Torchwood: Aliens Among Us #1.4 - "Superiority Complex" by AK Benedict

In my last review for Aliens Among Us, I stated how I thought episodic season structures suited Doctor Who way better than serialized ones. It's always more interesting when the stories are self contained with story arcs running through them, rather than dictating the whole season. I think that Superiority Complex is a very good example as to why as I consider this relatively singular story the best of Aliens Among Us Part One, whereas the previous, very season focused Orr came of as a bit a damp squib.

The Cardiff Bay Intelligent Hotel & Spa is the hot new 7 star hotel for all aliens residing on the Welsh coast and whilst the starving Cardiff citizens rally at the gates, the rich and wealthy kick it up inside, the human beings serving as their workers. But now somebody's begun murdering the guests, and Torchwood have infiltrated the hotel.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Superiority Complex is a very conceptually rich story all contained within one setting that mainly ties thematically into the rest of the season and personally I found it the most interesting and well executed from the whole box set. The setting of an Earth hotel built for aliens is a really great idea and I think that, so far, Superiority Complex is the best execution of the immigration and class divide parallels the box set's going for. The imagery of the starving masses rioting around the gates surrounding this hi-tech alien getaway is not only really powerful but it also ties into a climax that is both nerve-shattering and horrifying for many reasons. The evil AI trope isn't something that I usually gel with, it often feels contrived, but Superiority Complex pulls it off by both giving some decent humanity to the hotel as well as using it as some good character building for Orr, who's still settling into being a member of the main cast. Another thing Superiority Complex does well is explore the Sorvix more, which always manages to give these audios an edge; seeing how this intelligent hotel works and how they've learnt to accommodate themselves on an alien planet is fascinating. Also, at one point Orr's genitals turn into a lift, which, I mean, that's pretty funny so I'll mark the story up purely for that.

My biggest gripe with Superiority Complex is that the main murder mystery was pretty predictable. What with it being an "intelligent hotel", I guessed that it was an AI gone rogue a ways into the story. Another problem that may just be with me is I have no idea what the Sorvix look like. They have human disguises but I'm never sure whether or not they're in these disguises or what they look like without them. I also have no idea how the mouth in the back thing works. Besides Orr and Jack, both Gwen and Mr. Colchester are just, kind of, there and Ng is basically put aside for the whole story, Gwen just acts like Gwen the whole time which I feel probably could've been handled better.

Overall, I found Superiority Complex the most memorable part of this boxset as it had good ideas and an actual story with a beginning, middle and end rather than just an aimless goose chase around Cardiff, which has made up the last three audios. The main complaint I saw back on The Time Scales is that it fails as a series finale but the thing is, it's not. It's the fourth episode of the series, it's just the last of this box set. And this only proves my point that the serialized format restricts the season, there probably could've been higher stakes if it wasn't stuck a third of the way into a series.

8/10

Pros:
+ Great idea that executes the message of Aliens Among Us best out of the first four audios
+ Manages to do something fresh with the AI gone haywire trope and uses it to develop Orr
+ The Sorvix are suitably sickeningly malicious the whole time and entirely detestable
+ The climax was a really sudden shift in urgency and it helped the story immensely
+ I don't particularly know why, but I'd definitely count the Orr lift as a positive aspect of the story.

Cons:
- The main mystery element felt rather predictable
- The Sorvix are a species whose design I just can't grasp
- Most of the main cast don't have much agency in the plot
- The Ng subplot is mostly swept under the rug

Torchwood: Aliens Among Us | Ranked
12.
11.
10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4. Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy by James Goss - 5/10
3. Orr by Juno Dawson - 7/10
2. Changes Everything by James Goss - 8/10
1. Superiority Complex by AK Benedict - 8/10

Overall - 7.0/10