TV episode review
UK airdate 21st March 2008 (BBC3); 28 March 2008 (BBC2)

Gwen oversleeps and is late for a mission, while Jack, Owen, Ianto and Tosh split up to locate alien activity in a derelict warehouse. Too late they locate the threat – not creatures at all but bombs. When the warehouse explodes, Gwen has to rope in Rhys to mount a rescue attempt…

Plotwise, this episode starts with a bang and ends with a reveal (neatly setting up both plot and expectations for the season’s final episode), but nothing really happens between. Nothing, that is, except for flashbacks as each character lies trapped under the rubble – which actually amounts to a great deal. If you’ve ever wondered how each member came to join Torchwood, here’s your answer.

Gwen we already know about, of course, which explains why she isn’t in the episode to begin with. The episode is well constructed and each vignette is satisfying with the one exception perhaps being Owen. His back-story seems a little too much of a cliché, but the others really do work to add depth to the characters. Tosh is refreshingly seen in a whole new light with a darker past that is sometimes hinted at in her emotional reticence, while Ianto’s journey from Canary Wharf to Cardiff gets rounded out nicely – and provides a neat emotional bridge from series one to series two.

We also witness Jack’s initiation into Torchwood. This segment is just astonishing, taking us back to the turn of the 19th century and an impertinent female Torchwood team. I want my steampunk Torchwood and I want it now! Brilliant. Brigid Cherry

VERDICT: 8/10

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