Something Borrowed

"I'm pregnant. It's not Rhys's. It's an alien.

Writer: Phil Ford

Format: TV

Broadcast: 5 March 2008

Series: Torchwood 2.09

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

Synopsis

Juggling work with her hen night the day before she's due to marry, an alien shapeshifter leaves Gwen carrying more than she bargained for. As everyone gathers for the ceremony, Jack must destroy her big day – unless one of the three mothers present finds a means to stop him.

Verdict

Something Borrowed was another strong episode to continue the Series 2 rewatch of Torchwood! After watching the teaser trailer at the end of A Day in the Death, Gemma seemed to think that this had all the makings of a season finale which really intrigued me. Of course, that's not quite the level that things turned out to be but this was still a fun and hugely eventful episode! We finally get the wedding between Gwen and Rhys and that provided a fine backdrop for a Torchwood story and for everything to go wrong. Gwen waking up from her hen night pregnant was tremendous and the simple 'oh' reaction she had was the perfect sell. This episode really saw Rhys break into his own stride here with a standout performance to back up his role in Meat. He was outstanding and had some standout moments. He was stunned by Gwen being pregnant and delivered quite the look, before being angered by Torchwood once again. Fair play to Rhys, he's gone through a lot with Gwen ever since she took on the role at Torchwood and now his wedding day was going to be ruined. He was keen to go along with Gwen's wishes of still having the wedding which I was surprised by as that was quite the revelation, although trying to sell it to their families was a little bit outside the realms of believability. Gwen's friends were amusing as well in thinking they had gotten so drunk that they couldn't remember she was pregnant. Some of Rhys's friends were comic value as well with Banana a standout with a fun moment or two with Tosh. She was wonderful in this one and wanted Owen as a date which was good, and she asserted control when needed. Getting introduced to the families of Rhys and Gwen was great and the two mothers having a bitter relationship was fantastic stuff. I enjoyed the reactions of each to Gwen being pregnant, but the highlight absolutely came from the Nostrovite taking on the form of Rhys's mum and then Jack emerging to try and shoot her before proclaiming she was an ugly bitch! That was incredible and Rhys punching him was more than warranted. I thought the Nostrovite three-way method of reproducing was a little odd but it worked well here and Gwen being hunted by Carrie as the baby inside her flexed his muscles and was ready to be torn out was quite the threat. The wedding day itself was terrific and whilst there was more than one occasion where there was some incredible tension and awkwardness between Gwen and Jack, the hero got the girl as Rhys was able to use the singularity scalpel to destroy the alien baby and save Gwen. The final moments were a tame little affair as everyone enjoyed the wedding reception along with some retcon to ensure that everybody wouldn't remember Gwen being pregnant and the alien threat. As a whole, this was an incredibly eventful episode that finally saw Gwen and Rhys marry despite all of the efforts to prevent it. A great episode! 

Rating: 8/10