Torchwood: outside the government, beyond the police. Fighting for the future on behalf of the human race. The 21st Century is when everything changes — and Torchwood is ready.
After the mini-series of “Children of Earth“, no one was quite sure what the future of Torchwood would be. Now that “Miracle Day” has ended, we are in that same predicament. Moving to an American production team with Starz, Russell T. Davies took a big leap of faith bringing the Doctor Who spinoff to the states. In this series, the underground team of Welsh alien hunters, who are now reduced to only Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper, both of whom were forced into hiding, form an unlikely alliance with two rogue CIA Agents, Rex Matheson and Esther Drummond, to investigate the phenomenon that is preventing anyone on Earth from dying. That is, everyone except the formerly immortal Captain Jack, that is. There were some slow points, but overall, I think this series was another wonderful ride. Instead of looking at the weaknesses (which have already been documented by many critics on both sides of the pond), I have decided to highlight the big wins this season.
1. Episode 3 “Dead of Night”: Most people point to this episode for the brave move by the show to not to camouflage the bi-sexuality of Captain Jack. In fact, the sex scene between Jack and the Bartender (Brad) was tastefully done and made perfect sense in the plot line and the further development of Jack trying to make a little sense of his newfound mortality. The character development was balanced wonderfully with the plot. My favorite part of this episode thought was The March of the Soulless. So creepy and poignant, it really foreshadowed the sadness of the new reality that many were facing. Of course, most of the credit for all of this goes to the fantastic writing of Jane Espenson of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame (Follow her on Twitter – she has a great new webseries called Husbands).
They gave the mask away as a freebie at Comic-Con San Diego, which I was at, but unfortunately I was unable to acquire one.
2. The Relationship of Captain Jack & Angelo Colasanto: The love story between them was truly reminiscent not only of old Torchwood, but was a great reverence to its parent series, Doctor Who. We see Jack struggle with getting close to his human companions, just as the Doctor does with each of his. Unfortunately for Jack, being with him is even more dangerous than being with the Doctor because people fight against what they do not understand. It was sad to see Angelo betray him, but also beautiful to see Angelo make amends later in life and that their love was true. Not surprisingly, this storyline is also a product of the masterful Espenson.
3. Bill Pullman as the bad guy, Oswald Danes: Yes, I agree with many out there that I would have liked to have seen more done with his character. But like the amazing talent he is, Bill Pullman makes every moment he is on screen count. We are unsure how to relate to Oswald, and Pullman continues to make us both hate him, be afraid of him, and feel sorry for him at the same time. Some say I might be slightly biased because he is from my tiny hometown in NYS, but I think anyone would agree that his handling of the character was a highlight of the season. I was able to meet him at Comic-Con this summer when I got the autographs from the entire cast.
He was the nicest man. He even took a picture of me and him on his cell phone. However, you have to take my word for it, because it is on HIS cell phone. 
The question remains, however, will there be more Torchwood to come? Children of Earth ended with things semi-wrapped up in case there was not a new series. But Miracle Day ended with some pretty juicy cliffhangers that many fans would love to see develop further. However, Russell T. Davies still has not commented on whether he would like to continue future episodes. Until we find out, I have Netflix and will continue to watch old episodes, enjoying the fun sci-fi ride and following wherever Captain Jack Harness leads me.
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I thought this show was great. I never watched Dr. Who or the original Torchwood, but I still loved it! Definitely an underrated show of 2011.