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Reset

13TH FEBRUARY 2008

(50-MINUTE EPISODE, PART 1 OF 3)

It’s funny. Before Torchwood’s second season began transmission, I could think about little else other than the Doctor’s recent companion Martha Jones joining the series ‘on loan’ for three episodes. Crossovers of this kind have always been and are always going to be popular in science-fiction; I will never forget the thrill I got from seeing a certain Klingon Lieutenant Commander show up on Deep Space Nine or, more recently, the city of Atlantis and its crew appearing in SG•1. But, having enjoyed five incredible episodes of Torchwood already this year, when the hub’s door rolled open to reveal Doctor Martha Jones, I’d almost forgotten that she was due.

“I’d rely on Martha if the world was ending. In fact I did.”

Now as much as I’m fond of the Torchwood team, television writers and producer seldom

go wrong in bringing in a new (or already established) character to shake things up a bit,

and that’s exactly what Martha does here. The first few minutes are, inevitably, replete with Doctor Who continuity references (how many people got the ‘Samantha Jones’ in-joke?),

but not so much as to confuse a non-Doctor Who Torchwood fan (should such a person exist).

OWEN            So you and Jack go back a long way then?

MARTHA        Forward and back, really. You might say we were under the same Doctor.

After the brief information-dump - Martha has got a boyfriend, she has completed her

medical training, and the Doctor got her a job at UNIT as their new medical officer - the story kicks in and, despite being constructed heavily around Martha, this episode does as much to develop the regular characters as it does to showcase the guest star. To a limited extent this extends to Jack and Ianto (“we dabble”), but most notably Martha’s presence is the catalyst that Tosh needs to finally ask Owen out on a date – an offer that he accepts,

on the proviso that he can continue to be “king of flirts.” It’s a lovely way of rounding off five episodes’ worth of tension between the two unrequited lovers, all thanks to Doctor Jones.

JC Wilsher’s plot is also remarkably compelling. Whilst it does share many themes with Andy Lane’s tie-in novel, Slow Decay, not to mention old television shows like The X-Files, Reset is actually rather innovative in that it features what Martha refers to as the “ultimate magic bullet” – the cure for all humanity’s ills. Professor Aaron Copley (Jim Robinson) has managed to extract the cure for everything from Diabetes to HIV from the alien larvae of an extraterrestrial creature resembling a Mayfly. Unfortunately, there’s a big catch. In effectively resetting the immune system, the alien larvae incubates in the patient’s blood and eventually eats the patient from the inside out.

Were this just another ‘regular’ Torchwood episode, I would have been impressed. Wilsher’s story is thoughtful and creative, and the performances of each and every member of the cast are nothing short of stupendous - particularly ‘Jim Robinson’, who paints a terrifyingly clinical picture. But, with Freema Agyeman thrown into the mix, the result is simply outstanding.

However, what makes Reset stand out more than even Agyeman’s guest appearance is

the ending. With Copley’s Pharm shut down, Martha rescued, and the day saved, Copley spitefully shoots Owen dead. Just like that.

To say that these closing moments are shocking simply does not do them justice. If a regular character is killed off in episodic television, it’s normally in a season finale, surrounded by

a flood of hype - it’s certainly not mid-season and without any fanfare. You certainly have to admire the production team’s sheer gall, but Owen? He’s my favourite character! Still, if the goal was to promote the feeling that no one is safe and keep me watching, then it’s mission accomplished.

Copyright © E.G. Wolverson 2008

E.G. Wolverson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

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