Why you can trust 12DOVE Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.
Written by: Matt Jones
Directed by: Andy Goddard
Rating:
The One Where: Jack brings Owen back to life with a second resurrection gauntlet, but after his two minutes are up, he keeps walking and talking. A Reaper-like entity called Duroc uses Owen to cross over, then starts picking people off at a hospital. If he stacks up 13 kills, he’ll be unstoppable...
Verdict: A stylish episode: love the woozy use of a steadicam strapped to Burn Gorman’s chest to convey Owen’s confused mental state; the dutch angles; that bold cut from the demon emerging from Owen to Jack waking up in the SUV.
It’s surprisingly creepy, and makes you fear for kids tuning into the 7.00pm repeat: we imagine quite a few will now have a morbid fear of hospitals. On the downside, Owen’s projectile vomit moment is jarringly out of place, and Martha’s ageing seems to have no rhyme or reason.
Highlight: Owen’s first slippage into a distorted, hall-of-mirrors realm of darkness.
Influences: The Buffy episode “Killed By Death” (in which a demon preys on dying kids in a hospital); The Hands of Orlac (the crawling hand); Star Wars (Gwen says, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this...”).
Featured Music: The hip-hop track playing as Owen pounds the streets is “Awfully Deep” by Roots Manuva.
Nitpicks: Why is Martha planning to carry out an autopsy on Owen? And when Cardiff police arrest drunken brawlers, do they usually lock them up in the same cell?
Best Line:
Ianto (researching Duroc): "I’ve searched for the phrase, ‘I shall walk the Earth and my hunger will know no bounds’, but I keep getting re-directed to Weight Watchers."
Ian Berriman
Next Torchwood review: "A Day in the Death"
Previous Torchwood review: "Reset"
