-Look, if you were going out with someone you totally knew was a complete and utter sociopathic rogue who was very likely to kill you at some point in the future – would you do the sensible thing and just get yourself out of the relationship altogether – or would you have the where-with-all to put in place a ridiculously over-complicated plan for revenge that would spring into operation in the event of your death? And if you had the brains to do that – why not go that extra mile and put in place a scheme – where the psychopath boyfriend doesn't manage to kill you in the first place?
But that's just a quibble.
Here's another: How long had Jack been away? I got the distinct impression that after that major altercation between the Doctor and the Master and the Tocoflane alternate time line got reset – only days had passed and after that the Doctor just popped him back in Cardiff only hours or a couple of days at most after Jack had left. But here they're behaving like he's been gone – what? Weeks? Months? A year? No one's actually said. Why can't they match up Torchwood storylines with the Doctor Who ones better than this - the creative staff all work in the same building after all.
Another quibble: After the climatic finale of Torchwood's last season's finale that had hundreds(?) of the population of Cardiff lying dead in the streets and the body of a giant demon monster to dispose of... I mean in this country you can't have a car accident anywhere without people covering the site with flowers and sympathy cards and other tributes. Yet in Cardiff - there's nothing. Life is back to normal. What with all those unworldly strange things going on week in - week out Cardiff seems way too normally normal if you ask me.
Now then, these past two episodes...
Sleeper.
Now. This is where my goat started getting got.
This is a story about a woman who discovers - much to her chagrin and distress that she's not a rather dull ordinary normal person at all - but in reality a super warrior from another planet altogether. The crux being that either her programming is far, far too good and made her all far too 'human' – or else she's a deeply wet space alien creature that finds being a housewife-y housewife in Cardiff far more personally fulfilling than being a kick-ass super warrior. Honestly. Can you ever imagine Daleks fancying themselves as stay-at-home housewives – or wanting low grade careers in the service industry?
Now I don't know about you – but one of the main reasons I watch sci-fi and fantasy stuff is that I find ordinary life quite dull, dull, dull. I watch sci-fi for the escapism. But here we're being directly told – by a sci-fi writer no less - that being Anthea Turner is more preferable thing to being - say, Predator. Excuse me if I remain totally unconvinced by that assertion. [Short pause to enjoy a mental image of “Anthea Turner vs. Predator” - the movie.]
Also – intergalactic terrorists? Oh what – yet another analogy to current world events? Again? Bored now.
To the Last Man.
Wasn't this just a slight rehash of that story in that episode last season where a plane full of people re-appears out of the Rift – all 'Out of Time' (in that case the 1940s) and one of the Torchwood staff falls in love with one of them?
But at the end though it all seemed rather slight and inconsequential – a bit of rumbling sound effects and some shaky cam of extras running about screaming having to stand in for the 'end of the world'. Particularly with that tired old sci-fi cliche the 'reset button'.
I dunno - it had 'filler' written all over it. But at least everyone isn't all doom-laden and crying all over the place like they were constantly doing last year.
