Like The New World, Rendition is a story with a lot of potential that just fails to develop far enough. That doesn't make it a bad piece of television necessarily, but it does highlight the key problem Russell T Davies and his team of writers seem to be having with carrying a single story over a ten episode format- there can't be major developments until later on, so you have to tread water somewhat at first. This week saw Jack and Gwen taken unwillingly to America, with the former being poisoned along the way and the latter in a race against time to save him. Surprisingly, the scenes featuring the series regulars weren't the episode's best: that credit goes to Bill Pullman, who gave a strangely pitiful turn as Oswald when confronted with an image of the girl he murdered on live television. Worse still, since we know Danes will become one of the main 'villains' of this season, that we know he must also be lying through his teeth at this point makes the utterly convincing Pullman all the more a disturbing presence that I hope can be developed in future episodes. Alexa Havins and Lauren Ambrose seemed to be having great fun in their roles as Esther and Jilly, which is more than I can say for Mekhi Phifer, who seems to be having a hard time fitting into his role as mouthy CIA agent Rex. My main problem with the series so far is bar the main cast, there's no one as memorable in their portrayal here as anyone was in Children of Earth, and unless something changes in the second half of the run Miracle Day will come off far more average than its predecessors. For now, lines like "I'm Welsh!", action setpieces like the helicopter chase in Episode 1 and Jack's narrow escape from death here, and the dark intrigue of what's to come built in several references and glimpses of a green triangle calling the shots from the Director's phone manage to keep things interesting enough that I want to see what happens next, but mark my words: if the pace does not pick up within the next fortnight or so, Torchwood is in trouble.
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Sunday, 24 July 2011
Torchwood: Rendition Review (4/5)
Like The New World, Rendition is a story with a lot of potential that just fails to develop far enough. That doesn't make it a bad piece of television necessarily, but it does highlight the key problem Russell T Davies and his team of writers seem to be having with carrying a single story over a ten episode format- there can't be major developments until later on, so you have to tread water somewhat at first. This week saw Jack and Gwen taken unwillingly to America, with the former being poisoned along the way and the latter in a race against time to save him. Surprisingly, the scenes featuring the series regulars weren't the episode's best: that credit goes to Bill Pullman, who gave a strangely pitiful turn as Oswald when confronted with an image of the girl he murdered on live television. Worse still, since we know Danes will become one of the main 'villains' of this season, that we know he must also be lying through his teeth at this point makes the utterly convincing Pullman all the more a disturbing presence that I hope can be developed in future episodes. Alexa Havins and Lauren Ambrose seemed to be having great fun in their roles as Esther and Jilly, which is more than I can say for Mekhi Phifer, who seems to be having a hard time fitting into his role as mouthy CIA agent Rex. My main problem with the series so far is bar the main cast, there's no one as memorable in their portrayal here as anyone was in Children of Earth, and unless something changes in the second half of the run Miracle Day will come off far more average than its predecessors. For now, lines like "I'm Welsh!", action setpieces like the helicopter chase in Episode 1 and Jack's narrow escape from death here, and the dark intrigue of what's to come built in several references and glimpses of a green triangle calling the shots from the Director's phone manage to keep things interesting enough that I want to see what happens next, but mark my words: if the pace does not pick up within the next fortnight or so, Torchwood is in trouble.
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