TV Review: Torchwood - Children of Earth

Russell T Davies, the writer of Torchwood's five-episode season arc "Children of Earth" is probably the most loved and hated man in television right now.

He is loved for broadcasting five of the most brilliant hours of television this year has seen so far. He is hated for completely shattering our thoughts of government, society, morality, and even mortality.

It would have been too easy to create a crowd-pleasing spectacle filled with explosions and BBC-treading sex scenes. No, Davies made us think hard, making us question the building blocks of human interaction, and how easily they could be rearranged. Under the blanket of aliens attempting to take over the world was a serious, stunning commentary about government and its secrets, society, sacrifice, life, and even drug use.

In this story, the children of the world are being controlled by an unknown force, parlaying harrowing and disturbing messages of an impending arrival. No one knows what it is, except the government, who apparently had a previous dalliance with said unknowns before, in 1965. In an effort to keep it quiet, they (being Home Office civil servant John Frobisher, in particular) order the murders of those previously involved, including Captain Jack Harkness. They blow up the headquarters by planting a bomb inside Jack's stomach, but thanks to his immortality and the quick wits of partners Ianto and Gwen, their plans ultimate fail. The force is ultimately revealed as the 456, an alien race who requires the children of the Earth, approximately 35 million of them. Why? The children produce a chemical that serves as a recreational drug for them. The children are essentially apart of an intergalactic drug cartel. The 456 gives the government an ultimatum: 10% of the child population of Earth, or annihilation of the entire species.

While the show has its fair share of spectacular action sequences, the plot, or its metaphorical truth, is what is truly the draw. The government is forced with the arduous task of choosing which children are to be handed over to the 456. Seeing them squabble about saving their own kin and sending off children from what they consider the bottom denominator is stunning, infuriating and not completely outside the realm of possibility. More disturbing when watching those scenes is wondering if you would agree with their choice. How would you sacrifice the lives of innocent children, in order to save the human race? It's an impossible choice, but it had to be made, with the excuse of "35 million children or 6.7 billion people?". Ultimately, the government's role in this plot reinforces the difficulties that a president or prime minister must go through in deciding what it is good for their country, and how much sacrifice is needed to preserve what they consider peace. It also acknowledges the evils of politics; the scene where the Prime Minister tells John Frobisher that his children will be sacrificed while writing something is chilling beyond words.

Frobisher (played by Peter Capaldi), a civil servant for the Home Office who is thrust into the middle of this scandal, probably accounts for 65% of the show's most memorable moments. Capaldi is brilliant conveying a man against the moral ropes as he tries to navigate a global disaster. Even if his choices are highly questionable, you can understand why he makes them. His last choice would serve as his most shocking and heartbreaking. After learning the fate of his two daughters, Frobisher sends them and his wife upstairs, where he follows them with a pistol and closes the door behind him. The next 20 seconds are cinematic genius, as the four gun shots ring out, signaling the deaths of those inside. Compounding the horror is the voice of Bridget Spears speaking to supporting character Lois in jail, repeatedly informing her that Frobisher was a good man.

Also dealing with improbable choices and their consequences is Captain Jack Harkness. Throughout the story, we learn more about the things he's done and watch him as he struggles with them. For example, he was directly involved in the 1965 incident with the 456, who had requested 12 children in exchange for an antidote for Indonesian flu. We learn that when he comes face-to-face with one of the children who escaped, Timothy White. He also chooses to confront the 456, which results in the extermination of the building, and his partner Ianto. It was so sad watching a crying Jack, a man who would refuse to even acknowledge them as a couple, hold a dying Ianto. What was sadder was Ianto, in his last words, resigning to the fact that the immortal Jack will eventually forget him, regardless of his plea not to.

The most tragic element of the final hour of the show involved Jack and his relationship with his never-before-seen daughter Alice and grandson Steven. His daughter, who looks older than her father, kept her distance, claiming two reasons. One, he makes her feel old, and two, he is too dangerous. In a bit of foreshadowing, she says, "a man who doesn't die knows no fear". A truer statement was never made before, especially considering the devastating decision Jack makes in order to save the 35 million children about to sacrificed. He trades their lives for the life of Steven, using him as a sonic vessel to kill the 456. Alice screaming, tears rolling down Jack's face, blood pouring down Steven's face, and the high-pitched squeal of those children form an unspeakable moment that will go down as the most harrowing in the show's history.

All in all, the third (and possibly final) series of Torchwood was a tour de force. While there were some weak moments throughout the five hour presentation, the series reached a level of excellency I would have never expected. The acting was superb, the story was solid and meaningful, the production was intensely satisfying, and presented wonderfully. What pushed the showing into the stratosphere was its presentation of the world's worst fear in a way that wasn't cliche or tired. Instead, it inspired consideration of our own moral code if something similar and of massive scale were to occur in our lives. As we watched those choices made by Torchwood, the government, and even the public, we were brought to the realization that we take for granted the concept of humanity and what a delicate concept it is.

Rating: 10 out of 10