They Keep Missing the Point

The thing about heartbeats, when you see them plotted on a monitoring display, is that they have highs and lows. In with the good, out with the bad. Perhaps that’s why, after cresting the midpoint in the first season of Torchwood with a pair of solid, enjoyable episodes, we should come to expect — or at least not be surprised when — a bit of a quality drop-off occurs. We’re not discouraged, nor angry…let’s just say ‘disappointed’ (which as any scolded kid can tell you, is worse than the parent just getting mad). Oh, and we’re pretty sure Emily Dickinson wouldn’t have wanted her collected works used in such a context, but thankfully, no resurrection glove will be used to ask.

Sporting a “risen mitten” and a “life knife”, the Torchwood team revives a traitor from their past to do…well, exactly what you’d expect a traitor to do: betray. The news that the season’s storyline was intended to have recurring involvement or some arc with Suzie’s character, but was cut short with Varma’s pregnancy announcement, might explain why a number of plot points led nowhere, and entire scenes felt as if there was some explanation that was left out as a result of quick revision. More’s the pity; there was some promise to the plot.

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