The new "Miracle Day" episode opens in usual Torchwood style—a series of should-be deaths and multitudes of TV reports claiming that nobody in the world has died. As a result, the CIA begins to investigate 'Torchwood' because, well, Torchwood used to deal in this sort of thing. And this is where the new show is ruined for long-term fans.
If you're a returning fan, be prepared to hear an overuse of the word 'Torchwood' as twenty different Americans incorrectly explain the institute's history long after the audience understands. The amount of provided Torchwood background information is redundant to the point it ruins the plot. New fans may be turned off to the series due to the sheer amount of over-explanation whilst bored, returning fans will eagerly await the first glimpse of their surviving heroes, Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles).
After too long into the episode, we first meet Gwen who, almost unbelievably so, is living in a cottage on a remote island in Wales with her husband, Rhys (Kai Owen), and their now year-old baby. Rhys, as usual, is left complaining about the dangers of Torchwood although it's been a year since Gwen's heard anything from Jack. Again, this seems to be a ploy to introduce new audiences to the history of Torchwood, yet returning fans will wonder just how many more complaints Rhys can devise against Gwen's past line of work.
Jack is then introduced as the familiar hero and retcons an overly interested CIA agent in an attempt to eradicate the word 'Torchwood.' Frustratingly, the Retcon doesn't work and no explanation is provided as to why. This will irk returning fans who have never witnessed the failure of Retcon and make new viewers wonder just how incompetent Torchwood was. The still-informed CIA decides to track Gwen through PC Andy Cooper's phone records and Jack, of course, beats them to Gwen's hidden household. There ensues a gunfight.
Torchwood hasn't lost its snarky humor and we can see Gwen shooting at a sniper with one hand and holding her baby in the other. Aside from a few tender moments between Gwen and her father, Gwen's character is completely lost in the explosions and action of this new episode. The amount of fiery carnage in the many battles is uncharacteristically forced, but it's nice to see that Gwen hasn't completely given up on Torchwood, as she first led us to believe.
The reunion between she and Jack was overshadowed and horrid. It didn't do the characters (or the fans) justice because Jack has finally found someone to complain to—he is injured and he isn't healing. To longtime fans, this revelation is monumental, and to everyone else, well, it's confusing. The show missed the perfect opportunity to explain Jack's back-story.
The show also missed the perfect opportunity to reel in a new audience. Torchwood has been taken from its gritty, perceptive, humble beginnings to just another show with Blockbuster appeal. In trying to make the show more understandable and exciting for a wider audience, we've lost what the show is all about. Torchwood is no longer making beautiful or terrible statements about humanity or desperately searching for what happens after death. Torchwood is now mainstream and American.
I'll continue to watch just because Eve and John are still utterly brilliant, but I think that it will take a lot to change my dislike for this new series.
If you're a returning fan, be prepared to hear an overuse of the word 'Torchwood' as twenty different Americans incorrectly explain the institute's history long after the audience understands. The amount of provided Torchwood background information is redundant to the point it ruins the plot. New fans may be turned off to the series due to the sheer amount of over-explanation whilst bored, returning fans will eagerly await the first glimpse of their surviving heroes, Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles).
After too long into the episode, we first meet Gwen who, almost unbelievably so, is living in a cottage on a remote island in Wales with her husband, Rhys (Kai Owen), and their now year-old baby. Rhys, as usual, is left complaining about the dangers of Torchwood although it's been a year since Gwen's heard anything from Jack. Again, this seems to be a ploy to introduce new audiences to the history of Torchwood, yet returning fans will wonder just how many more complaints Rhys can devise against Gwen's past line of work.
Jack is then introduced as the familiar hero and retcons an overly interested CIA agent in an attempt to eradicate the word 'Torchwood.' Frustratingly, the Retcon doesn't work and no explanation is provided as to why. This will irk returning fans who have never witnessed the failure of Retcon and make new viewers wonder just how incompetent Torchwood was. The still-informed CIA decides to track Gwen through PC Andy Cooper's phone records and Jack, of course, beats them to Gwen's hidden household. There ensues a gunfight.
Torchwood hasn't lost its snarky humor and we can see Gwen shooting at a sniper with one hand and holding her baby in the other. Aside from a few tender moments between Gwen and her father, Gwen's character is completely lost in the explosions and action of this new episode. The amount of fiery carnage in the many battles is uncharacteristically forced, but it's nice to see that Gwen hasn't completely given up on Torchwood, as she first led us to believe.
The reunion between she and Jack was overshadowed and horrid. It didn't do the characters (or the fans) justice because Jack has finally found someone to complain to—he is injured and he isn't healing. To longtime fans, this revelation is monumental, and to everyone else, well, it's confusing. The show missed the perfect opportunity to explain Jack's back-story.
The show also missed the perfect opportunity to reel in a new audience. Torchwood has been taken from its gritty, perceptive, humble beginnings to just another show with Blockbuster appeal. In trying to make the show more understandable and exciting for a wider audience, we've lost what the show is all about. Torchwood is no longer making beautiful or terrible statements about humanity or desperately searching for what happens after death. Torchwood is now mainstream and American.
I'll continue to watch just because Eve and John are still utterly brilliant, but I think that it will take a lot to change my dislike for this new series.