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Jul 21, 2011

  • RE PRINTED HERE FROM WIKIPEDIA

Synopsis

As Rex brings the Torchwood team to America, problems arise on the plane. CIA operatives are plotting to remove them, and poison the only mortal man; Captain Jack Harkness. Gwen, Rex along with the help of a Doctor create an antidote using only items found on a plane. Meanwhile, Oswald Danes is appearing on News Talk Shows and is becoming a trend on many online social networks after breaking down on national television.

Plot

Rex has Jack and Gwen boarded on a plane headed to Washington, D.C. with fellow CIA agent Lyn Peterfield escorting them. However Gwen's husband Rhys and their daughter Anwen are forced to stay in the UK. Back in Washington, D.C., because no one can die due to the Miracle, Dr. Vera Juarez has her hospital staff focus on treating the least wounded first so they can get them out quickly and have enough beds to treat newer patients.

After his release, Oswald is being interviewed on a local talk show but doesn't say much since there is a campaign to have him returned to prison and anything he might say might be used against him. But when the reporter shows him a picture of the girl he murdered, Oswald starts to break down and cries, apologizing to the girl and revealing he was too scared to apologize to the victim's mother, which earns him sympathy from some viewers. As he's about to leave the TV station, PR agent Jilly Kitzinger congratulates him on his interview and offers him to be his agent but he declines, after which a TV staff tells Oswald that Oprah Winfrey wants to do an interview with him.

Meanwhile, Vera attends a medical conference where doctors are trying to figure out the Miracle but when a Doctor tweets that his hospital needs more antibiotics, Vera realizes because nobody is dying, people who were suppose to died have become living incubators for bacteria which allows it to grow and become resistant to antibiotics. What's worse, the Miracle is not true immortality as people still aged and grow old. With fears that supplies will dwindle as the undying grows, Vera suggest hospitals needs more painkillers to handle this situation. Later, Vera meets Jilly who actually works for a pharmaceutical company called PhiCorp and convinces Vera they can work together as she can help her.

When Director Brian Friedkin suspects Esther and Rex may know too much about Torchwood, he has their security clearances deleted, frames them as spies working for China and orders Lyn to kill Jack with an arsenic pill. However, Esther manages to escape before the CIA catches her and tries to warn Rex. Back on the plane, Jack realizes that he's being poisoned which both Gwen and Rex apprehend Lyn. As Jack is slowly being killed by the arsenic, Rex calls Vera for help. With the help of her fellow doctors at the medical conference and the air stewards on their plane, Rex and Gwen successfully creates an antidote and administers it to Jack.

When Jack, Gwen, Rex and Lyn arrive at the airport, they are accompanied by a group of CIA agents, unaware that they are under orders by Friedkin to arrests the three and free Lyn. However, Esther manages to warn Rex which him, Jack and Gwen subdues the agents including Rex twisting Lyn's neck and escape. By the time they come out of the airport, they are greeted by Vera with Rex's painkillers and Esther who is their getaway driver. After Rex gets his painkillers, he, Jack, Gwen and Esther are about to go until Lyn, still with a twisted neck, tries to stop them but because of her condition, they leave her alone and drive off.

Broadcast

This episode was broadcast on Starz in the US on Friday 15th July. It is due to air on BBC 1 on Thursday 21st of July. International broadcasters in Canada and Australia received the show on Saturday 16th July, where it was broadcast on Australia's UKTV network.

Entertainment Weekly reported that this episode on Starz was watched by "1.4 million this weekend, down about 30 percent from last week's debut."[1]

 Reception

Chris Swanson from WhatCulture gave the episode 4 stars and said "I liked this episode. It wasn’t exactly action-packed or anything like that, but it did feature some nice moments, like a conversation between Gwen and Jack about how dangerous being around him is (shades of similar conversations on Doctor Who)."

"I also very much liked that they are continuing to examine the logistics of exactly what would happen in a situation like this. Interestingly, no one has yet suggested mandatory birth control, but we do see discussions about the fact that the entire medical industry would have to change from a life-saving position to one that’s more about pain management."[2]

References

  1. ^ Hibberd, James (July 18, 2011). "'Torchwood' ratings dip for second episode". Inside TV (Entertainment Weekly). Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  2. ^ Swanson, Chris (July 18, 2011). "TV Review: TORCHWOOD MIRACLE DAY, 4.2 – “Rendition”". WhatCulture!.