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Torchwood

Meat

Season 2, Episode 4, Aired 2/6/08

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Episode Summary

When Rhys discovers the truth about Torchwood, he helps the gang to find the source of an unusual alien meat supply.

8.4

EPISODE RATING: Great

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Cast & Crew

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Gareth David-Lloyd

Ianto Jones
Naoko Mori

Toshiko Sato
John Barrowman

Captain Jack Harkness

Fan Episode Reviews (15)

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"Gladiator, ARE you READY?" "Sock monster, ARE you READY?"

7.5

"Good"

By chrismcd815, Jun 02, 2010 Report Abuse

Come on, that's what it was. A big cuddly sock monster. LOL. I agree with whoever that was who said he nearly gave it a "painful to watch" rating. Those Jack and Gwen scenes were just TOO much.

Other than that, it was just an alright episode I guess. I thought however, that they were going to kill off Rhys to allow Gwen to be free for more frolicking with Jack and Owen. And if Rhys died, this would have been a perfect opportunity for this to happen. Oh well...... The fight scene with Ianto was awesome, so too, the scene with Gwen and Rhys giving each other a verbal "raking." Some great acting there...

But overall, not a great action packed episode. Episode 2 is still the best so far......
The bad guys seemed somewhat "not-bad-enough."moreless

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Yet another example of how dangerous humans really are.

9.5

"Superb"

By capra124, Jun 02, 2010 Report Abuse

The team has to stop and save an alien who is being abused by humans. Typically, the team battle aliens to protect humans, but in this ep, it's the reverse. Humans abusing an alien life form, without really knowing what it is, only what it can give them generates some interesting ideas in relation to the real world and abuses done here.

I talked about a previous ep being just one of the show's examples of how humans are just as dangerous as aliens in a previous review, and this is another one of those examples.

All during the ep, we get hints of the team's own emotional views on the situation; Jack's being the strongest in terms of the abuse. Tosh asks a question about how saving the alien would help protect humanity, and Jack comes back with a question about why shouldn't they help it, just because it's an alien? After seeing the creature, the rest of the team changes their mind in terms of making assumptions about aliens. We also get to see Owen's compassion when he has to put the alien down when it breaks free. Some might see that as the only way to save the team, but the creature was in pain, and when something is hurting as much as it was, then Owen's actions are the only best action to take to stop the pain as well as save the team. He says, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." after he's done so.

As dark and gory as this ep is, it's also a great ep in terms of seeing the emotional toll their work can have on them.moreless

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If one can be led to care about the crappy CG alien sperm whale blob-thing that features in this episode, then I'd call that conclusive proof on what a great writer Catherine Tregenna is, and why she needs to become this series script editor.moreless

10

"Perfect"

By Travis_III, Mar 19, 2008 Report Abuse

It's around the point where Gwen and Rhys are arguing about all the secrets the former kept from the latter that I realised how uncharacteristically well-written this episode is, especially in relation to some of the other episodes this series has produced; in particular during the first series.
Having seen every episode so far, I've become used to the cheesy dialogue that features quite frequently ("Ianto, we've got another dose of darkness", ect) in the show, but since there are some great lines as well, that doesn't really bother me so much.
But it is odd just to see an episode in which, when people are arguing, it seems...natural, rather than just forced.
It's so good it doesn't even feel like dialogue.
And when aformentioned alien whale thing is killed, it actually triggered an emotional response in me, a rarity for Torchwood.
Well, I have suddenly become aware that this hasn't been much of a review so far, and I haven't even discussed the plot.
Well, the plot, as you have most likely read other reviews and/or seen the episode for yourself, should be already known to you; but basically it involves a group of people harvesting a sentient alien for meat (while it's still alive), which, after a series of events, involves Rhys finding out about Gwen's job.
While this is quite an interesting concept, the real strength in the episode lies in the excellent characterisation and dialogue.

(Oh, that was a bit of a mess, wasn't it? Sorry about that. I'm sort of tired at the moment.)moreless

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Torchwood meets the in-law.

8.0

"Great"

By ionee24, Feb 21, 2008 Report Abuse

As the human race adds alien carving to the whale slaughter, poor brave Rhys is confronted with Gwen's world as he discovers his delivery trucks have been used to transport meat from a sentient alien. Outraged by these findings, he's even more upset when he discovers that Gwen has been lying to him all along none of which changes his mind as he's set on stopping this even if he must offer himself as torchwood's way in to free the alien kept captive for its meat.

You have to give this one to Jack, even if Gwen is right there's no place for Rhys on their world and having him does make them more vulnerable if only because Gwen is not ready to handle the sight of her boyfriend in danger the way Jack does. On the other hand, it isn't fair that Ianto gets to have Jack to talk to at the end of each day when Rhys is just as ready to take a bullet for his lover as he is and maybe because Jack himself recognizes a little bit of him in Gwen is that Rhys officially becomes the first in-law that hasn't been retconned by Torchwood at the end of this episode.moreless

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Torchwood discovers an alien creature captured and being "harvested"

8.0

"Great"

By PTPhog, Feb 19, 2008 Report Abuse

Overall a good episode. The Torchwood team does what they were formed to do - discover and deal with aliens. In this case, like last seasons "Combat", the alien was discovered by and was being exploited by humans. I'm not sure that anyones first thought on finding this massive creature would be " lets cut it up and sell it for hamburger " but what the heck ... this IS fiction. The secondary plot of Rheys's discovery that Gwen works for Torchwood deserved a full episode of it's own, or perhaps a two-parter while she struggles with the decision to give him the amnesia pill. A good episode, but it had the potential to be great.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- When Ianto is struggling with Dale during the big fight scene, Dale's Glock pistol discharges twice. After the second shot, if you look closely, the slide locks back indicating that he has an empty magazine. The camera pulls back and he then discharges the weapon two more times. Additionally, when the two are shown again, Ianto is on the ground and Dale is standing above him with the pistol. He then pulls the trigger twice and you hear two clicks. This would be impossible with a Glock because the slide would have locked back when the last round had been fired, and the Glock's firing mechanism only allows for the trigger to be pulled once on an empty magazine. Edit
- When Rhys is shot, he instinctively puts his arms out when hit, despite the fact he's supposedly got them tied behind his back. The goof is made much clearer on the accompanying Torchwood Declassified. Edit
Notes
ADD NOTES
- International air dates: United States: February 16, 2008 Finland: March 31, 2008 Sweden: July 27, 2008 on TV4+ Canada: August 22, 2008 Germany: July 01, 2009 Australia: October 10, 2009 Edit
Quotes
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- Rhys: Look around us. Nobody else knows what we've been through. Or what else is out there. They sky won't be the same to me any more. I used to look up and think, "Ah, looks like rain, man," but now, oh, now I'll... I'll look and I'll think of all the other worlds and the planets and stuff spinning around out there. And I got to be a part of it all. Fantastic! Which puts worrying about unsigned dockets into perspective, I can tell you. Edit
- Jack: Imprisoned, chained, and drugged. Welcome to Planet Earth. Edit
- Rhys: Yeah, she's an amazing girl. I'm a lucky man, Jack. Jack: Yeah, you said it. Rhys: I just wish you were a bit uglier. (they share a laugh) You're not gay by any chance, are you? Edit
Allusions
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- Ianto: We could release a single. Ianto is making this comment in reference to the 1984 charity hit single "Do they know It's Christmas?" by Band-Aid which contained the lyrics "Feed the World". Edit
- Rhys: You lot can hide in the back of the van. Gwen: What is this? Scooby-Doo? This is an allusion to the American cartoon series "Scooby-Doo" about a gang of teenage detectives whose mode of transportation is a van called the Mystery Machine. Edit
- Ianto: Listen to Ahab. This is a reference to the character Captain Ahab from the 1851 novel "Moby Dick" written by Herman Melville. Edit