here and Captain Jack was thirsty for it during the entire episode and had two rather shocking acts of intercourse during the story. First, he had seduced Tyler to have sex in a mortuary which I think is pretty grim. But the most shocking aspect of the episode for me was that Jack and Gwen got it on too! Now, this isn't the Gwen as we know her as the mystery surrounding her is still very much hidden but the real Gwen is locked inside somewhere, witnessing everything that the imposter is doing. It's not clear if she looks the same as Gwen but even so, everyone sees her as Gwen and for Jack to have sex with her is a huge deal! I was rather surprised I must say but I like the possibility it provides for story development. Some of the sexual innuendos in this episode were quite cringey and comical but that wasn't a bad thing at all. It fitted in well with the narrative and that's a big bonus. I really liked Mr Colchester in this story and his dealing with the trouble surrounding Orr's fluxing between forms was terrific. He calmly and quickly worked out what was causing it and fixed the problem. She seems to be a good addition to the Torchwood team and I like how she just brings another dynamic to the series by being an alien. Andy getting a big role in this episode was great because he's such a likeable character but often out of his depth when it comes to matters that Torchwood deal with. He brings them to the attention of Gwen but he can rarely help out any further. Tyler's relationship with both Torchwood and Ro-Jedda was very interesting and he's in a very intriguing position for the series. He's almost the point of contact between the head of the Sorvix and the people trying to stop them taking over Cardiff. His failure to tell either side the whole story of what his situation entails is really good and he's a rather sneaky character which I'm enjoying. The spread of the sex parasite was good and I liked how Duncan came full circle from murdering Jack at the start of the episode to help stop the spreading. Gwen had found him very cleverly through a dating app and once the Sorvix provided the cure, everything was tied up rather neatly. Gwen returning home to Rhys after being distancing following her impostering was good and I liked the emotion that was portrayed there. Everything is in a very nice place and I'm looking forward to seeing how this third of the series continues. But for now, an excellent beginning to the boxset and a great continuation of the series!

Rating: 9/10