torchwood children of earth day four review ianto jack bbc

OK folks, let's pull ourselves together now. Yes, this was Torchwood's darkest hour, but tonight is ass-kicking time, right? Right?

Honestly, I'm not really sure how it's all gonna end, but that's what I'm loving about Children of Earth. The miniseries has kept me guessing from the start and it's kept me on the edge of my seat all week with damn fine storytelling and some great performances. (Please, Internet, tell me a full season order is in the can for next year!)

Day four mostly centered on negotiations with The 456 and the British government's extremely shocking lack of moral integrity. We also learned that our own Captain Jack is no saint. Jack's confession about feeding the children to The 456 in 1964 only made me wonder about the other possible skeletons in his closet.

Like Jack said himself, he's been around for a long time and he's done a lot of things. Judging by the flashbacks, it's easy to believe that his condition once made him feel so disconnected to humanity that he started to forget the value of human life. That's why the government turned to him to deliver the children. I love that Torchwood has the guts to cast its hero in such a dark light. I'm curious to find out exactly what kept him from falling to the dark side completely. (The birth of his daughter? His time with The Doctor?)

I'm not sure who I found more disgusting: the vomit-spewing aliens or the spineless government officials. How could they just give up without a fight and then quickly move on to sacrificing the "least talented" of the state's youth to save themselves and the rich and privileged? It's too bad The 456 doesn't feed on (or drain, recharge with, or whatever they're doing with those kids) the bodies of aging and corrupt politicians. The government scenes were hard to watch for sure, but it made for some very bold television.

The hardest scene to watch, of course, came at the end.

Read the rest at TV Squad.