1.06: Countrycide

Dave

Dave

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1.06: Countrycide

The Torchwood team investigate a series of unexplained disappearances in a remote spot in the Brecon Beacons. They all travel in their Torchwood vehicle, and start to pitch tents for the night. Before they can put up their second tent, their SUV is stolen and driven over the erected tent. But the automobile has a tracking device on it and Tosh is able to locate its position close to where it was stolen. The team arrive in a seemingly abandoned village, and while Jack, Gwen, and Owen find themselves holed up in a pub, Tosh and Ianto are attacked and captured by their unseen enemy. The team meet various people, apparently survivors of attacks, and find evidence of human corpses being butchered. They try to get the "survivors" to explain who is doing this to them, only to discover that two of the three are in fact conspirators in a cannibalism racket operated by the villagers once a decade since time immemorial. Even the local policeman was involved. The team are eventually all captured by the villagers, with the exception of Captain Jack, who crashes through the barn door in an old tractor, shoots several people very rapidly and rescues everyone until the real police arrive.
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This was the first episode without an extra-terrestrial or supernatural theme. The cause of the missing persons had a criminal, if unusual reason.

There are many homages to horror films in this including the camping scene, barricading themselves in the pub, the abandoned village/strange unwelcoming villagers.

I still Gwen should ditch her boyfriend, but I also think Owen is a little weird, and that Gwen starting a relationship with him is rather odd.

Was the scene with Jack bursting into the barn and shooting everyone like some kind of gunslinger meant to look so surreal? Is he meant to be a quick-draw expert?

The story wasn't very original, but I liked seeing the team function as a team for a change. If they are going to have an ensemble cast, they need to use them and give them each things to do, which they did this week.

Last week's episode and this one are enough to keep me watching.
 
Best yet! Even though the plot was somewhat unoriginal, to put it mildly, I was impressed by the "feel" of the episode, and there were a couple of genuinely scary moments. But am I alone in wanting a moratorium on "our unsuspecting heroes viewed through the eyes of the enemy"? Seems to crop up in every other episode.
 
I really enjoyed this episode a lot...Right up to the last five minutes...

I thought the whole thing was very well done...I really enjoyed the team aspect of this episode...Yet again the stuff with the Cyberwoman was there...

The gore effects were brilliant...Eeeew...

Everyone got plenty of screen time...Even Tosh was cool!!...

Jack storming in was pretty cool I thought...If they hadn't slowed it down then it would have been over in half the time...I thought it was done that way in order to show that he was angry and getting the job done as quickl as possible....

I thought that line at the end was horrible..."Because it made me happy..." *Shudder*....

And then they spoil it for me by going all cliche and having her end up having an affair with the bad boy...Oh...There's a surprise:rolleyes: ...

I'm a realist...I know these things happen...They shouldn't, but they do...But maybe if it wasn't constantly shown on tele as just "something that happens"...Oh, I don't know...
 
I've seen three episodes but reckon I'm not that keen on the series as I keep forgetting to watch it - and if I was gripped that just wouldn't happen. If you are all giving it the thumbs up, well I'd better leaves notes round the house to remind me to watch.
 
I have been watching Torchwood avidly from the start, but this episode had me in stitches with some of the unnrealistic representation. The main 2 things are :
The "shotgun" wound would not look like that at such close quarters, unless he was using some 100 year old cartridges that had lost most of the power! Lol, laughable. Second, the relationship they are trying build between Gwen and Owen!! Well, it came out of nowhere, so seems totally unbelievable.

Only now did they add in a little friction between Tosh and Gwen over Owen, which could have been gradually built up with a few well placed lines in previous episodes.

All in all, I can see exactly what is trying to be achieved, and commend the makers for it, but some of the plot is a little thin on the ground and/or disjointed. They did manage to surprise me with a totally non-alien plot, but there were some over reactions (surely Gwen had seen worse dead bodies by now, so why had she not been vomiting so violently in previous episodes.

Amusingly enough I am still interested in the fates of the characters and will continue to support and watch this British Sci-Fi endeavour.
 
The Owen/Gwen wasn't quite "out of nowhere"... was it the Cyberwoman episode when they were last getting down to it (or she was being molested, depending on your viewpoint...)?
 
Watched it last night and must agree it was more horror than sci-fi! And I don't particularly like horror - gives me the heebie jeebies! Sci-fi on the other hand makes me try and think ahead - rather than squeeze my eyes shut! Try to keep it SF if you please.
 
First torchwood I’ve seen since ep3 and I must admit it was better than the other episodes. Some nice chilling moments, especially the “It made me happy” line previously commented on. Okay so the “sometimes, the most alien thing is man” theme isn’t exactly new but hey, what is? Captain Jack got a nice Jack Bauer moment. I quite enjoyed some of this ep.

However, the Torchwood team still suffer from profound incompetence IMHO, and it was painful to see them bumbling through the plotline like a bunch of helpless, bewildered teens in a slasher movie. Just one example:

The Mexican standoff was a chance for Gwen to demonstrate that she does actually have a brain and a spine. She is dealing with cannibals who intend to kill and eat her and Owen. Her best chance for her and Owen to live is to keep her gun on the cop. Possibly even just shoot the cop and hope his bullet misses Owen or doesn’t kill him. I mean what does she think is going to happen if she gives up her gun? That they’re going to let her and Owen walk away?
But that’s exactly what she does. (Something that incidentatly runs counter to police training she is supposed to have had. In real life you will NEVER see police surrender thier weapons like that) And if it wasn’t for Jack’s little rampage at the end she and everyone else would be dead.
Special-Ops my eye….
 
I have to say that Torchwood is a little less than I had expected. The trailer for this episode really got my hopes up.
The whole thing seemed so cliched, using stock horror sequences and I really just lost interest.
I so want this series to get better. I fear for it's future though in all honesty
 
Coolhand said:
However, the Torchwood team still suffer from profound incompetence IMHO, and it was painful to see them bumbling through the plotline like a bunch of helpless, bewildered teens in a slasher movie..... Special-Ops my eye….
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I agree. Capt'n Jack appears to have the tactical sense of a plastic bucket. "Ooh look! It may be a trap ! So lets divide our forces and lose touch with each other!"
 
Coolhand said:
Her best chance for her and Owen to live is to keep her gun on the cop. Possibly even just shoot the cop and hope his bullet misses Owen or doesn’t kill him. I mean what does she think is going to happen if she gives up her gun? That they’re going to let her and Owen walk away?... But that’s exactly what she does. (Something that incidentally runs counter to police training she is supposed to have had. In real life you will NEVER see police surrender their weapons like that.)
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That's a good point, and if it is standard police training as you say even more so. One could argue that she never had police weapons training, that she was seen to be taught by Jack in the 'Ghost Machine' episode, but that is a little bit weak. I'd be accused of defending the indefensible again. :(
 
Dave said:
That's a good point, and if it is standard police training as you say even more so. One could argue that she never had police weapons training, that she was seen to be taught by Jack in the 'Ghost Machine' episode, but that is a little bit weak. I'd be accused of defending the indefensible again. :(
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Gwen said when Jack taught her the gun thing that she had never even shot one of those before so obviously she hadn't had any firearms training which isn't standard procedure in the British Police Force, only certain units get taught the gun-stuff!

xx
 
Just watched this episode this morning (thank you ntl on demand) and quite enjoyed it a little wrong turn or TCM type of thing I am with the others in the love story thing with Gwen and Owen Why? It is not a good as I hoped but it is not too bad and can be worth a watch
 
I so wish this series would pick up, this episode really didnt do much for me at all :(
 
Adasunshine said:
Gwen said when Jack taught her the gun thing that she had never even shot one of those before so obviously she hadn't had any firearms training which isn't standard procedure in the British Police Force, only certain units get taught the gun-stuff!

xx
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Jack didn't teach her very well then.
;)
 
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