I admit I might simply be a big softy with a bigger heart when it comes down to suffering. I could probably put it down to that quality in my character that made ‘Meat’ such an effective episode for me. Having spent the first three episodes in limbo, credited but no apparent, Rhys got his ample first outing for the season and did an effective job of stepping on toes and revealing the bad guys. The rest of the cast turned in fine performances, with Ianto continuing to shine with a couple of one liners and the CGI whale-alien doing a good job at roping in my sympathy and empathy.

A tale of just how callous humanity can be in pursuit of profit, ‘Meat’ showed Torchwood doing a very necessary task that, as Owen rightly highlighted, probably wouldn’t turn around the dark fate of Earth in the 21st Century. Like ‘Small Worlds‘ in the first season, Jack seemed resigned to taking the least pleasant but necessary path in the end, though Owen beat him to making the actual decision on the fate of the whale-alien. Poor thing.

Was there something ‘Countrycide’-like in the plotting? The team investigates, they get deep and end up captured, one of the team manages to crash into the midst of the proceedings and save the day… Maybe, or maybe not.

There is no other course open to us but to fight it out. Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight on to the end.

‘To The Last Man’ echoed the better episodes of the latter part of last season. The episode showed characters with character, a story with a purpose, and people feeling some genuine emotions. Yes, you have to skim over some of the deeper feelings and put some things into overdrive to fit into the limited episode length – but a good episode overall.

How Toshiko could fall in love so desperately and fully having met Tommy only three times before doesn’t sit well – yes, she’s a techno-geek who doesn’t get out much, but still. She fell for the alien last season because of some telepathic pushing… but here she seemed to have gone head-over-heels quite naturally.

The rift and the time loop don’t make sense of course… Torchwood in 1918 would have needed to take Tommy into their custody without reason to have established the loop in the first place… or did I miss something in the back story. I have tio admit that 1918 Torchwood got me excited and I’m tempted to use them in a roleplaying session or two. The premise seems to fit ‘Call of Cthulhu‘ perfectly – a game set in the 1920s concerned with ancient other dimensional monsters and the cults that seek to set them free. The retro-gadgets were great and the whole stiff upper lip attitude quite at odds with the team of the present day. Brilliant.

I’m liking this Season a lot better so far – by episode three last year I had started to lose the will to live…