Torchwood: MD 4x06 - The Middle Men (Grade/Discuss) SPOILERS

[23skidoo]

Concentration camp or no, it's still the NHS. We're talking about an organisation that in real life took years to notice a Nurse was murdering patients in a hospital.

Yeah, in fact that was one of the most realistic parts of the story. That and the fact Esther was able to sneak in too. The more "silo'ed" an organization gets, the easier it is, really. And anyway, the ending of the episode pretty much says to me someone let Gwen infiltrate and all the other stuff she got away with doing anyway.

Alex

 

[Kelthaz]

Otherwise the people in the modules look like people beyond help who will die when the miracle ends and who will never regain consciousness, whether some miracle is keeping their heart going or not. It's not that different from the real world – when a person “dies” we could artificially keep the biological processes in his body going or we could freeze him, hoping that medical science will find a way to make his brain going again, but we don't.

I thought the same thing. They're just burning corpses which seems like a fairly practical, and even ethical, thing to do. It made Rex's comment about how it starts with category 1's and then moves on to people the government doesn't like ring hollow. And no more concentration camp references, please? Don't Godwin your show.

Also, Gwen's 20ft jump backwards after being told "bring us Jack" was hilarious. If that wall hadn't been there she would have ended up on the other side of the airport.

 

[Worf2DS9]

I actually quite enjoyed this episode and felt it was one of the more "Torchwoody" eps to date. Esther is annoying me to no end though with her hackneyed undercover skills and squealy voice. It was a nice break from the Oswald stuff too, which has been tiresome for me.

 

[David cgc]

Perhaps the funniest line, Wimpy Soldier, "This has GOT to stop." Hilarious.

I thought his temperament was really odd. It wasn't until the Rex's line at the end of the episode about the Army taking over that I realized that they weren't military, but were private security in military-style getups.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Please don't trick me into watching the rest of Quark.

I decided to shelf the bastard after 2 annoying episodes.

 

[Yminale]

One thing that irks me in this season is how the condition of those that should have died suddenly changed, and the miracle isn't following its own continuity in a way. “Alive” suddenly became the existence of the biological processes.

Everybody has noted this. The problems is that the writers themselves refuse to set first principles when it comes to immortality. Are we talking about cellular or spiritual immortality? They seem to want it both ways and it leads to inconsistency. The fact that incineration is the only effective form of death implies cellular, but if that's true there should be wound healing (which Rex seems to have), aging should stop and infection are not a big deal. At least with Jack's immortality there were some clear rules (nothing could kill him accept extreme old age which was never explained).

It's pretty obvious that all the writers wanted was a medical emergency and they didn't want to use the cliche of an infectious disease.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I dont think I'll every get the image of him sticking the Pen into Rex's heart outta my head...... that was most certainly NOT cool.

Yeah, I had to look away there.

I thought it was pretty good. Each week I find the intensity's ramped up a little. There were a couple of sequences I thought went on too long, like the Rex/Colin/Esther bit, but it was tolerable.

I thought each bit went well. There were a couple of false endings with the Rex, Colin, Esther part, which I can see where it could drag, but I thought it was pretty compelling. The ramped up intensity is the big thing. People who just want the answer forget that the journey is important. Otherwise, just look it up after this is done. Nothing in the episode seemed to drag, imo.

why wasn't she put in an isocell for trying to break her dad out the first time?

My guess is everyone was too busy. They decided she was just sad that her dad was category one and figured she was harmless after that.

I like the concept of this episode. The idea that all the players we've seen are middle men. Everyone is just following the natural role they've been set up to follow.

 

[Professor Zoom]

I guess my complaint regarding Gwen... it's all so convenient and easy to sit there with her Dad. We never saw a moment where she had to talk herself out of helping another patient or whatever. it was just EASY for her to sit there.

And easy means no conflict and no drama.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Didn't she tell them it was her Dad on several occasions? I thought they knew she had broken in, they just had better things to do that worry about it. She certainly wasn't hiding it when talking to that Doctor.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Didn't she tell them it was her Dad on several occasions? I thought they knew she had broken in, they just had better things to do that worry about it. She certainly wasn't hiding it when talking to that Doctor.

Yeah. So? It still sorta takes the drama out of it. Gwen was hanging out.

And besides, wouldn't that have raised some red flags? Are nurses allowed to take care of their own family members... (yes, yes, things are crazy in Torchwood land) but in the real world, are they allowed to do that?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I thought they figured she wasn't a nurse or, at the very least, didn't care enough to worry. Maybe they thought she was off duty. Really, considering the emphasis on how overworked they were, it seems most logical that they didn't think about it.

As for whether there should be drama of Gwen hiding, pretending to be a nurse, etc. Keep in mind people in this thread are complaining that not enough happened to advance the plot. This wouldn't advance the plot either. It would also be duplicative of what other characters have to go through with little gain.

 

[Professor Zoom]

I thought they figured she wasn't a nurse or, at the very least, didn't care enough to worry. Maybe they thought she was off duty. Really, considering the emphasis on how overworked they were, it seems most logical that they didn't think about it.

That woulda been a nice thing to see... Do they know? Do they not care? Are they really that overwhelmed? It's ambiguous...

As for whether there should be drama of Gwen hiding, pretending to be a nurse, etc. Keep in mind people in this thread are complaining that not enough happened to advance the plot. This wouldn't advance the plot either. It would also be duplicative of what other characters have to go through with little gain.

True. It wouldn't have advanced the plot (which woulda been a nice choice) but at least it would've been engaging. And Gwen would have been given something to do.

And MAYBE if it's to much like what the other characters are doing, then doesn't that mean you have a problem? Like not enough story for the number of characters you have?

Choosing to have a character hang out, just park her somewhere, rather than have her discover something, or be in conflict with someone, is a pretty weak choice.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Well, I liked Gwen's story because they saved a life. Last week, Vera couldn't be saved. It was redemption for Torchwood in a way. On the other side, it was Rex escaping and connecting the compound manager as a middleman.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Rex found out all that crap so hard, but Gwen found out so easy and didn't think it was pertinent to pass on the information too quickly because no one was trying to silence her. Would Rex and Ester have gotten out with so much bother if Gwen had let them know that she had already done their job for them?

Was I in the toilet when they aired the scene where she figured out about the ovens?

 

[Mr Light]

OK, I was initially excited about this series, but I'm getting bored now. We're now SIX episodes in with zero aliens and no clue who or what or how is behind this! That's a little ridiculous.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ That's how Russell structured this series. I'm pretty sure we didn't get the secret behind the 456 until the last couple of episodes as well so I'm not bothered by it. I enjoyed it. The best line was from the attache to Colin "This has got to stop!!".

We've still not seen Nana Visitor or John deLancie unless I've missed them completely. Perhaps they've got more major roles than we suspected in this and are part of who is behind this. I'm really looking forward as we march towards the finale. John Barrowman has stated that hardcore Torchwood fans won't like the ending of the series...so that automatically tips us off that something really bad is going to happen to someone we all care about. Torchwood was never meant to be happy and shiny anyways.

 

[Photoman15]

So, immortality is a gift from Q and Col. Kira was sent by Captain Braxton to stop it, eh?

 

[PsychoPere]

John Barrowman has stated that hardcore Torchwood fans won't like the ending of the series...so that automatically tips us off that something really bad is going to happen to someone we all care about. Torchwood was never meant to be happy and shiny anyways.

Well, we know Harkness can't die, so that means something bad has to happen to Gwen. Good, because I've never been able to stand her.


I mostly tolerated this episode, though was annoyed that Gwen, as others have pointed out, basically did nothing throughout the entire episode, which is extremely unsatisfying from a dramatic standpoint. She was basically sidelined the entire episode. Esther also continues her string of being utterly useless, since she basically sat on her ass all episode long, too - though I thought the actress did some really good acting work once Esther tangled with Maloney.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Gwen blew up an overflow camp. I understand the point though, I tend to think that Gwen was distracted emotionally. These people or person responsible for this are targeting Torchwood specifically and trying to isolate Jack. I thought it has become obvious to everywhere. That is why it seems "nothing has been happening". This entire series is all about Jack and my prediction is that his past is gonna come bite him in the arse in a big way.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Well, we know Harkness can't die, so that means something bad has to happen to Gwen. Good, because I've never been able to stand her.

I hope they don't kill Gwen. Not so much because of Gwen herself but because they need some continuity in cast. Plus, if the show stays US focused, I'd hate to have it purged of all British characters.