TV Review: TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY - "Immortal Sins"

I’ll give the Torchwood production team this: they aren’t afraid to try something really different. Too bad it didn’t work really well.

By Chris Swanson / August 22, 2011

rating: 2

SPECIAL NOTE: This episode will be almost impossible to review without spoilers, so I wont try. Consider yourself warned! Ill give the Torchwood production team this: they arent afraid to try something really different. Too bad it didnt work really well. Immortal Sins follows two separate stories in two different times and places. In 2011, we have Gwen (Eve Myles), going back to the United States. Shes just found out her husband, daughter and mother have all been kidnapped and the kidnappers are holding them until she can bring Jack (John Barrowman), to them. She reacts to this by going to the Torchwood HQ, luring Jack to her car and tazing him. When he wakes up, hes very unhappy at how thorough shes been in tying him up. As she drives the car, he tries to negotiate with her, and at least at a couple points seems to be making progress before she panics again and tells him to shut up. Eventually the two end up at the top of a winding road, talking quietly as a black SUV makes a menacing approach. The other story centers around Jack in New York City in 1927. Yes, were getting a serious look at his past, and confirmation for the newcomers to the series that this man has lived a very long time. Hes initially shown tackling a man who claims to be Jack, but is actually an Italian named Angelo (Daniele Favilli). The two bond after Jack helps him to enter the country. Then they develop a bit of a closer bond in a flophouse bedroom. We then follow the happy couple as they run afoul of a group of gangsters who direct Jack toward a box. Inside the box is an alien parasite that was placed there by the Tricksters brigade from The Sarah Jane Adventures. That this revelation comes not long after a scene where Jack talks about the Doctor and his companions provides a nice bit of continuity and reminds us what universe this all happens in. Unfortunately, right after saving the world Jack gets shot in the head and Angelo gets hauled off to prison. Eventually hes released and is horrified to find Jack alive and well and waiting for him. What follows isnot pleasant, as Jack is chained up and tortured by people who seem to think hes either a demon or an angel. Eventually hes sold to three men who, when they shake hands, do so in an oddly familiar triangle pattern. There were some very nice moments in this episode, particularly between Gwen and Jack. Gwen seems to have stored up quite a bit of rage toward Jack and Torchwood and was finally able to let it out. That was nice to see. I also really did love the references to Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures. On the other hand, sheesh, but that 1927 story just went on and on and on and onam I alone in thinking that storyline might have been better served getting spread out over two or three episodes? As it was, it felt like a love story as told by Basil Exposition. Im also getting kind of annoyed by the fact that anyone who is new to the series will walk away assuming Jack is gay. Hes not. Hes a do anything to anything kind of guy, and thats not been shown at all. I initially feared they might straighten him up for American audiences, but if anything the opposite seems to happen. Aside from one vague pass at Dr Juarez, weve seen nothing of him having an interest in women. The pacing in this story seemed really off, too, and much of the violence and sex was on the gratuitous side. Also, while I enjoyed the resolution to the kidnapping plot, I cant help but remember what the woman leading the group (Nana Visitor), said at the end about Jack wanting to come with them to meet the guy behind all this. Surely all that guy would have had to do was call Jack and his natural curiosity would have been enough motivation to go see him without the action kidnapping scene. This was a fairly mediocre episode and it felt like it should have been more and bigger. I was very disappointed. The series hasnt hit a wall just yet, but I can see one coming up soon if they dont do something to move the story forward at a somewhat faster pace, especially as theres only three episodes left. Up next week, special guest star John de Lancie! Ha! So Q was behind it all! I knew it!