I'm not sure if Torchwood moving to Starz had anything to do with the change of this series from the others, but this was not like any prior series of Torchwood. I hesitate to call this British Television as there were so many American actors in this series. And it was so good, especially the second half of the series, that I ended up staying up until 5:00 am to finish it. Wow.
An interesting thing about this series was that it didn't feel like ten episodes of television, but rather like one long movie. And what an epic movie it was. It spanned months, and it had a global scope, where literally the entire world changed.
I'll start this off by talking about where our main characters started and ended during this series. Both survived the series, Gwen's family was still intact despite losing her father, and Jack's immortality is restored. So in a way, it was a happy ending for the two of them, which is nice because the fact is they both started in a very dark place. Torchwood was dead and buried, Gwen had turned her back on Torchwood, and Jack had given up on his work as well. Both had abandoned their post after the horrors of the last series, and this series was all about them returning to the mission. The end of the series even makes it seem like there might be a continuation, and considering the high quality of this series, I would be willing to watch another.
Oswald Danes is one of the most interesting characters I've ever seen on television, and I greatly admire the writers for including him in the series. Such a despicable person, and yet every moment of him being on screen was so compelling. The whole series I was wondering what was behind him, and the truth was that there really wasn't anything behind him. He was a despicable person, but his inclusion in this series really added a dimension to this series.
Doctor Vera Juarez was a very likeable character, and it was really interesting to see a strong minded individual deal with the new changes of the world suddenly not having death. I think the series might have made a misstep by killing her off, but there is no doubt it was effective and horrifying, and helped give this series quite an edge.
Jilly Kitzinger was a lot of fun, but I didn't feel a lot of closure to her character at the end of the series.
Esther Drummond's death at the end of the series was perfect. If either Jack or Rex had died, it would have been sad but Esther's death was truly haunting. There was just so much she left unresolved, but it was clear that her life mattered to those around her, and she was the innocent of the group. By killing her off, the writers left the viewer haunted and tormented. Perfect.
Then of course there's Rex who was the highlight of this series. Apparently he's an immortal now? Cool. If there is a Series Five ever, I hope he is willing to return.
I wasn't a huge fan of the whole global conspiracy solution to this plot, as I felt the whole idea of the entire human race becoming immortal was bigger than that, but it worked and the ending of the series was satisfying, so I won't complain too much.
No one dying was the coolest plot ever though, even better than all the talk of giving away a certain amount of children, this series showed all the details of what would happen if this world changing thing happened. It was cool, and I could watch another ten or twenty episodes spent dealing with this craziness.
So that wraps up my Torchwood Reviews, at least until there's a Series Five if there ever is one. Time to get back to Doctor Who!
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