*Episode premise spoilers, which include spoilers for the pilot.*
My first time watching Torchwood, this is one of the series 1 episodes that I really enjoyed. There are plenty of arguments to be made about the internal story logic, and I don’t know that the ending fully sticks the landing. But it’s an interesting episode, featuring an inventive case and cool guest stars.
The team is called to a murder site, where the killer has written “TORCHWOOD” on the wall in the victim’s blood. Upon discovering that the killer has traces of Retcon in their system, Gwen decides that they hold some responsibility for the murder and suggests using the Resurrection Gauntlet to revive and question the victims. The investigation leads them to someone else who’s already dead: Suzie Costello, former Torchwood employee and the last person to use the gauntlet.
I don’t think Torchwood was the very first thing I saw Indira Varma in. I’m pretty sure Bride and Prejudice came first, but she didn’t really register for me there. Torchwood, however, made me sit up and take notice of her. So every time I get a little moment of excitement when I realize Varma is in something, from Game of Thrones to Obi-Wan Kenobi, that feeling is traced back to this show. Which, considering she’s only in two episodes, is pretty impressive!
But two episodes was plenty of time to be intrigued by Suzie, and I wish we could’ve gotten a little more of her story on the show. This episode features a long game from Suzie that carried on after her death, and all the characters are now getting caught up in it. I like seeing the different threads she pulls together and how they’re revealed in the episode. I also like the tension of everyone at Torchwood dealing with Suzie’s resurrection. Let’s just say she left the organization on spectacularly bad terms, and no one quite knows how to react to her. This includes Gwen, who joined Torchwood following her death.
I have to shout out another guest star here. Yasmin Bannerman plays Kathy Swanson, the detective investigating the murders. Bannerman previously played Jabe, Nine’s tree friend in “The End of the World” on new Who. I’m always here for actors appearing in multiple Whoniverse roles, and Bannerman does well for herself. Even though she never got to graduate to a recurring or regular role in the franchise, both her guest appearances are terrific. Jabe is awesome, and Kathy is an intelligent, dedicated officer who gets to help out Torchwood when they’re in a rather baffling jam later in the episode.
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