TW #8 : They Keep Killing Suzie

"Death by Torchwood."

Episode 8:     They Keep Killing Suzie.
Companions: Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper and Ianto Jones.
Air Date:       3rd December 2006.

Torchwood is linked to a series of brutal murders around the city. As Jack and the team investigate, it becomes clear somebody wants their attention. What is Pilgrim — and how is it connected to a figure from Torchwood's past? The resurrection days are far from over. They have no choice but to bring back Suzie.

It has taken over half the season but we finally start to get towards the main plot behind the season with this story. Events set in motion before Gwen joined the team lead to a series of savage killings all pointed at Torchwood. Eventually the team are forced to resurrect Suzie Costello but something goes wrong and she doesn't die like all the others restored by the gauntlet. She has found a way to leach the life force from Gwen so that she can't die.

They Keep Killing Suzie is a really well done dark story that fits Torchwood much better than the sexual, supposedly mature themes of the early season. This and the following episode suddenly make you realise that the whole season has used death as it's undertone and now it hits you. In contrary to what has been said before and after in the Doctor Who universe it is strongly hinted at that there is something after death though it seems to be a black nothingness. Suzie says that something is moving in the dark. Is this the villain from the end of the season? I don't think it is ever really explained.

This is a really good story and one of the better Torchwood pieces in my opinion.

TW #1 : Everything Changes

"There you go! I can taste it! Oestrogen. Definitely oestrogen. Take the pill, flush it away, it enters the water cycle. Feminizes the fish. Goes all the way up into the sky then falls all the way back down onto me. Contraceptives in the rain. Love this planet. Still, at least I won't get pregnant. Never doing that again."

Episode 1:     Everything Chnages.
Companions: Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Ianto Jones and Suzie Costello.
Air Date:       22nd October 2006.

The Torchwood Three team arrives at the scene of a brutal murder. PC Gwen Cooper's curiosity is challenged by their attitude; their approach and their technology is at odds with everything she believes in. As she investigates them, she begins to uncover a dark, mysterious and dangerous world right in the heart of Cardiff.

The Torchwood spin off series starts here. Several months on from the battle of Canary Wharf and Torchwood is now pretty much just a handful of operatives in Cardiff led by Jack Harkness. We don't know how he got back from the future but now he's in charge.

The story itself isn't actually anything specific but instead is an introduction to the Torchwood team, the Cardiff Rift and the Weevils. It has a short plot involving Suzie Costello and the murders but that won't be resolved for some time. But even so the episode is well written and the characters well described. Oddly I enjoy science fiction shows where the main characters are flawed and/or unlikeable. That pretty much covers all of them in Torchwood.

Unlike Doctor Who this show is much more adult in nature both in regards to the profanity and the sexual references. Although part of the Whoniverse which is very family friendly this format work wells as a spin off.

The episode introduces the Weevils, an aggressive almost-feral alien species that has crossed through into Cardiff via the rift. They become a regular feature of the early shows though we never learn anything about them unfortunately.

I like how this episode plays out. Utilising the Doctor Who universe to tell more grown up stories was very clever. Whatever you say about RTD's time on Doctor Who, the man can write an excellent episode.