TW #17: Meat

"Have you never seen something so mad, so extraordinary... That just for one second, you think there might be more out there?"

Episode 17:     Sleeper.
Companions:   Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper and Ianto Jones.
Air Date:         6th February 2008. 

Gwen is forced to reveal Torchwood's true nature to Rhys after he follows her to work and accidentilly uncovers the truth behind the mysterious alien meat. Is there a price to pay for Rhys, Gwen, or Torchwood?

Meat is a fairly interesting story. Again nothing original but played just right so that it works. The story follows the team as they investigate a new source of meat that is coming onto the market in Cardiff. Some strange whale-like creature has washed up through the rift and been taken by some men who are looking at making money from it. The creature regenerates any flesh taken from it and grows as a result. The meat is packaged as something like beef and sold on with no one any the wiser. When Rhys becomes involved he has to infiltrate the gang so that the Torchwood team can close the operation down for good.

At last we are getting Rhys into the story more rather than being a background character as he was throughout the first season. He really is the center to this one and it is nice so see a character who isn't one of the Torchwood team get the spot light in the show. Although I didn't remember Rhys being so up himself as much previously even when you consider that he's having to deal with Gwen having a secretive new job.

Although different in appearance and design, the poor creature reminds me of the star whale from one of the early 11th Doctor stories, The Beast Below. They reused the sound for that so is it a juvenille or similar species? Probably not but nice to think that we can link them together. Both episodes also focus on human abuse of an alien animal.

There is more sense of the surreal in this episode. I can watch Doctor Who and see strange aliens, mysterious worlds and the like, and it never or rarely causes me to ponder it. Meat is a good Torchwood story but it feels out of place when you drop something like this in although that is maybe the point of the show. Doctor Who is science fantasy while Torchwood perhaps shows us how bizarre such events might be if you see them from an everyday person's point of view.