So that’s it. The Hub is gone. All the stuff stored there, all the bodies in the freezers, all the alien doodads, even the pterodactyl (unless it escaped into the night like Gwen and Ianto) -- just gone.

If Torchwood comes back for more, it’s gonna be very different. Could even be a new city. That could be fun.

Still: Russell Davies blew up downtown Cardiff. That’s cheeky.

I love how it’s Lois here who wonders who the good guys are, and who the bad guys are. Cuz even though I know that in the long run she is someone to be trusted, I’m still suspicious of her again here, in the cafe scene. She’s just way too ready with all the answers Gwen needs -- where to find Jack, a plan to rescue him, maps, everything. It’s sad that straightforward competence and simple forethought is so rare that it seems suspicious, but there we are.

Ya have to wonder about Frobisher. Is he really as stupid as he seems? He actually thanks the Prime Minister for being entrusted with the responsibility of the 456 info -- does he not realize that he’s being set up as a fall guy? Or is he trying to dig himself in deeper and maybe get some protection, like cosying up to a kidnapper in the hopes that he won’t kill you? Certainly, by the end of that conversation, he’s fully aware of his status as cannon fodder -- nice of the PM to strip him of whatever illusions he mght have had.

Oh boy: they’re sending instructions to build something? Just like in Contact! But they don’t want to send us on a magical carpet ride across the universe, it seems safe to assume -- “they want to scare us,” the scientist guy suggests. Okay, I’m scared:

I found this extrememly disturbing the first time around, the idea of a room into which something’s going to appear and you have no idea what it is. CoE was already so far off the sci-fi reservation that it had already been a safe bet that these aliens weren’t gonna be humans with funny ears, but this made it even worse: they’re gonna be more alien than we can imagine. *gulp*

No, wait: the bits of Kack in the body bag moving around and reassembling themselves! That is at least as disturbing as the airlock room thingie. And then Jack screaming while only half healed is worse. And Jack getting buried alive in cement is even worse yet.

Russell Davies is one twisted dude.

Random thoughts on “Children of Earth: Day Two”:

• Oh, that’s dryly amusing:

The sign over the guy’s shoulder, I mean. Gwen’s got a gun at his forehead, and there’s a warning to be nice to paramedics. I guess if the paramedic is trying to kill you rather than save you, that would count as extenuating circumstances, though.

• “Let me carry the bag -- you want your trigger finger free, don’t ya?” That Rhys... what a sweetie.

• Well, here’s a way to get Torchwood back up and running:

Queen Victoria left some secret Torchwood stuff stashed away somewhere. If only someone could find it...

• You’d think they’d have pictures of Gwen and Ianto at the place they’re holding Jack -- they must suspect the survivors of the Hub would try a rescue. That guard at the gate should be shot for letting Gwen onto the base...

(next: Episode 3: “Children of Earth: Day Three”)