Torchwood “Children Of Earth: Day Three”

I have been really liking this five episode third series of Torchwood so far.  It’s been very well paced, with “Day One” being the team learning about the initial threat and being attacked by their own government, “Day Two” being how they regroup after said attack, and now “Day Three” starting to get into what these mysterious aliens are.

But not entirely since the episode ends with them almost as mysterious as they were before.

So, here’s the deal:  the Torchwood team (with Rhys who might as well be on the team now) reconvene in an abandoned warehouse that Torchwood itself used to run.  There’s actually some fun scenes as Gwen, Ianto, Rhys, and Jack head out and scam and steal stuff they need to keep going.  Gwen believes they can use that receptionist, Lois, to spy on things with the aliens, known only as the 456, with some special contact lenses.  They do talk her into it, despite the fact she could go to jail for a very long time if she does.

Plus, Gwen uses her police contacts to bring that old man in.  So, as Frobisher, Peter Capaldi’s pencil-pusher character, is selected to be the main contact between humanity and the 456, we can finally get at least a partial look at the things.

Well, sort of.  The special box with the gases they presumably need to breathe does tend to obscure their appearance.  All I can say for certain is they are kinda big, they have a tentacle or two, and they spew slime when they get upset.

None of that explains why Frobisher ordered Jack and the other three dead.  There’s a good reason for that:  he didn’t order Ianto, Gwen, or Rhys dead.  They were just handy and nearby.  The other three killed off were all with Jack the last time the 456 came by.

Yeah, Jack saw these guys before.  He’s been with Torchwood a long time.  Of course he dealt with them before.

The old man even recognizes him.

Now, there was some progress made in negotiations with the 456.  Despite the fact the 456 state quite clearly they don’t much respect humanity or anything along those lines, the aliens do agree to stop speaking through the world’s children, and they agree to basic diplomatic protocol for addressing the world.  It’s what they want that’s a problem.

They want 10% of the world’s children.

Yeah, these guys need to go down.  Whatever they are.