Stars: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Mekhi Phifer, Alexa Havins, Lauren Ambrose, Kai Owen, Bill Pullman, Arlene Tur, Marc Vann, Olivia Hallinan, Tom Price, Randa Walker, Teddy Sears, Sharon Morgan, William Thomas, Bradley Bell
Writer: Jane Espenson
Director:  Guy Ferland
Network: Starz, airs Friday nights
Original Telecast: August 5, 2011

In the fifth episode of the all-new BBC/Starz co-production of TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY, “The Categories of Life,” the pace flags but the story grows much darker as the world adjusts to a new kind of humanity. The Torchwood team launches a risky infiltration of one of the overflow camps, uncovering a horrifying secret at the heart of this strategy to manage the sick and the elderly. With historic overtones that are unmistakably familiar, the saga reaches its halfway point with an ending that will surely give many viewers a reason to stare at the screen in shock long after the final flaming image fades.

I’ve been enjoying this series so far, but as we enter pointed Holocaust territory, with the story making a potent and probably very accurate point about what we as human beings are capable of when faced with insurmountable problems – excessive cruelty to one another – I find myself wondering whether this is perhaps a step too far. While science fiction often takes real world events and reinterprets them for the purposes of allegory, there’s so little separation here between the horrors of the Holocaust and what the show is depicting that it’s truly uncomfortable to watch. You could argue that just means the show is making its point well – on the other hand, maybe it’s not a point that should be made this way. I honestly don’t know right now.

Sadly, before we get to the powerful conclusion of the episode, we suffer through the series’ first serious issue with pacing and characterization. After all they’ve been through, the team commits just about every single member to a hazardous infiltration of this camp, knowing that some or all of them could face…well, not death, but grievous harm. It’s a ridiculous strategy, but the worst offender is Gwen (Eve Myles). Up until now, she’s been shown as strong and focused, but here she acts like a complete idiot. First, she blows any hope of cover by publicly going to reclaim her father from the camp. When that doesn’t work and she’s part of the infiltration, she reveals her relationship to her father to anyone that she comes across, risking not just herself but Rhys (Kai Owen) and everyone else in the team. It’s just lunacy.

The other problem is our main guest character, camp director Colin Maloney, played with wildly over-the-top villainy by Marc Vann. Embodying the most cartoonish racist, misogynistic, middle-management, and Southern American clichés, there is nothing redeeming about this grotesque caricature and nothing believable either.

Phifer and Havins are still handling their characters well, and Pullman’s Oswald Danes remains a fascinating presence, but even his brand of perverse evil is wearing a bit thin. It’s also curious that the episode’s only real moral challenge is when we’re made to wonder: Will Danes choose the PhiCorp or Torchwood path? Did we want him to help instead of hurt? Would it matter if he did, considering the monster that he is?

Virtually every character is left in some form of peril here, which makes sense in the fifth episode of a ten-part story, but as a midway point, this episode seriously loses the momentum for a good half of its run time, and when it recovers with one of Russell T. Davies’ patented multi-pronged cliffhangers, it does so by pushing things so far down the darkest possible path that it leaves a really bad taste in the mouth.

Where will this go now that we’ve reached this point? How can any sci-fi solution to this story mitigate the impact and perhaps even questionable taste of using the Holocaust as fodder for this kind of fantasy show? I have no answers, but I do intend to keep watching to see if they do.

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET US KNOW HOW YOU FEEL – COMMENT BELOW!

Click on link: TORCHWOOD – “Dead of Night”  – Review #2

Click on link: TORCHWOOD – “Rendition”  – Review #2

Click on link: AX’s 10 Things About Torchwood You Need To Know

Follow us on Twitter at ASSIGNMENT X
Fan us on Facebook at ASSIGNMENTX


CLICK the link for AX’s latest list – Five DOCTOR WHO pirate adventures

CLICK the link for AX’s list – Five DOCTOR WHO kids joined by Alien Technology

CLICK HERE for a review of DOCTOR WHO – Series 6 premiere – “The Impossible Astronaut”

CLICK HERE for AX’s List on “THE FIVE QUESTIONS WE HOPE DOCTOR WHO – SERIES 6 ANSWERS”

CLICK HERE for Neil Gaiman talking about scripting his Season 6 DOCTOR WHO episode

CLICK HERE for brand new photos from DOCTOR WHO – Season 6 – including new poster

CLICK HERE to view the new EXTENDED SEASON 6 DOCTOR WHO trailer

CLICK HERE for Actor Mark Sheppard talking about his role in a Season 6 episode of DOCTOR WHO

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Review – TORCHWOOD: MIRACLE DAY – “The Categories of Life”


Related Posts:

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

CAPTCHA Image
*
Increase your website traffic with Attracta.com

Dr.5z5 Open Feed Directory

bottom round