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Torchwood: Exit Wounds (season finale)

Posted Apr 20th 2008 1:20PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Doctor Who, Torchwood, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

Torchwood(S02E13) Well, despite some ups and downs throughout the season, to say that this second run went out with a bang, both literally and emotionally, would be an understatement. Definitely, this ranks as one of the best episodes of the series so far and so amazingly surpasses the first season finale in every way. Where that was a silly overblown giant monster romp, this one existed on a much more intimate level within the lives of our cast of characters.

The cast and crew spent all season really fleshing out this team for us and making us learn to love and care for each of them; all of it leading to this stunning finale. Now the events herein could really resonate. Now you might be asking why such a generic Torchwood picture for such a key episode? I see it as a tribute. To what? Well, if you've seen the episode, maybe you know what. If not, what the hell are you doing here? Go watch it already.

There have been a lot of team rosters to the Cardiff Torchwood branch over the years. The 2006-2008 group really became a wonderfully tight-knit crew and an amazingly effective team. But when you lose so much of your "family" in such a short amount of time, how do you move on? At the end of last week, Captain John Hart stood revealed as the mastermind behind the explosion that nearly wiped out the entire time, save Gwen, in an explosion.

This week revealed the mastermind behind Captain John Hart to be none other than Jack's lost brother Gray. Last week it looked like John had kidnapped Gray, all to continue messing with Jack as he had earlier in the season, but it turned out to be the opposite.

The emotional centerpiece of the episode, of course, was the fates of Toshiko Sato and Owen Harper. Both characters had experienced tremendous growth throughout the season, and had Owen not been in an undead state by now they likely would have consummated their relationship by now. As it stood, that relationship never really got off the ground.

The writers did a really great job of setting up a final scene between the two without even having them in the same room. Via the comm system, they were able to share intimate moments together before Owen succumbed to the nuclear coolant venting. Now, one could argue that as Owen is already dead he could possibly survive this, but I don't think his body would survive the decomposition. We already know it won't heal.

Perhaps it is simply because it was proving increasingly difficult to write the character as he'd been re-established post-death, or maybe their intention was to eliminate him after this year regardless. Certainly, the fact that he could never heal from even the smallest of scrapes made his continued presence in the field problematic. The fact that he took zero damage in last week's explosion is nigh impossible.

I loved how selfless Tosh was in concealing her own injuries while talking with Owen so that he would not worry about her well-being or have to focus on anything potentially negative in his own dying. He instead could pass thinking she was good and his death was a noble sacrifice to save the city of Cardiff, that last part was true at least.

It was nice to see Jack get some closure regarding his tremendous guilt over losing his brother Gray when they were both children. And to get some consolation and compassion from John was nice well. Throughout the episode, the character of Captain John Hart became much richer and more interesting than he was the first time around. Still a pompous and arrogant ass, John proved he had a heart underneath it all and you could see some of that chemistry that probably made him and Jack such a great team together back in the future.

POINTS OF INTEREST
  • When Gray kidnapped Jack and took him to the past, I was highly impressed with how quickly and effectively Gwen took over as leader of Torchwood. And then turned around and took over as leader of the police department.
  • It was nice to see the return of 1901 Team Torchwood, picking up the beacon signal and unburying Jack, only to have to refreeze him through 2007. Time travel is tricky but Torchwood is handling it well enough already. But what happened to the ring? Even still it should have still been traceable in the present, shouldn't it?
  • Rhys is really turning into a great supporting character. And it looks like he finally understands the importance of what Gwen does with Torchwood and her importance on the team. His support throughout the episode helped keep her going. It was so touching and sweet when she could only respond at one point by asking him to marry her again.
  • Does this mean we'll never get to see any follow-up or explanation as to why the weevils respond to Owen in the way that they do? Was it simply because he was undead or is there more to it? For that matter, there's a helluva lot of weevils in Cardiff, far more than any other alien species I'd wager. Is anything going to be done about that?
  • The scene early on in which Jack warns John that the team would stop him and John begs him to do just that was beautifully acted and written. "Go on, then, " he said. "Stop me. I hope you can. Really." At this point we don't know Gray is controlling his actions, but we can tell that he's sincere in these words.
Toshiko Sato and Owen Harper - RIP
I'll miss these two characters. While I spent much of the two seasons hoping that Tosh would grow a pair and stand up for himself and Owen would get knocked down a peg and get kicked in his pair, by the end I'd really grown impressed with the both of them. A large part of this can be credited to the amazing performances that Burn Gorman and Naoko Mori gave in their roles, and especially in this episode. You guys were the passion and the brains of the outfit and you'll both be missed (if they don't find some way to bring one or both of you back).

The end of Torchwood: Season Two was far more satisfying and impressive than the first season. In fact, the whole second season was more impressive. It became more about the entire cast even though Jack remained at the center. And by the time we reached the end, the emotional impact of their losses could resonate so much more impressively than otherwise. And while Gray's single-minded obsession seemed a bit much, though perhaps understandable considering, the very fact that the major villain of the episode had such a personal connection to one of the team made the whole thing so intimate as to be painfully raw. This may just go down as the best episode of the whole series so far.

Speculation (Possible DW & TW SPOILER WARNING)
Well, at the end we now have a three-man team with Jack, Gwen and Ianto. Rumors have already stated that Jack will be making appearances in Doctor Who this season, as well as Martha Jones. Now Martha would be a no-brainer to replace Owen on the team. Somebody has reported that not only will Martha joining, but Jack leaving Torchwood as well. Maybe his return to DW this year would become permanent, or maybe he could spin-off into yet another show. I think the character of Captain Jack Harkness is far too popular to just eliminate altogether. And John Barrowman has made it clear that he absolutely loves the character so I can't see him fighting to get out of playing it

Of course, that article also said that Owen and Tosh would leave next season when they in fact left this year. It's also reported that the series might become less adult and more family fare. That and maybe Mickey (Rose's ex-boyfriend from Doctor Who might take over for Tosh). With Rose set to reprise her role in DW this season in some capacity, that would certainly open the door for Mickey's return as well. Of course, all this could be speculation and we could just get two different cast-members altogether and Jack could stay put. Word is that James Marsters will reprise his role as Captain John Hart, too. After his character arc in this episode, he'd be a welcome presence at any time for me.

All it boils down to is that both Doctor Who and Torchwood are very rich shows with great characters. I'm excited to see what comes up in Who this year and Torchwood next season. So far, I've not been disappointed in any of the major moves made on either show, so speculation be damned I'll just leave their fates in Russell T. Davies' capable hands and enjoy the ride.

Could Torchwood survive without Jack?

Tags: bbc, burn gorman, BurnGorman, captain jack harkness, captain john hart, CaptainJackHarkness, CaptainJohnHart, david tennant, DavidTennant, doctor who, DoctorWho, eve myles, EveMyles, freema ageyman, FreemaAgeyman, gareth david-lloyd, GarethDavid-lloyd, gwen cooper, GwenCooper, ianto jones, IantoJones, james marsters, JamesMarsters, john barrowman, JohnBarrowman, martha jones, MarthaJones, naoko mori, NaokoMori, owen harper, OwenHarper, the doctor, TheDoctor, toshiko sato, ToshikoSato, tw

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