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28 days left and we're continuing on my countdown to Miracle Day Torchwood re-watch! I'll be watching an episode a day and blogging bits and thoughts. With any luck this is gonna read like an episode guide and commentary. Let's dive right in!

Episode: Small Worlds (Series 1 Episode 5)

Written By: Peter J. Hammond

Original Air Date: 12 November 2006

1 Sentence Sum-Up: Torchwood takes on "fairies" and Jack is forced to make a horrible compromise.

New Characters:

Jasmine Pierce (Lara Phillipart): A little girl designated as the next Chosen One. The "fairies", for lack of a better word, want to take her to become one of them. She wants to go with them. Creepy kid.

Lynn Pierce (Adrienne O'Sullivan): Jasmine's Mum. She's noticed her daughter is disturbed but not done much about it. She's mildly neglecting of her child and blinded by her love for her boyfriend who is an ass-hat. He doesn't even get a character description of his own. Or his name. He's a bad man who treats Jasmine like garbage.

Estelle (Eve Pearce): A woman from Jack's past. She believes Jack to be the son of the man she loved, we know he's the same man. Jack still loves her and looses her.


Favorite Quote

Jack: "You shouldn't be here."
Ianto: "Neither should you."

Never Noticed:

When chatting in the board room Owen is wearing a "bro-shirt" with odd calligraphy and the words "Fallen Angels" on it. Very odd and not particularly in line with what I typically consider to be Owen's style.

When we see the world through the eyes of the "Fairies" which happens several times the world is often filtered to show that we are seeing it from their eyes. But the filters change. At one point the fairies see in yellow tint, at another the world is green and another time entirely the world looks completely normal. I'm not sure what the point of the inconsistency there was; I must assume it was intentional.

The road leading to the old forest, or where the old forest once was, is called "Old Forest Road". How fitting.

When the "fairies" attack the party Jack and Gwen end up on the floor and Gwen is spooning Jack. I don't know if this is the best time for Gwen to be putting the moves on Jack. And Jack isn't having it; he gets right up and walks away.


WTF Moments:

Gwen is such a brat. When Jack takes her to Estelle's talk and they sit through exactly 2 minutes of talk about fairies, Gwen is fed up and annoyed. First of all why is she being so ridiculous? So what if she doesn't believe in fairies – she has to be disrespectful of those who do? And she's stubborn about her doubts through the episode in a really childish way.

Why do people keep doubting Jack? Why does his team have such little trust? And why is Gwen so disbelieving of everything? No one takes Jack seriously and when Jack has to make the only decision he could, they all judge him – condemn him – but none could supply a better course of action. Excuse my language, but that's outright fuckery. How about a little loyalty and faith in your leader, guys!

And Estelle. First of all, she's guilty of doubting Jack and then once she finally realizes he was right she disobeys the one thing he asked of her, to stay put. And why? To go find her cat!  Ridiculous. And then she is drowned in her garden. Guys, the "fairies" can control the elements, not people. If she just CLOSED HER MOUTH she would have not drowned. The place she was in wouldn't have flooded before Jack got to her and, sure, the "Fairies" could have tried a different method, but where would be the fun in that? I don't want to say she deserved to die, but...

Random Rants:

*SPOILER* You might not want to read this if you haven't seen Children of Earth.

Was anyone else thinking about Children of Earth and tragic foreshadowing? Jack being forced to give up a child to save the world? There was the incident in his past, as well as having to consider giving up more in COE. Not to mention his ultimate sacrifice of Stephen. It's one child for all of the world. It seems a no-brainer but at the same time it seems unforgivable. I wonder if Ianto, who was so adamant about them not getting even one child would say about Jack destroying the 456 with that method. Way to betray the man you love the second after he died. I am not saying whether or not I agree with his decision, my only point is I'm not sure Ianto would. Cue Teaboy rolling in his grave.

MVC (Most Valuable Character):

I'm going to say Jasmine. Jasmine really is the focus of this episode and ties so much of it together. She's incredibly creepy and she's the Chosen One, surely that makes her a shoe-in for MVC.

MVA (Most Valuable Actor):

John Barrowman. I know, I know. I am biased, I love him. But really, am I wrong? He went through a hell of a lot of emotions in this. We saw nostalgic Jack with Estelle and also Jack in love. We saw terrified Jack when faced with a threat he couldn't stop. We saw outraged Jack at the "fairies" wanting to take Jasmine. And we saw heartbroken Jack when he lost Estelle. Brilliant man crying from John. We saw brooding alcohol drinking Jack and contemplative in his discussion with Tosh. We saw tender Jack with Ianto, we saw tortured Jack with his past and we even caught a glimpse of cheeky Jack in the boardroom talking about magic mushrooms. Really there was A LOT to act and John Barrowman met the challenge. Bravo.

Episode Grade:

B
This episode was solid. It was well written, well acted and so forth but it doesn't stick out to me as a favorite. Mostly the impact it made was terrifying me. "Fairies" will never be the same and the wind is never just the wind. B it is.

Tomorrow's Episode: Countrycide  (Series 1, Episode 6). Remember, I'll be live tweeting my re-watch on the @BarrowmanDay twitter at 12:00am PST (US - West coast) and 8:00am GMT (UK). Hope you all can watch with me and chat.

That's it for today! Hope you enjoyed my run down. What did you all think of this episode? Did you notice anything new? What grade would you give it? xx

<3Dana

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Terreflil
6/11/2011 03:54:33 pm

"Creepy kid." ROTFLMFAO

"I'm not saying she deserved to die..." AHAHAHAH

"Cue Teaboy rolling in his grave." TOO. SOON.

I like the episode but I like your blog better. I give it an A+.

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Frizzstar
6/14/2011 03:20:07 am

This is an episode that is one of my favourites (I have a few) lol. I really feel for Jack when he looses Estelle. I just want to hug him.

When he gives up Jasmine yes it was a hard decision but Jasmine wanted to go, she had the choice Jack asked her. He didn't just 'hand her over'. It was the only thing he could do to save the world, but he gave Jasmine a choice first.

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