| Original Transmission
Date 6th Feb 2008
Crew
Plot outline from Wikipedia Rhys Williams is out driving when he is telephoned by a work mate to inform him that one of their firms lorries has crashed. He drives to the site of the crash and see that one of his employees and friends has died, at the scene Torchwood appears and Rhys spots Gwen Cooper. The Torchwood team confiscate the meat that the lorry was transporting when they suspect it of being alien. Gwen recognises the lorry as one from Rhys' firm. Back at the hub Toshiko rings Rhys' office for information pretending to be the police. At home Rhys texts Gwen asking for her to come home. He attempts to get her to confess to being at the crash site but she is evasive.
He follows Gwen to a factory where he sees her meet up with Jack. While there he is captured by a group of men and taken into the factory, Jack and Gwen see this and mistake his actions for collaboration. The men show Rhys that they have captured a live large creature which is the source of the meat and which continues to grow despite them cutting chunks of its flesh away. He agrees to join them. Back at their flat Rhys and Gwen argue over her being at the crash and Gwen admits to the nature of her work for Torchwood. Rhys is disbelieving till she shows him around the Hub. With Rhys' help the team manage to infiltrate the factory so they can free the alien creature. The team hide in one of Rhys' vans and Rhys drives them to the factory where the team sneak in.
They locate the creature and plan to stun gun the men and sedate it so they can move it back to the hub till the rift reopens. They confirm that the creature i sapient, but the men discover them and in the fights and standoffs Rhys is shot. The creature becomes distressed and Owen has no other option but to euthanise it when it poses a threat to them by struggling. They are able to stun the men and feed them amnesia pills. Back at the Hub Owen patches up Rhys' wound and Jack orders Gwen to give Rhys a pill too. She finds that she cannot bring herself to do so and Jack relents, disappointed about this.
Now, I like Torchwood, a lot. And I endeavour to find something good to say about even the episodes I’m not crazy about. Countrycide and Combat fell into those categories last year. So did Random Shoes to some extent although that had a peculiar fascination.
Meat, actually did enthral me from beginning to end. It is a great concept. Instead of killing aliens, this time they have to try to save one. It came as a surprise to the team when Jack proposed that idea. Maybe it shouldn’t have. The possibility that not all aliens are bad must have crossed their minds before. And the creature itself engendered sympathy. Its very cries as the humans cut lumps out of its living flesh and sold it as meat were painful. Jack’s expression when he touched the creature and almost looked as if he was communicating with it telepathically conveyed the empathy even to the dullest viewer, surely.
The issues between Rhys and Gwen were both the high points and the low. High, because they acted it brilliantly. Low because it went on just a bit too much. One critic called them the ‘pobol’ scenes, referring to a Welsh language soap opera. And that was just it. The yelling and accusations were very soap. And while I think Torchwood should be about relationships as well as CGI monsters and scares, it did go on a bit TOO long.
The totally low point was Toshiko’s embarrassingly obvious attempt to romance Owen, who was patently obviously not getting it – or pretending not to get it for reasons not yet revealed. Now, spoilers for upcoming episodes suggest that Toshiko’s loyalty to Owen will be key to getting him back from a bad situation. But I think there were better ways to establish that loyalty than these really sad scenes where she is obviously hinting that they become an item.
The interaction between Jack and Rhys was fantastic. Although it has to be said that the line about “homoeroticism” wasn’t necessary. As one critic pointed out already, if we have to be told this is homoerotic then it isn’t. But Jack obviously came to like and respect Rhys in a new way. And that’s good. Bad is the fact that he and Gwen seem to have a thing going. Gwen loves Rhys. She said so often enough. And Jack is supposed to love Ianto. Next week’s story pivots on that fact. But poor Ianto was consigned to the background whenever a look passed between them. There was always a certain rapport between Gwen and Jack, but not to that extent, surely? It could only end in tears for them both. As with last season the relationships are complicated. But this episode just confused them.
This episode will be remembered for one thing, though.
The most outrageous gay joke on TV, ever. Gwen says to Jack, “Have
you ever eaten alien meat?” Jack says, “Yes.” Gwen
says, “What was it like.” Jack replies, “Well he
seemed to enjoy it.” The sound of the penny dropping all over
Britain was audible. Mary Whitehouse spun in her grave. And slash
fiction about exactly who the alien might have been sprang up like
newly sown grass. A lot of plot arcs need tightening. Those relationships need pulling together and sorting out. They’re holding the series back. Otherwise, great idea. Great story. Great alien.
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