Torchwood Episode 207 Recap: “Dead Man Walking”

He’s at the hospital, and he runs inside, where the team is rushing an elderly Martha on a gurney. Owen seems fine, and Gwen says that “that thing” they saw is now gone, but they don’t know where it went.

A doctor says that Martha’s health is ailing, which makes sense given she’s about 80. Jack promises her they’ll find a way to reverse it. Then he tells Ianto that they need ideas about how the town in the legend was able to stop Death before it reached 13 and how “Faith” came into it.

Owen says he wants to stick around and help find “it.” Since it came through him, he understands what it wants, specifically “it’s hunger.” Jack thinks they won’t have to look far. “If you were Death,” he says, “wouldn’t you target a hospital?” He pulls aside the window curtain and reveals Weevil worshippers lined up outside.

Hospital Ward — the one for poor people, since there’s a ton of beds and no privacy. We see Smokey the Smoke Monster snake along the floor, and as it passes, all the patients flatline. That’s why they don’t allow smoking in hospitals. One woman tries to ring for help, then sees Smokey at the foot of her bed, a skeleton-like figure now revealing itself. Hey lady, like the song says: Don’t fear the Reaper. Blue Oyster Cult rules!

Rushing through the hospital, Jack contacts the authorities and orders an evacuation. Meanwhile, Gwen announces to everyone within hearing, “This is Torchwood. If you could move to the nearest exit.” And they actually listen to her! I’m so confused by this. In the pilot episode, Gwen was completely mystified when the Torchwood van showed up at a crime scene, and she was on the police force at the time. But now, Torchwood is so well known, mere mention of it is enough for the general public, including ailing patients and their loved ones, to willingly abandon a hospital without question.

In the ward, Jack and Gwen see the corpses and do a quick count. The tally is eight, just five to go. Jack contacts Ianto, currently at Martha’s bedside, and asks if he’s found out anything about how to stop Death.

Ianto: I’ve searched the phrase, “I shall walk the Earth and my hunger shall know no bounds,” but I keep getting redirected to Weight Watchers.

Heh heh. Personally, whatever search terms I enter always redirect me to porn sights. But that’s probably because I’m always searching for porn. Or musicals trivia.

Gwen tells him to try the original medical journal she consulted. Meanwhile, Tosh and Owen are searching floor to floor. Owen says, “It’s here. I can feel it.”

Pediatric Ward. Nurses evacuate the child patients, but one sad little bed is empty. Oh no. Please tell me they’re not going to go where I think they are. Please, please tell me that this is not going to be some cheap ploy to generate sympathy with some cancer kid…

Yup. They go there. We see a kid with a bandana on his head in the bathroom, where he’s playing Gameboy. He goes into the empty, dark ward, then drops the game. When he leans to pick it up, he sees a corpse underneath. Freaked, he runs down the hall, but the door is locked. Smokey turns the corner and we see the skeleton walking towards him.

It’s almost upon him when a door halfway down the hall pops open and Owen jumps out. He grabs the kid, pulls him behind him, and they start running, now joined by Tosh. They think they’ve lost Smokey, but then come up against another pair of locked doors with glass windows.

Tosh starts doing some techie thing to try to get the doors opened, while Owen makes small talk with cancer kid, who says his name is “Jamie.” Jamie says he’s in for a second round of chemo, which he really doesn’t want since it never seems to work.

Just then, they all listen on coms as Ianto calls in to Jack. He’s found out that the “Faith” that put a stop to Death was the name of the little girl who had died and been brought back. Owen puts it all together, realizing that she didn’t have anything to lose because she was already dead.