"What, you mean Wales is separate? It's like the British equivalent of New Jersey."

Some thoughts on Torchwood 4x01!  I may have more after I watch it again, but here's what I'm thinking after one and a half (watched it OnDemand and part of the 10pm airing) viewings yesterday:

My overwhelming thought about this episode is "yay, Torchwood's back!".  It's not even as though I had to wait two years for a new episode like some of you.  I'm just happy for more Jack and Gwen (and Rhys and Andy!) on my teevee! :D

• Love the new opening titles.  I miss the old theme, though.  Even just a little echo of it in there somewhere would have been great.  Regardless, Murray Gold's music continues to be my favorite.


• The cold open was great.  I'm not sure about my feelings on Oswald Danes yet (other than that he's clearly a horrible person, and "she should have run faster" was just ridiculously awful).  I'm interested in seeing where they take his character, especially when they introduce Jilly (aslkdjfa;slkfj yay, Lauren Ambrose!) next week.  Bill Pullman was suitably creepy in all of his scenes, especially the one in the limo when he was released from prison.  I can only assume the vocal tics in the scene with the guy from the governor's office (who continues the long tradition of terrible southern accents on TV and in movies) are a result of the drugs they pumped him full of during his lethal injection.  It's an interesting choice, acting-wise, really added to that sense that a lot of people who've survived because of the "miracle" aren't just fine again; they're more like dead people who happen to still be talking and walking around (gross).


• Rex Matheson. asl;kdfj;alsdkfjas;ldfjk;as;dfljkasdf;l I love him already!  He is such a dick (happy at his co-worker's personal tragedy because it means the possibility of a great transfer for him), but he seems competent and good at his job (from the glimpses we get of him doing it) at the same time.  He reminds me a lot of Owen in that respect.  And he's so disgruntled about this whole situation, especially Wales ("I had to pay for this bridge" being #2 on his list of shitty things that had happened in the past couple of days, right under "pole through the chest" ♥); I love it.  Imagining RTD laughing to himself as he wrote all of those Wales jokes filled me with glee, ngl.
  
  I think he'll be a good foil for Jack, and am super looking forward to more interactions between the two of them.  I'm kind of already shipping Jack/Rex (when I'm not shipping either of them with Esther, Esther with Vera, or, well, everyone with everyone else, lol).  I'm also a big fan of Mekhi Phifer, so I'm thrilled he's going to be on my TV every week. :D


• I'm also liking Esther a lot more than I expected to.  She reminds me a lot of Gwen at the start of series one, right down to the "this is what Torchwood is, new viewers" conversation with Jack, culminating in Retcon.  As a side note, Jack has clearly gotten a lot sneakier at administering Retcon, because that bottle of water was sealed when he gave it to her (the top cracked when she opened it and everything).  I'm looking forward to seeing where they take her character beyond being the person who is good at looking stuff up, and terrible at running in horribly inappropriate footwear.


• All of the female characters were great in this episode, actually.  I don't have much to say about Dr. Vera yet, but I liked what we saw, and want to know more about her.


• Gwen! :D  And Rhys! :D  And their adorable bb! :D  I love Gwen as a mother here, telling Anwen fairy tale stories about Torchwood (who is just the cutest!), and protecting her from the people trying to kill them (much love for the earmuffs!).  I wasn't crazy at all about Rhys using their daughter against Gwen at the hospital, to keep Gwen from investigating, because I feel as though it's really a return to the Rhys of series one, and I thought he got past (or at least better about) all of that.  I don't want to dislike Rhys, because he is great, and was great throughout the rest of the episode, but I never liked that attitude before, and I don't think that them now having a child together is a justification for it.  Also, I was totally confused by Gwen's reaction to the possibility that Anwen could be immortal because of Miracle Day.  Doesn't she remember how awful living forever is for Jack?  Why would she ever want her daughter to have to go through that?
  
  Gwen being amazing and badass was love, though.  I loved that moment where she sees Jack again for the first time, and her face just lights up.  She's clearly missed him, and this so much.


• Jaaaack! ♥♥♥ I love him so much, you guys!  I want to know absolutely everything about where he's been and what he's been doing these past two years, and hopefully we'll get some of that soon.  He is so closed off and serious about everything, barely smiling at all, except a little with Gwen, and it just makes me D: all over.  Clearly, the weight of all the terrible things that have happened to him and people he loves, and the inevitability that more bad things will continue to happen, weighs heavily on him.  I love that they are going to explore that part of his character, rather than having him just brush everything off like none of it ever happened.
  
  Also, Owen Harper, FBI! ♥  Someone over on tw_gleeclub mentioned that Jack probably used that alias because the fact that Owen was a doctor would have granted him access to be in the room for that "autopsy" (or whatever you want to call it).  Less fabrication necessary than with creating an entire new identity out of whole cloth.  So, both a useful and sentimental alias!
  
  I am now super worried about Jack dying, though.  Maybe the injuries just mean his healing time's super slowed down or something, not that he's actually mortal now.  I don't want him to die, you guys!  I don't think I could take it.  On a side note, though, I was loling over him not bandaging that cut.  He's so clearly not used to getting injured anymore.  If you cut yourself, you should put a bandage on it!  Or at least some neosporin, or something, so it doesn't get infected.


• Sergeant Andy! :D  I love him! I hope we see him again, even though everyone's going to America.  Hopefully we will, because I still want to know what's going on with people in Cardiff throughout this.


• I liked the way they addressed Children of Earth.  Makes total sense that the government(s of the world, presumably) would have new regulations to deal with unexplained things in the wake of this, since it's not exactly something that could have been covered up.  I can totally see people in the US not being aware of Torchwood, since they didn't play a public role in the events, but Esther being shocked when Jack mentioned that Torchwood deals with alien threats was just ridiculous.


• I like the uncertainty surrounding the people who have been injured horribly and are still alive as a result of the miracle.  Will they all die when things go back to normal?  Will all of them live?  Will some of them who were able to be fixed because of the extra time they had in surgery live, while people who are too badly damaged (the guy who blew himself up) will die?  The point is, that there's that uncertainty, which not only works on a dramatic level, but means that I can love the new characters without knowing they'll definitely be dead at the end of the season.  There's a chance that Rex will survive!


• Wonder what's up with the fact that the time the "Torchwood" email was sent correlates with the time of the last recorded death.  Did this email somehow cause the "miracle"?  Was it a warning to Jack (he said it called him back) that shit was about to go down?  IDK, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Overall, I liked it a lot.  Great introduction to the new characters, and a nice start to what looks like it will be a very exciting story.  Also, amazing scenery porn, especially the Welsh coastline, which is just gorgeous.  Can it be next week, now?