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And to this week's episode of Torchwood - "They Keep Killing Suzie" - and all I can say is "Wow". I know, I know - you're hardly expecting me to say that I thought it was rubbish. Seriously, though, this was fifty minutes of genuinely brilliant entertainment. It has been argued that the central conceit - that of Suzie playing a Long Game by staging her own death - was a little hard to believe, but I'm not so sure. This is a woman who spends her every waking moment thinking about an alien glove that has the power to temporarily resurrect the dead. We're not really treading on the toes of realism here. And the plan was well thought out; and, crucially, well delivered. This is a show where you have to leave your scepticism at the door, and if there's anybody who's been watching all along who hasn't worked this out yet... well then I'm not sure what they've been doing for the last two months.
So, a spate of murders forces the Torchwood team to get involved in an investigation, only to find that the trail leads back to Suzie, their former colleague who killed herself in episode one. Suzie, however, fully expected this moment to come, and plans to use the situation to her advantage. Beautifully played. Suzie is a great character, all nastiness and spite, and sweetness and regret. Whatever she saw whilst she was dead, it's terrified her, and she doesn't want to go back to it. All the same, when her apparent restoration to life begins to cause the death of Gwen, she's genuinely sorry. There are flashes of malice, certainly - a hard edge that shows the killer that lurks beneath the surface - but there is real feeling for Gwen. And all so beautifully done, with Jack caught up in the middle of it all, slowly realising that he's going to have to kill Suzie if Gwen's going to live. Some great guest stars, too; particularly Yasmin Bannerman, who was so wonderful as Jabe back in series one/twenty-seven of Who, here playing a snarky police detective whom I hope we'll see again. Lovely stuff. And all rounded up by a nice little scene that many of us have been waiting for all series. Though admittedly the form it took was a tad unexpected. Jack, Ianto and a stopwatch. The mind boggles. And believe me, I've been looking around the Net today, and minds are boggling left, right and centre. They seem to be rather enjoying themselves, too. :D
Stopwatch naughtiness. Allegedly. :)
So, a spate of murders forces the Torchwood team to get involved in an investigation, only to find that the trail leads back to Suzie, their former colleague who killed herself in episode one. Suzie, however, fully expected this moment to come, and plans to use the situation to her advantage. Beautifully played. Suzie is a great character, all nastiness and spite, and sweetness and regret. Whatever she saw whilst she was dead, it's terrified her, and she doesn't want to go back to it. All the same, when her apparent restoration to life begins to cause the death of Gwen, she's genuinely sorry. There are flashes of malice, certainly - a hard edge that shows the killer that lurks beneath the surface - but there is real feeling for Gwen. And all so beautifully done, with Jack caught up in the middle of it all, slowly realising that he's going to have to kill Suzie if Gwen's going to live. Some great guest stars, too; particularly Yasmin Bannerman, who was so wonderful as Jabe back in series one/twenty-seven of Who, here playing a snarky police detective whom I hope we'll see again. Lovely stuff. And all rounded up by a nice little scene that many of us have been waiting for all series. Though admittedly the form it took was a tad unexpected. Jack, Ianto and a stopwatch. The mind boggles. And believe me, I've been looking around the Net today, and minds are boggling left, right and centre. They seem to be rather enjoying themselves, too. :D
Stopwatch naughtiness. Allegedly. :)
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