End of Days

Well, I absolutely loved this one. It's basically a disaster movie in the mould of a Torchwood episode, only unlike most disaster movies it's a compelling piece of entertainment from start to finish. It's also The Wedding of River Song done right - the people from different times merging (or in this case, falling through rifts in time) actually works much better tonally here than it did in that Doctor Who episode. It explores more of the consequence of this, such as the black death returning to 21st century Cardiff and Roman soldiers slaughtering people, as they are not following the lawful ways of modern life.

Eve Myles is superb in this episode too, and it's great to see the team being tested in Jack's desperation to stop them reopening the rift.

Love the Doctor Who S3 tie-in.

Torchwood's big first series finale, I definitely appreciate it a little more in idea than execution. I love the ties to the Beast from the Satan Pit and Impossible Planet. It feels much closer to what I sort of expected going into Torchwood as a spin-off of Doctor Who, and it is something I feel the television series very rarely achieved.

So I have a bit of a soft spot for End of Days, even if it is a little uneven and filled with over-the-top drama and acting. It's *enough* fun - just enough to be an easy watch, easy to get through, and put at least a decent bow on the very inconsistent first season of Torchwood. I also like how this is a direct consequence of the previous episode. It feels good to have our heroes not able to resolve the last problem without their being consequences of a larger villainous plan going on, that stuff and the appearance of Bilis is pretty interesting. On the other hand, Owen's troubles and the stuff with Rhys feels way overplayed and drags this story down a bit. Still, it is at least worth watching and has some cool ideas.