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Torchwood Season 2 Episode 11

Adrift

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8.8

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AIRED: 3/19/08

Gwen finds the darker side of Torchwood when a teenager disappears, investigating why hundreds of people have vanished without a trace. Jack is obstructing attempts to find them, and the answer appears to lie in the Rift.

Fan Episode Reviews (10)

O...kay, that's most definetely something you will never see on Lost (or Heroes or Battlestar Galactica or any other show for that matter, ever)

9.8

By ionee24, Mar 03, 2011

Gwen is caught up in Torchwood's very own version of "what happens between mom and dad is a beautiful thing" as she walks in on Jack and Ianto's private time back at the hub, to her credit that's not the only transgression Jack will have to forgive her by the end of the episode and to Ianto's credit he puts a lot more faith on what their little girl can do with sensible information than Jack does. However, this isn't a little girl we're talking about and sometimes Gwen can do more damage simply because she's a confident police woman who used to be in charge of her own projects and - just like she did when she set her mind on Torchwood - she tries to find out what happened with a series of missing people PC Andy brought to her attention.

Problem is these disappearances turns out to be indeed rift related which is the very notion that makes this episode so dark: What happens if the rift not only brings things in but also takes people out. Random people, unexpecting people, people unaware that they're about to experience what the alien from "Meat" did, get caught up in a world where they are the monsters getting beat up like the weevils from "Combat" or simply watch something that drives them as mad as the once upon a time 15 year old Jonah who returns home 40 years older only a few months after the rift ripped his life apart. That's the secret Jack was trying to protect from Gwen; a facility designed to treat these people from the scars made by time and space, to harbor what's left of their lives shred to pieces by an event as random and uncontrollable as the rift itself. A place no mother should find her son, a place no son would chose to reunite with his mother, the place where Gwen Cooper finds the missing pieces of a tragedy that can not be fixed and the hospital where Jonah plus other 16 patients - and counting - will remain for the rest of their lives trying to heal from something that can not be cured.moreless
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"Adrift" is an episode of Torchwood that is completely unsatisfying. No party comes out of it happy or on top. And to be frank, that's part of what make this episode so good.moreless

8.7

By BritTheMighty, Jul 20, 2010

At the end of a normal episode of Torchwood, there's a sense of closure and satisfaction. The bad guy dies and the good guys win, or something along those lines... but we're happy at the end of the episode. This episode is different - because it doesn't satisfy you at the end. It leaves the entire thing very open, so Torchwood can pick up with it in a later episode (and note that this episode is penned by the same guy who wrote the last two episodes of season 2, perhaps meaning that themes in this episode will be explored sooner than we think) or so the viewer can make up his/her own mind about the events.

As it is most weeks with Torchwood, the acting is brilliant. Eve Myles brilliantly plays Gwen and Kai Owen as Rhys makes a wonderful appearance in this episode too. I don't who played the mother in this episode or Jonah, but both play their parts fantastically.

This episode is well worth watching. I really enjoyed the episode, while my friend I watch Torchwood with every week, absolutely hated it. But it's an episode that needs to be seen, simply because you haven't seen it before.

Oh, and we also learn that staring into the heart of a dark star gives you the power to channel the screams of all the fangirls who witnessed the Jack/Ianto scene earlier in the episode.moreless
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One of the strongest episodes so far.

9.3

By fireexit112, Apr 06, 2008

Coming after the below-par From Out of the Rain, Adrift sets the show back on course for three decent episodes. Far darker than most of the shows this season, and feeling more like a first season story due to the fractures within the team and the sense of not quite knowing what is going on until the end, Adrift effectively showcases the strengths of Torchwood, and also what is does and what Doctor Who doesn't. The mother and son reunion and subsequent scenes concerning them are highly emotional, and Eve Myles carries the episode with ease, while Jack is also given a more mysterious side which gets rid of the generic leader tag he carries in some episodes. All in all, very good.moreless
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Great plot, badly done

8.0

By AvatarBlue, Mar 30, 2008

I actually loved the story they were trying to tell in this one. Yet, like most of the current series I feel it was let down by more bad execution. The beginning and middle portions of the episode - to me just felt they were plodding along. Maybe if they hadnt of focused so much on the main victims mother and Gwens interation w her, but instead focused on the situation of disappearances as a whole, inc. reactions from a host of people maybe it would have worked better. The ending though lifted this episode from average to poor!

Loved the afflication they gave Jonah at the end. No doubt left as to why he couldnt be let back into society. Made me despair and wonder would looking into the heart of a dark star do the same to me! Well of course, but only if I get a part in Torchwood! :Dmoreless
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Gwen goes on a solo mission.

9.2

By exterminator25, Mar 23, 2008

Gwen is looking into the dissaperance of a boy, Jonah. It turns out that a lot more people have been decalred missing also. It turns out the rift not only drops things off into Cardiff, it also takes things from Cardiff. Gwen (with Ianto's help) finds out that the children are on some island in some place that i can't remember where it is. Oh! Anyway, it turns out that some of the people who are taken by the rift are found and then brought to that particular island. Gwen finds Jonah, scarred and 40 years older.Gwen brings Jonah's mother there, telling her everything and she eventually believes. Poor Jonah and his mom.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Eve Myles	Gwen Cooper
John Barrowman	Captain Jack Harkness
Burn Gorman	Owen Harper
Gareth David-Lloyd	Ianto Jones
Naoko Mori	Toshiko Sato

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Ruth Jones	Nikki	Guest Star
Robert Pugh	Jonah	Guest Star
Lorna Gayle	Helen	Guest Star
Tom Price	PC Andy	Recurring Role
Kai Owen	Rhys Williams	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- After they are interrupted by Gwen, Jack asks Ianto if he's coming back into the hothouse and says "work to do". In the first episode of the season, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Captain John Hart uses exactly the same phrase in his holographic message asking Jack to meet him.
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- When Gwen gives the passcode to go into the bunker, the worker says "Jack is supposed to inform us of visitors" and goes on to say "we forgive him" - why not just ask him about the visitor if he's already there?
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QUOTES (5)
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- Gwen: Do you think I've changed?
  Rhys: Eh?
  Gwen: Since I joined Torchwood, am I different?
  Rhys: Why?
  Gwen: It's just something Andy said. Okay, let me just tell you this one thing, okay?
  Rhys: Okay, go on.
  Gwen: He still fancies me. (Rhys snickers) Don't laugh, Rhys. That's why he didn't come to the wedding.
  Rhys: Bloody hell, poor sod.
  Gwen: Oi! I'm a very sexy lady and you are a very lucky man. Just remember that, okay? (starts removing clothing)
  Rhys: We're not going to talk about kids tonight, are we?
  Gwen: We could so some practising.
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- PC Andy: How's Rhys? Other than hungry.
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- Gwen: So, is that it, then? We just sweep it under the carpet?
  Owen: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
  Gwen: Oh, bollocks to serenity!
  Owen: For a lovely girl, you've got a very dirty mouth.
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- Rhys: You save this city. Well done. You save the world. Whatever. What for?
  Gwen: Sorry?
  Rhys: Why are you doing it? What are you trying to protect? What are you fighting for?
  Gwen: Because if I don't...
  Rhys: Shut up, I'm talking now, right? You do it so people can live their lives. And there's nothing more important than that. Falling in love, getting married, buying flats, having kids or not. But real life, that's what you're protecting. And if you're starting to think that your shit is more important than real life, then we're not going to last very long here, love.
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- Gwen: Jack, I...
  (Gwen walks in on Jack and Ianto about to have sex in the hothouse of the hub)
  Gwen: Oh, God! I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
  (Gwen walks out and Jack and Ianto follow putting their shirts on)
  Gwen: Ianto, hi, I'm sorry. I didn't realize.
  Ianto: It doesn't matter.
  Gwen: And I wouldn't have come in if I'd known.
  Captain Jack: Always room for one more. We could have used you an hour ago for naked hide and seek.
  Ianto: He cheats, he always cheats.
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NOTES (2)
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- International air dates:
  United States: April 5, 2008
  Sweden: September 14, 2008 on TV4+
  Canada: October 10, 2008 on Space
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- Music that featured in this episode was Hard-Fi's "Hard To Beat" and KT Tunstall's "Other Side Of The World".
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- PC Andy: If you build it, they will come. (Pauses) "Field of Dreams"? (Pauses) Just me then...
  Andy quotes, and cites, the iconic line from the American film "Field of Dreams" (1989). In the film, the Voice uses these words to goad an Iowa farmer into building a baseball diamond on a portion of his farmland, beginning an unforgettable journey.
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- PC Andy: (To Gwen after seeing Jack on a security tape) What's your mate Mulder doing there?
  FBI agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) was the lead in the blockbuster TV series "The X-Files", his cases involved the paranormal and alien involvement. Like Jack, Mulder was an enigmatic character.
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