Miracle Day: Rendition

"I'm arresting Torchwood."

Writer: Doris Egan

Format: TV

Broadcast: 21st July 2011

Series: Torchwood 4.02

Featuring: Captain Jack, Gwen, Rex, Esther

Synopsis 

Jack and Gwen travel to America by plane whilst Rhys is left behind. Jack is poisoned en route, whilst at the CIA Esther Drummond discovers more about Torchwood and those seeking to stop her. Vera Juarez attends a conference and learns there will be even more ways for the human race to run itself to a painful extinction while Oswald Danes seeks sympathy in a live television interview...

Verdict 

Miracle Day: Rendition was a very good episode of Torchwood to continue the fourth series very nicely. After a strong start, this second episode advanced the story along very nicely and oversaw the transfer of what remains of the Torchwood team from the UK to the USA. The rendition itself surprisingly lasted the whole episode and whilst it was good, it dragged out just a tad. Rex taking command of the operation was interesting and I liked how he was still obviously a good guy despite what he was doing. His splitting up of Gwen and Rhys provided some real emotion and that's where we saw Gwen at her very best. I bloody love Eve Myles I must say and it's just wonderful that we have a Welsh women in a lead role. That accent really makes me feel at home and I honestly did forget how terrific she is. She's simply delightful. Speaking of delightful characters, I'm really loving Esther and I liked the way the new look team assembled by the end of the episode. It might not be under the banner of Torchwood, but we have our team for the series ahead now. The 'next time' trailer has already told us that Vera will soon get in the mix but for now she's not quite joined. I like her relationship with Rex though and it does provide a lot of humour in what is a rather daunting and uneasy atmosphere. Death has been eradicated and the problems it is causing are off the scale. People are still ageing and disease is getting stronger, but death just isn't happening. The connection between the miracle and Torchwood intrigues me greatly and I'm looking forward to seeing what it is that they have in common. Lyn and Brian, as well as presumably most of the CIA, attempting to eradicate Torchwood altogether was unexpected but I do hope we get to see the reasoning behind that soon. The former attempted to kill Jack whilst the latter tried to kidnap Esther. A bit of curiosity nearly got her killed! She was now $50,000 better though, even if that money was used to try and frame her. I loved her ingenuity though in escaping the compound and even turned up at the airport in a blue mini as the getaway car, something Gwen was horrified by. The scenes on the plane were good and I just loved the relationship between Jack and Gwen. They really do care a great deal about each other and that's wonderful to see. When Jack was poisoned, I thought the attempts to find a cure were a little dragged out and a tad far fetched. Don't get me wrong, it was funny in places and especially with the gay remarks towards Danny, but it went on a little too long. Gwen was once again magnificent though and she didn't think twice about any of her actions. Jack was cured and despite being too long, it did demonstrate to us that Jack could die. It almost seems strange to think of him dying in a story set long after (chronologically) Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways. The feel of Torchwood is certainly different with this series and with the co-production in the USA, it really has a more drama like feel. That's not a problem but it's so recognisably different. The Oswald Danes interview was quite disgusting and people feeling sorry for him is just a tragedy. What he did is despicable and he should be dead for his actions. Jilly's interest in both him and Vera is fascinating and I look forward to seeing her role in how things play out. The references to Children of Earth: Day Five and Miracle Day: The New World were very good and overall, this was another strong episode to continue the series. The moment Gwen punched Lyn saying "I'm Welsh!" in a response to being called English could have been the episode alone. Marvellous.

Rating: 8/10