Torchwood Episode 208 Recap: “A Day in the Death”

IMHO, there is much to admire and appreciate in this episode, which I think is among the better written, acted, and produced we’ve seen. In general, I like how the show is introducing larger storylines that can’t be contained in single episodes. And I appreciate how they’re taking the time to explore the emotional implications and aftereffects of earlier incidents, something sorely lacking in most TV dramas, Lost being the worst offender.

The only issue I had with it was that at times it felt unnecessarily repetitive, with Owen giving the same “poor dead me” speech to the other Hubbies as well as this unidentified roof woman, whose scenes are a clear variation on Buffy’s classic “Conversations with Dead People” episode. Post credits, we join their tete-a-tete already in progress …

The for-now-unnamed Roof Woman, who I’ll name “Roofie,” tells Owen to piss off so she can get down to jumping. He says, “You think you’ve got problems?” and starts opening his shirt, and I’m sure this woman is thinking, “Great, it’s the last moments of my life and I’m being accosted by a pasty-faced flasher.” But Owen is actually just showing off his spanking new gunshot wound.

Roofie, in disbelief, probes the wound with her finger. Talk about your violation of personal space. Personally, unless it’s someone I know really well — or Jake Gyllenhaal — I’m not sticking my finger in any hole on somebody else’s body.

Owen explains that he was “brought back … like Jesus, really, but without the beard.” I was going to make a Jesus’ “beard” joke here, but I’m too afraid of being boycotted by the powerful Evangelical Recap Monitoring Association. So you’ll just have to fill that one in yourself.

Accepting that Owen is a true dead-head, Roofie wonders why he’s going to jump, because he can’t exactly die twice — refreshing evidence that at least someone on this show is capable of asking questions logically raised by the circumstances presented to them. Owen brushes it off, but when Roofie presses on with her inquiry, asking “Why are you here?” he launches into a flashback …

Previously at Torchwood, Jack tells Owen that he’s being relieved of his position and has to relinquish his gun, security pass, and official Torchwood Staff T-shirt. Owen looks particularly pissed that Ianto’s the one making off with all his stuff.

Jack further explains that since she’s still got one episode left on her guest star contract, Martha is conveniently available to fill in as medical officer. Who would have guessed that a UNIT doctor would be visiting at the exact moment Torchwood needed to hire a replacement? What are the chances!

Owen wonders if this is all really necessary, and Jack insists they need to run a bunch of tests to make sure creepy dead Owen is not a danger to anyone. The bad news is that if he refuses to comply, it’s off to the cells with him. The good news is that if he takes the tests and fails, “appropriate steps will be taken.” Oh wait. I guess there is no good news.

Owen snarks back, “It almost sounds as if you care,” and I’m inclined to agree with him on this one. Jack may have a point about needing to guarantee everybody’s safety, but given it’s also his fault Owen’s in this fix to begin with, he could be a tad nicer about it. Owen wonders what he’s supposed to do in the meantime, and Jack tells him they always need someone to make coffee.

Cut to Ianto demonstrating a rather impressive looking cappuccino apparatus to Owen. Given his dexterity with it, it’s clear to me Ianto must have been through Starbucks’ grueling training camp and served a stint in the Cardiff Millennium Center franchise as a barista. I can just imagine his customer service demeanor …

Customer: I’ll have a vente decaf skim latte with amaretto flavoring.
Ianto: Hmm. No … Next customer.