TV episode review
UK airdate 4 April 2008 (BBC2)

Captain John is back to wreak havoc on Cardiff…

A few stupendous sequences, a couple of fine intimate moments, and some genuine nail-biting tension…But overall this finale to Torchwood series 2 is a little disappointing really.

It’s not badly directed or poorly acted or clumsily written – in fact just the opposite. It’s just that, as a whole, it doesn’t quite seem to come together, and it looks a little flat. This may be because the effects budget had been blown earlier in the season, meaning that all we get here are a few explosions and some previously used flashback footage to Jack’s past.

But the disappointment is also partly due to the anti-climax of James Marsters’ return as Captain John. He starts off well enough in great villainous mode – if a little too much like Spike – but his role in the plot eventually seems to peter out. Shame.

Still, it is a highly charged episode with a good whack of emotionally-driven major plot events, some interesting developments in Jack’s character (if oddly lacking in emotional or psychological repercussions), and some extra footage of turn-of-the-century Torchwood for those of us who love that stuff.

It’s all enough to make the mouth water for the changes that the next season will undoubtedly bring. Brigid Cherry

VERDICT: 7/10

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