Reset

This is a very fun episode, but bar the ending it's pretty much just 'Martha Jones joins Torchwood'. There isn't really much to the plot - and that's fine. Sometimes it's nice to have a story that's more about the characters than the alien situation.

The end took me totally by surprise though. I wasn't expecting that. After all the stuff they've been through, to have one of Torchwood taken out simply by another human being is quite tragic and shocking to see. It's such a strong way to end the episode.

I've never really connected to Torchwood much outside of Children of Earth.

This show had a lot of promise to be something distinct from Doctor Who - darker, more sinister, and where main characters could very well suddenly die.

Unfortunately, it feels like the series very rarely lived up to that premise. Reset does, kind of, but relies on sci-fi tropes pretty heavily to do that. I had a lot of excitement to Martha's arrival and at first her presence is very much welcome, but after a while, the episode just kind of fizzles out into not much of anything, at least in my opinion. It's perfectly fine and stands out a bit in Torchwood history, but even then, I don't really see myself revisiting Reset or thinking about it much at all post-viewing.

I think it is telling that if you don't like, care about, or know about Martha, you aren't likely to enjoy this story. I was happy to see here and that goes a long way to making this episode something worthwhile, but otherwise I find it extremely disposable, even though, given the story, it should have more significance than it does. Still, that ending did mark a beginning for a major shift in the direction of things going forward in this series of Torchwood episodes, and I do applaud the ambition of killing off so much of the main cast during Series 2. A lot of that has its most impact here with Owen's death, which is impressive.