2.04: Meat

[Dave]

BBC - Torchwood - Torchwood
BBC - Torchwood - Torchwood

Rhys discovers the truth about Torchwood and becomes part of the team as they investigate a mysterious alien meat supply. With Rhys in increasing danger Gwen is under pressure like never before. Will Rhys go too far? Will Jack ask too much of him? And can Torchwood save the alien from being used as cheap meat?

Sorry, but I don't see the point of the Rhys character, except to make out that Gwen has a normal home-life, which quite clearly she doesn't. I hope they wipe his memory as I couldn't stand him as a team member every week.

 

[Mary Hoffman]

As a vegetarian, I'm already feeling queasy about this one without having to contemplate Rhys as a regular team member!

Mary

 

[Lenny]

It definitely looks a bit graphic in the meat department. I wonder how similar to the cannibalistic villagers it will be, in terms of meat and gore, etc.

I'm looking forward to it, though - it looks like an interesting episode. And one in which we see a real life alien, and no less! That's a rare occurence.

 

[Essie]

I do think it tedious that Torchwood portrays the only long term relationship as dull and the wrong person for her (as is always the case). Why can't anyone on TV let alone in Sci-fi be in a long term relationship with the love of their life - an exciting relationship that adds to the story not detracts from it? It's just a little niggle of mine.

 

[Pyan]

Ah, but Rhys is going to be bumped up to a Very Important Character very soon, without actually becoming a member of Torchwood.

HUGE SPOILER!​

In fact,

Spoiler

Gwen is so ridden by guilt by her double life, she tells Rhys all, and they get married......

For more details, check out the interview with Eve Myles in the February issue of "DeathRay" magazine....

 

[Dave]

Sorry, but I don't see the point of the Rhys character, except to make out that Gwen has a normal home-life, which quite clearly she doesn't. I hope they wipe his memory as I couldn't stand him as a team member every week.

Honestly, I hadn't seen any spoilers on this - but I was eerily close with plot.

Rhys certainly made more of a mark than he has before, and he certainly deserves not to be memory wiped. Twice would be too cruel.

The only thing about all this 'sworn to secrecy' malarkey is that it is so hollow - even the policeman said to Rhys "Torchwood need to look at it." Everyone in the whole of Cardiff (apart from Rhys) knows who Torchwood are. Little old women know who Torchwood are! They drive a 4x4 with "Torchwood" written on its side!

The first half was quite sickening. I hope no-one was eating while they watched it! It didn't make me a vegetarian, but it might put me off pies, sausages and processed meat!

There were some good jokes this week. I'm afraid I've forgotten them, but I remember Ianto had some classics (almost made his character worth while). Sorry, but the phone has been ringing all night, and my wife asking me questions - I should have recorded it. They were classics. And Rhys "you're not gay are you?" to Jack when he was worried about Gwen's infidelity. Strange, but I didn't hear Jack's reply "I **** anything that moves."

I'm really enjoying this season!

 

[Lenny]

I quite liked Rhys' character in this one, and we saw another glimpse of Tosh's other side.

There were some corking one-liners tonight, particularly from Ianto, who I have to say is fast becoming my favourite character.

As for the episode itself - the quality of it was fantastic. Definitely one of the best Torchwood episodes I've seen.

Just an interesting fact - the writer of tonight's episode, Catherine Tregenna, wrote the one in which the flying family from the 50s appeared in modern day (Out of Time) and the first of the two-part finale (Captain Jack Harkness). It might be because the team have settled into their roles more, or it might have been a better written episode, but I much preferred Meat to the other two she's written.

To re-watch it, Dave: BBC - Torchwood - Torchwood

And as I usually do, a quick thought about next weeks - I'm not sure. Sex on legs again, it seems, though with a twist that it looks like we get to learn a lot more about Jack, and I expect that James whatisname will be back the week after next, what with the content in the next episode, if not actually the next episode.

 

[Dave]

To re-watch it, Dave: BBC - Torchwood - Torchwood

I just tried but it is obviously overloaded. It was a good episode. I wish I could remember those Ianto jokes!

 

[Lenny]

Ah, it's still being uploaded. It should be up tomorrow, though. Very good quality, unless you go for fullscreen view... though smaller monitors might show it quite nicely.

Ianto is definitely becoming the team clown as the weeks go by, isn't he? That's what I like about him.

 

[Pyan]

In Real Life, Dave, it's repeating now (11pm) on BBC3!

 

[Dave]

Thanks, I am watching it again - but I have to post the best Torchwood line ever - the one I forgot earlier:

Tosh: If we worked out how it grew, we could feed the world!
Ianto: We could release a single!

 

[Lenny]

That was it! I was trying to remember the same one. Slipped in with brilliant timing it was.

 

[Dave]

Secretary: ...four weeks and your can go long distance.
Jack: That won't be a problem!

The jokes were class, but on second viewing the plot holes develop:

They couldn't have made a great amount of money out of the odd van load of red meat, not split four ways. They could even afford their own van. Yet, they had rented this huge warehouse. This alien Manatee apparently began life very much smaller when they found it. So, we did they think they needed such a large warehouse to contain it?

Also, a man with a foriegn accent has just told you that the creature you have been keeping is an alien. What do you do? If you believe him then you are hardly likely to get prosecuted in court. So, why do you then shoot the woman/man who "lied to me"? Something like Murder, then you are certainly going to go straight to prison. Rather, instead wouldn't you shoot the man who is talking absolute rubbish about aliens from another Galaxy instead?

 

[Lenny]

Also, a man with a foriegn accent has just told you that the creature you have been keeping is an alien. What do you do? If you believe him then you are hardly likely to get prosecuted in court. So, why do you then shoot the man who "lied to me"? Something like Murder, then you are certainly going to go straight to prison. Rather, instead wouldn't you shoot the woman/man who is talking absolute rubbish about aliens from another Galaxy instead?

To their credit the other few in the gang were telling the main fella not to shoot, "Don't do it".

---

Wasn't it said somewhere near the start that the mean had been doing it regularly for two months?

And when hunting for the warehouse, Ianto said something about there being three, one of which was abandoned? I might have got it mixed up, but was the warehouse with the alien in the abandoned one? At least, that's what I understood when I watched the episode.

 

[High Eight]

Secretary: ...four weeks and your can go long distance.
Jack: That won't be a problem!

The jokes were class, but on second viewing the plot holes develop:

They couldn't have made a great amount of money out of the odd van load of red meat, not split four ways. They could even afford their own van. Yet, they had rented this huge warehouse. This alien Manatee apparently began life very much smaller when they found it. So, we did they think they needed such a large warehouse to contain it?

Also, a man with a foriegn accent has just told you that the creature you have been keeping is an alien. What do you do? If you believe him then you are hardly likely to get prosecuted in court. So, why do you then shoot the woman/man who "lied to me"? Something like Murder, then you are certainly going to go straight to prison. Rather, instead wouldn't you shoot the man who is talking absolute rubbish about aliens from another Galaxy instead?

Why/how did it occur to them to chop it up for meat anyway? I mean, if you found a huge alien sea creature would your first thought be "I can sell lumps of this to my local pie company"?

Ianto might be turning into a comedian (matter of opinion!), but he still ain't no actor.

 

[Pyan]

Why/how did it occur to them to chop it up for meat anyway? I mean, if you found a huge alien sea creature would your first thought be "I can sell lumps of this to my local pie company"?

Yes, that occurred to me too...and if it was a lot smaller when they first found it, it seems even more unlikely.

By the way, any Larry Niven fans think "Bandersnatch!"

 

[PTeppic]

Why/how did it occur to them to chop it up for meat anyway? I mean, if you found a huge alien sea creature would your first thought be "I can sell lumps of this to my local pie company"?

And indeed, who'd want to try slicing the living creature to see what it tasted like (and implicitly, sufficiently similar to beef/pork etc as to not be noticeable).

 

[Lenny]

You've got to remember that there's always one.

Who would have thought about killing a cow and eating it to see what it tastes like? I'd have thought that in the modern day there'd be less of the actual thinking, and more doing, than centuries ago - we kill thousands of cows, and pigs, and sheep and whatever else for meat every single day.

 

[Pyan]

Who would have thought about killing a cow and eating it to see what it tastes like?

Yes....but a cow/pig/sheep (or at least their predecessors) would be a familiar sight to the first person to try eating one...here, we're talking about a completely strange alien creature.

 

[Lenny]

I wonder what people thought of cows and sheep before they domesticated them?

To be perfectly honest, though, I don't quite buy that they didn't believe it was truly an alien.