Random Shoes

"Am I dead?"

Writer: Jacquetta May

Format: TV

Broadcast: 12 December 2006

Series: Torchwood 1.09

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

Synopsis

When Eugene wakes to find himself dead in the middle of the road after being hit by a car, as well as finding himself invisible, he knows only Gwen Cooper can help him...

Verdict

Random Shoes was not the greatest of episodes to continue the first series rewatch of Torchwood. I have to be honest and say that I wasn't entirely looking forward to revisiting this episode and I was actually surprised to see how high I rated it last time out back in 2013. It really isn't all that good. It just seems so far off from the rest of the series and seems out of place. It's reminiscent of Love and Monsters from the second series of Doctor Who and that's not a good thing in my eyes. That's one of my very least favourite episodes and whilst we didn't have something as obscure and just silly as the Absorbaloff, we did have someone as equally annoying as Elton in the form of Eugene here. He's not a good character and I'm baffled as to why there was no previous appearance from him in the series up to this point. It would have made so much more of an impact if we already knew Eugene. I just don't understand the point of us being told that he was always trying to get hold of Torchwood when we never saw that for ourselves. It's a little harsh to say but I just did not care about Eugene. The mystery of the eye was somewhat intriguing and Jack having knowledge of the sale was fun and I'd have liked it if he actually got involved in the bidding. The lack of Owen and Tosh was a bit of a shame and I think there now needs to be some sort of build on the Gwen and Owen relationship now as nothing has been mentioned for a couple of episodes. One of my favourite things about watching the episode was getting a glimpse into the past with the Blockbuster movie store and the quick catch of a petrol station in the background with prices well under £1 a litre. The very thought! The episode title going to play is a bit naff rather than clever, but it was phone to see an old phone that Gemma had when she was young. Learning of Eugene's past was just a bit boring and I found his funeral even worse. I was honestly stunned to be hearing his dad sing in a such a way. Gosh, it was just filling time really. Gwen was able to shine as the lead character and it was nice for her to get a feeling that there was something more to Eugene's death. The alien eye being the reason why Eugene was able to live on (sort of) after death was logical and the highlight of the entire episode was definitely the acting. I thought it was brilliantly done for the likes of Eve Myles and company to act as if Eugene wasn't there. It must have been really difficult to do that so that was definitely a saving grace of the episode. I liked the excitement of the conclusion despite its cheesiness with Gwen getting saved from the car from Eugene who arrived for a final hurrah before literally ascending to the heavens. That was quite something and I'm not sure it was in the best way or even the best idea. Overall, this was very average at best and comfortably my least favourite episode of Torchwood. 

Rating: 5/10