hey did you know "torchwood" is an angram of "doctor who"?!

Apparently I need a spoiler alert because I talk about episodes that haven't aired in the USA yet, except I thought putting the episode titles would be enough for that. But just to let you know: I talk about the rest of the episodes in series three of Torchwood so if you haven't seen all of them, don't read the parts of this post that talk about episodes you haven't seen yet.

I wasn't planning on talking about the rest of the Torchwood episodes I watched yesterday (I finished out the season - thanks internet) because, I don't know, I didn't feel like it I guess... but I've been thinking about it a lot which means it does deserve a post after all.

First thing I have to say is that this season was a lot better than the first season. Some episodes were kinda eh (like Meat, the most disgusting and retarded episode of any show ever) but for the most part? Quality. Especially in the second half of it. Before this, I'd only watched Torchwood because it was based in the same universe as Doctor Who, and I felt obligated. But now, in my mind Torchwood has been relegated to a show I watch because it is a good show in and of itself. I've even put it in my Favorite TV shows on Facebook. That's how serious it is.

One last thing before we get to the episodes: whenever a Torchwood soundtrack comes out, I need it. I don't really remember the music from the first season, but in these last few episodes the music was gorgeous. I'm completely in love with it.

Day in the Death
Alright, I hated Owen in the first season. He got better this season, and I thought what they did with his character was a fascinating way to go and really could only have been done on a show like Torchwood. I mean, the guy was dead for half of the season. This episode was a really effective way of exploring his trek towards insanity. I was paying attention to the way he was acting about it all, and most of the time you couldn't see him breathing or whatever. Except for at the end when he was with that old guy, and getting upset about not being able to give him CPR because he "doesn't have any breath" as he starts to hyperventilate. But everyone has noticed that and me pointing it out isn't any special revelation. That was the only oversight I noticed. Also, I felt bad for Tosh, but who didn't.

Something Borrowed
Okay, this episode was pretty ridiculous, and seemed more like a comic relief kind of interlude after some pretty intense episodes and leading up to some pretty intense episodes. My favorite part was when Owen and Jack are trying to deal with Gwen at the beginning right after she realized she was "pregnant." Some people would probably argue that it was cliche to play the hormone card in this situation but you know what, I can't blame Gwen at all for how spastic she was acting. Her job is stressful, and she got bitten by an alien and woke up almost 9 months pregnant on the day of her wedding. If that isn't an excuse to yell at her boss then I don't know what is. Anyway, I liked Jack's reaction at the beginning.

What I did NOT like were all the stupid allusions to Jack and Gwen supposedly being in love. I'm sorry, but they do not belong together. They have no chemistry, and they're both with other people. I don't care what anybody says. Jack, you can't have a harem. You already have Ianto. Don't get greedy. And Rhys isn't really that bad. I always feel bad for him. He puts up with a lot, and he really loves Gwen even though she's cheated on him and lied to him and put him through all this crap. Just leave it alone, Torchwood writers.

From Out of the Rain
Jack was in a traveling circus. HAHAHA. Um... that's really all I have to say about this episode. The guy with the hat was creepy. I was glad that little kid didn't die at the end, but the rest of his family did, so that's still pretty depressing.

Adrift
I loved this episode. I thought it was really interesting and also extremely disturbing. But stories like this one fascinate me - people being taken from their world and transported to another one. I'm even writing a story like that right now. The fact that Jonah aged forty years in what was only seven months for his mother is extremely heartbreaking. I actually cried in this episode, which has never happened during Torchwood before... when the mom goes to see Jonah, and he's talking to her, and the look in his eyes on his scarred face was so, so sad... like he was begging for her to see him the way he was and to love him despite what he is now. I thought at first that maybe it would be all right then, but then he started screaming... I thought I was going to have nightmares about that. I didn't, but still. It disturbed me. They said the scream lasts for twenty hours. All I could think about after that was 1) that is horrifying and 2) how does he draw breath? Doesn't he need to? Anyway, good episode. (I'm not even going to comment on the Jack/Ianto scene.)

Fragments
This is my favorite episode of Torchwood. Period. I love back stories about anybody, I love finding out why the characters are the way they are and how they got there, and this was just awesome for me. I was kind of confused as to how they got out of that bombed building relatively unhurt. I mean, you'd think Owen would be all screwed up now, since when he gets hurt he doesn't heal, but he was just fine... whatever, it's sci fi, it doesn't have to make sense. Okay, Jack's story about how he started working for Torchwood was really interesting to me. I had been wondering how long he had been working for them. This means he was definitely working for Torchwood during the Battle of Canary Wharf. For some reason this seems weird to me. Also this means he was working for an organization that was basically corrupt, the one that wanted to "eliminate the threat of the Doctor." Which is the most ridiculous goal ever, but whatever.

I liked all the direct references to the Doctor... usually they kind of dance around it, which is stupid, because most people who watch Torchwood also watch Doctor Who, or at least know about it. I don't really have anything to say about Tosh's and Owen's back stories, other than they both surprised me. Ianto's story was pretty amusing, and for the rest of my opinion there, see previous post about the dinosaurs. The most memorable line for me from this episode: "We don't need a butler."

Exit Wounds
Okay, so I knew that Tosh and Owen were going to die. I still cried. When Owen started raging around that nuclear place, and Tosh tells him to stop, and he asks why, and she says "because you're breaking my heart." That's when I started crying. It was sad. BUT, did you guys (mainly my dad and sister, who probably won't read this for another week or two because the finale hasn't aired in the US yet) notice when they were talking, and Tosh said something about covering for Owen when he first started working, and she pretended to be a medic? And she had to deal with a space pig?

There she is... with the space pig, and someone we haven't seen in kind of a while! I loved that. Tosh met the Doctor. I want the rest of the Torchwood people to meet him.

As for the rest of the episode... I thought the guy who played Grey was a terrible, terrible actor, and I just wanted to punch him in the face whenever I saw him. I did like seeing Captain John Hart again. I think he is a great character. Hopefully he'll be around some more. I'm curious as to whether it's relevant that he and Jack have the same initials.

Also, can we talk about Jack being buried alive for 2,000 years and how completely effed up that is? I'm sorry, but that makes me sick to my stomach. I don't like that at all. And he didn't deserve it - he was a kid when Grey got lost, he didn't do it on purpose... I don't know. That storyline was sort of weird. But this is now the third show I watch that had some character get buried alive, two of said characters not being able to die. Sark/Adam in Heroes, Jack, and those two people on Lost that no one cared about and only got buried alive because of the creep factor (well, that's my opinion anyway).

So the rumors are now that Martha and Mickey are going to be joining Torchwood next year. And guess what, it's probably true. It makes sense. The doctor and computer specialist positions are now open, and that's what Martha and Mickey do (respectively). I've also heard that Jack won't be around as much, although I hope that isn't true, because what's Torchwood without him. I mean... really.