Be that as it may, Torchwood has escaped from the gravity pull of its parent series Doctor Who (is there anyone left who hasn't been told that the two titles are anagrams of each other? If so, not anymore). I must confess I have only been an occasional follower of the good Doctor's several decades of exploits, so I am not an expert on the level of people who have never missed a Who episode. That said, there are obvious tonal differences between the shows--Torchwood at least aims for a solid dramatic footing as it explores the adventures of the Torchwood Institute, a sort of special-ops group that monitors extraterrestrial (and extratemporal) activity. Torchwood focuses on the "branch office" (for want of a better term) in Cardiff, which it turns out has been built atop a spatio-temporal rift that regularly deposits all sort of unusual species and time-rift detritus. The show's anchor in its first season was the enigmatic Harkness, an ostensibly gung-go go-getter who seemed to be nursing more than one dark secret from his past, as well as a certain rogueishness that had evidently carried him through several centuries of time traveling adventures, one of them leading to his supposed immortality. The first season ended with Harkness' mysterious disappearance.

Suffice it to say Captain Jack is back with a bang for Season Two, albeit to a Torchwood where his underlings have learned to function without him, setting up a season's worth of some interesting interplay. If Season One saw the series getting its footing and shaking off the moorings of Doctor Who, Season Two sees the actors settling into their roles, establishing some nice inter-character work and really feeling like a team. Gwen (Eve Myles), the sort of audience surrogate in season one as the new team mate, here finds herself increasingly put in a position of authority, first by Jack's vanishing and then, as the season progresses, by a series of events culminating in the finale, where not only John Hart returns but also Jack's long lost brother, Gray.

If the show is more than occasionally hyperbolic and a bit on the silly side, it also has an obvious sense of humor about itself, from the faster than sound doubles entendres that Jack routinely drops by the wayside to the sort of outlandish interaction with various alien lifeforms that come hurtling through the Cardiff space-time continuum. In fact, the show seems to do better when it's winking at the audience than when it makes overt tugs at the heartstrings, as it does in the finale where two characters meet an unhappy fate.

Visually the show is quite impressive, with solid directorial touches throughout, including sweeping aerial views of Cardiff honing in on various locales. While some of the alien makeup is just basic rubber mask stuff, there are some other effects, including some nice CGI work, that give the show some sparkle and the occasional scare factor. Barrowman makes an appealing sort of anti-hero, with his looks reminiscent of someone who could be Tom Cruise's slightly saner brother. The bi and gay subtext of a lot of Harkness' interchanges is deftly handled by Barrowman and never overplayed to the point of it becoming a camp factor. The rest of the supporting cast all does excellent work, when they're not called on to look intensely into the camera as various explosions erupt or an alien outbreak threatens. Naoko Mori as tech-head Tosh does nicely underplayed work throughout this season, with her unrequited love for Owen (Burn Gorman) getting some good mileage along the way.

Torchwood's second series ends with a sort of hommage to T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets" and its famous line "in my end is my beginning." As the first series ended with what might have been assumed was some sort of disaster for Harkness himself, here the tragedy is visited on Harkness' underlings, leaving the team in an extremely vulnerable position. It sets the stage for what will hopefully be a slambang third season for this interesting show which artfully blends elements of science fiction, the wild west and, believe it or not, alternative lifestyles. And all with nary a public telephone booth in sight.

The DVD

Video:
The enhanced 1.78:1 image is very sharp indeed, with excellent color and crisp detail, if perhaps a bit on the dark side from time to time. The grillwork in Cardiff's "hub" routinely caused aliasing on two of my DVD players, including an upconverting Blu-Ray unit. Otherwise, this is a splendid visual presentation, with some fun special effects to keep the eye entertained.

Sound:
The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is exceptionally well handled, with some great use of all channels in some of the chase sequences, and some immersive roars and rumbles from various alien baddies. Occasionally some of the actors' Welsh and British accents can be a bit hard to decipher, but the available English subtitles can help in that regard.

Extras:
Disc 4 offers Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, and a longer piece entitled "The Life and Deaths of Captain Jack," which gives new viewers some nice background on the character (though if you haven't been watching, you're still going to have questions). Disc 5 is comprised solely of the complete "Torchwood Declassified" promo pieces, all of which focus on certain elements like stunts involving Jack's multi-story fall at the hands of John, or various explosions which seem to dot the series with great regularity.

Final Thoughts:
Torchwood is a fun show, there's no doubt. If it occasionally takes itself a tad too seriously, it catapults quickly away from those moments with a wink and a nudge, keeping the tone playful. Harkness is a very appealing lead character, played extremely well by Barrowman, so even those not particularly enamored of science fiction may find this at least a worthy rental. Overall, the second season of Torchwood is Recommended.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet