Review: Relax "Torchwood" Fans — "Miracle Day" (Mostly) Works, Captain Jack Still Slutty

On a flight to America during an early episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day, Gwen Cooper, an FBI agent and two flight attendants are forced to disrobe Captain Jack, but before they lay a hand on him, Gwen snaps, “Be careful with his coat!”

Jack’s Royal Air Force greatcoat is, of course, an iconic Torchwood symbol, so the scene makes a nice metaphor: Russell T. Davies may be transporting his Doctor Who spinoff across the pond, but by God, he’s not going to desecrate the brand.

And to his credit, he doesn’t. Miracle Day is not a reboot. It’s authentic, undiluted Torchwood — with a lot fewer Welsh accents.

By now we all know the premise of Miracle Day: One day, people stop dying. What seems like a blessing is quickly revealed as a curse. Emergency room patients can’t be accommodated; grocery store patrons can’t be satiated; convicted child rapists can’t be executed. And when the scope of a potential catastrophe reaches farther than the arm of any national government, who ya’ gonna call? The indestructible Jack Harkness.

John Barrowman, Mekhi Phifer, and Eve Myles

Or, well, the formerly indestructible Jack Harkness. When the switch flips on life, Jack becomes the only person on earth who can die. Fortunately, for all of us, Jack's mortality doesn’t affect John Barrowman's swagger. He's as charming in Washington D.C. as he is in Cardiff. More than once, I had to rewind the DVD because I'd realize I'd lost the plot by spending a whole scene swooning over his smile.

Jack is joined, as always, by Gwen Cooper, who has been living in self-imposed Welsh exile with Rhys and their baby since Jack absconded to a galaxy far, far away at the conclusion of Series Three. New to the team this time around are Rex Matheson, (Mekhi Phifer), a shoot-first-ask-questions-later cowboy of a CIA agent, and CIA analyst Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins), who has a soothing Toshiko Sato vibe about her.

When Starz offered to foot the bulk of the bill for a BBC co-sponsored mini-series, the entire Torchwood fandom winced. What horrors would befall their beloved British drama in the hands of American premium cable? But the agonizing seems to have been in vain. Torchwood: Miracle Day is certainly a far cry from the rickety sets of the show’s first series, but the sleek, polished Starz version is a seamless transition from BBC One’s Children of Earth.

In fact, Miracle Day follows the Children of Earth model in many ways. The series focuses on the Torchwood team, but it also narrates the lives of peripheral characters, all of whom will no doubt play key rolls in unraveling the mystery of immortality. Bill Pullman’s murdering pedophile Oswald Danes has received the most pre-season press, but, to me, Lauren Ambrose's portrayal of pharmaceutical rep Jilly Kitzinger is the standout performance of the first three episodes of the series. She may be the most sweetly sinister character Torchwood has ever seen.

And just as Children of Earth grappled with far-reaching philosophical conundrums, so does Miracle Day. It has the same creepiness factor as every series before it, with plenty of camp thrown in to make longtime fans feel right at home. (Along with some sly Whoniverse winks and nods at the returning audience. One Jane Espenson-penned episode even lands a TARDIS joke.)

Barrowman and Dillon Casey

As for the queer factor, Captain Jack is as omnisexual as ever. When he wants a random hookup to blow off some steam, he heads straight for a gay bar. And the sex scenes? Well, let’s just say BBC will surely be parsing those down, even though Miracle Day will air post-watershed in Britain. Jack’s humor is as bawdy as ever; he takes the piss out of Rex more than once about how he “doesn’t like his jokes too gay.” However, the sexuality of a male flight attendant is played for an episode-long joke, and while it’s not offensive, it’s not particularly funny either.

A common thread of complaint among some reviewers seems to be the pace of Miracle Day, especially the first episode, which is responsible for the nearly impossible task of pleasing new and longtime viewers — both American and British — while introducing a new story into an established universe. Personally, I think Davies storytelling borders on brilliant in this incarnation of Torchwood. (Though, to be fair, I adored the pace of Caprica while many of my best sci-fi buddies found themselves dozing off before the opening credits every week.)

True to his word, Davies has created a cross-cultural series that has something for everyone. I get the sense that longtime Torchwood fans are going to either love Miracle Day or hate it. I, for one, adore it.

Torchwood: Miracle Day airs on Starz Friday nights at 10 PM