"Torchwood: Miracle Day, episode 8: End of the Road" Starring: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Mekhi Phifer, Alexa Havins Russell promises a major information dump in this episode. Chrissy: I notice he doesn't say we'll actually UNDERSTAND that information though. Diandra: How long have you been watching this show? He also says we're in the home stretch and Torchwood, as well as the entire global economy basically, is starting to collapse and it's unclear how many will survive this. Diandra: Remind me again why I'm recapping this now, as the whole world is on the brink of a meltdown? Chrissy: Because you are a masochist? Diandra: Right. The team is driven to a mansion in Nevada that the chyron identifies as the Colosanto residence. The woman who met Jack and Gwen from the end of the last episode tells the security guards out front that they all agreed to leave their weapons behind, so...it's cool. Rex says yeah, but Esther is going to stay outside so she can keep an "open relay" back to Los Angeles so they have a record of what is happening just in case they get any ideas about making Torchwood disappear completely. The woman sighs and gives in. Inside, she tells Jack that Angelo talked about him all the time. The immortal man from Old New York. Rex blurts that the whole world is messed up right now because a couple gay guys had a bad falling out? Really? Gwen grumbles at him to get back in his cave. Chrissy: Oh, now I see why you liked her from the beginning of these recaps. You remembered her as she is NOW, not as she was in season one. Diandra: Probably. The woman ignores them, continuing to tell Jack that he was inspired to spend the rest of his life trying to find a way to live forever because Jack showed him it was possible. Well...yeah, in the distant future on a distant world. Did he not catch that caveat? Jack concludes that he found a way and is still alive and young now then. The woman says he's still alive, but pointedly doesn't agree to the "still young" part. She turns the corner into a room where an old man is laying in a hospital bed attached to machines and says "my grandfather waited all this time to live forever. And his wish came true...too late." As Jack is gaping at this and having flashbacks of young, beautiful Angelo, we cut to the bleeping credits. Jack asks what's wrong with Angelo. His granddaughter says basically everything because he's REALLY old. She dismisses the nurse while Jack checks the old man's eye to verify that he has the same distinctive mark that basically looks like a permanent broken vessel. Granddaughter says he must be horrified by all of this. Being confronted with such an ancient version of the man he knew. Jack snorts and points out that it's kind of hard to be ageist when he's really MUCH older still. Chrissy: Good because we've seen what YOU are going to look like when you're older and it is far more disturbing. Rex, who still insists on making faces every time Jack mentions how old he is, waves his phone and says he's keeping an open line so Esther can hear what's going on and know they're safe. Granddaughter points out that she's heard a lot about Torchwood technology. An open cell phone line is the best they've got right now? Really? Rex sneers that they had to leave L.A. in a hurry, so their options are kind of limited. Also...you know...most of the technology Angelo would know about was probably part of the smoking crater that used to be the original hub. Rex is distracted by the newsfeed on one of the televisions. He asks what the hell is going on with the stock market. Granddaughter looks at it like...'uh...did I say I'm an analyst or something? I don't know. All the down arrows look pretty bad though.' She says this has been an inevitability since Miracle Day. Which is probably part of the plan. Gwen asks what the hell this is then and why they had to put a gun to her daughter's head for it. Revenge? Granddaughter says they weren't trying to hurt anyone. She was "carrying out my grandfather's final wish to keep you safe." Jack, realizing she means him, says wait...they were protecting him? Gwen sneers that she has a funny way of accomplishing that end. Granddaughter says Angelo is the one who cares about Jack. She doesn't, really. But she thinks he might be important to all of this, so she would like to keep him intact. By all indications, Eve Myles forgets her line here and everyone decides that the spluttering half-sentences she utters followed by "bollocks. Start again" sounds perfectly in character and it becomes incorporated into the scene as an ad- lib. "Any chance of a drink," she asks. "I could murder a pint of bitter right now." Chrissy: Yes, I definitely see why you liked her from the start. I think I might be getting a bit of a girl crush on her. Out in the van, Esther smirks and mutters that she'll have a vodka. Chrissy: Okay, still not all that fond of her. Sorry. Someone puts a gun to the head of one of the security guys outside and marches him away. Gwen notes that all the pictures on the mantelpiece are of Jack. She notes the background of some of them is clearly Torchwood hub or Cardiff. Then she stops on a picture where he has a ridiculous mustache and asks when the hell THAT was. "The 70s," Jack says, correctly assuming that that explains everything. Chrissy: He moonlighted as a porn star. Diandra: To the surprise of nobody. Gwen notes that Angelo must have been watching him for decades. Jack looks at Angelo and adds that he never actually tried to make contact with him though. Granddaughter claims that's because his pride made him ashamed to face Jack looking like he does. Gwen points out that the way she's talking suggests Angelo didn't actually cause the Miracle. Granddaughter says no, he lived to be over a hundred the old fashioned way. By controlling things like body temperature, blood pressure and counting calories. She muses that prolonging life is actually easy, but nobody has figured out how to profit from it, so it's not widely advertised. She says immortality isn't as impossible as it sounds, really. "You are not the only remarkable thing on this Earth, Jack." She points out that most people consider the jellyfish to be immortal because it seems able to reverse age and start over indefinitely as far as anyone can tell. If you want to go with less complex creatures, there are things in the ocean that have been around since the dinosaurs. She adds that within the human body, cancer cells are immortal and stem cells can, in theory, divide forever. And she knows all this because it's part of the research Angelo has been conducting. "They all did. Because my grandfather wasn't alone." Jack asks who the "others" were. She says the legend is it started with three men from different families. The three who "came to witness your resurrection". Jack flashes back on the three guys making a pact right in front of him. She says they "formed an alliance to purchase the power of resurrection." When Jack escaped, they swore they would find "the gift" again. Jack asks what their names were. Ablemarch, Costerdane and Frines. Rex repeats that for Esther, who starts a search, but has him clarify how "coster" and "Frines" are spelled. Chrissy: Jesus, have you never done research in your life? Diandra: I see I'm rubbing off on you. Chrissy: She's a desk jokey for the CIA. She MUST have to research things occasionally. And anyone who has tried to do any genealogy research at all knows spelling is subject to ridiculous whims. Remind me to tell you the story about how the person taking census gave my grandfather an entirely different name for some reason. Rex tells her to track down all the members of those three families. She scoffs that they're talking about NINE decades later here. Um...yeah. It's called genealogy and I've traced members of my family a century older than that. You know what? Just take this shit to a librarian if you don't know what you're doing with it. Chrissy: That's what I'm saying. Rex is like 'just do it already and quit bitching.' Gwen takes up the Exposition Fairy's baton and asks what the families did back in 1928 after making that pact. Granddaughter says even though they didn't have Jack anymore, they had the blood they had collected. They just had to figure out how to use it. Jack snorts that there's nothing special about his blood. It doesn't make him immortal. Rex pipes up to ask why the families want to kill him then. Granddaughter says whatever their plans were didn't include Angelo. Possibly because they were homophobic. She notes that obviously he settled down with a woman at some point in order to have started a family that includes her because that's just what people did in the bad old days when you weren't allowed to be gay, left handed or having sex with someone from a different race. But he never hid the fact that he still loved Jack and the three men who made the pact didn't like that. So he just watched them from a distance like he did with Jack. Gwen notes that he must have made pretty good money considering the palace they're standing in. Granddaughter reminds the audience that Jack gave him enough warning of what would happen during the 20th century for him to weather the depression and build a nice little nest egg. Gwen says yeah, that's nice. Returning to how three guys in Manhattan 80 years ago somehow turned the whole world immortal today. Granddaughter says they intercepted a message in 1998. Just one word. "Blessing". Jack perks up and says he's already heard about that. Obviously the three families found it. Whatever it is. Rex asks how Esther is doing on those names. She says um...actually...she can't find any record of anyone with any of those names. Literally nothing. Like nobody by those names has ever existed. She is cut off as Friedkin (remember him? The asshole who set all the dinosaurs loose in the 90s?) appears at the window of the car and points a gun at her. She hangs up reluctantly. Rex calls her name a few times, concludes something is wrong and runs to the window. A severe looking black woman arrives in another truck and Friedkin asks her when "Shapiro" is getting here. She says he was right behind them coming out of the airport and they have five minutes before the CIA descends on the place. Friedkin thinks that will be enough. He pulls his gun and orders one of his goons to bring Esther before heading for the front door. Rex demands Granddaughter tell them where they can find the three families quickly. She says yeah, well...that's impossible. The whole idea was that they are basically a secret society. She just finishes saying cryptically that the best place to hide is in plain sight when Friedkin and his goons burst in, guns waving, announcing that they are all under arrest for violating the Miracle Security Act. Which is basically equivocal to committing treason apparently. He orders Rex to come with him right now so they can have a word. As one of the goons is handcuffing Rex, he grumbles that if anybody is working for the three families, it figures it would be Friedkin. Friedkin threatens to turn this little standoff into "an unfortunate number of category ones". Gwen tries to stop the goon from marching Rex away because immortality has really made her reckless lately and Jack jumps in before the woman who is apparently Friedkin's second in command can shoot her. The goon can't resist punching Rex a couple times before leaving him with Friedkin in some other room of the house. Friedkin says this will have to be quick because Shapiro is on his way. Rex says oh, sure. Better dispose of them fast before the real CIA gets here. Back in Angelo's room, Esther asks Second in Command how they found them. She says Rex made a condolence call to Dr. Juarez' brother ten hours ago. They've been tracking his phone since. Chrissy: I'm sure the irony that he got them caught for doing exactly what he yelled at Esther for doing is lost on neither of them. Back in the other room, Friedkin is playing Bond villain, gloating that he always knew Rex would make a mistake, but he never figured it would be grounded in sympathy, of all things. He puts his gun to Rex's head and recalls the taunts Rex made about finding the part of the brain where memories or personality are. Outside, Shapiro arrives and demands to know why Friedkin is here. One of the other suits with him explains that Rex was "his division" and he probably feels responsible. Shapiro grumbles that he should have waited anyway. Gwen is whispering to Esther that this doesn't make sense. Rex would know they were tracing him. See: the argument Chrissy was referring to. Rex asks Friedkin how much the families are paying him. Friedkin says it's not about the MONEY. The television in Angelo's room comes to life NOW for some reason, revealing that Rex is wearing the Torchwood lenses. Friedkin is ranting about how the families don't just PAY him, they OWN him and nobody can escape them. Second in Command panics and asks what is going on and who is responsible for it. Rex chuckles and says he's glad Friedkin mentioned money, because they are listening and they're going to LOVE that. Gwen realizes Rex stole the lenses from her and laughs. Yeah, but that still doesn't explain how he managed to turn them on at just the right dramatic moment with his hands tied behind his back. Or why they suddenly have sound capacity. Chrissy: Shh...no thinking. Diandra: I'm starting to think I should just make a recording of you saying that and play it every so often. Chrissy: Yeah, but then you wouldn't need me here to keep you entertained. Diandra: True. Shapiro arrives and Esther announces that Friedkin is in the middle of a confession right now. Shapiro looks at the screen, where Friedkin is still ranting about how they checked Rex for bugs and nobody could possibly be listening in. Rex suggests he read the Torchwood file. Particularly the part about the contact lens tech that somehow magically upgrades itself every so often. Apparently. Which Rex explains now includes a feature that starts transmitting the signal on every frequency within 100 feet once his heart rate hits 120. Chrissy: On the flip side of that, if it drops below fifty, they blow up. Diandra: Nice random 90s reference. Chrissy: Hey, whatever happened to that thing you had for Keanu Reeves anyway? Diandra: Had to get in one more crush-shaming from my childhood before we finish these recaps, huh? Chrissy: Should I go for the trifecta and bring up Russell Johnson? Diandra: Oh, come on! What straight girl DIDN'T have a crush on the professor from Gilligan's Island? Chrissy: I don't know. One that was young enough to be his granddaughter maybe? Diandra: I was, like, ten. I didn't know how old he was in real life. And as long as we're going here, I also had - and still have, really - a crush on Harrison Ford. Chrissy: Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure EVERYBODY had a crush on him at some point, so I can give you a pass on that. Friedkin realizes Rex planned this all along. Rex says yep. He was just waiting for Torchwood to gather enough information, but once the Colansantos became involved he realized he needed to "get back inside" and...wait, what? Friedkin digs the gun into his wound and Rex yelps, then snarls that it's over and Friedkin is not a killer. Friedkin looks like maybe he'll prove him wrong for a second, then just sighs and compliments Rex on that little play. Sometime later, Shapiro shakes his head at Friedkin as some agents drag him out in handcuffs before joining Rex. Rex asks if Shapiro honestly thought he was a traitor this whole time. Shapiro non answers that there was evidence going back ten years or more. Whoever planted that is a hell of a lot smarter than Friedkin. And they are "operating on all sorts of different levels". Rex thinks they have them "on the run" now though. Shapiro isn't so sure about that and demands Rex start over from the beginning and explain to him just what the hell is going on, exactly. Sometime later, again. Probably. Shapiro and Rex come back in Angelo's room and Gwen demands to know if Rex planned this whole "trap Friedkin" thing from the beginning. Rex says no, he came up with it when the Colasanto people showed up. She says next time a little warning might be nice. Shapiro is like 'okay, can everybody shut up and focus here?' He vows to "deal" with Gwen later. Chrissy: Yeah, good luck with that. He turns to "the Colasanto woman", who he finally names: Olivia. Olivia notes that the CIA don't have authority to operate on American soil, which might be the British writers mistaking rarity with law. Yes, this would be FBIs jurisdiction, but it involves CIA agents and intelligence on something happening worldwide, so... Shapiro grumbles at a couple of his men to take her away to one of their safe houses and call her lawyers. "So I can piss on them. Long and hard." Chrissy: I think you might actually be looking for a prostitute there. Diandra: Probably a Russian one. He turns to Gwen and Jack and asks Rex if these are the "clowns" from Torchwood. Gwen sneers that Torchwood has done more work on figuring this thing out than the CIA. He identifies her as "that English girl...Cooper." She snaps that she's A) not English and B) not a girl. She stops just short of calling him an American pig. Esther jumps in to diffuse the situation before she is arrested and mutters at her to back down. Shapiro announces that he's sick of her already and asks if they can deport her. Chrissy: Can we just call him Trump then? Diandra: No. Jack and Rex protest and Rex, who has obviously learned how to butter Shapiro up by playing docile, gently argues that Gwen has proven extremely useful so far and worth keeping as an ally. "Did you sleep with her," the asshole asks. Gwen squawks with outrage. Rex just politely says no. Shapiro notes that women are usually only this bitter after Rex has slept with them. Chrissy: Projecting again, are we? He sees Esther looking around awkwardly and asks if SHE slept with him. Chrissy: Well, you're just a dirty old man, aren't you? "SOMEBODY HAS SLEPT WITH SOMEBODY AND I WANT DETAILS." Diandra: Um...well...the British guy with the American accent banged the desiccated old living corpse on the bed back there... Chrissy: "I DO NOT WANT ANY DETAILS OR TO EVER PICTURE A 100 YEAR OLD MAN'S PENIS AGAIN." The creepy pervert continues that Rex said Esther did a really "good job out in the field" and he figures that means she does anal. Sorry, no, scratch that last part. He says HE thinks she deserted her post and is therefore docking her pay. Wait...when was that? Then he turns to Jack and asks what the deal is with the Red Baron here. "You got Snoopy up your ass?" Okay, A) wrong nationality, B) wrong war (although Jack was probably in that one too) and C) there is a reason why every person in the room responds to that last part by giggling. Jack ignores it and suggests maybe they quit wasting time here and track down those names of the people who caused the Miracle. Shapiro scoffs at the idea of Torchwood working for the CIA. Jack suggests maybe it should go the other way around, then, because, just to remind everybody, they've been the ones doing most of the work on this already. Shapiro snorts, but says they have a plane waiting and if they pool their resources maybe they can get this over with faster. He starts marching out the door. Jack asks what they're going to do about the "very sick man" on the hospital bed. Shapiro reminds him that nobody is dying still, so his nurse can take care of him. He gives him two minutes and everyone but Jack, Gwen and one guard clear the room. Gwen asks if they just joined the CIA. Jack says yeah, probably. Outside, Shapiro barks at somebody to "take that fat ass traitor to the airport and put him in cargo." Friedkin is shoved in the same truck as his Second in Command and Olivia, who notes that the families aren't "kind" to people who "let them down" and she wouldn't want to be him right now. He bemoans the fact that he did a lot of good in his career and this is all he's going to be remembered for. Chrissy: So do you deliberately seek out these roles, Wayne, or do they just come to you now? He claims he said no to the families many times. Stopped them from doing things. Chrissy: Yeah, but they can just find any idiot to dispose of a dead hooker. It doesn't require any special skills. Diandra: If anything does require special skills, they can afford to get Liam Neeson. He fumbles for a wire in his sleeve and babbles that they said they would hurt his family it he said no to this one. The two women scramble for the doors but the whole car explodes into a fireball before they can get far. Shapiro and all the members of Torchwood come running to see what happened. And then we weirdly cut to Jack slinking back into the room with Angelo, alone. He pulls up a stool and acknowledges the odd choice in the order of scenes by saying "more bloodshed. All these years later, my life hasn't changed." He rambles about how Angelo was watching him this whole time and wonders if maybe he DID make some sort of contact at some point and dismissed it as some random old man asking directions or something. He asks if Angelo saw Ianto. "You'd have liked him. Or maybe not. You'd have been jealous." He gives a watery little laugh, then says he has to go, but vows to come back and take care of Angelo. He removes the oxygen mask on his face long enough to kiss him on the lips and the second he puts it back, the machine by the bed flatlines. Jack kind of chuckles at the pointlessness of that. Another machine starts blaring. He gets annoyed and yells at it before suggesting Angelo have a word with whoever made this equipment because dying hasn't been a thing for a while now. Another machine screeches and he fumbles for the one plug everything is apparently powered through, yanking it. He chuckles and waves it at Angelo, saying that even when the heart stops, people keep on living now. He says goodbye again and takes Angelo's hand. Somehow, this is when he realizes something is actually wrong. He uses the scanner on his wrist strap to diagnose Angelo as really dead and panics, plugging the machines back in and beginning chest compressions while yelping "how the hell did you do this?" He yells for somebody to come help him. The team and Shapiro trickle into the room and Gwen tries to reason with the obviously hysterical Jack. Shapiro orders everybody clear and escorts his medical staff back in. The team fall back and Esther babbles that he can't POSSIBLY be dead. He's category one, right? Jack waves his wrist and says he did a scan and it says Angelo is GONE. Rex wonders if that means the world just changed back. Then he makes it about him, asking what is going to happen to him. He orders one of Shapiro's suits to go check Langley and see if there are any reports of people dying again. Sometime later, agents are putting all the sheets and stuff from the bed into evidence bags. Shapiro shuts the door on them as they leave and turns to Jack. Apparently they have determined that the Miracle DIDN'T just reverse by now because he demands to know how ONE MAN could have died when the rest of the world is immortal. He asks if Jack has any ideas what they might find when they do an autopsy on his body. Jack says he has no idea and turns to Gwen, sitting quietly in the corner, to announce they should leave. Shapiro says they're not going anywhere because this house is "secure" now. Jack protests that it isn't a crime scene. Shapiro isn't so sure of that because the fucked up laws they have since the Miracle began declare dying of old age a crime now. Which is probably just poorly worded. Basically, something isn't right and they need to figure out what because Angelo dying should have been impossible. Chrissy: Unless he did actually discover a way to become immortal and the Miracle did to him what it did to Jack. Diandra: Hmm...no. Chrissy: This is one of the things you actually remember about this season and you know the answer, isn't it? Diandra: Not this specifically, but I can make an educated guess based on what I do remember. Shapiro leaves. Gwen gives Jack her condolences and verifies that he really doesn't know what happened. Jack stares into space silently. Gwen asks what's wrong. "Are we in trouble." Jack says yes. Gwen asks why. Jack has nothing. Elsewhere in the house, Rex is filling in the two agents back at the CIA that we haven't seen for several episodes on what's been going on. And I'm sorry if I forgot to give them names before because I didn't remember them playing any role in the plot beyond the few scenes we've seen so far. They are Noah and Charlotte. Friedkin is now Category One, the entire economy is collapsing and one man somehow managed to die. "So how was your day?" Noah is like 'yeah, funny. It's been so quiet here without you. It was nice.' Charlotte says Colasanto is OFFICIALLY the only one anywhere in the world as far as they can tell. So far they're keeping it secret because they're afraid it will start a riot or something. Noah asks if it might have been caused by a drug or something. What was different about this guy? Chrissy: Is it because of his eye? Does that indicate something? Diandra: No, that was just a short cut to identifying him even if he looks really different. Rex says they're still waiting on the results of the autopsy. Other woman says they need to figure out how he found a way fast because Greece and Ireland declared total bankruptcy in the last two hours and Spain is getting close to following. Chrissy: Yeah, well, they were halfway there before any of this started. She says they're on the brink of taking the whole European Union down. Diandra: Yeah, um...yeah. Rex suggests they start with the day the whole thing began and the three families. Duh? Esther, hanging over Rex's shoulder, says she sent the names to them and repeats that she was unable to find ANYONE by those names. Rex finally realizes the impossibility of NOBODY having those names ever anywhere and asks how that can be. Esther has no idea, but as far as she can tell they didn't just die off. They NEVER existed in all of human record. Chrissy: Of course, we should probably take the source of this information into account. It's possible she just did the search wrong. Charlotte notes that all the "Hitlers" were scrubbed from the phone book after WWII, so it's possible to erase all traces of a name. Esther thinks there would be a paper trail of that. Charlotte happily notes that finding something like THAT is her specialty. She says she'll get the whole division on checking any records from Manhattan in 1928 for evidence that they bought, sold or joined anything. Everyone always misses some little detail when they're scrubbing history. Esther suggests following the same strategy as "The Vivaldi inheritance in 2004" and use the cross reference "Blessing" as Rex pulls Noah onto a different computer so he can talk to him about something else. Charlotte decides now that they're split up and she's speaking to Esther privately she can tell her she has news on her sister. She's in a high security wing under psych eval. Charlotte says she told them Esther works for the government so they're treating her a little more nicely. Esther thanks her and Shapiro comes in the room at that moment to yell at her for making a personal call. Jesus. People in other countries must think Americans aren't allowed to have any sort of life outside of work. Chrissy: Well, that is the impression they get from Hollywood, isn't it? Charlotte asks if that's Shapiro she just heard and tells Esther to give him a message. "Yes, it's personal. Yes, it's important and yes, his wife called and I sent her flowers on his behalf." Chrissy: He has a wife? Diandra: Poor thing. Shapiro grumbles about Charlotte being the bane of his existence and slinks away. Rex is getting to the part about Oswald Danes. Noah says they're watching him, but not terribly closely. Rex says Jack is watching him too and he has good instincts, so...probably if he's interested the three families are too. Noah says it looks like Oswald is at the stadium in Dallas. Rex snorts that he's preaching to a STADIUM. Noah says yeah, well...he's the most popular guy in the world right now. In Dallas, the most popular guy in the world is getting off an elevator with the SheDevil, who is rambling about scheduling an appearance for him with the woman who was in a horrific accident that sheared off the entire lower half of her body. She got married a week later. "Basically," Jilly summarizes, "she's made up of positive thinking and colostomy bags." Oswald doesn't seem to be listening, really, but I doubt such a detail has ever stopped her before. She says he has some interviews tomorrow about fixing the economy because if there's anyone who knows how to do that it's a guy who raped and murdered a pre- teen and has spent the better part of - what, the last decade? - in prison. But she says all he has to do is call for more deregulation, which is usually all a total idiot who doesn't know what the fuck he's doing does, so... Chrissy: Not that we're thinking of anybody in particular... Diandra: No, we're thinking of MANY somebodys in particular. She starts talking about meeting with the committee on health and immortality, but Oswald turns on a radio to completely tune her out. She starts yelling that she needs a yes or a no from him by Friday or they will ask somebody else and could he PLEASE TURN THAT MUSIC DOWN. He turns off the music and orders her to get him a girl. His only specification is that she is "legal age". Chrissy: Well, I guess that's an improvement. He says some bullshit about being given a new chance at life and blah blah tastes have changed blee starting over. Oh, and make her a redhead. He turns the music back on and does a spastic little attempt at dancing while Jilly marches out, disgusted. Out in the hall, she's struggling to get into her room next door when a perky little Asian woman bounces over and asks if she's Jilly Kitzinger. Jilly tells her to buzz off, then drops one of her folders. The woman picks it up and offers to hold some of her other stuff for her while she fights with her key card. She follows Jilly right into the room, introducing herself as Shawnie Yamaguchi, an intern with Jilly's PR firm and she was hoping to shadow her or whatever. Jilly sighs that she doesn't need an intern. Shawnie tries to sell herself by claiming she could get Jilly shiny new models of all her electronics and offering to do the massive amount of reading in that folder Jilly is carrying around because "I'm free all night." A light bulb goes off over Jilly's head. She gives Shawnie a sandwich order and says "let's see how you do with that. And then you can find me a prostitute." Shawnie kind of splutters, but goes to start with the sandwich. She pauses to say she doesn't know how Jilly puts up with that asshole in the next room. Jilly, pouring herself a drink from the bar, says she won't have to for much longer. Shawnie asks what she means by that and Jilly smiles and tells her not to worry her pretty little head about it. Back in the hall, Shawnie drops the starry-eyed, bubblehead smile and sends a text to Noah saying she's in. At the Colasanto residence, Esther is telling somebody over the phone that she'll come see them in a day or so. It turns out to be her sister Sarah, who asks if she fixed "things" like the fact that she was taken out of her house was a clerical error or something. Esther says she's still working on that but the doctors say she's been doing well today. She offers to take Sarah to the promenade when she gets back. Sister Sarah agrees with only a little apparent reluctance. Esther babbles that they've talked so much about the bad side of the Miracle that they forget there's a good side too. They're going to have SO many years together. Chrissy: Yeah, I'm totally starting to see the "she's going to die" foreshadowing. Diandra: Are you sure? I mean, they're being pretty subtle. Sarah asks if it's true Esther reported her. Esther somewhat surprisingly doesn't try to deny it and just says it was for Sarah's own good. Sarah sniffles and says yeah, she gets that now. And she knows Esther will understand that she wants to volunteer to be a Category 1. Esther splutters and says she can't just VOLUNTEER for a medical condition. Sarah says there are thousands of people online who are doing it. Chrissy: Yeah, there are thousands of people online doing all sorts of stupid things. Who gave her internet access? Sarah argues that everything has changed and her body no longer has a soul. Esther urges her to think of her daughters. Instead of pointing out that she doesn't HAVE to anymore now that they're in the system, Sarah says she put them on the list too. Chrissy: Basically, stupidity runs in this family. Diandra: Yeah, I...have nothing here. I know they aren't legally able to make decisions about their welfare yet, but this seems like a major grey area. And how is she able to do that after child protection has taken them away? And then Sarah says something that makes absolutely no sense until you realize it's an awkwardly placed clue. "Sometimes I wonder what keeps us from falling straight through the Earth to the other side of the world." Chrissy: I'm going to go with gravity and about a million feet of solid rock, followed by scalding liquid rock and then more solid rock. Diandra: I really hope those kids weren't being homeschooled, but I'm afraid they were. Esther hangs up, crying. Then she apparently decides to throw herself into her work and marches into the room where Rex and Shapiro are working and starts going through a box of files. Rex is like 'um...what's wrong?' Even Shapiro notices something is wrong and tells her to take a "time out". She snaps that she can't because they NEED to find out how that man died and FIX this mess. In Angelo's room, Jack is still sitting on the hospital bed. Gwen is back on her seat, talking to Rhys on the phone. She says she can't say much because she doesn't trust phones. Also, Jack is right here and he's "sulking". Rhys teases that he must have gotten another bruise. Poor baby. Gwen's mum, overhearing, tells Rhys to tell Gwen that she had a GUN held to her head. Both her parents lives were in danger right in their own house because of HER. Gwen can hear her and closes her eyes like 'oh, here it is. I'm a horrible person and I should be ashamed'. And then mum takes a breath and tells Rhys to give her this message: "don't give up. Go get the bastards, whatever it takes." Chrissy: So that's where she got it from. Diandra: And from the smirk on Rhys' face, I think he just realized that too. Rhys asks what the deal is with Jack then. Gwen says oh, same old. Keeping secrets from her. She has no idea what's going on. Um...neither does he, if you'll recall. Rhys says well, they've had the television on all day and they're talking about how there's going to be a run on the banks and the pension funds are going to go bankrupt. Basically, the miracle will set off a domino effect that's just been waiting to happen since the recession started in '08 and their best bet is to invest in gold. Gwen asks how her dad is. Rhys whispers to Mum that she's asking THE QUESTION. Mum prompts him to tell her the truth, which is: not good. He's no longer conscious and they can't call a doctor because they'll just make him a Category 1. The ovens are only temporarily closed due to protests, but if they go into recession the experts are saying they will just open them again because the lack of resources will necessitate drastic measures. Gwen grumbles that it's like somebody PLANNED all of this. Rhys says yeah, but would that mean 2008 was part of that plan? Well...no, but it was probably a known inevitability. There's a major financial crisis once a century (at least there is in this country) and the last time it happened was 1929. Gwen just says she thinks whoever is responsible has been manipulating everything for decades, so it's possible. Rhys asks what the ultimate POINT of it all is, though. Chrissy: Making the humans more willing to accept your alien overlords. Diandra: Back to the "X-Files" crossover theory, are we? Chrissy: Did we ever get off it? Gwen rambles that she doesn't know because this isn't like the old days of Torchwood where they KNEW who the enemy was. This is the whole world changing. Esther comes in as she's wrapping up, vowing to come home "soon". Esther starts testing the floorboards, tapping and applying pressure to make them squeak. Jack asks what she's doing. She points out the raised part of the floor the bed is on and suggests maybe IT has whatever evidence Angelo's body is lacking so far. It's the only weird thing about the room. Jack sighs and tells her to leave it alone. She protests that it CAN'T be part of the original design. Jack says no, seriously, LEAVE IT. Gwen realizes there's something important going on here and says his name in a way that clearly means 'what are you not telling us?' Jack just repeats that they should stop right now as Shapiro wanders into the room, rambling about how great it is to have an actual cigarette again instead of that stupid nicotine gum. He says the rumor in Washington is that if cancer cells were immortal before then they must have been made MORTAL by the Miracle. They're keeping it quiet for now, but if it's true "we can smoke our way into the next Great Depression!" Jack, Gwen and Esther all look at each other uncomfortably. Shapiro, not being a total idiot, asks what's going on here. Jack says nothing. Esther apologizes to Jack and caves, saying they're trying to figure out how Angelo died and she's pretty sure there's something under the floor. So Shapiro calls in some guys to tear up the floorboards under the bed. There's a weird pattern to the support system underneath it. Shapiro asks Jack what it is. Jack says he doesn't know. Esther begs him to just TELL them. Gwen says if he doesn't know, he doesn't know. That's kind of a change from what you were just telling Rhys, isn't it? Shapiro says he's read the Torchwood file and asks if the material is extraterrestrial. Gwen repeats that he doesn't know and Shapiro says the file also said she would probably form an alliance with Jack so if they want results they should probably separate them. He orders somebody to take Gwen away again and seriously deport her this time. You know, since Torchwood isn't even a thing anymore and she has no other reason to be here. One of his thugs marches her away, yelling the whole way that the CIA doesn't have authority over her so they can't prevent her from just coming back. Rex begs Shapiro to reconsider. Shapiro threatens to dig whatever this thing is up and take it back to the lab for analysis. Jack finally says he CAN'T touch it. Rex asks what it is. Jack says it's some sort of transmitter and it proves his theory that this immortality thing is caused by a morphic field. Shapiro perks up and asks if Jack knows what is causing the miracle. Jack says no, saying it's a morphic field is like saying it's radiation. He has no idea where it's coming from, what is causing it or how it's making the human race immortal. Esther concludes that the transmitter was creating a field canceling out the main signal which is how Angelo was able to die. Rex asks where he got something like that. Jack yelps that he doesn't KNOW everything. Shapiro asks how big the field is. Does it cover the whole house? Jack says no, it's just the area around the bed. Shapiro suggests they could reverse the miracle if they could create a field like this around the whole planet. Jack says yeah, but that would require the actual structure the signal is coming from to be the size of the whole planet. Shapiro thinks they can replicate the effects anyway and goes to grab part of it. Jack says really, he can't touch it because it is a "null" field and for all he knows if anybody changes the dynamics of it they could wipe out all life or something. Shapiro orders Jack, as the closest thing they have to an expert in such a thing, to render it safe somehow so they can take it back to Langley. Yeah. He is totally one of those stuffed suits in movies who causes all hellfire to rain down by second guessing the people who actually know what they're doing. Dallas. Oswald is trying on a tie when there's a knock at the door. It's obviously the prostitute he told Jilly to get. You can tell by the fact that she's a redheaded pixie who introduces herself as "Claire. Or whatever you want it to be." She notes that she is fancily dressed because she had to get past hotel security, but she has the trashier stuff in her bag if he'd like her to change. She suggests a schoolgirl outfit. Aauuuuuuurrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhh. Really? Chrissy: Hey, as long as she's not an ACTUAL schoolgirl, it's legal. Diandra: It's still best not to feed the predilections of someone with his sort of personality at ALL. Oswald quickly protests that he won't be needing THAT. "Claire" says the clothes don't matter anyway, she can act innocent without them. Oswald says he was VERY CLEAR that that's not what he wanted. She asks what he DOES want then. Chrissy: A different prostitute who has been living so far off the grid that she doesn't know who I am already? He offers to get her a drink and maybe they can talk. She presses for more because she needs to know EXACTLY what she needs to do for the next...hour? Minutes? He flusters and offers to get dinner. She laughs at the idea that he's treating this like a date, which...seems unprofessional. She says, seemingly apropos of nothing, that she knows who he is because, you know, the trial. He stammers that that's NOT all he is and she shouldn't presume to know him just based on what she reads/sees in the news. She realizes that he's serious. He just wants a date. Probably his first real date ever. He's starting to get upset by all her laughing. He repeats for her to STOP making assumptions and returns to the idea of getting a drink. Maybe a wine, like the "civilized", legal age people they are. Claire, starting to see hints of the psychopath in him, says she's changed her mind and she'd like to go now. He tries to block her because he's PAYING for her to be here. She says she was okay with this when she thought she'd be degrading herself because hey, she's used to it, but she can't just pretend he's normal. He blocks her exit and says all he wants is her COMPANY, damnit! She sneers that girls her age fight back. Which he probably knows already and that's why he normally goes for the minors. He yells at her, reaching like he's going to strangle her, but managing to stop himself. She backs up several steps, then slips around him. But instead of just leaving, she can't resist sneering that he's running out of time if he really wants to change his ways because she heard he's being labeled a Category 0. It's a new category just for him. Without any further explanation, she manages to storm out the door unmolested. Next door, Jilly is interrupted from her...work, I guess, although she's drinking a large glass of wine while she's doing it...by a knock on the door. She deflates when she looks through the peephole and sees who it is, but opens the door anyway. "What's category zero," Oswald demands to know. And why does a prostitute know more about it than him? Jilly grumbles something about making a mistake hiring someone who normally "works" with senators. She turns the conversation around and asks if he really thought this freedom of his wouldn't eventually end. She says congress is passing an emergency mandate defining a new category and it's basically people they would have executed when that was still possible. People who are deemed to "deserve" being thrown into giant ovens alive. Which is basically what Rex was warning people about. Chrissy: It's basically what HISTORY warns us about. First they come for the Jews. Then they come for the disabled and sexually and politically "deviant". Diandra: Well, in this case I don't think anyone would argue raping a child isn't "deviant", but...yeah, it's a slippery slope. She says he was always sentenced to death, he just had a lovely little detour on his path to that destiny. Oswald flails and splutters that they can't kill him yet because people love him and he hasn't found "them". She asks who he's talking about, but he deflects, demanding to know how long she's known about this. And then he slaps her. She claws at him and he punches her, taking her bag and laptop while she's down and running. She shrieks after him that she's going to have him arrested for this and he won't be able to hide because he has the most recognizable face in the world. Back at the Colasanto residence. Jack is waving his wrist strap at the grid on the floor. He calls Esther and Rex over so they can hold some blocks in place. Once they put their hands where he indicates their voices all turn echo-y and weird. He explains that he broadened the transmission to nullify SOUND waves so none of the goons milling around can hear them. Rex, naturally, doesn't buy this and tests it by shouting at a couple of them, who don't react. This not being good enough for him, he orders Esther to start counting to a hundred and stands up, taking a few steps back until her voice cuts out. Shaken, he returns to position and Jack, who has been basically rolling his eyes this whole time, is like 'okay, so can we move on now?' He reminds Rex that they can still SEE them, so they need to look like they're doing something. Esther asks how this thing works. Jack says he can't tell her, but he recognizes it as alien technology - the kind that used to be housed at Torchwood hub and buried in the ruins of said hub. Esther, catching on, says Angelo had people watching him, so...he must have recovered it. And then what? "Trigger it with your DNA or something?" Jack has no idea, but tells Rex that he HAS to get him out of here. Rex insists that the CIA is NOT the enemy here. Somebody walks past and they all pretend to be focused on touching particular parts of the grid. Once the threat has passed, Rex continues that Jack doesn't have to run and they can protect him. Chrissy: Yeah, your actions aren't really aligning with your words here. Jack reminds him that Torchwood was always kept secret from EVERYONE for a reason. Except that it was the worst kept secret ever, so...you know... Humans are not meant to have this sort of technology. Esther asks how he can know something like that. He says because he's seen the future and this sort of technology would ruin it. Because what army wouldn't find a way to weaponize the world's best cloaking device? Esther realizes he has a point. Best case scenario is the government uses the device to kill people instead of the ovens. Jack asks if they both trust him, after everything they've been through recently. Then he points to a piece of the grid - luckily only about the size of a cell phone - and identifies it as the "alpha" plate. Removing it would turn the rest of the grid into just a bunch of useless metal. He says they need to get both him and the plate away from the house. Rex says they CAN'T because they are CIA. Jack says this is the future of the whole world they're talking about here and please just do it already. Back in Dallas, Shawnie is trying to convince Jilly that she should call the police. Jilly sneers that this is beyond a simple police matter and she needs to organize a press conference. She needs to tell everybody that Oswald has escaped and he's back to his old, unrepentant kiddy-fondling ways. Sic the whole of society on him. The ominous guy in the suit reappears suddenly and Jilly tells Shawnie to give them a minute. Once Shawnie is out of earshot, Suit mutters that he came to warn Jilly that she's being watched by the CIA. They sicced an agent on her. Jilly scoffs at this, which apparently causes him to throw all caution to the wind and just shoot Shawnie. Then he adds brightly that Jilly is being considered for a promotion. Jilly just splutters in shock about Shawnie being a CIA agent. Suit is like 'focus! Promotion!' She shakes herself and asks if it's a promotion within PhiCorp. Suit says they're way above PhiCorp now and into "a family business". Jilly, without asking further questions, says yes, she's interested. Because of course she does. The suit is like 'great. You're hired' and starts escorting her away, calling somebody to announce "she's with us now". At the CIA, Charlotte says "great!" and hangs up the phone. Chrissy: Jesus. Is everybody a double agent now? What is this - "24"? Noah comes back to the desk with some church records and asks if he's interrupting. Charlotte says no, it's just "family business". Chrissy: And then she looks all shifty eyed and rubs her hands together with glee. Because who needs subtlety? Diandra: Was there EVER subtlety on this show? Chrissy: Good point. Colasanto residence. Rex has apparently made the decision he's been agonizing about since the last scene. He comes sauntering into the room to announce that Shapiro wants to see Jack. Jack takes this as his cue and darts out of the room. Rex stops the goon who goes to follow to tell him he should get his coat because Shapiro is outside. Once the guy turns his back, Rex pistol whips him. He turns to Jack and Esther and outlines a story about Jack knocking that guy out, waving a gun at Rex and Esther and stealing the car. Jack asks why they're not coming with him. Rex says they CAN'T be involved and he really thinks the CIA can solve this thing and he and Esther need to stay on to facilitate. He hands Jack the keys and says he'll call ahead to tell the guard at the gate that Shapiro authorized a car and Jack should just keep his head down. And then all of two seconds later, Jack unlocks the doors of the car and the chirping noise alerts a guard, who shoots him. Esther yelps and the guard turns the gun on her. Rex comes up behind him to knock him out and they both bundle Jack into the car while Esther squawks that the guy totally saw her and her cover is already blown. Chrissy: That can't be the first time that's happened. Diandra: And this is why she has never been allowed into the field. Rex agrees that she can't stay now and somebody is going to have to go with Jack anyway, so...change of plan. She gets behind the wheel and Rex tells her to "look after him". She says "my sister", which Rex is somehow able to interpret as concern for what will happen to her now that Esther is going to be pegged as a fugitive or something. Rex says he knows and she should go NOW before somebody comes around to ask what that gunshot was about. She points out that he has blood on his hand. He smears it on his shirt like 'they'll totally buy that it's just more blood oozing from my gaping chest wound and not send me to a camp as a category one again!' We montage our way right through the night into the morning. The announcer on the station Esther is listening to declares that banks across the country are shutting down, the Euro is tanking and the entire concept of money is starting to be threatened. Gwen is on a plane home, crying. And now Esther is crying too because Jack is unresponsive and she doesn't know what to do anymore because she is a helpless twit. Chrissy: So nothing new there. Diandra: And we only have two episodes left. Chrissy: Oh, good, so we should be getting all the answers now. Diandra: Uh...yeah.