Among Us: Pariahs

"Why did you ruin your life?"

Writer: Tim Foley

Format: Audio

Released: June 2023

Series: Torchwood 7.08

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

Synopsis 

A group of urban explorers break into the Torchwood Hub. They disturb Bilis Manger who has his own plans for the evening.

Verdict 

Pariahs was a very strong episode to conclude the second volume of Among Us as part of Torchwood’s seventh series! This really felt like things were coming together in terms of an arc and continuity as we head into the finale. It was quite refreshing to get a number of familiar characters all together as that doesn’t seem to have happened a great deal since the relaunch of the series, and I do hope that’s something that will remain moving forward into the finale. Torchwood is really good at tackling real world issues and tapping into the after effects of the Covid pandemic is a brave decision, but one that worked very well. The synopsis for this one was rather frightening as a majority of the population would have sent their DNA willingly in the post at some point in the last three years. So what happens to it once it was tested? That was a brilliant basis for an episode and the plot focusing on the Phlobos being implicated for their mass data breach and collection was terrific. Mr Colchester having a history with Graham Graves was good and their relationship was an intriguing one. He’d gone on to be considered a war hero whilst Colchester’s sexuality had seen him dismissed from the Army. How times have changed! I thought Ng had a pretty quiet episode which was unusual for her as she seems to be the forefront in things when she appears in an episode. Orr though was able to shine with her empathic abilities coming through once again to serve her well when it came to infiltration. Her reference to Propaganda in regards to the plane journey and mentioning how unlikely it was for the plane to crash given that’s what happened on her last flight was excellent. But the references to this volume’s opener didn’t stop there. The fact that the weapon created from the DNA samples, of which there were millions, was what happened to Veloshnik was an unexpected treat. It was brilliant to get an explanation and brought this volume around full circle in very nice fashion. Weaponising the pandemic is rather extraordinary but it’s terrifically Torchwood to do that and tap into the real world. Ng’s reaction when Tyler knew who was in charge of their temp agency was fun because Yvonne burst onto the scene to take back her position as essentially the head of Torchwood. Colchester even feeling that everything felt right when she was around was a bit of a shock but it’ll be fun going into the next series with her in a prominent role. Kyle being infected and that actually playing a big part in Torchwood being set up was a fine cliffhanger as the DNA was synthesised to kill everyone in the room except them. And the authorities were coming to a room where everyone was dead except them. I wonder who would get the blame there. It was a really well done setup for the next volume which should prove to be great! This one did get slightly convoluted in parts with the different relationships, but as a whole it was a very solid finale. Overall, a great listen!

Rating: 8/10