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© 2007 BBC Worldwide
Indira Varma returns as Suzi in the TORCHWOOD episode 'They Keep Killing Susie'
Television:
Review: TORCHWOOD - SEASON ONE - 'They Keep Killing Susie'
A serial killer is using Torchwood's name, and to find him, they must resurrect Susie
Grade: AStars: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd, Naoko Mori, Burn Gorman, Indira Varma, Yasmin Bannerman
Writer(s): Paul Tomalin, Dan McCulloch
Director: James Strong
Release Date: 10/27/07
Rating: TV-14
By TONY WHITT, Contributing Editor
Published 11/5/2007
When the word ‘Torchwood’ appears at the sites of several bloody murders, the team uses the Resurrection Gauntlet (which Ianto refers to as the ‘Risen Mitten’) to question the victims and discovers a link between them and the last person to use the Gauntlet: their late comrade Susie. Gwen uses the glove to bring Susie back to ask about the killer, but somehow Susie remains alive – and now that she’s back, she has plans of her own.
Talk about going from strength to strength… If you didn’t like last week’s episode, then you’ll love this one. The only caveat is, you’ll need to have been watching the show from the beginning – but even then, there’s the feeling that it’s all been worth it just to get to this moment. The serial killer subplot is a red herring, of course – this episode is all about Susie, Gwen, and the nature of life and death. As such, it’s the most confident and moving episode the series has produced so far – not to mention the darkest.
For one thing, there's the series' take on the afterlife - or rather, the lack thereof. We get verification in this episode of what one of Susie's murder victims in the first episode said about it: 'There's nothing. Oh, my god, there's nothing!' It gets even creepier this time around, though - not only do we discover that Susie's come back specifically to send her father into that nothingness (they didn't get on well, apparently), she also tells Jack there's something moving in that nothingness, something that wants him specifically. (Don't worry, we'll find out soon enough what that 'something' is.) Although the episode contains some nice bits of humor, they don't quite leaven the darkness of those revelations - but unlike in last week's episode, the darkness works perfectly well here.
Another element that works perfectly well is the performance of Indira Varma. In the hands of any other actress, Susie could've become the sort of character that we're all too glad to see killed again, a typical goodie-turned-baddie. Instead, Varma's performance makes Susie into the sort of person that we can't help feeling sorry for, even as she's attempting to kill another of our heroes to keep herself alive. The scene in which she tearfully tells Jack that this life is all we have, and just about every scene with Gwen, almost makes us wish Susie could've stuck around a bit longer. Almost.
Next week: A ghost falls in love with Gwen. Well, who wouldn't?
Talk about going from strength to strength… If you didn’t like last week’s episode, then you’ll love this one. The only caveat is, you’ll need to have been watching the show from the beginning – but even then, there’s the feeling that it’s all been worth it just to get to this moment. The serial killer subplot is a red herring, of course – this episode is all about Susie, Gwen, and the nature of life and death. As such, it’s the most confident and moving episode the series has produced so far – not to mention the darkest.
For one thing, there's the series' take on the afterlife - or rather, the lack thereof. We get verification in this episode of what one of Susie's murder victims in the first episode said about it: 'There's nothing. Oh, my god, there's nothing!' It gets even creepier this time around, though - not only do we discover that Susie's come back specifically to send her father into that nothingness (they didn't get on well, apparently), she also tells Jack there's something moving in that nothingness, something that wants him specifically. (Don't worry, we'll find out soon enough what that 'something' is.) Although the episode contains some nice bits of humor, they don't quite leaven the darkness of those revelations - but unlike in last week's episode, the darkness works perfectly well here.
Another element that works perfectly well is the performance of Indira Varma. In the hands of any other actress, Susie could've become the sort of character that we're all too glad to see killed again, a typical goodie-turned-baddie. Instead, Varma's performance makes Susie into the sort of person that we can't help feeling sorry for, even as she's attempting to kill another of our heroes to keep herself alive. The scene in which she tearfully tells Jack that this life is all we have, and just about every scene with Gwen, almost makes us wish Susie could've stuck around a bit longer. Almost.
Next week: A ghost falls in love with Gwen. Well, who wouldn't?
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