Alien meat pie. Yummy.

[swordznsorcery]

Not sure why everybody was so goggle-eyed with horror at the thought of eating alien meat, though. One dead animal is much like another, and I doubt anybody was seriously suggesting eating it raw. Since most people in the UK don't seem to bother worrying about where their food has come from anyway, I don't know that it makes a whole lot of difference if it's a cheap import from Eastern Europe, or a cheap import from another galaxy. Either way it's a dead thing, and is going to taste horrible. And like meat.

But I digress, which is very bad form given that I haven't actually begun yet. Digressions should be at the halfway point at least. "Meat", then, TW 2x04 - and I found out who wrote it, which I somehow failed to do yesterday. It must have been scrawled across the screen at some point last night. Anyways, it was Cath Treganna, of "Out Of Time" and "Captain Jack Harkness" fame; so no wonder it was bloody brilliant. The woman's awesome. She always manages to find real emotion in the story that she's telling, and make it feel like it means something. She certainly did an excellent job in this episode.

A truck crashes, and it turns out that it belongs to the haulage firm that Rhys manages. He sees Gwen and her Torchwood cohorts at the crash site, and decides to try to find out for himself what Gwen really does, and why the contents of the crashed truck has been impounded by Torchwood. This leads him, naturally, into lashings of deadly danger, and the possibility of being killed to death. He finds that the meat his firm has been driving around the countryside comes from a giant alien creature, which is being hacked up whilst still alive. Jack is determined to save it - but events, as ever, don't go quite according to plan.

Nice to see Rhys getting involved in an investigation. It's long past due, really, and it's good that he now knows exactly what Gwen does. No more secrets and lies. It was great seeing him going down into the Hub, and seeing Myfanwy, and everything else that's down there. Rhys is such an ordinary bloke; everything about him is ordinary. Having him down there was such a terrific contrast to everything that makes up the world of Torchwood, which made the scene very effective. I liked his interaction with Jack, too. Here's hoping that they have more scenes together in future. I do wish Jack would stop with the mooning over Gwen, though. Whether it's her he's attracted to, or just the idea of her life, I don't know - but at any rate, it's annoying. And he should stop doing it in front of Ianto.

The story of the animal, whatever it was, from wherever it was, was heartbreaking. It looked a bit like a whale, and a bit like a slug; but whatever it was, its plight was very well portrayed. Given that it was nothing but a computer generated image backed by a collection of sound effects, that was rather impressive. There was a real jumble of noise used to illustrate its distress, including a baby crying - which is probably what made it particularly effective. It was such a mournful wailing, and it really did sound hurt and sad and afraid. I know I felt bad for it, and I shouldn't think I was alone. Poor Jack looked heartbroken. Always good to see a little sympathy for the aliens going on. They shouldn't all be portrayed as bad guys, out to destroy the Earth; but at times a show like Torchwood - and Doctor Who - can focus too much on human = good, alien = bad. It's far better to shake that up a little, even if it is only occasionally.

So at the end of the episode we have some thoroughly nasty people ret-conned rather than punished, though that's unavoidable given the nature of their crime; a giant alien beast dead and incinerated; and Rhys now fully aware of the job that Gwen does. On the one hand, the sad and unfortunate, and on the other some very interesting possibilities for the future. It'll be good to see where Rhys goes during the rest of season two.

So that's "Meat", then. Excellent stuff. Some very funny scenes, some really sad scenes, and a nice bit of action as well. Plus a fleeting glimpse of Myfanwy. Hurrah!

I do wish the poor beast had survived, though. It really was quite tragic. :(


Waistcoat and watchchain! Waistcoat and watchchain! Hurrah!


Owen examines a slab of alien meat.


Owen and Ianto play at being Bodie and Doyle.


Rhys meets an alien for the first time - though the circumstances are hardly cause for celebration.


Jack and Rhys square up.


Having fun playing cops and robbers.


Realising what the "meat" really is.


Ianto in dire straits.


Though he's not doing as badly as this poor creature.


Jack mourns its loss.


And Rhys and Gwen go off to do their normal person type things.
Shame that they couldn't find a little more sorrow for the beast.
That's it for this week, then. Next week looks like some kind of shape-changing, trickster bloke. Seems promising. :)