Emo Outfit

Torchwood Episode 1x10 - "Out Of Time"

Episode Grade: A+


Everything comes down to moments. The most basic of machines, the lever, is all about moments, life is all about moments (and it sure as fuck isn't all about random shoes), this episode is all about moments. It's an odd one, because most of the plot elements you'd expect just plain aren't there. There's no particular antagonist, there's no particular goal that anyone's trying to reach, there's just a series of moments. It's one of the more beautiful things I've ever seen.

The moment the episode starts, there's a flash of white light. An old-fashioned biplane (specifically, a 1946 de Havilland Dragon Rapide, apparently. Don't you love the internet? I love the internet.) flies across the sky. She's called the Sky Gypsy. It's a fairly appropriate name, I think. Jack, Gwen and Owen stand ready her as she lands. I don't know why Tosh isn't there, but I'm sure there's a perfectly adequate explanation, and we don't need to go into it, hmm? The pilot gets out and apologises for the unplanned landing, "we just hit some remarkable turbulence". Jack introduces himself, she does likewise; "Diane Holmes, pilot." Diane's passengers get out behind her, one of whom is an older gentleman I do not recognise, though something about him is saying "a younger Cavill" to me. I think it must be the hat, because he doesn't really look much like Dean Stockwell. The other is Olivia Hallinan, about whom I have gushed at great length already, so let's take that as read. Olivia asks how long they'll be delayed, as her uncle's expecting her. Jack asks when they left, Diane tells him "about half an hour ago", Jack clarifies, in his usual unnecessarily intense way, that he wants a date and a year; December 16th, 1953. And that's the plot setup. Moments to follow. In a moment. (Sorry.)

And credits. This episode written by Catherine Tregenna, who also wrote "Captain Jack Harkness", which is a definite mirror to this one. She's got a clear flair for emo, and you know how I love that.

The passenger of the Sky Gypsy follow Gwen and Owen into the Hub, Jack takes the rear and tells them they have nothing to be scared of, which is always a disconcerting thing to hear. He also tells them "the least you know about us, the better" which has got to be even more worrying, and also, 'the least you know'? Is that some crazy American sentence construction, or is Jack just weird? Both crews introduce themselves, Owen as "Dr. Owen Harper" which is, if you recall, when he is at his least obnoxious. Olivia is called 'Emma Louise Cowell' here, the other guy's name is John Ellis. There's Christmas lights up the stairs, and that might be a nice little touch, but it's possible that they're part of the normal Hub decoration and they've always been there and I've just never noticed before. While Owen leads them into the conference room, Gwen remarks to Jack "At least it wasn't a spaceship full of aliens." Oh, Gwen. Haven't you got past that stage by now?

Conference Room. John incredulously asks how they could possibly have travelled fifty years in half an hour, Jack explains that they fell through a "transcendental portal". Emma's all "who in the what now?", Jack dumbs it down for her; "a door in time and space." And come on, would it have killed you to have him say "magic door"? That would have been so rad. John's still sceptical, so Jack hands over to Tosh (for no reason other than that she's barely in this episode), who gives them more proof than could conceivably be fabricated, so unless John thinks the moon landing was a... oh, wait. Diane asks the obvious next question; "How do we get back?", Jack doesn't waste any words at all in answering; "You don't." Diane asks what'll happen to them, then [future], John says "Never mind about us, what happened to everyone else? Our families? [past]" Emma just stands with tears in her eyes, looking stunned. [present does not fit this nearly as well as the other two, but whatever. present]

Gwen walks around the Hub with Emma, and reads from her files; "Your father died in 1959, he was 48." Emma sombrely notes that he always said he'd die young. Gwen adds that Emma's mother lived to 81, and puts an arm around her, saying "I know this is hard, but is there anyone else?" Emma shakes her head as they move offscreen and we pan over to John, who's telling Tosh details of his son, Alan, while Jack looks on. Tosh can't find anything, "the archives in the 50s weren't that well documented", Jack promises John they'll keep looking and tells him to get some sleep for now. Pan over to Owen, who's talking to Diane. Owen asks if she had a boyfriend, Diane takes a drag from a cigarette and tells him "Not really. I never stayed in one place long enough."

Gwen takes Diane and Emma into the house or whatever it may be in which they'll be staying, Gwen apologises for it being so basic. Diane shrugs it off; "not when you've slept in barracks", and they all wander in and start unpacking. Oh man, everyone looks so sad! This episode is so melancholy! It's going to make me cry, I just know it.

John gets a room of his own, of course, which Jack takes him to. John comments wistfully about some business he was supposed to attend to "tomorrow", Jack asks him more about it, in a pretty clear attempt to get his mind away from things. John gets out a radio and tries to tune it, Jack gives him a hand and manages to get it straight to Classic FM or something so we don't get any 'OMG what is this noise' to dance music scene or whatever going down here. John also gives Jack a camera containing photographs of his family and tells him not to worry; "I'll look after the ladies".

Back in the girls' room, Emma hears some giggling from next door or downstairs or somewhere and asks who else is here. "Couple of young girls," Gwen answers. I really don't know what the deal is with not getting the Sky Gypsy crew a place to themselves is, but let's just go with it. Gwen compliments Emma's dress and does the same as Jack, asking about unimportant details to take their minds off it all; "What were you in Dublin for?" "Auntie Nora's ill," Emma explains, "And Uncle Finn can't manage the children by himself. It'll be good practice for when I have children of my own, mum says." The 'taking her mind off it' tactic is not exactly going swimmingly here, though; "She'll know I'm missing by now." [aha! present!] And Olivia is, of course, doing some great holding back tears, which means I'm doing the same. And we're only five minutes in. So emo. Gwen, as kindly as possible, remind Emma that 50 years have passed, so, I mean, Nora will certainly know she's missing by now. Emma clutches a teddy bear to her chest and wonders what everyone will have thought happened to her. Gwen tells her that official reports said the plane went down in the sea, and Emma can hold back the tears no longer. I'm still going strong for now, but I doubt I'll make it to the end.

Back at the Hub, the next day, Jack hands out passports and tells the refugees they've set up bank accounts for each of them, but for now they'll be giving them a daily allowance so they can get used to the new economic situation and suchlike. They've each been assigned fake names, and their reactions, like many little things throughout the episode, completely inform the way each of their stories ultimately turn out, but not such a way that you feel like you're being beaten over the head with it at all; Diane is pretty nonplussed, Emma enjoys the novelty of it, John is angry that Jack would think he wouldn't want (or rather, need) to keep his own name; "For God's sake, man, it's all we have left! It's my son's name. It's the name above my shop." John throws his fake passport down and storms out, Jack and Diane watch and look apologetic. And melancholy. Always melancholy.

Now it's time for some culture shock which will try to pretend it's funny for a little while just because they don't want the melancholy to be completely overpowering, even though it inevitably will be. For no reason other than him having nothing else to do in the episode, Ianto's the one taking the refugees to a supermarket. Ianto suggests £25 for food, £20 for luxuries. Emma's shocked; "My dad only made £10 a week!" and everyone looks around at the shiny new world in wonder and/or fear. They're actually stopped in their tracks by the automatic door, and Diane asks "How did it do that?" so Ianto starts to explain the mechanics behind it, but Diane cuts him short and goes running into the shop, because she's seen bananas. Ianto, with fabulous exasperation, sighs "Of course, bananas are far more interesting." Hee hee! See, that's the Ianto I used to enjoy before "Cyberwoman" happened. And jolly Christmas music starts up and everyone runs around marvelling at all that the new world has to offer; Diane marvels at widescreen TVs and DVDs, Emma runs around grabbing all the junk food she can find while Ianto keeps a running total of her funds and points out that she'll destroy her teeth, John is aghast at the half naked women adorning the magazine covers ("There's children around!" "She's a children's TV presenter."), and, my favourite, Diane holds up a packet of cigarettes and asks Ianto what the "Smoking Kills" label is all about. She has such an awesomely baffled expression there. This scene is hardly original, for sure, but it is kind of necessary in this story, because we'd all be like "MAN, these people are jaded" if they didn't have it, and Ianto provides some nice commentary throughout to keep it from being irritating.

Done with shopping now, Ianto drops John off at the Millenium Stadium, looking concerned, but powerless. John tells the girls to stick together, "I'll be back in time for supper", and, as soon as Ianto's driven out of sight, he turns around and walks away from the stadium. He makes his way to a house, which is all boarded up now, and asks a passerby if he happens to know a man named Alan Ellis who used to live there. The passerby does not, and John stands and looks melancholy some more.

In the kitchen of their house, Emma's pouring the contents of some teabags into a teapot, and Diane's lounging against the countertop. Diane says she's going to go check on the plane later and asks if Emma wants to come along, Emma tells her she's planning to watch a DVD. Diane wonders out loud what work she'll be able to get in aviation, Emma remarks that she'll have to find a husband. Enter the two girls that are also staying there, and man can I not make sense of that, because it's such a weird excuse for the awkward scene that will follow, and it's not like it would be difficult to find an excuse for that awkwardness. I don't know. The girls introduce themselves as Alicia and Jade (It's really nice the way everyone keeps saying their names as quickly as possible, and I assume they are doing this as a personal service to make my job easier) and start making themselves some tea, in the background, Diane's mouth actually hangs open as she notes that they just chuck the teabags straight in there and she gives a great 'Check this shit OUT.' nod to Emma. It's the little moments that make the episode, you know. Diane excuses herself and heads upstairs, Alicia tells Emma her shoes are "lush", Emma intuits from tone of voice that this is a compliment, and thanks her accordingly.

Hangar, somewhere. Owen takes Diane to see the Sky Gypsy, he face lights up as she says "Hello, old girl. Did you miss me?" Owen tells he's been reading up on her and is impressed by some of the wonderful feats of piloting she achieved back in the day and asks how she got into it. "Ferried planes during the war. Of course, when it was over, we were supposed to go back to being dutiful wives and daughters. But I got a taste for it. No pig-headed man was going to tell me what to do." Owen, being the pig-headedest of pig-headed men, tries to feign annoyance, or something, but he remains far too impressed for it to fly. Diane babbles some obsolete techno about the plane and asks Owen hungrily (and I seriously mean that. We're talking like the wolf. Bad Wolf, no doubt.) "Can I take her out?" Owen has bad news; her lisence isn't valid anymore. Diane takes the news with a dashing "Bugger." Dude, she's even more Ace Rimmer than Jack used to be. Owen jokingly suggests this makes him "another pig headed man telling [her] what to do", Diane flirts that he'd better make it up to her by teaching her all about the new world.

If there's one thing that hasn't changed in fifty years, it's manly bonding about sports over a pint. John's telling Jack about the F.A. cup final of whichever year Bolton lost 4-3, and how amazing it was to have it broadcast live in his own living room. "I charged the lads a shilling each to come and watch it." Jack laughs, "Ever the business man, eh?" and then there's a slight awkward pause. John starts lighting his pipe and notes Jack's American accent, and asks how he ended up here. He's moved away from his own history, but he's still working in the past tense, of course. Jack tries to fob him off with "it's a long story" and "kind of complicated" and all the usual clichés, but John's like "I've just been thrown fifty years into the future, you cannot phase me any further." Jack admits that he also fell through time, but gives no further details. That is, of course, still more than he's told any of the team he's been working with for the past so many months. Well, he did tell Gwen about his immortality back when she joined the team. I guess if you've just met Jack, and you want to know anything about him, it's now or never. John and Jack raise their glasses in a toast to falling through time, I guess, and the barman tells John he's not allowed to smoke here. John blows out his match resignedly.

OK, awkward time. Emma, Alicia and Jade are hanging up christmas decorations, Emma asks the others what their plans are for Christmas Eve, "We could go carol singing!" The girls can't hold in their laughter, though they do at least try to be nice about it. Jade (or maybe Alicia, they're not wildly distinguishable) tells Emma "Sorry, love, I'll be getting hammered." Emma's confused of course, and asks where their families are. Jade tells her they don't have families, they grew up in care and Emma attempts to make a connection by saying "I don't have anyone either" and now she's going to start crying again, isn't she? Alicia is entirely perplexed by the crazy secluded posh chick; "They didn't leave you a house or anything?" and it pretty much dawns on Emma right there that she's got nothing, and she says so. Alicia sympathetically asks if she was close with her parents. She was. Alicia and Jade share a look and then Jade, with much ceremony, offers Emma a can of cider, and, damn, either everyone who has ever appeared on Sugar Rush is freakishly tall, or these girls are really short. Or Emma's lush shoes are crazy high heels, maybe. Anyway, Emma gives the cider a try, and seems to actually enjoy it, I think, and all three start to laugh. Emma is well up for embracing her new life.

Back at the pub, John's saying morosely that it must have been an awful Christmas for his family, thinking he'd drowned, and then tells Jack desperately to track down his son, "He's all I've got left". Jack watches him leave, looking worried.

Elsewhere, Owen's taking Diane out for dinner. Owen takes his seat, Diane stays standing, because she's waiting for him to pull out her chair. Owen laughs at the fact that she expects "equality and chivalry", but humours her anyway, with a vaguely sarcastic "Your chair, ma'am." He also lights her cigarette for her, and the first thing she wants to know is "What other strides have women made?" Owen being the one track mind that he is, the first thing he comes out with is "You don't have to have sex to have kids any more." Diane does not believe him, "I wasn't born yesterday", which gives Owen a pretty obvious segue to "For a bird who's going on 90, you look pretty hot." Who ever said romance was dead?

Back at the house, Emma's clearly had a few more drinks, and I guess they've watched whatever musical it was that she bought on DVD, because she asks the others what they're favourite song was. Alicia offers "It's hard to say..." and Emma gets up and starts singing her favourite and dancing, and there is much merriment to be had. At least until John walks in and starts yelling at her for causing a scene. Alicia and Jade really do not know what to make of this, and just sit and suddenly find the wall exceedingly interesting.

At the restaurant, Owen gives Diane her coat and asks where she wants to go next. Diane leaves it up to him, and he suggests that she could come back to his place, and read up about herself on the net. Diane doesn't say anything and Owen starts worrying that he's being to forward (because that's always been such a concern for him before) and babbles about how he's not chatting her up and blah blah, and eventually Diane interrupts to ask "Got any scotch?"

At the house, Emma's called Gwen in to attempt to break up tension, which she is her usual fantastic job of. John accusingly tells Gwen that Emma was drinking, Emma claims she only had half a glass, which I doubt is true since she was drinking from a CAN. John tells her they're not supposed to draw attention to themselves, not realising that she'd clearly be drawing at least as much attention by not doing it. John promises Gwen there's no need to worry further, "I won't let her out of my sight again", and tells Emma to sit down and eat her dinner. Emma insolently declares that she doesn't like liver, because whatever time period you pull them from, teenagers are still teenagers. John tells her to be grateful for what she's given, and she sneers at him and says "Only my dad gets to talk to me like that. And I'm never going to see him again. Or my mum. Or my best friend. Or my dog!" And suddenly her voice is going up a few hundred decibels, like YOWZA, and she shrieks "And I miss them! AND I HATE THIS FILTHY, STINKING PLACE!" and storms upstairs. And we have door slamming. John rolls his eyes and sighs "I never had this sort of trouble with my son."

Owen's Swingin' Bachelor Pad. Owen hurriedly sweeps magazines and shit under the couch as Diane comes out of the bathroom and asks, if he doesn't have a girlfriens, what is with all the beauty products? Owen tells her they're his, "real men can moisturise too, you know", Diane gives him a "Whatever, Joan" look, but goes with it. Owen notes the fact that she's lighting another cigarette and tells her she smokes too much, she gives another quick look to the "Smoking Kills" label and shrugs "So I gather", then non-sequiturs "Amelia Earhart." What? "She disappeared in 1932." Oh, I see. Apparently you're off by three years there, I'm afraid. I mean, I don't care about minor historical inaccuracies when there are much greater inaccuracies like 'there is a big secret and also not secret alien hunting organisation directly underneath the millenium building in Cardiff' to deal with, but I guess some people do. Diane sighs some more about the "whole new world", Owen tries to convince her she'll get used to it and fit in just fine, Diane looks away, clearly not believing it. It's pretty clear that she didn't fit in just fine in 1953 either. I don't think she's wired to fit in fine anywhere she goes. She's a drifter. Diane turns and looks into Owen's eyes and tells him "I'm glad you haven't got a girlfriend". "Me too," Owen breathes. Heh. I cannot remotely comprehend the fact that he appears to be completely irresistable to women even without his magic date rape spray, but for the moment, let's just accept it and move on.

Over to Gwen watching Emma asleep on the couch (Emma is at Gwen's place because I guess she refused to stay in the same house an John? Sure.) and looking concerned. And here's a point they've just reminded me of with the juxtaposition of "Owen has no girlfriend" and Gwen; is their affair over now? I mean, clearly, Owen would not have referred to Gwen as his girlfriend in any case, but we haven't heard anything about their fling since "Greeks Bearing Gifts" and you'd think Gwen would have something to say about Owen and Diane later in this episode. But then, considering how much emphasis they put on it, it doesn't seem plausible that they'd end it completely off screen. Anyway! Gwen flicks off the light and leaves.

Owen and Diane, post-coitus now, so I guess I can be thankful they skipped that part, even if I still have to deal with Owen's naked chest here. Owen appraises her performance; "I take it that wasn't your first time", Diane tells him she had a lover, who was married, which suited her, since she didn't have to bother with all the cooking and cleaning malarkey. Owen chuckles that he always thought the 50s were sexually repressed, Diane chides him; "You didn't invent it, you know." Owen asks if they can go again, Diane shrugs that she doesn't not see why not. "We could have an affair," Owen mutters, mostly to himself, "we could be fuck buddies." I love how he is totally confused by how this is going, because Diane is way away from all preconceptions he has about her. Diane asks him what a fuck buddy is; 2a friend you have casual sex with." Diane smirks at the foolishness of the modern age; "There's nothing casual about what we just did." Like, word. "Both parties should give it 100% concetration." And Owen is certainly doing that right now, so I guess I jumped the gun rather on being thankful that they skipped that part, but it's OK, because of this: "When you take off together, it's the next best thing to flying." I love that so much. That is a pretty fine example of the ol' 'turning clichés around' thing if ever I have seen one. Like, you say something is "better than sex", that is dumb and predictable and trite and all that, but that is taking it to the next level, to the point where you're reverential about something that it's not that it's "better than sex", but rather that "sex is almost as good". I don't know, I just find that really awesome. Don't mind me. Regular service will resume in just a moment.

Oh, and it's this one. Haha! So, a little backstory, in case you don't know this part; in the classic "viewing figures just went up" scene in Doctor Who, Captain Jack's buttocks were originally planned to be on full display, but since that show is For The Kiddies, they got cropped out. And when this show was announced as being the sexy, no holds barred spinoff featuring Jack, everyone was all anticipatory about Jack's buttocks and related aritcles finally getting their due display and the TWoP Torchwood thread was subtitled "Captain Jack's Arse Unleashed" and all that. And instead, what we get is a show where not only is Jack's arse thoroughly leashed at all times, but also, in any given scene, Jack is wearing at least five more layers than everyone else in the room combined. And, making the following far more hilarious than it would otherwise be, to add insult to injury, what they get instead is Rhys's arse unleashed. All in aid of a little moment of comedy wherein Emma wakes up to the sight of Rhys's own De Havilland Dragon Rapide. But, as it so often is, the real point here is that Gwen is an idiot, because apparently she didn't think it necessary to tell her boyfriend about the teenage girl who was sleeping on their couch. And also, she explains it to Rhys with the claim that Emma is a relative of hers, who was staying with a friend in Cardiff but came to Gwen after they had a big row. "And she doesn't really want to go back home, so I thought maybe she could stay with us." There's part of the truth in her wacky story, but it's completely the wrong part. Rhys gives Gwen a serious "Why the hell do I put up with you?" stare, but, seemingly intuitevly knowing she is entirely innocent in all this, gives in to letting Emma stay for Christmas. Gwen cheerily introduces Rhys to Emma and explains away Emma's out of time shock about their cohabitation to Rhys with "Emma's parents are very religious." After Rhys leaves, Gwen gets ridiculously into Emma's personal space and stage whispers how she couldn't tell Rhys Emma's parents are dead, because she keeps many, many secrets from him and she just kinds of trails off into bizarre twitching motions at the side of Emma's head. Emma is understandably perturbed. Stay off the Retcon, Gwen.

At the Hub, Gwen's ranting to Jack about how she couldn't leave Emma with John and Diane, "they're complete strangers", and you know, I really hadn't picked up on that before, and I just assumed they were at least casual acquaintances, but that really didn't make a whole lot of sense. Now I know. Huh. Owen slyly covers Diane's unknown (to the others) location last night with "I think she was at a B&B" and quickly changes the subject before they can unravel that tangled web of lies. Not that he needed to, because Tosh interrupts to tell Jack she's tracked down John's son Alan.

Oh, shit. Yeah, this is the scene that will break me. A nurse leads John in to meet Alan, who is now considerably older than John. Nurse tells John "I'm not sure how much use he'll be to you" and explains John's cover story to Alan; he's a nephew on Alan's father's side, trying to track down his family. Alan looks at her blankly and asks "Is Sally coming?" And, oh, John's face is so crushed. And the mournful piano and strings that have been pretty much ubiquitous in this episode are going into overdrive now, and really, I cannot blame them. Nurse tells John that Sally is Alan's wife, who passed away a while ago, and, on John's questioning, briefly explains Alzheimer's, and also tells John that Alan never had any children, so there was no one to look after him. And, while John's face is pretty much just a solid mask of pain, just for a moment, there's an almost imperceptible flicker of less pain when she tells him Alan had a wife, and there is a definite shift to more pain at the news that he never had children. Mark Lewis Jones is really hitting this scene way out of the park (he's playing cricket, not baseball, OK?) John sheds a tear, and so do I, and really, who wouldn't?

I guess Jack got the photographs from John's camera developed for him, because John's showing them to Alan now. Alan complains that they took his clothes, Nurse explains that they're probably in the wash and leaves to look so John can have a moment alone with Alan.

And I guess they decided this bit was a little too heavy to put it all in one chunk, so we get a brief interval of lightness with Owen and Diane at the hangar again, or maybe a different one. Owen's tracked down a plane of the same model as the first one Diane ever flew, and she is full of nostalgic glee and greets her old friend enthusistically. Owen promises to get her back behind the throttle as soon as possible, and she sincerely thanks him with a kiss which is a lot less intimate than she is being with the plane. I'm not joking at all; this girl loves her planes more than most people will ever love anything or anyone in their lives.

And crashing back down to Earth, John's telling Alan about the same cup final as he told Jack earlier and as he gets more and more into the telling of it, Alan looks him in the eyes, which is the first time we've seen him do that, and he starts to smile, and says "Blackpool won!" And, just for a moment, the joy is overwhelming. John tells Alan who he really is, but Alan's already drifted away again, and John is full-on crying now. Nurse comes back and asks if everything's alright, John tells her that Alan just remembered who won the F.A. Cup final when he was a boy, Nurse nods and explains that he sometimes remembers little snippets from his childhood. Moments, suspended out of time. Just moments, nothing more. All he has left is a few orphaned moments that don't fit together, and if you can't fit the pieces together into the whole, they don't really have any meaning any more, and what could be sadder than that?

Back at the Hub, Jack's telling Tosh that he knows John's world is falling apart, but he doesn't know what he can do about it; "there's no puzzle to solve, no enemy to fight." Just a lost soul, out of time. Jack throws his hands up in frustration.

At the hangar, Owen's trying to get Diane a flying lesson, I guess, but they're fully booked for a while, and the guy won't let Diane up on her own without a lisence, and won't take Owen's bribes to bump one of today's customers down the line so Diane can take their place. Diane tells him to just forget it and take the earliest date they have. Owen apologises and says he should have phoned ahead, as if that would have made a difference. Unless he thinks he should have booked before the Sky Gypsy even appeared through the Riftmouth, just in case he had a need for a flying lesson? Yeah, there is such a thing as being too hard on yourself, you know. Diane holds back tears and chides herself for being so silly, "it's just I was really looking forward to..." It's heartbreak, and nothing but, this episode. And see also; "looking forward". Yeah.

Meanwhile, Gwen and Rhys have taken Emma out to a club and then left her to her own devices, which is not exactly the first thing I would do, though she copes pretty fine. She's a little uncomfortable looking, for sure, but she knuckles down and gets on with the business of fitting in with the dancing as best she can. A guy comes up to dance with her in pretty short order, because while she may be supremely awkward looking, she's still totally smokin' hot. Emma gives him a smile and gets into it a little more. Gwen's a little worried about Emma, but Rhys assures her she'll be fine. Gwen gives him a big sloppy kiss and he's all "what was that for?" because clearly Gwen does not do that often these days. "For putting up with me," Gwen answers, and Rhys quite rightly tells her he deserves a lot more than that for it.

A little later, Gwen finds Emma and her guy making out on the seats and pulls him off of her and Rhys drags him away and tells him to go back to his friends. Gwen's giving off total parental vibe here, so Emma's immediately on the defensive; "I wasn't going to let him do anything!" Gwen tells her she might not have had a choice, and, I don't know, clearly Emma is a fish out of water here (which is why you shouldn't have taken her to the club in the first place, GWEN), but this is kind of an overreaction. And, yeah, Rhys has got my back.

Gwen's taken Emma home now, and is explaining the birds and the bees, or how the bees are a lot more promiscuous than they used to be, or something. And she has some women's magazine with an article entitled "10 STEAM IT UP SEX MOVES TO DRIVE HIM WILD". Emma declares it disgusting. I'm sure Kim would agree. I am just saying that so I can segue into this; I love seeing (good) actors playing different roles, seeing the differences and similarities in the ways they play them; the only reason I can stand to watch Stargate SG-1 at all is Browder and Black's migration to it after Farscape went down, one of the reasons I love this season of Battlestar Galactica especially is seeing actors playing different characters on the same show; I love the subtle nuances Grace Park puts in to differentiate Boomer from Athena and either of them from any other less developed Eights that show up. That's what acting is, I know, but I just wanted to say it is very cool. Hooray for good actors! So, where were we? Ah, Gwen wants Emma to know that people are more sexually aware these days, attitudes have changed, so on and so forth. In the spirit of sexual awareness, Emma asks Gwen how many men she's slept with, Gwen does a bit of a spit take with her coffee and says "a few", and she's doing that bizarre twitching again. She is seriously weirding me out in this episode. Emma asks, with scholarly interest, if Gwen was in love with all of them. Gwen says no and tells Emma that if you feel like doing it, sex is totally cool, like, so I'm not a slut, yeah? She's being highly unnecessarily defensive, is what I'm saying. So, naturally, Emma asks if, in the event she is with a guy and they're getting on OK and he wants to have sex, she should dive right in? Gwen tells her that's not what she's saying at all, even though it totally was five seconds ago, and Emma asks what she is saying then. Gwen gives a clear look of "I don't have a fucking clue what I'm saying", and eventually settles on "Sex... is nothing to be ashamed of. And as for you, well, your first time should be with someone special!" Emma asks if Gwen wishes she'd waited for Rhys for her first time, "he's your special someone, isn't he?" Ha! Gwen vaguely says "Yes, yes, I suppose...", and Emma continues "Sex with him is better than with all the others, right?" Ah, what a wonderful giant redwood of doubt is growing here. In conclusion, Emma decides, she'll wait for Mr. Right; "I'm not the kind of girl who sleeps around." There's no malice intended there, and I don't think she even realises how that comes across to Gwen, but Gwen is pretty shaken by this whole awkward conversation. I mean, literally shaken, like, her arm is actually shaking quite heavily. She's showing some serious signs of withdrawal symptoms, I'm telling you. What is that all about?

Owen's Swingin' Bachelor Pad. Diane's figuring out how to work the World Wide Tubes on Owen's laptop and complains it appears that flying these days consists of sitting on your arse pressing buttons, and where is the thrill in that? But, you know, sex is headed the same way, so flying is still better. Owen attempts to take her mind off things by giving her a present, which is a shiny new red dress. Not bad, Dr. Harper. Not bad.

Back at Gwen's, Emma's gone out to get herself a job with some fashion designer or something, I guess, and thanks to the whole cyclical nature of fashion and retro chic and all that, her clothes are pretty down with the times, and so they offered her a job. Presumably there was slightly more to the application than "Do you dress like a blind hobo? Y/N", but anyway, Gwen's happy for her and gives her a hug, and starts musing that they're going to need to find her a flat somewhere in town. Except, not so much with the 'in town' bit, as Emma continues that the job is in their new branch in London. Emma's way excited because she's always dreamt of working in the big city, and babbles excitedly for a while while Gwen looks upset and mumbles things like "London's a big city..." and "There's no rush..." Oh, but they grow up so fast, don't they?

In the fake souvenir shop that hides the Hub, John tells Jack he's going to find himself a job and get his driver's lisence and so on and thanks Jack for all his help. Once Jack's gone back down to the Hub, John gets a pretty empty look on his face and grabs a bunch of keys from behind the counter. Ianto walks out just after he's grabbed them and John covers pretty well by claiming he was looking for a bus timetable to aid him in his job search. Ianto hands him one with a smile and wishes him luck. John gives a weak smile in return. This is not a man with hope for the future.

Owen drives Diane, now wearing her new dress, out to a secluded carpark and tells her to bear with him while he goes to get something out of the boot. Diane waits, beaming with excitement. This is a woman with nothing but hope for the future.

Gwen's place. Rhys is waiting on the sofa for Gwen to return, looking exceedingly pissed off. Ooh boy, but this has been a long time coming. Gwen barely notices that he is refusing to even look at her, because she is, now and forever, completely oblivious to his existence when she doesn't need him. "Your mum rang," Rhys tells her, "Funny thing, she has no idea who Emma is!" Gwen's all "No way! Mum's losing her marbles!" for half a second before it occurs to her that that will never work, ever. She's an idiot, you know. Like, could she not have just said "She's a girl from work and she is going through a rough patch right now, and I know this is a lot to ask, but she possibly stay with us for a few days while she gets back on her feet." What was the need for the ridiculous, easily falsifiable whenever her mother felt like a chat, "Oh, she's my cousin" claim. Gwen, you fool. Rhys yells at her some more and demands to know who the hell "Pollyanna" really is. Gwen just stares at him with quavering lip, and he figures out it's to do with her damn work. Gwen gives the following explanation; "She was lost." That's is the full extent of her explanation. I'm sure that's a real comfort. She sincerely tells Rhys she's sorry, he gets right to the heart of the matter; "What worries me is how easy it seems to be for you to lie to me." Emma tries to step in and claim it's her fault and she'll leave by tomorrow, and Gwen yells "She's 18 years old, I couldn't turn my back on her!" as Rhys storms out. So I guess she didn't listen to a word he just said. How unusual.

A little later, Gwen's attempting to explain herself to Emma; "It's like there's two separate worlds; Torchwood and real life." And Emma truns and gives her a piercing look and says "That's why you've got to let me go." Ooh, well played. This is a girl with real hope. For the present, or at least the very near future.

Car Par O' Love. Owen's poured a couple of glasses of champagne and offers one to Diane, saying "I, uh... couldn't help noticing you standing out here in that beautiful dress." Diane runs with it; "This beautiful dress is a gift from my lover." "Then he is a fool to let you go out in it alone." Aw, I like that. See, this is why I don't hate this storyline like I ought to; I can actually buy Diane seeing something in Owen, the way he is around her. And then they get some good ol' swing, or bebop or something (any music invented before The Beatles? I have no idea what I'm talking about.) going, and dance. It's fairly remniscent of this scene, only in a dingy Cardiff carpark instead of on a spaceship hovering above London during the Blitz. I'll let you decide for yourself which of those is a more romantic situation. Mind you, for a dingy Cardiff car park, this one is holding its own pretty well, moon shining bright in the sky, like a big pizza pie and all that jazz, or bossa nova, or whatever. Owen gives Diane his coat, because I guess it's probably cold out, it being December, and also Wales. Diane says "Let's go home", and so they do, and again with the sexings. And then Owen's phone goes off, except now we've moved across to the Hub, and both the music and the phone are still going, so I guess it's actually Jack's phone. Oh, right, Ianto's discovered that John nicked his car keys, and is now not responding to calls.

They've got a tracer on Ianto's car, naturally, so it's pretty easy for Jack to track him down; "He's gone home." Back to the past; he has no home in the present. But the past isn't there any more, so really he has no home to go to. Jack follows his tracker and finds John trying to suffocate himself inside the car. Jack, in his usual dramatic way (though it's well deserved in this case), declares that John can't just throw it away like that, "Not without trying!" John tells him he doesn't understand, "I'm not as strong as you." Jack tries to tell him he does and explains that he was "born in the future, lived in your past", and John demands to know why he's "speaking in bloody riddles" and trying to keep him there when he has nothing left. Jack tries to persuade him that he can still do this, still find a job, start a family, but John already did that, "years ago. When I was meant to." John Ellis died when the Sky Gypsy was lost at sea in 1953. He doesn't have the strength to become someone new.

Owen and Diane are still making love, and there is not much left to the imagination here. I am watching Owen thrusting, repeatedly, and yet I am still giving this episode an A+, because they are making love and that is not something I thought we would see Owen do.

Garage of No Return. Jack tells John he's not going to leave him there. John tells him they'll wait then, "and the sun will rise. We'll have breakfast. Take a walk." Jack happily agrees, thinking he's getting through to him, but John carries on; "And I'll suffer it all and smile and wag my tail. And then, as soon as your back is turned, I'll make sure I do it properly." Jack tells him he won't get reunited; "It just goes black." John asks how he knows, Jack explains that he died once. And Suzie said the same thing, and I am perfectly happy to pretend that "Random Shoes" didn't happen, as we seem to be doing here. John asks again "Who are you?" and Jack tells him he's "a man. Like you, out of his time. Alone and scared." John asks how he copes; Jack shrugs that he has no choice. John points out that Jack may not have a choice, but he does. "Let me go with some dignity." Jack whispers "Are you scared?" and Barrowman is often pretty hammy with the heavy stuff, but he plays this whole scene perfectly.

Post-coitus, once more, Diane tells Owen he's being awfully quiet. And he pauses, trying to find the words, and says "I don't think I can do this any more." And I'm like, "Oh Owen, you dick." But then he goes on that he's been with many women and "done the fuck buddies thing", and this is not that. "All I see is you. All I can think about is what you're wearing, what you're thinking, what you're... What your face looks like when you come." And now I'm like "Oh, Owen. You dick", you know? "It's been, what, a week? And yet, I feel like, when I'm not with you... erm..." Honest to God, I thought he was going to start reciting "...Baby One More Time" right there. But no; "When I'm not with you, I lose focus. How have you done this to me? I'm scared. I'm fucking scared." Diane is rather moved by it all, and tells him "I love you too", and they kiss.

Let's pause for a second; "It's been, what, a week?" See, in actual, real world time, it's been 42 minutes and 45 seconds to the end of that scene. And that's counting the introductory spiel and opening credits, so we can knock a little time off that and make it 40 minutes. A week, in 40 minutes. Time has to rush by pretty quickly in TV shows, and if you don't handle it carefully, it'll seem ridiculous (except with, like, 24, which has its own entirely separate set of 'ridiculous'), but right here, considering they've got basically three different stories going at once here, it's quite extroardinary that they've managed to get them all across in such a short space of time without any one of them come across as rushed. That takes some pretty careful choosing of exactly which moments to show us, and where to leave us to fill in the blanks.

Jack sits in the car with John and holds his hadn as he slowly runs out of air and drifts out of consciousness. And lets go. Diane tells a sleeping Owen that "the thing about love is you're always at its mercy." Jack takes John's lifeless hand, again, and cries. Gwen (who, in a possible nod to the second season of Sugar Rush, is wearing a beret.) takes Emma into the airport, tells her not to talk to strangers, call her as soon as she arrives, always wear clean underwear, and so on. And lets go. Owen wakes to find a note on the pillow next to him, and reads it, though we don't get a cheesy Diane voiceover reading it out to us. They actually keep this one private, and I like that. Owen does not let go.

At the airport, Gwen has a moment of hesitance, and tells Emma she doesn't have to go. But, and this is the closest we come to cliché, I think, "If I don't, I'll always wonder what it's like." Gwen pulls her in for a tight hug, and finally hands her the ticket and really lets go. I hope we see her again some time, but I'll understand if we don't.

At the hangar, Diane's getting back into the Sky Gypsy when Owen's car pulls up and he gets out, telling her he can't let her do this, it's madness. Diane tells him if she listened to people who told her that, she'd never have achieved the things she did, back in the day. Owen tells her she belongs here, with him, but they both know that's not true. Diane tells him the weather conditions are the same as the day they took that fateful flight, "the Rift's going to open again, I can feel it!" Owen thinks she's trying to get home, which he tells her is impossible, but that's not it at all, she wants to go into the unknown. Into the future. Owen, in desparation, says he'll come with her, but that's not going to happen either. In the end, he's reduced to just begging her not to go, and, in case the role reversal wasn't already abundantly clear, she takes her flight scarf and drapes it around his neck before taking off and leaving him with these words; "Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for brekfast." OK, so, not really. What she actually says is "What memories I'm taking with me," and that is pretty good too.

And then we get a montage of all the moments that led us here, in each of the three stories, and Diane says "When you take off together, it's the next best thing to flying" again, because, man, that is a great line. And the moment we leave with is, of course, the same as the one we came in with; the Sky Gypsy flying into the future.

Next time: Weevils!