Torchwood: Aliens Among Us #3.1 - "Poker Face" by Tim Foley
Between this and The Empty Hand, I am now fully convinced of Foley’s brilliance. Yet another darkly twisted character piece with excellent ideas, Yvonne Hartman is here to wreak havoc on Torchwood-3 and Jack’s 100 year stint as leader is about to go down in flames.

Torchwood’s in turmoil. Bombs are going off in the city, nobody trusts anybody any more, and a woman in the cells promises to have taken control of the team by sunrise. Yvonne Hartman has entered the building and nothing will ever be the same again.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Yvonne’s a fascinating character to me; a one off side character from half a finale turned into one of the most prominent characters of the spin off. A suave and darkly deceptive woman who is always a joy to experience, and here, despite being a Yvonne from another world, is as good as always. The team is the strongest it’s been probably all season, Mr. Colchester and Orr are a little sidelined but Jack is fantastic here, desperately trying to keep control in a ferocious battle of wits with Yvonne and Gwen/Ng is playing off him brilliantly. Quick side note about Ng, did anybody else not realise it wasn’t Eve Myles playing her? Alexandria Riley sounds exactly like Eve Myles, she’s not even doing an impression she just sounds like that. Also, is she meant to look like Gwen or look like Ng but nobody’s able to notice for some reason, I’m a little unsure since Ng’s on all the covers. Other than the excellent character drama, I just really can’t find much wrong with Poker Face. It’s one of those stories that is just, good, not really anything to say about it. It’s got a great style, a tense and twisting story and magnificent performances with phenomenal characters and dialogue, not much else to say, it’s just good.

I think the stuff with Gwen would hit a lot harder if she was actually Gwen and the overuse of the fire worm as a plot device feels a little lazy but all I have are minor nitpicks, this is a very good episode, through and through. Kind of hard to write a proper review when there’s just not much to say.

10/10

Pros:

+ The entire cast is on top form from beginning to end

+ Yvonne is a delightful and cunning antagonist

+ Jack and Gwen in particular are brilliant and the violent collision of their arcs is amazing

Cons:

- Ng taking Gwen’s place does make her stuff hit a lot harder

- Yvonne’s mind games do get a bit repetitive over time.

Torchwood: Aliens Among Us | Ranked
12.
11.
10.
9. Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy by James Goss - 5/10
8. Love Rat by Christopher Cooper - 6/10
7. Orr by Juno Dawson - 7/10
6. Changes Everything by James Goss - 8/10
5. Zero Hour by Jay Harley - 8/10
4. Superiority Complex by AK Benedict - 8/10
3. The Empty Hand by Tim Foley - 9/10
2. A Kill to a View by Mac Rogers - 9/10
1. Poker Face by Tim Foley - 10/10

Overall - 7.8/10