Caleb Woodbridge previews ‘The Blood Line’, the shocking finale of Torchwood: Miracle Day. With Torchwood split across opposite sides of the world – Rex and Esther in Buenos Aires; Gwen, Jack and Oswald in Shanghai – the race is on to reverse the Miracle before the Families can implement the next stage of their grand plan.
It’s the end, but has the moment been prepared for? Well, sort of – like Miracle Day as a whole, ‘The Blood Line’ is a mix of the good, the bad and the just plain silly. But it carries it off with enough energy and conviction to make it compelling, if not entirely coherent, storytelling. And inevitably, not everyone is going to make it out alive…
Tough choices await Captain Jack and the rest of his team. Much of the drama centres around the decision to bring back death, giving a real sense of the weight and responsibility of the choice. This is especially true of Gwen Cooper, whose opening speech sets the tone for the episode, and Eve Myles does a great job as usual of humanising what could become a rather abstract concept. Central to the series is the theme of the danger of deciding who lives and who dies.
On a lighter note, there are also some fan-pleasing references to Doctor Who continuity. And the last few scenes come with a twist that will redefine Torchwood as a show if it returns – but whether it will be renewed is very much in question.
Perhaps more importantly, should the show return? Check back on Thursday night for our commentary and full post-mortem dissection of the undead corpse of Torchwood: Miracle Day!
