Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

"I saw the end of the world... I knew this was where I belonged."

Writer: Chris Chibnall

Format: TV

Broadcast: 16 January 2008

Series: Torchwood 2.01

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

Synopsis

The mysterious Captain John Hart is determined to wreak havoc, and needs to find something hidden on Earth. With Gwen's life in danger, and cluster bombs scattered across the city, whose side is Jack on?

Verdict

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang was an outstanding episode to kick off the second series of Torchwood! This is as good as it gets when it comes to series openers and it followed on well from where we left off in End of Days with Jack departing Torchwood for the TARDIS, but it doesn't exactly add up with the end of Last of the Time Lords and Jack headed back to the Hub in broad daylight, only for him to not be around at all and then show up in the dark at the end of what was a brilliant pre-credits scene! The image of a Blowfish driving a car and even stopping for an old lady to cross the road was fantastic, and later finding that he was high on cocaine reminded us perfectly that Torchwood was very much aimed at an older audience than we're used to. The threat of the family was an action-packed start to the episode and the image of the Blowfish being shot through the head was pretty spectacular. Jack's arrival was tremendous and the development that has clearly occurred for the Torchwood team whilst he was away is fantastic. I love that Gwen was the one to lead the team in Jack's absence and the idea of just shifting back into the hierarchy of previous was not going to work now. The arrival of Captain John was sublime and his comment about wondering which artery the would-be killer severed was very good, but he knew that he was bluffing and shoved him off the roof in brutal circumstances. He was an excellent character and the initial meeting with Jack in the abandoned club was superb. The message on the vortex manipulator was good stuff, and once again Jack abandoned the team to deal with someone from his past. The kiss followed by the bust up was amusing, and the exploration into Jack's past here is a teasing start to the series. Gwen pushing that they knew nothing of Jack's past was great and I thought John's initial take on Jack having a team was tremendous. He even wanted to know if they had a name! It was really fun stuff. The plot worked well in splitting the team apart to find the three canisters that supposedly were threatening the city with radiation, but it all turned out to be a con within a con which was fantastic. John's comments about the luck of evolution and dust was amusing with the only reward being money. That's what this mission was all about for John whilst exploiting Jack, but when Jack challenged him and threw the final canister that was enough jibber jabber for the time agent and he pushed Jack off a roof onto a bench in a brutal death. John challenging Ianto to then go and save everyone else was excellent and I loved how he managed to do it. The moment the four Torchwood members point their gun at John when he's assembling the canisters was very good, but the reaction of Hart when Jack emerged and revealed he couldn't die was just tremendous. It was sheer brilliance. The twist at the end with the bomb threat after John was conned by the woman he killed was very good and attacking himself to Gwen was nicely done. Owen's resolution with the DNA injection was great and I liked the tease at the end after the Rift reverted back to the moment John arrived and him revealing that he'd found Gray before departing. The little flashback of hands loosening was just enough to keep us guessing for the rest of the series. But for now, a fine start to the series! 

Rating: 10/10