TW 211: Adrift

An interesting piece of Torchwood continuity filled in, but borderline filler before the final bang.


This episode is based on a very reasonable idea: can the Rift work two-way? Indeed, considering that Captain John went back through the Rift in episode 2.1, there's no reason to think that others can't. It's only because this episode focussed so heavily on the idea that it was made to seem original an important. Hmm... bonus points for tricking the audience into running with the idea.

There is also the aspect of this episode that is "be careful what you wish for", which is exactly where Gwen and Nikki end up. They now know the truth, but at a terrible price. In many ways the revelation of the Rift Adrift would have worked better in series one, but Chris Chibnall does make the point that Gwen has changed (or maybe that this was a series one episode, but he needed to get Gwen to act like her series one self and thus created a character point).

A lot about this episode feels padded, with long panning shots (which on an unsteady cam gave me whiplash) and lots of "dramatic" pauses. There is "less is more" against "more fills up screen time".

A decent enough episode, but almost out of place in series two.


Next week: It all kicks off in the final two-parter. Looks like it has potential.

[END]