Torchwood: Episode 6 - 'Countrycide'

Oh dear. Torchwood has gone all X-files on us. I suppose the run of quality just couldn't last. Hey ho.

It wasn't a bad episode. I just felt I'd seen it somewhere before, set in America, with Mulder & Scully. I actually can't remember a specific X-files episode that this was like, but it wouldn't have felt out of place in that series.

To begin with the location, the creepiness, the unknown terror, etc. was all quite well done. The relationships between characters were developed. It was a good start. But...

Why was it that the 'unseen aliens' moved extremely rapidly and precisely early in the episode, but merely moved at the same speed as normal people when we could actually see them, later in the episode?

Why 'once every ten years'? This was never given any reasonable explanation.

And the 'Captain Jack saves the day' scene was just silly and (even in the context of a sci-fi show) unbelievable. I'd expect that sort of rescue in a Stallone or Arnie film, but not here. It felt as if the writers had written the plot into a corner they couldn't get out of and had to resort to cliche to get out.

So all in all: good start, interesting character development, poor plot resolution, too many unexplained gaps: 5/10

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Actually, the more I reflect on it, the more problems I have with that episode.

Spoilers below! Don't read on if you haven't seen the episode...

Given what we know about the 'unseen aliens' by the end of the episode, the first couple of bodies that were discovered were totally out of character. The first body was stripped of skin and internal organs, but still had meat on it. The second body was partially disected, but looked much as if it had been eaten where it lay. But later on we discover that the people are being butchered for meat and stored in a fridge. Thus the first couple of bodies don't fit at all with what the 'baddies' were actually doing.

The episode started off quite well, but really went downhill. I might have to revise my score to only 4/10!