Catching Up With Torchwood

Torchwood title sequence (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve spent the last six hours catching up with the latest Torchwood series, Miracle Day.  And it if was not for the fact that it is almost 2:30 in the morning, I probably would have finished the series.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Torchwood, for those who don’t know, is a spin-off of Doctor Who featuring Captain Jack Harkness and focused on the team of government operatives that he lead.  The series ran on the BBC for two seasons with a third five episode season, Children of Earth, following.  Unlike its parent series, Torchwood was a much more mature series, and often dealt with some pretty heady issues.  At the end of Children of Earth, it looks as if Torchwood was finished, both as a group and as a series.  The group, already broken at the end of the second season with the death of two members, lost their third man, Ianto in Children of Earth.  Broken from the events of Children of Earth, Jack left Earth, leaving a pregnant Gwen Cooper as the sole member of Torchwood left.  Torchwood’s future seemed in doubt.

Enter the American premium channel Starz, which brought Torchwood back, expanding the scope of their mission.  Like Children of Earth, Miracle Day focuses on some pretty deep stuff as death ends.  While the idea of no one dying seems to be a great idea, it is slowly revealed that it is far worse than anyone could have possibly imagined.  In the midst of all this are CIA agent Rex Matheson, a beneficiary of Miracle Day himself, and Esther Drummond, an analyst who starts to draw the lines between the mysterious Torchwood and the events of Miracle Day.  Along with Captain Jack and Gwen, they form the core of this new global Torchwood.

Just like Children of Earth, Miracle Day builds off a simple concept that balloons into a cross between a mystery and an epic morality play.  I found myself pulled in deeper and deeper into the mystery of what caused the end of death.  The story twists and turns constantly, holding off on the mystery and throwing out false leads and concepts.  As I mentioned, if it weren’t for the last hour, I probably would have watched at least the next two episodes, if not all the ones that remained.

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