Exit Wounds

"The only strength I have is my hatred for you."

Writer: Chris Chibnall

Format: TV

Broadcast: 4 April 2008

Series: Torchwood 2.13

Featuring: Captain Jack, Gwen, Owen, Tosh, Ianto

Synopsis

When the villainous Captain John Hart returns to abduct Captain Jack Harkness whilst unleashing a wave of destruction and terror upon an unsuspecting Cardiff, it's up to Gwen, Ianto, Owen and Tosh to save the day. Meanwhile, Captain Jack is forced to face some demons from his past...

Verdict

Exit Wounds was an outstanding episode to conclude our rewatch of the second series of Torchwood! I think this episode might just be my favourite from Torchwood with it battling out with Captain Jack Harkness for that title. This really is glorious and emotional and brings the story arc concerning Captain John to a neat close. It's fantastic stuff. Starting off with John in control and reigning over the Hub was a lot of fun and the brutality of his machine gun mowing down of Jack set the scene. John was in control. Taking Jack to Cardiff Castle for a vantage point over the city was great, although that's one hell of a stroll from Cardiff Bay and the Hub's location! John being in communication with the rest of the Torchwood team was very good and I loved how he told them all to get to the roofs of the buildings they were in as fifteen simultaneous explosions occurred across Cardiff. They were all at strategic points that wiped out access to and from the city, whilst also knocking out the Central Server Building and life-saving hospital equipment and their backup generators. The city was in turmoil. I thought Rhys was great in this one and his humour when it came to Jack being part of the Time Agency and him thinking it was in Cardiff was tremendous. The way he blurted it to Andy after bragging about knowing more secrets than the PC was wonderful too. His assurance provided to Gwen was brilliant and it was nice to see him fully involved with the Torchwood team. The truth about Gray and how it was actually him in control of John through the molecularly bonded bomb was superb, and it was a nice touch for him to give the ring to Jack when burying him alive. The embrace between Jack and Gray was full of emotion as Jack never thought he would see his brother again, and then was stabbed for letting go of his hand on the beach as we saw in Adam.The prospect of burying Jack alive and having him buried beneath Cardiff to come back to life each time with a mouthful of dirt and die all over again was quite something. That's one way to tackle the curse of immortality! Jack getting the upper hand when being rescued by Torchwood in 1901 was excellent and nice throwback to what we saw in Fragments. For me, this episode was all about Tosh and Owen though. Their deaths were extraordinarily emotional and them happening simultaneously. Tosh was shot by Gray when trying to get Owen through the steps of stopping a citywide nuclear meltdown, and she stayed alive long enough to solve the problem which was admirable. Owen using his position as King of the Weevils to get past the presence of them in Cardiff was brilliant and I liked how he took over the post and needed Tosh to talk him through. She did, but things were already critical and he was just too late after a surge resulted in an emergency lockdown. The prospect of him decomposing whilst watching was horrifying, and the discussion between them about never getting that date was so sad. I remember shedding a tear or two on broadcast and the emotion caught me again here. It was so well written. Tosh dying in Jack's arms was fitting and seeing Ianto type in their deceased status on the Torchwood files was just sad. Jack had dealt with his brother and he was frozen in the Hub, but the cost was incredible. He'd served his penance, but now they had to go on. Overall, an incredible episode!  

Rating: 10/10