Children of Earth: Day Two

"Why would the government want to destroy Torchwood?"

Writer: John Fay

Format: TV

Broadcast: 07 July 2009

Series: Torchwood 3.02

Featuring: Captain Jack, Gwen, Ianto

Synopsis

Torchwood are forced underground. Only Lois holds the key to the team's salvation, but she is helpless as her superiors make plans for the mysterious Floor 13.

Verdict

Day Two was an excellent episode to continue our way through the Children of Earth third series of Torchwood! I am absolutely loving revisiting this series for the first time in a decade and it really is an upgrade from the first two series in terms of production and direction. That is clear and I think it certainly helps the drama in having the entire series be one overlapping story arc. The cliffhangers are fantastic and the build towards what is coming next is terrific. This has me excited for what is to come next year with The War Between the Land and the Sea as it will take place across the same number of episodes and follow a similar format. This episode though was full of action and I was delighted with how much my partner Gemma enjoyed alongside me. After some trepidation, she is well and truly invested in this series which I am so happy about! She wants to know the truth about the 456 and who they are, with the promise of them coming tomorrow being tremendous given the format of the story taking place across five days. After the eventful conclusion to Day One in having Captain Jack literally blown to smithereens and taking the entire Torchwood Hub with him, the episode building towards rescuing him was fantastic. Gwen and Rhys getting their way to London was fantastic and some of the humour that came from the pair was just delightful. From the shouting about the keys to crossing the border in the back of a potato truck. Utilising some of the knowledge Rhys has from the haulage industry was actually great stuff and the comedy he had in saying how everything was more expensive in London when they had no money was magnificent. And the new car they had to dump! He wasn't a fan of all this trouble. His reaction to finding out that Gwen was pregnant was delightful and something I can appreciate being the father of a cheeky little boy and expecting a girl to conclude the year later this month. Exciting times! Johnson was ruthless in her task of wiping out Torchwood and the discovery of Jack literally in pieces was quite horrendous, as was the way he fixed back together. That image of him crisp and screaming didn't go down well on my sofa! Gemma is a little squeamish so that was not an image she wanted to remember too well. The humour that came from Rhiannon and Johnny when they were infiltrated was hilarious as he was found butt naked and then accusing those of spying on them as being pedos. It's so easy to forget the adult orientation of the spinoff! I loved it though as it was just real Cardiff housing estate stuff. Rhiannon helping Ianto and meeting at the park was lovely and I really appreciated all she was doing for him in literally giving him the laptop and car. The hunt to London and the compound where Jack was kept was really good and I liked the solution of containing Jack in a concrete cell. Ianto's method of extracting him was quite something though! I thought Rhys and Gwen posing as funeral directors was quite amusing, although would they really have gotten away with it for as long as they did? Lois helping out Torchwood was brilliant and I like how she's on the case to help them because she knows what Frobisher is doing is wrong. The promise of the 456's arrival is wonderful and I like how Britain is at the forefront. The truth will soon be out and that's not something Frobisher is keen on happening. Having Torchwood on the run is exciting stuff and with Jack now back in the fold, it sets us up very nicely for the coming of the mysterious alien race behind the children. They'll soon be here. Overall, a fantastic episode! 

Rating: 9/10