Jack Harkness
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In the episode, a team called Torchwood investigate a concentration camp in California where sick and injured people who are unable to die are sent to. Meanwhile, Torchwood team member Gwen Cooper ( Eve Myles) returns to Wales to try to save her father Geraint ( William Thomas) from one of these camps.
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was the fifth episode of Series 4 of Torchwood. It was written by Jane Espenson, and directed by Guy Ferland. It saw the creation of the categories of life to work around the loss of death, and also featured the demise of Vera Juarez.
Torchwood goes undercover and discovers the terrible truth behind the miracle.
In City Hall, Washington D.C., Vera Juarez is told the medical panels are over and a report was submitted by the Health and Human Services Secretary directly to Congress. The categories of life have been unanimously approved for enactment. There are three categories for the living, since no one dies. Horrified at what the legislation may mandate, Vera calls Rex Matheson to join the covert investigation Torchwood and he are making.
Gwen Cooper returns to the United Kingdom under the alias of Yvonne Pallister. She finds her father has been taken to an overflow camp. Rhys Williams meets her, disguised as her driver. Her mother has prepared for Gwen's arrival and found her father at the Cowbridge Camp, a formerly derelict army barracks, closed down in 1996 — now an overflow camp for patients in South Wales. The next day Gwen travels with Andy Davidson to Cowbridge. Andy remarks that though the system is "bloody chaos, at least it works", relieving the pressure on geriatrics and other hospital departments. Gwen asks, "Who's paying for all this? PhiCorp. You got health care being run by private business and believe me, that's just the start of your problems."
Gwen heads to admin, demanding the release of her father. A military officer suggests she fill in a claims form. Andy supports her by fabricating a story about her father being removed under police authority. Told the camp is not under the Welsh police, she is handed a package titled "Overflow Camp Health Care Provider Framework". Gwen turns this over to see PhiCorp's logo. Under threat of arrest, Gwen, Andy and Rhys leave Cowbridge. Gwen, infuriated at the red tape stopping her after everything she's done with Torchwood Three, tells Rhys, "We're gonna break in here, we're gonna find my father and we're gonna get him out — tonight."
In Venice Beach, California, Esther Drummond confides in Jack Harkness about her insecurities at being "useless" to the team. She mentions the death of her mother in 2003 and asks Jack about his mother. He replies vaguely. As Esther asks Jack where he's from, they receive text messages from Rex. They meet Rex and are introduced to Vera. Vera mentions she was lucky to catch a flight because most of them were full. There's a Miracle Rally later that night.
Back at the makeshift Torchwood "hub", Vera tells off Rex and explains she flew across the country to support her patients who are now being held against their will in the overflow camps. They smile and kiss.
Reconvening with Jack and Esther, Vera asks, "Am I Torchwood now?". Jack replies, "Welcome aboard". The group, including Gwen via video conference, clarify how the categories of life work. Category one is anyone without brain function or who would have ordinarily died; category three is people with no injuries; category two is everyone in between — people alive and functioning with an illness/injury that will persist, but won't die. Rex notes the categories are arbitrary — he himself was a category "one", but has become a "two".
•Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
•Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
•Rex Matheson - Mekhi Phifer
•Esther Drummond - Alexa Havins
•Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
•Oswald Danes - Bill Pullman
Politics
•A report on the findings of the panels has been sent to Congress. The HHS Secretary took it directly to the President. •Three categories of life have been determined. They are being rolled out across America and Europe. •The United Nations sanctions the new category system. •Overflow camps have been set up for Category Ones and Category Twos. •The category scheme is also underway in the United Kingdom, where the Prime Minister declares it a new age of care and compassion. •A newspaper article on Mary's wall says that Welsh MPs could be told they can't vote for England. •Esther gets in-doctored photos of the San Pedro Camp from NORAD. •At the Miracle Rally, the Vice President will introduce the President who will speak live from the Oval Office.
Individuals
•Vera Juarez joins the Torchwood team. •Gwen continues to use the alias "Yvonne Pallister", using her fake passport at UK Border Control. •Rhys, dressed as a chauffeur, is given the alias "Mr Sloane". •Mary Cooper, Gwen's mother, is actively assisting Torchwood to help secure the release of her husband from the overflow camps. •Esther's mother died in 2003. •In jest, Jack refers to Esther as "Useless Esther". •Jack refers to Gwen as "Agent Cooper". •Jack refers to the Torchwood team as "freedom fighters". •Rhys signs up as a driver and, as "Yvonne", Gwen becomes a nurse. •Vera phones Washington and gets overflow camp observer status. •Esther refers to Jack as "Category Jack" and "Mortal Man". •Jessica MacCauley arrived early from Redlands to attend the Miracle Rally. •Oswald is fourth in the Miracle Rally running order and 90 minutes before the President, with the keyword being "Revelation". He was later cut down to 90 seconds. •Jilly asks Eugene to confirm Oswald is arriving at gate six. •Rachel questions Esther as to what happened to Rosanna. •On the phone, Jilly shows anger at Steve who keeps trying to charge her. •Maloney says he has a line on Hilary Duff, which he feels good about. Vera initially believes he is talking about Hillary Clinton. •Geraint Cooper suffers another heart attack by being moved too soon from his bed and enters a deep coma, warranting his reclassification from Category 2 to Category 1.
Locations
•Gwen flies into Cardiff Airport. •Mary has written on a post-it that the Bristol Channel is protected and all camps have the PhiCorp logo. •Beyond the Bristol Channel, Carmarthen Bay and Barnstaple Bay are mentioned. Bideford Bay is another name for Barnstaple Bay. •Other prominent locations on Mary's map include Llanelli, Ammanford, Neath, Maesteg, Port Talbot, Pyle, Porthcawl, Rhondda, Aberdare, Mountain Ash, Merthyr Tydfil, Barry, Abertillery, Pontypool, Abergavenny, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucester, Ilfracombe, Exmoor, Barnstaple and Bridgwater. •Everyone's flying into Los Angeles for the Miracle Rally. •While in Venice, California, the Torchwood team are staying at Waldorf Apartments.
•Owen's Theme is heard at the beginning of the episode.
•Vera's death in this episode is very similar to that of previous Torchwood medic Owen Harper's death in Exit Wounds. Both Owen and Vera were trapped in a state of "immortality", Owen being undead and Vera undying. Both had bullet wounds in their upper torsos. Both were vaporised trying to save other people: Owen was killed by coolant while trying to stop a nuclear meltdown, and Vera by an incinerator while trying to save category one patients. Each had a love interest, also suffering from mortal wounds to the chest, witness their deaths through an electronic device. Toshiko Sato was suffering from a bullet wound to the abdomen and saw the room Owen was in flooded with coolant on a computer monitor, while Rex had a hole in his chest and saw Vera burn through the glass in the door and through his video camera. However, whereas Rex survived his wounds, Toshiko did not, nor was she physically present to see Owen die.
•When Vera calls Rex, he triumphantly says he knew she would, having promised to do so in TV: Escape to LA [+]Jim Gray and John Shiban, Torchwood series 4 (Starz, 2011)..
•Esther asks of Jack's mother, but he tells her he has no idea what has happened to her, having been unable to restore his memories from the events in TV: Adam [+]Catherine Tregenna, Torchwood series 2 (BBC Two, 2008)..
•When Rex introduces Vera to Jack, Rex expresses his doubt that he is really "Captain Jack Harkness". This recalls how Jack took the name from the real Jack Harkness he was inspired by and used during World War II as shown in The Empty Child [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005). and whom he eventually met in TV: Captain Jack Harkness [+]Catherine Tregenna, Torchwood series 1 (BBC Three, 2007)..
•MRSA staph infections are mentioned again, having previously come up in TV: Escape to LA [+]Jim Gray and John Shiban, Torchwood series 4 (Starz, 2011)..
•This episode was released worldwide in a box set containing all ten episodes of Torchwood: Miracle Day. In the United Kingdom, it was released on Region 2 DVD and Region Free Blu-ray on 14 November 2011. In Australia, it was released in Region 4 DVD and Region B Blu-Ray on 1 December 2011. In New Zealand, the same sets were released on 7 December 2011. In North America, it was released on Region 1 DVD and Region Free Blu-Ray on 3 April 2012.
•It was also released in the Series 1-4 boxset (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011.)
With John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Mekhi Phifer, Alexa Havins. Dr. Juarez joins the new Torchwood after category guidelines are released for patient care. Esther and Rex go undercover to find out what is happening to Category 1 patients being sent to 'modules' at overflow centers.
- (667)
- Action, Drama, Mystery
- Guy Ferland
- 2011-08-05
Aug 5, 2011 · Directed by Guy Ferland. Runtime 55 minutes. Time Travel Present Day. Tropes: (Potential Spoilers!) Locations Wales California Earth. UK Viewers 5.17 million. Synopsis. Torchwood goes undercover and discovers the terrible truth behind the miracle. Login to track and rate! Signal Strength: 30% What's this? Characters & Enemies. Also featuring:
Aug 6, 2011 · Missed last week's episode of Torchwood? Read our Torchwood: Miracle Day recap to find out what happened in The Categories of Life episode.
Aug 6, 2011 · "The Categories of Life" is one of those scary science fiction concepts that also act as a fascinating social commentary. The poor conditions that the Category 2 patients, those who are sick and...
Aug 8, 2011 · The Torchwood team explain the three new categories of life: Category 1 - those who should have died and / or are brain-dead, Category 2 - the injured, and Category 3 - everyone else.
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