I came here to bury Torchwood: Miracle Day and explain to you why it was sucking and how I was probably not going to be watching any more. Then a funny thing happened. The last episode was easily the best episode of the season and it actually kicked the plot forward (by going backwards). This last episode restored my faith in the show enough that I’m willing to stick around for the last 3 episodes. So, let’s revisit what’s gone wrong this season and what went right this last episode:

While I enjoyed the pilot episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day(my review), as well as the previous season Torchwood: Children of Earth, the next 4 episodes of the series seemed like they were running in place. The characters were, for the most part, running around doing and accomplishing very little. And they were doing it very well either. Mekhi Phifer and Bill Pullman have been criminally underused. They’ve been given poor material and that has helped drag the series down. There were also a lot of head-scratching moments, such as Jack running off for a quick shag when the fate of the world is in their hands. It felt as if the creative team, which did so well in five episodes of Children of Earth, didn’t know what to do with ten episodes. There seemed to be a lot of padding and felt as if they were ignoring the main story for too long. In short, it was boring.

Then the last episode happened. In ‘Immortal Sins’ we go back in time to the late 20s with Jack running into and Italian immigrant Angelo (literally) after Angelo steals Jack’s visa. Jack, sensing an attraction, rescues Angelo and the two start an affair. Jack sets up Angelo and himself as people who can get things done without being seen to a mob boss and then the truth comes out. Jack is traveling back in time to save Roosevelt from being attacked by a parasite that slowly (over years) causes madness. The idea is to incapacitate Roosevelt just when he’s needed for WW-II. After destroying the parasite, Angelo is captured after he watches Jack die (without knowing Jack’s secret).

Fast forward to Angelo getting out of jail and Jack is waiting for him. Jack realizes that he has more of a connection to Angelo than he thought, but Angelo is suspicious that Jack is alive. Then, in private, Angelo can’t find any scars on Jack and he viciously knifes him. Jack wakes up to being tied up in a cellar with a bunch of Italian immigrants who believe Jack is the devil. This is one of the scariest scenes I can remember, with the scared immigrants knifing and shooting and flaying Jack and stealing his blood. Jack wakes up and sees three men agreeing to buy him and doing a triangle handshake. Eventually Angelo comes back to free Jack who escapes Angelo and is gone.

Back to the present, Gwen is taking a kidnapped Jack to turn him over in exchange for her family. She is starting to realize that Torchwood has been fun for her and made her feel superior to others, but with a family, it might not be the best thing. Jack and Gwen are rescued by Rex and Esther, but the bad guys tell Jack that he’ll want to come with them. And the reason is Angelo.

This sets up all kinds of questions for the last three episodes. How does Angelo still alive and is he responsible for Miracle Day? What’s up with the triangle men? How will Jack and Gwen save the day? And what will Gwen do with her family and Torchwood? The last episode was so good, that it has me excited going forward, rather than dreading the boredom. At this point, a good finish can redeem this series, which I wouldn’t have expected just a few days ago.