God Among Us: Night Watch

"The whole city is asleep."

Writer: Tim Foley
Format: Audio
Released: October 2018
Series: Torchwood 6.04

Featuring: Captain Jack, Orr, Mr Colchester, Yvonne, Tyler, Ng

Synopsis

The Black Sun has come through the Rift. When it visit, sleep comes with it. Orr is the guardian, appointed to watch over the city while it slumbers. What will they find as they wander the streets?

Who are the lost souls, trapped with their demons? Who are the ones fighting even sleep? Who are the broken meeting their dreams?

Verdict

Night Watch concluded the first volume of God Among Us in a very good way! This was a really solid conclusion to the first third of Torchwood's official sixth series and I liked that we started things with the mysterious Scotswoman that has been present throughout the boxset so far. The whole city of Cardiff being asleep was intriguing, especially with the episode coming straight after the events of See No Evil. There was a lot going on in the Welsh capital! Orr talking with the mysterious woman was good and I loved the idea of something coming through the Rift to feed off dreams. That's an exciting concept and it worked well. Orr being warned that she needed to watch over the city was intriguing and it was interesting how accepting she was of the task presented to her. The whole city dreaming was good and I really liked how that tied in with Colchester's return. But he wasn't real and something had happened to the sun. The advancement of God Among Us has been quite fast with it being weeks now since Colchester's funeral in Future Pain and this was now Colin's chance to say goodbye. I liked that and it was nice of Jack to give him that space and moment. The night sun being a dark globe in the sky was good with it being the basis for feeding off sleep. Orr had an incredibly strong episode being the night and the idea of her watching the small elements in life as Cardiff slept like turning taps off and the chip pans. Cardiff is a pretty big place to go around seeing to that! I wasn't a fan of Tyler's story in the episode at all with unnamed man and how they just wanted to get high and have a one night stand. They were shifting between drugs and a come down and it was just disturbing to listen to. I'm not a fan of anything regarding drugs in life so hearing the extremes here was unpleasant from my personal perspective. Yvonne's use of a caffeine ring to combat the sleep blanket over Cardiff was good and I really enjoyed her relationship with Ng, more so because it was annoying Jack. The interaction between Jack and Yvonne has been brilliant this series and I liked how loosely they're battling for control of Torchwood. Jack's fluctuation between being hit by the sleep issue was fun and it seemed to be getting stronger which added a good threat. Jack still refusing to get along with Ng was excellent and I loved how he was blaming her for all that was going wrong with the failure to scan the globe in the sky. Yvonne knew there was something in the Hub with them and that's always a fun thing to play with. Tyler's glowing was not something I enjoyed as things just got more disturbing with his involvement. What was good was Colchester just deciding he was alive. How could he wander around the flat whilst Colin was asleep if he was just a figment of his imagination? It was difficult to argue with that logic! He was going to prove it as well with a little gizmo which was sad because he wasn't able to actually hold it which seemed to confirm he was just an echo. The suggestion that the Scotswoman gave permission for the night sun to come through the Rift was intriguing as I just wanted to know more about her. A dark force had latched on and Orr needed to find that. It was really nice to hear how Colin held all of his late husband's possessions in his arms as he packed away his things and thought of the story connected to each of them. The power of the mysterious woman was propelled when she rose those sleeping to aid Orr and sleepwalk and point in the direction she needed to go. That was a superb image in my head. Orr and the woman talking about love was good and the enigma's claim that she was love was quite something! A physical manifestation? Who knows. The intensity that was heightened in Tyler's scenes weren't enjoyable and he seemed to be duplicated by the glow that was happening which seemed to invite some sort of brothel. It wasn't good stuff. Colin recalling how Jack was heroic and there for him as Cardiff went blind was a nice touch and it was sad that Colchester had accepted he was dead. He could remember his last moments now and they were of Colin. He was a mind racing after death and he wanted to make this a good dream while it lasted. Beautiful writing. Orr's jumping around the separate character's stories to conclude the story worked well with her absorbing the evil of the glow and saving Tyler from his nightmare high. He threw up light but Orr was there to help and take it away. Colchester realising that he may just be alive because of the gizmo being a part of imagination and actually made of light was really good. I always knew he wasn't dead! So how can he remember dying? Orr confirmed his existence which sets things up nicely for the next boxset. The linkage back to the first episode and how bad things were going to happen because of God was good and I was surprised that Jack thought they had dealt with the problem at Colchester's funeral. Jack challenging Yvonne to fix things by herself was fantastic and he pushed her into sending him into sleep by saying she'd fail. Then came the horrifying echo of Andy which she dealt with well. Colin claiming to be glad that his husband was gone wasn't nice to hear and whilst it was in the moment, the prospect of him bringing his work back with him seemed very real before Orr once again arrived to save the day. She was also there for Yvonne, who apologised to Ng for failing her which was a nice touch, before she went to deal with Jack and end things. It was an exciting conclusion and finding that the light was the remaining song of the inhabitants of a sapphire planet that the night sun swallowed whole was great! That worked for me, especially with it being a sentient star. Orr was the vessel needed to deal with the threat whilst the mysterious woman sent the sun to a planet it can burn bright. She then offered Orr her love. God is love. Orr was turned to slush which I didn't see coming. And just when I thought that was that, Yvonne decides she wants to bring Ianto back! After the credits as well. But the paradigm projector went wrong and we had a member of Torchwood from the 1950s pulled out of time. The line when he said he thought Torchwood was meant to be ready was genius. Overall, a good story and I look forward to hearing where things go from here!

Rating: 8/10