Captain Jack is back, but this time tragedy falls in his wake as the unthinkable will occur and not all of the Torchwood team will survive this season. This season keeps up the suspense right up to the nail-biting conclusion. The only caveat is that the other season felt a bit heavier on special features.
Captain Jack (John Barrowman) and the Torchwood team return for another season of adventures in alien hunting and protecting the planet. This may be the year that everything changes as by the end of this season two team members have been killed. I’ll try not to spoil it for you.
When we last left our team, Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles), Dr. Owen Harper (Burn Gorman), Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori), and Ianto Jones (Gareth David Lloyd), their leader Captain Jack had disappeared (to guest star in the season closer of Doctor Who) and they had continued on with the Torchwood mission to track down alien threats. Captain Jack finally reappears, but he’s not the only one as a traveler called Captain John Hart (James Marsters) also appears with some news about Jack’s mysterious past which will haunt him this season.
An alien sleeper cell is uncovered that may well torment the team in subsequent seasons. Gwen’s fiancé Rhys Williams (Kai Owen) also tangentially becomes part of the team and she and Rhys’ wedding plans get a bit of a twist when some nasty aliens impregnate Gwen. Dr. Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) also makes an appearance at Torchwood headquarters, taking a break from her UNIT work and travels with the Doctor.
One team member is killed and resurrected (not in the easy “I’m Captain Jack and I can’t die” way either) with only a half-life now remaining. By season close two characters are dead and not coming back, so get your hankies ready.
This season features some excellent episodes and it may be hard for me to really differentiate a number one. ‘From out of the Rain’ was a favorite with some creepy carny people stepping out of celluloid. I always enjoy it when we see past Torchwoods and ‘To the Last Man’ and ‘Fragments’ fill the bill nicely.
‘Fragments’ is especially good since we get to see how each team member joined up with Torchwood. I especially liked that Rhys got to play with the Torchwood gang, but now that he’s in on the gag I wonder if he’s not long for the world in further seasons.
The season finale ‘Exit Wounds’ was especially brave on the production’s part as they amp up the tension and show they’re not afraid to kill off some characters, perhaps sadly so. This season just has so many good points and storylines. You’ll be salivating for season three. I know I am.
The remainder of the team also crosses over to guest star once again in the season closer of Doctor Who (with Julian Bleach who was so creepy in ‘From out of the Rain’ stepping effortlessly into the role of Davros).
Torchwood is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features start on disc four with the 22 minute “Life and Deaths of Captain Jack” which is all about the captain. Next are 8 minutes of outtakes and 17 minutes of deleted scenes.
Disc five contains 2 hours and 24 minutes of “Torchwood Declassified” that is a collection of mini-documentaries about the series. The first season set of the show had commentaries on every episode and that’s what missing on this release.
The first set also appeared to have more documentaries. Disc five contains quite enough documentaries to digest, but the lack of commentaries is a bit sad. However, the dramatic events of season two make up for it.
Torchwood just continues to get better as time goes on. I hope that everyone makes it through season three. We know Captain Jack can’t be killed but everyone around him certainly could have date with the grim reaper and the writers have shown that they don’t have any compunction about pulling the trigger with this season.
Torchwood - The Complete Second Season is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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