Or was there. Actually thinking back on what I just watched, there was Esther/sister plot, the tracking of Torchwood in L.A., the hospital opening and Oswald's ascension, the Ellis Hartley Monroe campaign, and the Torchwood infiltration of Phicorp. And plenty of waffle as usual. But I guess the fact that the team actually saw some action this week, going on their mission and having an "enemy" to fight gave it more oomph than in previous weeks.Plus, the growing revelations of the Phicorp manipulation of Miracle Day and those affected by it is intriguing, and I find myself being drawn into that mystery and how it relates to Jack's past ... but I hope it doesn't disappear into the sidelines for another couple of episodes.
I was a bit surprised that there were a number of (non)gory moments this week, especially for a Starz show. Frumpkin didn't have his eye gouged out and used in a Wesley Snipes reenactment from Demolition Man, and Monroe's squish-up in the car-compressor was clean - though the eye still roving about inside was a little creepy. Full kudos to "guest of the week" Mare Winningham - I agree with the voice of Phicorp, though, it would have been nice for her to have carried on!
Alexa Havins is still glowing as Esther, and is now a character I actually care about. Her naivety over would happen to her sister's family and of being followed is beautifully played, and I really hope she survives the end of the tale! Likewise, Bill Pullman's performance just gets better and better, and now the 'annoying' drawl he started with is clearly the unconfident Oswald, practically gone as he seizes the situation and reinvents himself as the "people's champion".
John Barrowman and Eve Myles continue to carry the show, though there still seems to be a missing spark in their characters that used to ignite previous series. Can't quite place what it is, but it might be the lack of "action" that they undertake themselves. Thinking about it, all we've really had is a chase across a beach, and then Gwen decking Lyn, but that's about it so far. The old Torchwood team certainly didn't rally through when "The Gentleman" (good old Christopher Thomas Howell as the other "guest of the week"!) knocked them about in the server room, but then that might have been a plot manipulation to make new boy Rex seem more integral to the team. [as an aside I have never seen a server room that clean, and spot the wobbly server!!!]Still not bothered about him as a character though, if the "Dead is Dead" ideal of those who should have died do so, I wouldn't be that bothered if he doesn't make it to the end. I half expected his father to shoot him to put him out of our misery. But then he wouldn't die anyway! Still not feeling anything for Vera or Jilly, either, though the latter almost had me wondering if there's a hidden agenda there still to come out - to crib a favourite City of Death line, "my dear, nobody could be as stupid as she seems" ...
This week, the Sky+ Planner lost Falling Skies and Body of Proof as bland American "generic make-by-numbers" series that really didn't engage my interest; Torchwood hasn't quite reached that level, phew. But all those arguments about this not being as much Welsh as American? Rubbish, it's an American show that has Welsh characters in and just because some scenes were shot in Wales that doesn't make it non-American. Just look at The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon for a proper British show in America scenario!
And as for the "Next Time" - have we reached the point where we blatantly recycle Children of Earth already? If Gwen had wondered what the Doctor thought we'd have screamed at the telly!!!
