The Last Love Song of Suzie Costello

"It's not your failure to fix."

Writer: Rafaella Marcus

Format: Audio

Released: February 2023

Series: Torchwood Monthly 71

Featuring: Suzie

Synopsis

An island has appeared in the North Atlantic Ocean. Suzie Costello comes to investigate and finds a crashed spaceship on the seabed. Inside the spaceship is a mystery. And also something Suzie has never dreamed of...

Verdict

The Last Love Song of Suzie Costello was another very strong episode to continue my way through the Torchwood monthly range! I have really enjoyed the opportunity that this spinoff range has provided for the character of Suzie Costella as thanks to it we have learned so much about her. She is very much a firm part of the Torchwood team in the series debut of Everything Changes but there's a big shock when she shoots Jack in the head and turns! That is still such an impactful moment but it's great here to explore her time when she was just a strong member of the team. There are still elements of that darker side to her character but that might just be her stubborn personality which came across well here which is quite ironic given this quickly became a story all about love. I thought the concept of the Orion was really intriguing and the image of Suzie descending below the sea just off the coast of Iceland as a new island was revealed was wonderful. The idea of gazing upon something untouched by civilisation is incredibly exciting and I find it interesting that she was doing this off the clock. She wanted to impress Jack and the rest of the team but she got a little more than she bargained for by the end! Anwir was a very strange character and I think that was very much part of the appeal. He had an atmosphere of eeriness associated with him right from the start and that worked very well in my opinion. The relationship that he built with Suzie wasn't actually something I was anticipating but it was actually quite nice for her lighter side to come out. I don't think we've heard enough of that so that was a welcomed change in dynamic for her character. It was clear that she was falling for him and things literally getting quite dreamy for her was excellent. It just made the moment she realised he wasn't all he seemed all the more heartbreaking and impactful as the listener. I thought the moment Suzie was playing around with Anwir and seemingly genuinely debating whether she would let him back in after he had a tear in the suit and was mere seconds away from death was terrific. I was convinced she was just going to leave him outside! And I bet she was wishing she had by the end. Anwir's claim of being from the 32nd century was good and I liked how that didn't phase Suzie one bit. Why should it after all she's been through? I thought Anwir describing the Ridge in the sea was good and it was great for Suzie to basically say they had one too in Cardiff with the Rift. A nice little play on words with the similar nature of the pair. I was quite surprised that Suzie was genuinely considering going with Anwir back to the 32nd century once they sorted things out on the Orion, but I'd be more inclined to just see the future! Imagine how different things will be a millennium from now? Of course, it was actually Orion itself that was trying to return there and Anwir being made from her own brainwaves is a funky concept that basically destroyed her emotionally. I could understand why! The image of humans in incubators was something that could have perhaps been lingered on a little more to really sell the effect. I liked the explosive nature of her utilising the self destruct and returning to shore with the suit, but the emotional toll these events had on her were clear. An early indicator of why she fell so far off the rails once Gwen arrived? Overall, a powerful and really strong episode. 

Rating: 8/10