TVSquad

SPOILERS! No griping, all ye who pass here and have not visited episode four on their DVR.

Read Mike Moody' s review here. Okay, last chance if you haven't seen episode four already, here we go....

Ianto isn't dead. He just isn't, okay. I know, I know, we saw him succumb to the gas and die in Jack's arms. I know they said their goodbyes, I know Gwen pulled back the sheet and he was all pale and looked not at all well, and he was in the room with all the dead people under the orange sheets. And I saw everyone talking about how they'll miss him in the Torchwood special after the episode. I saw all the same things you did.

I don't know what's going to happen in episode five, but I can't conceive of it involving Ianto actually being dead. He and Jack are too much fun, and their relationship is too different from anything else on television, and it just got started. I don't know what kind of dues ex machine, Alec Guinness on Endor has to happen, but I'll be looking for it.

Another thing, I can't help but wondering if "an injury to one is an injury to all" includes the good Doctor. And I can't decide whether it would be cheesy or wonderful if he showed up. But I'm primed for an ass-kicking reckoning Friday night on BBC America.

Then again, the first four episodes have been full of intense drama and action, and I can't remember more than a dozen gunshots, most of them directed at Jack, and a few skirmishes. One big explosion in the first episode, but aside from that, most of the tension has been created by good old fashioned storytelling.

I can't remember being happier to watch four straight days of a miniseries at an hour and fifteen minutes a clip, and then been so eager to watch the documentary extras afterwards. Hell of a way to kick off a new season, and a pretty high standard to live up to.