Miracle Day – Did you ever hear of Torchwood?

Now that I have watched the first three series of Torchwood in the past month or so, I’m finally able turn my attention to Miracle Day. Producer Russell T. Davies excelled in his storytelling during Children of Earth, but considering how listless the first couple of series got in places, I’m a bit nervous about MD’s ten episode run. “The New World” was a great start, though, showing the success Davies had in Children taking advantage of higher production values and crafting damn fine science fiction, was no fluke.

Where Children asked several weighty ethical questions, Miracle Day is having some fun with hypotheticals and what-ifs, in the way that only science fiction can. If everyone stops dying, how long until society breaks down? The scientists on MD postulate four months, and that’s based on a population growth of 1.5 million people per day. It is, as they say, the end of the world as we know it.

Captain Jack Harkness returns (to the planet? Was he still off-world, and if he was, how was he affected by Miracle Day?) when someone flashes the word Torchwood to all of the intelligence agencies of the world. Why, and who? Was it an agent of the big-bad (there’s always a big bad) trying to smoke out Jack and Gwen? Or perhaps someone “in the know” was trying to surreptitiously reactivate Torchwood. The conspiracy behind Miracle Day is one of the more intriguing parts of the whole story.

Not as intriguing is Oswald Danes. He is a bad dude, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not sure how he will end up factoring into the greater story. He will likely end up as the symbol of society’s reaction to Miracle Day, but will he ever factor in to the why and the who I mentioned before?

Our intrepid Torchwood team has all kinds of problems. Gwen is caring for a baby in the middle of an investigation. Jack isn’t healing; he’s not suddenly “mortal” as he keeps saying … no one on the planet seems to be healing, whether or not their injuries were life threatening. Rhys, if you can call him a member of the Torchwood team, is still our favorite bumbling man on the street, but he was “renditioned” the same way everyone else was.

I don’t like Rex Matheson yet … but we’re obviously not supposed to yet. Dragging our heroes back to America isn’t going to win him any points with the audience, especially our friends across the pond. I’m sure, though, sooner rather than later Matheson will be brought into the fold of Torchwood, and under Jack’s leadership. Maybe he’ll be more likeable by then.

Notes & Quotes

• “No no, it’s not touch-wood, its Torchwood … T – O – R….” – Random CIA analyst on the phone
• If I’m going to have to watch Mekhi Phifer stumble around, popping pills for ten hours … let’s just say its going to get old quick
• I absolutely love how they use the “Torchwood theme” when you know Jack is about to do something cool (in this case, just showing up was cool)
• Where’s Jack’s revolver?
• “Excuse me, I was wondering … Owen Harper, FBI. But what if you detached the head. I mean, would he stay alive … without his head?” – Jack Harkness, with a great cover name
• Love that Fred gets a reason to return
• Gwen and Rhys didn’t name their daughter Toshiko?
• “[Matheson escapes] Hold it right there mate. [To Rhys] So much for tying him up?” – Gwen
  “I’ve never tied up a person.” – Rhys
  “Men are good at knots, how many times have you told me that.” – Gwen
  “Yeah, at Christmas.” – Rhys
• Matheson keeps focusing on paying for the Severn Bridge … has he never driven a toll road before in the States?

Clacked by Ivey West
on Jul 10, 2011 @ 18:03 EST5EDT