It seems incredible that this season of Torchwood: Miracle Day was just ten episodes long. So much happened and the action took us to the four corners of the Earth, yet paradoxically the pace was painstakingly slow at times. The season opened with a miracle: one day, at precisely 10.36 p.m., people stopped dying. What seemed to be a blessing quickly became a curse as the true implications of The Miracle became clear. The Earth began to edge towards overpopulation, resources became scarce, markets destabilised and ultimately, the global economy collapsed, leading to a great depression.
The governments of Earth responded by declaring three categories of life. In retrospect, it was only really one category of life that they were interested in and that was the category of people that should have died, but didn’t as a result of The Miracle. Those people were declared Category 1 and by the time we reached the latter part of the season, these people were earmarked for immediate transfer to overflow camps where they would be destroyed in mass ovens in a process described by detractors as “institutional murder”.
A red herring ran through much of the season, leading the audience to believe that a pharmaceutical company, PhiCorp, was behind The Miracle but that idea was laid to rest midway through the season.
The last remain members of the Torchwood team, Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) and Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), were reunited in Torchwood: Miracle Day. They were joined by Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins) and Rex Matheson (Mekhi Pfifer), both C.I.A. agents who joined the Torchwood team when they become the targets of a growing conspiracy at the agency. Throughout the Torchwood series, Jack was famously immortal but this was reversed by The Miracle, making him the only mortal man on Earth.
Following a flashback sequence in the seventh episode, “Immortal Sins”, it soon became apparent that a sinister group known as The Families were behind the Miracle, that it somehow all centred around Jack's blood, and something known as The Blessing was at the bottom of it all.
Jack formed a theory that The Miracle was triggered by a morphic field but he did not know who or what was behind it, how they had manipulated it or what they wanted.
At the end of “The Gathering”, the Torchwood team was split between Shanghai and Buenos Aires. In Shanghai, The Mother Colasanto (Frances Fisher) showed the Blessing to Jilly Kitzinger (Lauren Ambrose), warning her that it showed people their soul and had been known to lead to suicide. Kitzinger was duly impressed by the Blessing and convinced of her own righteousness. Across town, Gwen tended to Jack’s gunshot wound as Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman) noticed Jack’s blood being drawn across the floor. In Buenos Aires, Esther Drummond and Rex Matheson met up and Esther was carrying several pints of Jack’s blood.
Article comments
1 - Bob Theisen
I was lost also on the point it was a gift from Jack. He was the creator?
2 - Liz Kennedy
Um, it's a TV show...it's science FICTION. I wish people would stop over-analyzing science fiction, it is made to entertain us, not educate us, it doesn't have to make sense. If I want to watch something like that, I can switch to a different channel.
I completely, utterly and thoroughly enjoyed it except for one thing - do we really need the sex scenes? Sure, there was a strong bond between Colasanto and Captain Jack and between Rex and the doctor but did we really need to see them rolling around in bed? Who cares about that claptrap, just bring on the story!
3 - D
I'm with Liz on this.
4 - Fergus Jack-Hinton
I agree with Mandy. Nothing wrong with a story, whatever its nature, following and building upon its own threads and leading in a logical and thematic direction.
And I disagree with you Liz on about every issue, except the enjoyment, which I did to. Stories can be far more then JUST entertainment, especially sci fi. 1984? Gattaca? Doctor Who touches on some DEEP and COMPLEX issues. And I don't see anything wrong with asking a sci fi series to just keep its facts strait and keep vageries thematic and compelling as opposed to just...vague.
As for the sex, whatever. Hell, why not. The series is riske, sexy and violent in all the ways DW could never be. Its part of the package and why Torchwood is what it is, a sci fi series that can do ANY story about ANY content or issue.
Besides, a little honest sexuality onscreen is good for the general viewing audience, help blow some cobwebs away :p
All in all, though, I enjoyed. A little wishy washy, but a great romp non the less.
In no way am I having a go though, Miss Liz. I just found your comments interesting since we obviously like the same series but for slightly different reasons. :)
5 - Gabby the Guy
I enjoyed Miracle Day from start to finish...I got a bit frustrated around Ep6 when no answers were forthcoming, and do believe this could have been condensed much more tightly into a 5 hour mini-series.
However, I'm not one to pick apart the plot-holes and dead ends. I was just there for the ride. I've always found Torchwood to be like a bad steak - tasty, but tough to chew on in parts. It's a very hit and miss thing, and when you have a long story arc rather than a monster of the week format like Season 1 and 2, you stand to distance yourself from fans and new viewers.
As for the sex...it was a bit unnecessary - I didn't mind any of it, but none of it really felt crucial to the plot or was even entertaining...I'd prefer something more erotic than just naked bums rolling around. The sex scenes lacked depth...lol
All in all though, I hope this has enough momentum to get a 5th series into production...I just hope it can be more tightly written next time around.
6 - Kim
Ditto on Liz Kennedy comments
7 - CannedAm
I think you nailed it. I was bothered throughout by the drag and I suspect the series lost a lot of viewers along the line due to this. I also felt that this was an American Torchwood. We had tons of drama and loose strings everywhich way. I do not like loose strings. I want my entertainment to do more than fill my head with pretty pictures of explosions and emotion. It needs to make sense! This, SO MUCH OF IT, didn't make sense. It didn't wrap up neatly at the end. I'm watching them standing at "The Blessing" (wth is that, where'd it come from, how's it going through the whole earth, what was it before it was a morphic field of unending life on earth, on and on and on) and giving their explanations and I'm going "huh? How's THAT work? How'd they know it would work? How'd they just turn it on like a switch?" It was just...ugh, too cardboard. If they do it again, they'll have lost me. I won't watch another like this.
And in reference to other commenters -- I wish the folks in Hollywood would get this message...we don't need sex scenes to figure out that two folks had sex. I miss the days of a kiss and cut away. I don't care of they're hetero or homo scenes...I think they're gratuitous and cheap and rather condescending to the viewers. What? We can't figure out what went on between point a and point b -- we need a graphic depiction of it?
8 - theoncominghope
This season was so disappointing that part of me wishes that the show would die a merciful death.
But if it doesn't, here are my 5 wishes for any future series
9 - Mandy Southgate
I think it is very interesting the comments we've had on here. I hadn't previously reviewed television "by the episode" like this for the very reason that I liked to sit back and enjoy it and make sense of it at the end of the season. So Liz, D and Kim, you are absolutely right.
But surely you have a favourite show? One that you feel emotionally invested in? If you do, you will notice when the standard drops, the plot is full of holes, the various threads aren't tied up nicely and the writers change the overall tone and feel of the show.
That is what it is like for me with the Whoverse in general and Torchwood specifically. I felt disappointed, confused and frustrated with this season and yes, I wanted to take the time to write about that. I've not been surprised by the people who disagreed with me (I expected that, and would have been with them were it any other show) but I was surprised by the number of people who agreed with me on some level.
I addressed the sex scenes earlier on in the season in my review of "Dead of Night". I felt they were gratuitous in that they did not add to the storyline. I felt that the writers had reached the third episode, remembered that Torchwood was renowned for its risqué, omni-sexual antics, and shoved in a couple of not-so-subtle sex scenes. Very badly done.
10 - AquaBlue
I loved the entire series. Put away your brain and just enjoy the show. If you can't, turn the channel. That is the advice an American Idol watcher, gave to me...and I offer it as a gift to others..lol