After thinking he was being given a career-making (and history-making) opportunity, John Frobisher finally discovered just how thoroughly he was being screwed. There is no winning with the 456. I can only imagine that twelve children were secretly handed over to them in 1965 because the alternative would have been so much worse. Now the prime minister has convinced the representatives from other countries that it would be beneficial for him not to participate in negotiations with the 456, who now want 10% of Earth’s children. Again, I don’t imagine anything good will come of saying no. Frobisher’s choices seem to be limited to imperiling the planet or handing over a whole lot of children. Either way, he’ll be vilified, and the prime minister has someone to blame other than himself. Meanwhile, we still don’t know much about the 456 other than they don’t talk much and are given to projectile vomiting.
Torchwood, now thoroughly annoyed at being hunted like criminals, decided to rebuild the Hub by acting like the criminals they were accused of being. Petty theft and credit card fraud can apparently net you a pretty sweet set-up. Ianto even found Jack a new coat to replace the one destroyed in the explosion. Jack tried to use his new position to out-threaten Frobisher, only to discover that Frobisher’s people were holding Jack’s daughter and grandson to ensure Jack’s silence regarding the events of 1965. Frobisher may have prevented Jack from going to the press, but he couldn’t prevent the rest of Torchwood from finding out. Gwen found Clement McDonald and brought him back to the new Hub. When Clem saw Jack, he instantly recognized Jack as the man who handed over the busload of orphans to the 456 in 1965. I would say I was shocked, but Jack has done some pretty ruthless things before in the name of the greater good (like handing little Jasmine over to the faeries in “Small Worlds”). The 456 would have to have presented a pretty sizeable threat for Jack to sacrifice twelve children like that.
My only disappointment in the mini-series so far is that the plot has been moving so fast that there hasn’t been time to follow up on all the repercussions of what’s happened so far. I liked that the show reminded us twice that just because Jack can recover from any physical trauma doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. However, no mention has been made yet of anything destroyed in the Hub explosion aside from the computers and software. I can see none of the team shedding a tear over the Weevils in containment who surely died, but Jack’s little brother Gray was still in stasis in the Hub. Considering that Jack felt so guilty over what happened to Gray that he allowed himself to be buried alive for nearly two thousand years, I can’t believe Gray hasn’t even been mentioned. Of course, it’s probably for the best if Gray didn’t survive. That poor kid was far too broken to fix.
I guess tonight we’ll find out what’s worse than handing over children to the 456.
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