CBS Cancels 'CSI: Miami,' 'Rob' & 'NYC 22,' Renews 'CSI:NY'
'Community' Renewed For Season 4 On NBC
Torchwood: Ghost Machine
by Martin Conaghan, posted Nov 6th 2006 7:49PM
(S01E03) If you were unaware that you were watching Torchwood, you would have been easily forgiven for thinking you were watching an episode of The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Tales of the Unexpected, The X-Files -- or any one of the above.So mainstream and straightforward was the theme of this episode, it could have easily slotted in to the schedule of Lost, Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica, with a few minor character adjustments and a lick of fresh paint on the set.
Despite this, it managed to set itself apart from last week's dreadful mess with some simple science-fiction of the time-traveling kind.
Upon discovering an alien artifact after chasing a common criminal across the streets of Cardiff, Gwen Cooper activated the device and found herself in the past, watching an eight-year-old World War II evacuee arriving from London. So vivid was the experience, that Gwen could actually feel the little boy's lonely emotions as he wandered around the train station seeking help.
The Torchwood team managed to track the boy down -- now living his life in Cardiff, and quickly realized that the device can re-live moments from the past.
Owen then accidentally activated the device under a bridge near the river and found himself witnessing a violent sexual murder of a young girl in 1963, but felt compelled by the experience to track down the perpetrator, Edwin Morgan, and confront him with the truth.
However, the aging and decrepit murderer hounded Owen from his home and set loose a chain of events which led to the discovery of the street criminal (called Bernie) who stole the artifact in the first place -- along with the other half of the device; which just so happened to be the component which gave the user the ability to see into the future.
Bernie maintains that he used the device once, and witnessed himself dying in the street outside his house in the very near future. Of course, this was after her had used the device to track down Morgan and blackmail him for his crimes.
Unfortunately, Gwen then accidentally set off the fully-operational device, and witnessed herself standing in the street holding a knife in her blood-splattered hands, professing that there was nothing she could do to stop Owen. It seemed that Bernie's vision of his own future death was about to come true.
In the end, Edwin Morgan showed up to end the nightmare of guilt by killing Bernie -- and following an altercation with a very angry Owen, he threw himself on to the knife Gwen had secured before Owen could exact revenge.
The vision of the future came true, and there was nothing the Torchwood team could do to stop it. The device was then placed in secure archive by Ianto Jones, and Gwen was left facing the horror of having been party to a murder.
Confused?
Well, it wasn't as confusing as I've probably made out -- but, as I said earlier, it was certainly a step up from the quality of last week's episode and a sign of good things to come.
If only they'd move this show out of Cardiff and get rid of the nagging Taff accents, it could easily be on a par with Doctor Who, and possibly aspire to the level of X-Files.
And what on earth was the gun-range scene between Captain Jack and Gwen all about?
Answers below please folks...
9 Comments