Torchwood Episode 206 Recap: "Reset"

As extra incentive, Ianto brings in Janet, who rushes toward the poor sap stopping just short of his chair thanks to a choke collar and chain. Terrified, the guy starts babbling about how the victims were all going to die anyway; by killing them extra early, he was actually doing them a service, saving them the terrible embarrassment of dying via parasite.

Suddenly, his stomach cramps worsen and he starts convulsing. Owen grabs the EarPhone and scans his abdomen, revealing a Mayfly inside trying to get out. He revs up the EarPhone device but is too late. We’re treated to a low-budget version of that memorable breakfast scene in Alien, as the Mayfly bursts out of the guy’s stomach. Owen grabs the rather large bug with forceps and examines it, figuring out that the hit man must have ingested a larva from one of his victims and this is what it grew up into. Gross.

A little while later, Ianto is about to get rid of the body, but Tosh tells him she has an idea that can get them inside the Pharm. Then she shows him something on her computer screen that leads him to grimace in disgust and calls her “warped on the inside.”

And if you’re wondering what could possibly make Ianto of all people accuse someone else of being sick and twisted, the answer is Weekend at Bernie’s. Because as near as I can tell, Tosh must have shown him a clip from it, given her big idea is to prop up the hit man’s corpse Bernie-style behind the wheel of a jeep with the Hubbies hiding in the back. With Bernie at the wheel, they’re able to sail through Pharm security.

Inside the compound, they split up, with Ianto, Tosh and Gwen heading into the restricted Zone A to check it out. Inside, they find what appears to be some kind of moonshine distillery, with all these tanks attached to tubes filling up mason jars. They get a close look at the tanks and find pickled Weevils and Mayflies inside.

When the evil assistant comes in to fill up another IV bag, they grab her and get her to talk. She explains that this is what the Pharm is all about; farming aliens for chemicals that might have medicinal values. Like who would have guessed that Weevil juice makes for a great pesticide/hemorrhoid cream? But their greatest discovery will be the Mayfly miracle elixir, once they get people to stop dying from it.

Ianto contacts Jack to give him an update on what’s been going down in Zone A. And even though she has no idea what perils the rest of her team might be facing at that very moment, Gwen decides to spend about 15 minutes gaping at the pickled Mayfly. The poor Mayfly, for his part, appears mesmerized by the appearance of something with eyes as googly as its own.

Pharm Exam Room. Jack crashes through the door and finds Martha writhing on the table in clear distress from the Reset. He points a gun at Copley and demands he put a stop to it. Copley says that a) he can’t. And b) even if he could, he wouldn’t; he wants to see what happens next. Apparently, the larvae practice “sibling cannibalism,” killing each other until only one survives, growing up inside the human host. Martha is the only human to survive this long. Lucky Martha.

While Owen tries to help Martha, Jack and Copley have a lively debate about medical ethics, with Copley insisting he’s doing nothing wrong, given how many diseases they’ll cure and people they’ll save. Jack says he’s running a “torture chamber” and enslaving innocent creatures. It’s a shaky argument coming from someone who keeps a Weevil chained up in his basement. But we get his point, especially when he throws in that Copley’s also killing off his test subjects.