3.02: Children of Earth - Day Two

[Lenny]

Torchwood are forced underground, as the government takes swift and brutal action. With members of the team being hunted down, only Lois holds the key to Torchwood's salvation - but she is helpless as her superiors make plans for the mysterious Floor 13.

---

Now that was good - action all the way! Very few questions answered, I must admit (though we did find out that Dave was right and I was wrong - it's the government after Torchwood, not UNIT), and quite a few more for us to ask.

I'll try and remember points now, but I'll do the same as last night and re-watch the whole thing and make notes later.

So, a lovely crater greets the new day, and Gwen, even though she's in shock and can't see and hear straight, springs into action mode and lays out two ambulance men. One thing about the sniper - surely any sniper worth his salt can hit a moving target, let alone a stationary one lying in shock after a blast...

Erm... I forget where it went next... meh, I'll remember when others post.

One thing I absolutely loved about the end of the episode - we finally have an alien that doesn't breath and live in the same atmosphere as our own! Hurrah! I'm looking forward to seeing what they look like. And I have to say that I was expecting a Doctor-esque moment from Mr. Dekker (the archivist-spook), but he proved he was mortal and a human, and doesn't have the foggiest about where the aliens come from.

EDIT: It appears the Beeb are quick to put things on iPlayer if they're high profile. And in HD, too! Woop!!

Children of Earth - Day Two
Children of Earth - Day Two, HD

EDIT2: Actually, they might just have got their act together generally - Personal Affairs aired at the same time as TW, and that's on iPlayer. Eeee, I can remember the days when you had to wait a couple of hours before you could watch something again!

 

[Dave]

I thought that was even better than last night. I wasn't that keen to watch these, but now I'll make sure I see the rest. Actually, I thought the woman in black leather was working for a third party, not UNIT or Frobisher, so I wasn't right at all. She, and her team, are absolutely useless and incompetent though. How could Gwen, Ianto and Rhys escape and then rescue Jack? I mean, I saw how it happened, but was it really likely?

I like Ianto's brother in law. "You won't find him in my bed, I'm a married man!"

As Lenny said, there wasn't much new information, or any answers given today. Torchwood don't know the identity of the other people on the blank page either. Obviously, their identities are important to the story though.

 

[PTeppic]

I agree Lenny. Hit the remote at the end of the episode and thought: "another hour of content and almost nothing answered.". Excellent!!! Definitely agree with the sniper comments: at the range he had Ianto in his sights, even hand-held, at street level he should have pegged him. Not entirely sure Jack could really resurrect from a few lumps, but hey - the power of Rose. Slightly less twisty-turny tonight, though more solid drama (and less humour?). Lots of excuses for nudity instead... lol

(Edit: Dave types faster than me... when started this was the first reply )

 

[PTeppic]

Torchwood don't know the identity of the other people on the blank page either. Obviously, their identities are important to the story though.

Gwen doesn't. As the Minister said, there'd be hell to pay if Jack woke up, or said what he knew, or something. Which presumably means he will know who the others were on the list. And all our 2+2 from Monday will start adding up?

I'd also add, if I may, that if I were a government type I'd be very, very nervous about having a large GLASS sided tank of what can only be described as a toxic gas soup, sitting in my building. Almost every constituent is nasty on its own. Whatever the alleged reason for having it there, I'd want anyone near to be carrying masks, just in case.

 

[Dave]

Gwen doesn't. As the Minister said, there'd be hell to pay if Jack woke up, or said what he knew, or something. Which presumably means he will know who the others were on the list. And all our 2+2 from Monday will start adding up?

I stand corrected! It was Gwen who said she didn't know.

I think there was a fair bit of comedy - rocking the spooks car, "call him Edward, after the King." - it just wasn't as funny.

BTW this website has all the characters names and profiles:
BBC - Torchwood - Official Torchwood Children Of Earth site

So, we can stop calling them Mrs black leather clad hit-woman and Mr Archivist-Spook. That's Johnson and Dekker.

 

[Lenny]

Now I knew it was Dekker, but not Johnson.

When my internet plays nice again (that is, after 11pm, when it becomes an off-peak time), I'm going to watch Day Two in HD. I'll also get Day One running in HD to see what I can glean from the Torchwood Wiki.

Oooh - anyone else think we're going to get a new page of the Wiki every day?

 

[Dave]

One thing no one here mentioned yesterday was that the burnt person in the trailer would be Jack. My son guessed it, some posts on other forums guessed it, but some thought it would be Ianto.

I wondered if this would be when he turned into the 'Face of Boe' - just his head left. As PTeppic said there wasn't much else left.

 

[Lenny]

Right. Replay in HD. I'll get screencaps of the new Wiki pages - Jack and Gwen only, I think. Though I think there's a bit about the institution.

---

- Pretty nice special effect, turning Cardiff into a crater.
- Gwen is visibly shaken, can't see straight, can't hear, but struggles against the "ambulance men".
- She shows incredible awareness to take out the "ambulance men", shoot at the sniper, and then drive off. Must be something in the Cardiff water.
- Awful sniper. It's not a particularly hard shot to make, either - a hundred yards at most?
- Bit scary, that -- an archivist-spook () turning up at your house...
- Oooh! I've got a screencap of the instructions. It's a load of numbers... bit of text at the top, though.
- Eeep. Scary Gwen. Particularly with blood around her mouth.
- PC Andy, showing his helpful side.
- Have to admit that I expected some sort of novelty boxers on Rhys.

Gah... the locals are still using their intarwebz. Grrr.

- Poor PC Andy -- he probably doesn't get many terrorists on his beat.
- I expected Mickey to jump out of the newspaper van.
- Bet you can't guess the date this is set... that's right! Wednesday September 2009.
- Typical teenage response -- "If they go off during a lesson we can't get them back until Friday". So what if your parents are scared for you, and want to ring at the first sign of trouble? If it means you lose your phone, well, no thank you!
- They live in the middle of a housing estate -- where will they keep a pony?
- And a newspaper report.
- Wiki about Torchwood: Organisation. TW2 has been disbanded, and there is no mention of TW4.
- You can see the hairs on the PMs nose in HD! Poor John.
- An arm, a shoulder, and bits of his head. Eugh. Poor Jack.
- That kid's been watching too many spy films.
- It's quite disgusting watching a body grow in a body sack.
- I love being on the back of wagons. Can't say I've been in a moving one, though.
- Brilliant diversion! Suits the estate too.
- That's horrible. Poor Jack.
- On the Government Information Network, where it flashes the URGENT - BREAKING NEWS!!!ONE!1!!, the third news article is:

£220 million pound overspend

The National Audit Office report on the Deparment (not my spelling mistake! ) of Transport IT overspend criticises tendering process, and calls for an integrated approach to information management.

How mundane! And I've spotted a mistake in the second article:

Cardiff Bay Bombing

Casualties are low as rescue workers continue the search the wreckage. As yet no group has come forward to take responsibility.

Have you found it? They need a proof-reader.

Eugh... bad internet again.

- Interesting fact: "We are coming tomorrow" was repeated, in total, 38 times. According to a news report.
- On the screen before Lois brings up Gwen's profile is a window with notes from the September Knife Crime Conference, September 16th. It's nice to see all these little touches!
- Couldn't get a screencap of Gwen's Wiki page. Sorry!

I swear, I'm going to hunt down whoever is in charge of TalkTalk...

- You wonder what sort of facility Ashton Down is. Or was. Why have lids in the ceiling?
- This Johnson woman is cold.
- That's something I forgot! If she doesn't get killed, then there's a face we'll probably see in the next series of Torchwood. Can't see what role Lois would play in the TW team, though. Actually, she might replace Ianto... oh, please no.
- Three bodies: Jack, Rupesh and... one of the others on the list?
- The un-named body is a white male, looks quite young. Could be Andrew Staines (the thrid guy on the list was retired, and probably old).
- How on earth did they know that Ianto was outside? I knew but even I couldn't tell!
- All those lessons down on the Torchwood shooting range in Series 1 did Gwen well.
- So what does Jack know to strike fear into the heart of John, the Home Office guy?
- Maybe a scientist-archivist-spook.
- I don't see why every gas in a television programme has to be represented by dry ice...
- And what does Dekker know about the previous meeting?

And that's that.

Haha! At the end, iPlayer gives me "More Like This". The two recommendations are: Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day One and the
first episode of Krod Mandoon!

Anyway, questions:

- What does Dekker know?
- If it's the Government hunting down TW, that what are UNIT doing? They're "onto them", after all.

 

[PTeppic]

- They live in the middle of a housing estate -- where will they keep a pony?
- So what does Jack know to strike fear into the heart of John, the Home Office guy?

Like most people in their situation, as a Minister he should be rolling in it and be able to afford a pony, and do what the others in his situation do: either rent room at a stables, or get a "detached" stable some distance from his house

And, almost certainly, something to do with the previous 456 incident, which is why they wanted him killed. They're covering up the fact they handed over kids on a plate to aliens.

 

[Dave]

Typical teenage response -- "If they go off during a lesson we can't get them back until Friday". So what if your parents are scared for you, and want to ring at the first sign of trouble? If it means you lose your phone, well, no thank you!

My son's response was "They're lucky! We wouldn't get them back until the end of term!"
I can't fault the rest of your analysis Lenny.

 

[Fried Egg]

I hope it's not just me but are you supposed to know why the government to shutdown torchwood yet or is that yet to be revealed?

 

[Moonbat]

I don't think they have fully explained yet. They seem to be hinting at something that happened in the 60's that Jack was privvy to, probably the first children abduction/offering. The elimination of Jack is required so that they can cover up the knowledge of the Alien's previous visit.

I was very impressed with the Jack death story. They know he has great longevity, but they don't know why. They keep mentioning that it might be connected to the Torchwood hub, but they are way off. Then to prove they are testing it, they blow him up, brilliant. But then a little odd that he can reform out of about 30% of his body. Does that mean if another 30% were grouped together somewhere he would reform another Jack, or does the Head lead the reformation?
Then Dekker (I think) tries to contain him in a concrete cell, that was pretty cool.

I think last night's episode showed how good Torchwood are, they were attacked without warning, split up, hunted by the government. But still with only two of them (and the bumbling husband) and a government temp/traitor they managed to rescue Jack from a military compound and a concrete cell.

 

[ctg]

Did anyone thought that the government counter-terrorist squad sucked in big time. The sniper was worst shooter ever. Not even getting a scratch under 50 m range. The CCTV operator couldn't cover the area and follow the targets even tough UK is the most covered nation on face of Earth. Finally catching agents in the military installation with shoot-on-sight order, the squad doesn't score hits or even notice someone driving construction vehicle next to place they were supposed guarding. After agents make their escape, it takes ages from CT operatives to follow the targets.

 

[Lenny]

Definitely agree - it's like they went to the same training centre as the Torchwood team from the first series!

I'm wondering where the helicopter Johnson (the woman in black - she's the one who concreted Jack, Moonbat) said was in the area...was. Maybe it'll make an appearance at the start of tonight's episode? In which case, I predict a thirty second car chase in which the turret operator in the helicopter makes a few holes in the car, but misses its occupants completely, leaving Jack free to borrow Gwen's pistol and hit the chopper's blades with one shot, bringing it down in a fireball of wreckage.

 

[Moonbat]

I predict a thirty second car chase in which the turret operator in the helicopter makes a few holes in the car, but misses its occupants completely, leaving Jack free to borrow Gwen's pistol and hit the chopper's blades with one shot, bringing it down in a fireball of wreckage.

Good call Lenny.

It surprises me that the program makers haven't realised how bad they make the bad guys look, and I mean how bad at shooting. Wouldn't it be better if the bad guys never had a clear shot, then we might believe that they would miss them with their hundred bullets. The bit where Ianto was running down an alley and the shooter stopped and aimed and still missed with several attempts.

Although I said the funny bits don't make me alugh, I too laughed at Ianto's brother in law in bad sayng 'well you're not going to find him in my bed!'

 

[Fried Egg]

I don't think they have fully explained yet. They seem to be hinting at something that happened in the 60's that Jack was privvy to, probably the first children abduction/offering. The elimination of Jack is required so that they can cover up the knowledge of the Alien's previous visit.

But why? Perhaps it's not what he knows about the previous visit, but what they are worried about him finding out that's got them concerned?

 

[PTeppic]

But why? Perhaps it's not what he knows about the previous visit, but what they are worried about him finding out that's got them concerned?

I seem to recall the Minister explicitly mentioned something that Jack could talk about...

 

[Tillane]

It surprises me that the program makers haven't realised how bad they make the bad guys look, and I mean how bad at shooting.

Reminded me of a quote from Red Dwarf:

Lister: How come we never meet anyone nice?
Cat: How come we never meet anyone who can shoot straight?

I've been enjoying this mini-series so far - aside from the stuff that's already been mentioned, like the shoddy sniping. The main characters all seem to be nicely settled into their roles (as they should be after two series, I know, but it's nice to see them poking fun at themselves) and some of the writing for this series does seem to have improved.

Think the Lois character has promise, too - and she looks to be a shoo-in as "new team member" for the next series. Just so long as that means they don't bring Martha Jones back, I'm well happy.

 

[Dave]

Think the Lois character has promise, too - and she looks to be a shoo-in as "new team member" for the next series. Just so long as that means they don't bring Martha Jones back, I'm well happy.

Maybe not Martha Jones, but they do need a Doctor to replace Owen; some kind of 'X-Files' Dana Scully-type to do autopsies, and they already killed the most likely candidate in Dr Rupesh Patanjali.

As, someone mentioned earlier, Lois would not be a replacement for Toshi or Owen, she would do the same job that Ianto does already.

 

[Lenny]

As, someone mentioned earlier, Lois would not be a replacement for Toshi or Owen, she would do the same job that Ianto does already.

That was me.

If she does join the team, then it will mean Ianto is either dead (could well happen, seeing as we've still got three days to go, and he seems the least 'able' of the three - Jack is Jack, obviously, whilst Gwen has grabbed her role by the short and curlies and has really thrown herself into it. Ianto, on the other hand, seems disorientated, slightly scared, and at a bit of a loss), or he's moved into a more active role within the team - maybe Jack could train him as a sniper or something.

I hope it's the latter, but if it's neither, then I can't see how else she'd fit. She and Ianto do such similar jobs that the two of them would really grind if they worked at the same thing together.