God Among Us: Thoughts and Prayers

"The sky looks like it's burning."

Writer: James Goss
Format: Audio
Released: June 2019
Series: Torchwood 6.12

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

Synopsis

Cardiff lies broken. Torchwood's leaders are either arrested or dead. In a storage unit something forgotten has been reborn. And underneath the city, a terrible impossibility has been built.

The streets are filled with the prayers of the desperate. Because everyone knows – The end of the world is nigh.

Verdict

Thoughts and Prayers concluded God Among Us in an excellent way! I really enjoyed this finale to Torchwood's sixth, and at the time of writing, final series. It worked well and tied a lot of loose ends up in an enthralling way where all of the main characters got a chance to shine. I was a huge fan of that. Starting things with God and Jack in a cell was a great way to start and I was glad that the pair got to meet. It turned out that it was God who had given Jack a sense of mortality once again after the conclusion of Day Zero where he was pronounced dead. I also liked how obvious Jack's reaction was to God mentioning that she had gone to see Gwen and Anwen and learn everything about him. That was powerful stuff and I'd have loved for Gwen to have been featuring in this story. Now that I have finished Torchwood's chronological series run, I'm hoping to try and make more of an effort in getting some of the extra media done and begin some of the other audios as well as finally delving into prose. Anyway, Yvonne also being under house arrest was good and it seemed that Torchwood was helpless. She didn't even seem too pleased when Tyler came disguised as a pizza deliverer to help her escape. Andy had a fantastic episode and I really was shocked when he was seemingly on the side of the Disaster Recovery Committee. It was a different side to him and it really did seem that he'd had enough of Torchwood in the city. I was fooled that's for sure and it was his shooting Jack dead that convinced me. That was a very powerful moment. I was definitely happy when it turned out that he'd been working for Jack all along though. They haven't had the smoothest of relationships throughout Torchwood's history, but this was a nice moment in its finale. Orr continued to be living in torment and it was clear she was struggling big time. It was once again a little tough to listen to, but I have to credit the performance even if it was a little over the top in some instances. The plan of the Committee being revealed was outstanding and I'm really glad that they didn't actually feature. They didn't need to be here. Their attempts to use God and the impending reset on planet Earth to then make their way and take the empty planet was brilliant. They had revamped the Torchwood Hub and commissioned their own Rift manipulator that made a pathway with their home world. I was a very big fan of their plan as it made logical sense and was incredibly audacious! I found the moment where Orr was in the car and couldn't handle the power she had been given by God very impactful. She couldn't answer everybody's prayers but she couldn't help but try and give everyone, literally everyone, what they wanted. I can't begin to comprehend that internal feeling. I really did think that the explosion meant it was the end for Ng and Mr Colchester. It wasn't to be the case though as Orr was instead giving the storm what it wanted in order to save them. God revealing that she'd given up her powers and would be stuck on Earth was very intriguing now, but my only qualm with the episode was perhaps that we should have known more about her origins other than being so old she'd forgotten. After two series of build, there could have been a little more. The talk of how Yvonne couldn't be trusted and had made Torchwood too visible was really good and I enjoyed her reaction a lot. The episode's conclusion pretty much ending with the team all in the Torchwood Hub was marvellous and a nice homage back to the good old days. The plan being for God to take her power back and stop the Committee's plan seemed good, but what we got instead was a whole lot better and great continuity for this sixth series as a whole. She would use the Lens harking back to Flight 405 in wonderful fashion. It was superb stuff and even then they went back to save Yvonne after she'd helped Orr save the world by sending all of her energy to the Rift and taking out the Committee to keep them away from the planet. Torchwood had to go on the run now as the damage was blamed on them, but Andy had given them the heads up and I like the idea of things subtly ending with everyone going their separate ways in semi-hiding. It could leave Captain Jack ready for the events leading into Fugitive of the Judoon whilst also leaving things open for a possible seventh series. The comment at the end was quite fitting, "you've all been marvellous" indeed. Thank you, Torchwood. Overall, a fine finale!

Rating: 9/10