The shortened season four of Torchwood is at an end, and the mystery of the Miracle Day is solved.
John Barrowman and Eve Miles were excellent, but this was no surprise. They are no more and no less than they always are in this series, but they played well with their new teammates, especially Mekhi Phifer’s Rex, who fits in nicely with the melodramatic investigative team.
I was most surprised throughout the entire series, by the use of Bill Pullman’s character, Oswald Danes. He was introduced as a vile, unsympathetic blusterer, and I fully expected that at some point, he would find redemption, and while his actions may have redeemed him in a small way at the end, he did not achieve any epiphany. He was just as contemptible as he was at the start.
The same holds true for Lauren Ambrose’s character, Jilly. If anything she became less likeable as the series went on. Always sympathetic, though not quite a villain, one simply wishes for her to fall on her face the entire time, which luckily does happen.
The mystery of The Blessing was a good one, and well composed. The details were clearly well thought out, and were placed masterfully throughout the story. I particularly liked the blend of the story from earlier in America’s history, showing some more of Captain Jack’s story, and giving us a great story of a time when Jack really did open his heart to someone (rather than just his pants), and perhaps explains some of why he’s so reluctant to do so today.
This last episode was both emotional and revealing. I’m not looking to spoil it for you, but the series was capped nicely with several satisfying wrap ups for the various sub-plots, and a compelling look toward the possibility of a future series with a new supporting cast member.
Overall, the ten episode story was one of the best Torchwood stories we’ve gotten, and was clearly better than the over-dramatic Children of Earth story which they did for Season three. If you managed to miss it as it played through, I’d say any fan of the Doctor Who universe of stories should check it out on DVD once it comes to stores.
No release date for the season DVD has yet been announced.
