• PDI Press

    PDI Press

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Seven)

    PDI Press
    January 16, 2022 1

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Six)

    PDI Press
    January 15, 2022 3

    Featured

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    John E. Meredith
    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Marvel at the Movies
    • Muppets 101
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews

    Reviews

    Superman (2025)

    Movies
    July 10, 2025 44

    Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

    Movies
    June 26, 2025 8

    Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

    Movies
    June 8, 2025 13

    Featured

    Superman (2025)

    Nate Zoebl
    Movies
    July 10, 2025 44
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews

    Interviews

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397

    David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

    Interviews
    March 7, 2017 223

    Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

    Interviews
    September 29, 2016 8

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

    Interviews
    July 28, 2016 61

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

    Interviews
    July 27, 2016 3

    Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

    Interviews
    April 16, 2016 3

    Featured

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    The Final Girl
    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397
  • News

    News

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    News
    February 9, 2025 20

    “PATER NOSTER AND THE MISSION OF LIGHT” UNLEASHES TERRIFYING UNDERGROUND HORROR – A PSYCHEDELIC CULT MOVIE EXPERIENCE COMING SOON!

    News
    November 15, 2023 74

    Breaking Down The Upcoming DC Studios Slate

    Shot for Shot
    February 1, 2023

    Featured

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    Paul Brian McCoy
    News
    February 9, 2025 20
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Shop
Breaking
  • Superman (2025)
  • Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)
  • Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)
  • From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
    Home
    Reviews

    Torchwood: Miracle Day 9 “The Gathering”

    Paul Brian McCoy
    ReviewsTV
    September 8, 2011

    As a writer (amateur, at best) I’m offended.

    As a viewer (talented amateur, at best) I’m irritated.

    Did we really just spend EIGHT WEEKS flipping and flopping like a dying fish just to establish a “new” status quo for the world, in order to use it as a backdrop for two episodes where we don’t even really see it?

    Did we really just spend EIGHT WEEKS trying desperately to make the transformation of Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman) into the most famous face on the planet, so he could provide an info-drop (after two months in hiding, mind you) that leads nowhere we couldn’t have gotten if the Torchwood crew was actually paying attention.

    Jilly (Lauren Ambrose) was under surveillance, remember. At least until the “Two Months Later” jump. During which she has apparently been mistranslating news stories (?) to influence public opinion and hide references to The Blessing?

    TWOMONTHS
    But we don’t see any of that.

    We are told about it. Just like we’re told that after Oswald stole Jilly’s laptop in the last episode (in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment) he’s been “shadowing” her online.

    And remember Jack (John Barrowman) getting shot last time? We’re told that he and Esther (Alexa Havins) have been on the run. We’re told that she’s changed, become stronger, more independent and assertive.

    We’re also told that the camps are reopened. We’re told that China closed its borders just after The Miracle first occurred. And we’re told that America is getting ready to do the same.

    We’re told there’s a depression and half the world is bankrupt. We’re told there are cycling blackouts to conserve resources. And we’re told that people everywhere are too busy trying to take care of themselves and pay their bills to worry about what the world governments are doing.

    We’re told that The Families divided their spheres of influence between Politics, Finance, and Media. In the same breath, we’re told that that isn’t the case anymore, so nevermind.

    And two characters tell Jilly after meeting her that they’ll never see her again.

    I felt like every guest-star in the show this season should have ended their scenes that way. Except John de Lancie, who only serves as a smoking smart-ass off of whom Mekhi Phifer’s Rex Matheson can bounce intense-but-ultimately-empty secret exchanges.

    SMOKING
    I pity poor John Fay, this week’s writer.

    He does the best he can with what he’s been given, and honestly, the character interactions and the pacing are as excellent as could be expected at this point. As one of the writers behind the truly exceptional Torchwood: Children of Earth, I expect no less.

    But he’s been given one episode in which to dump at least three or four episodes worth of plot movement.

    Honestly, we should have been jumping ahead weeks at a time between episodes when possible from the start, pushing us into this New World Order at around the half-way point. We should have seen Jilly spreading disinformation. We should have seen people struggling. We should have seen the wheels turning. We should have seen Oswald on the run. We should have seen Jack and Esther on the run, too.

    The first eight episodes of this series should have been wrapped in four. Maybe five. If I were feeling generous, I’d give it six episodes. That’s not bad. Hit the two-thirds mark and shift into the final act with a double length finale.

    But we aren’t getting that.

    We’re getting an amateurishly paced snooze-fest with only three episodes, TOPS, being worth the time spent watching them.

    BENCH
    I apologize if I sound angry, but I am angry. Go back and read my reviews of this show from the beginning. There are links down below.

    I’ll wait.

    Okay. I stood by it from the start. I praised its core concept as something big and important. Like Children of Earth, this series had the opportunity to do something special – to make great, groundbreaking science fiction television – to be a new Quatermass.

    And then something happened.

    I don’t know what. I can only assume that somewhere in the pre-scripting writing room where they hashed out the story (which I praised as a fantastic idea for maintaining focus and matching writers’ strengths to the episodes they were assigned) some views were shoved aside. Recognized names took precedence over lesser-known, more-talented names, and the best ideas were ignored for more shallow, more hackneyed approaches.

    Those bigger names know how television works, you know.

    Especially American television.

    Someone said we need guest-stars. Garner some cult cred by stunt casting done-in-one roles that will ultimately add nothing to the story, but will make the audiences feel like they’re in on the joke. Look! It’s C. Thomas Howell! He was funny in Soul Man. Look! It’s that one girl from Dollhouse! This must be something like a Joss Whedon show! Look! It’s Ernie Hudson! I loved Ghostbusters!

    And not a single damn one of the stunt cast contributed to the story at all.

    Everything was smoke and mirrors. The emperor had no clothes.

    PAN
    Now that we’ve arrived TWO MONTHS IN THE FUTURE the story starts to move. Now we find out things beyond vaguely cool-sounding names (“The Families”, “The Blessing”) that received no exploration. But we’re told these things in convenient little chunks of exposition and nothing is earned.

    And ultimately that’s what’s so disappointing about this show overall.

    Nothing is earned.

    Everything is a shortcut.

    And when we finally to get a few scenes that really work emotionally, like this week’s scene where Gwen (Eve Myles) and her mother (Sharon Morgan) say goodbye to dear old dad (William Thomas), it works. It’s a great moment.

    But we’re immediately pulled out of the scene because everything around it rings so false.

    Even the nice touch when Jack arrives at Gwen’s house and they force the undercover cop watching her to forget he was ever there, starts strong and then falls ridiculously flat. They’re on the lookout for Jack, but when the Dead Police show up with a freaking SWAT team, nobody looks twice at him? These police are only interested in the Category Ones – who cares if someone ENTIRE WORLD GOVERNMENTS ARE LOOKING FOR is standing right in front of you.

    It’s just ridiculous and sloppy and required by the plot so we can move on to the next scene. Where Danes provides no help at all, but has to be taken along on the MISSION TO SHANGHAI so Rhys (Kai Owen) won’t kill him.

    Really, writers of Torchwood?

    That makes sense to you? Every week you’ve had one character after another mutilated, blown up, and tortured, but they can’t figure out a way to silence Danes for a few days?

    OUTSIDE
    The story arc for Danes can really be seen as a meta-commentary on the story arc of the entire series, when you think about it.

    He’s an ugly, horrible man shoved into the media spotlight for no reason beyond he didn’t die when he was supposed to. He has no goal. No agenda. He’s a prop; An interesting idea that goes nowhere. He never develops. He never grows. He just flits around from scene from scene, acting important because we’re told he’s important – despite all logic.

    When the time comes, and there’s no telling how or why that time actually came, he’s shoved out into another role. A role that only develops after a TWO MONTH TIME JUMP. And even then, he’s got no real information. And for no reason at all, he’s included in the final mission where he serves no purpose, provides no helpful skills or insights, and really has no justification for inclusion whatsoever.

    He’s a walking, talking example of the absolute emptiness at the core of this series. He’s only there because the plot says he needs to be there.

    He’s an idea that could have been something daring and special. He should have been a character that tries to do something that we have to root for, even though he’s despicable. He should have been a focal point that would force viewers to feel uncomfortable growing to like.

    Instead he’s a waste of time and effort.

    Pullman deserved better. Hell, they all deserved better.

    After Children of Earth, the Torchwood franchise was poised to do something special.

    I’m not the kind of viewer who swears off of a show because they’ve fucked everything up. I like to think that there’s always the possibility of salvation in a storyline. A single episode can make a series worth paying attention to. Well, Torchwood has one more episode to avoid ending it all with a total flushing of everything away.

    I don’t know if there’s any coming back from this. If we see a fifth season of Torchwood, I sincerely hope that there were lessons learned here. Names and egos should be checked at the door. The story needs to be the thing.

    This one gets 3 stars from me again, despite my raging, because there are gems buried in there, and Fay does amazing work with the bag of shit he was handed.

    Having the clues about The Family revealed in some 1930s pulp fiction was a great touch. I was also entertained by the fact that Torchwood now runs a sort of Drugstore Cowboy organization. That was entertaining and creative. As was the unnerving effect that approaching The Miracle has on people.

    Sure, we’re told about how wrong it could go instead of shown, but what can you do at this point?

    EARTHVAG
    And while I’m thinking about it, I’m really not sure just what I’m supposed to be looking at there. It’s a bit of a botched design reveal when you can’t really tell what it is you’re seeing. Is that the Earth’s vagina? I don’t know.

    Probably not, but it stretches from Shanghai to Buenos Aires.

    Torchwood would score some freaky points from me if it were.

    (Visited 146 times, 1 visits today)

    Related

    Miracle DayPaul Brian McCoyTorchwood

    FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
    Previous Misfits 2.05 & 2.06
    Next Alphas 1.08 “A Short Time in Paradise”
    monsterid
    Paul Brian McCoy
    Co-Founder / Editor-in-Chief / Dreamweaver
    Paul Brian McCoy is the Editor-in-Chief of Psycho Drive-In. His first novel, The Unraveling: Damaged Inc. Book One is available at Amazon US & UK, along with his collection of short stories, Coffee, Sex, & Creation (US & UK). He recently contributed the 1989 chapter to The American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s (US & UK). He also kicked off Comics Bulletin Books with Mondo Marvel Volumes One (US & UK) and Two (US & UK) and PDI Press with Marvel at the Movies: 1977-1998 (US & UK), Marvel at the Movies: Marvel Studios (US & UK), and Spoiler Warning: Hannibal Season 1 - An Unauthorized Critical Guide (US & UK). Paul is also unnaturally preoccupied with zombie films and sci-fi television. He can be found babbling on Twitter at @PBMcCoy.

    Related Posts

    The Psycho Drive-In Podcast 07: Superman (2025)

    Paul Brian McCoy
    The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
    July 13, 2025 10

    The Psycho Drive-In Podcast 06: 28 Years Later

    Paul Brian McCoy
    The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
    June 24, 2025 7

    Daily Top Ten

    • men-in-blackLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1990-99 by Scott Delahunt
    • x-files-4-3-headerAll Binge… No Purge: The X-Files S4 Part Three by Rick Shingler
    • goldfinger-headerLost in Translation: The Bond Project – Goldfinger by Scott Delahunt
    • i-spit-on-your-grave-09The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
    • mary-shelleys-frankenstein-headerEZMM 2024 Day 4: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) by Paul Brian McCoy
    • superman-headerSuperman (2025) by Nate Zoebl
    • 2-headed-shark-attack-headerUnnatural Selections: Two-Headed Shark Attack (2012) by Brooke Brewer
    • gotnecktieGame of Thrones 1.08: “The Pointy End” by Paul Brian McCoy
    • law2Spartacus interview #5 (of 5): Katrina Law by Karyn Pinter
    • LOKITHORThor and Loki: Blood Brothers Advance DVD Review by Paul Brian McCoy
    400x400 GI Joe Funko Banner

    Weekly Top Ten

    • i-spit-on-your-grave-09The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
    • superman-headerSuperman (2025) by Nate Zoebl
    • babylon-5-blu-ray-04Babylon 5 Complete Series Blu-ray Review by Paul Brian McCoy
    • men-in-blackLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1990-99 by Scott Delahunt
    • 80s-headerLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1980-89 by Scott Delahunt
    • AT606-visionAdventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
    • star-wars-headerLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1970-79 by Scott Delahunt
    • a-knights-tale-06Lost in Translation 407: A Knight’s Tale (2001) by Scott Delahunt
    • mary-shelleys-frankenstein-headerEZMM 2024 Day 4: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) by Paul Brian McCoy
    • LastLovecraft-cthulhuThe Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu (2009) by Alex Wolfe

    psychodrivein

    We came here to chew bubblegum and write intelligent reviews and commentary on cult TV and movies! And we're all out of bubblegum!

    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast 07: Superman (2025)

Join Paul and John on the Psycho Drive-In Podcast as they delve into the first official DC Universe live-action film release, Superman!
—
Listen to the boys at the link in our profile!

#PsychoDriveIn #PsychoDriveInPodcast #Podcast #Superman #JamesGunn #DavidCorenswet #RachelBrosnahan #NicholasHoult #DCU #DC
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 483: One More Trailer

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a period piece set in the 60s, around the time the comic was first published.
—
Read more of Scott’s article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #FantasticFour #FantasticFourFirstSteps #MarvelStudios #MCU
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Superman (2025 Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Superman (2025)

Superman is proof that the DC film universe might actually have the perfect person in charge of charting their cross-franchise courses.
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#Superman #JamesGunn #DavidCorenswet #RachelBrosnahan #NicholasHoult #DC #DCU
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 482: Examining Recent Trailers

Two new trailers dropped that are of interest to Lost in Translation: Spaceballs 2 and The Naked Gun!
—
Read more of Scott’s article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #Spaceballs2 #TheNakedGun #Trailers
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Final Destinat Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES is a return to form for a franchise that never should have been on the brink of death.
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#FinalDestination #FinalDestinationBloodlines #AdamBStein #ZachLipovsky #KaitlynSantaJuana #TonyTodd
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S02E29 - File Card Focus: Big Boa
 
Greg and Jaren return to take a hard look at Cobra’s one-man trainer: Big Boa! 
—
Watch the @AnythingJoesPod gang at the link in our profile!

#AnythingJoes #GIJoe #Cobra #BigBoa #FileCardFocus
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast: 28 Years Later

Paul and John are back with a new PSYCHO DRIVE-IN PODCAST with a brand-new review of 28 YEARS LATER plus a look back at the franchise, its themes, its innovations, and its impact on the genre!
—
Listen to the guys at the link in our profile!

#ThePsychoDriveInPodcast #28YearsLater #28WeeksLater #28DaysLater #DannyBoyle #AlexGarland #AlfieWilliams
 #AaronTaylorJohnson #JodieComer #RalphFiennes
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: Backstock Blacksite - Night Specter (2008)

In Backstock Blacksite, we open the classified crates and dig deep into Greg’s personal G.I. Joe overflow closet, where extras, variants, and forgotten figures wait to be unearthed.
—
@anythingjoespod #AnythingJoes #GIJoe #GIJoeClassified #NightSpecter #BackstockBlacksite
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Predator: Kill Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

With Predator: Killer of Killers, Predator fans are feasting, baby!!
—
Read more of Paul’s review at the link in our profile!

#Predator #PredatorKillerOfKillers #KillerOfKillers #DanTrachtenberg #LindsayLaVanchy #DamienCHaas #LouisOzawa #RickGonzalez #MichaelBiehn #JoshuaWassung #MichoRobertRutare
    Follow on Instagram

    Look Who's Talking

    Shawn EH
    Shawn EH - 5/4/2025
    Thunderbolts* (2025)
    Yep, very well done; avoiding the big flashy battle that these heroes (can any of you fly?)...
    Ideonova
    Ideonova - 12/26/2024
    Page to Screen: F. Paul Wilson’s The Keep
    Not living up to the source material? What source material? The book is a predictable, at times...
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr. - 8/17/2024
    Cahiers du Horror 03: Frank Henenlotter and The Brain that Wouldn’t Die
    I need to see that again. Maybe make it a double feature with All of Me. Steve Martin is someone you...
    RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

    Archives

    Large_rectangle_336X280
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    Type to search or hit ESC to close
    See all results
    Username
    Password
    Remember Me
    Lost password?
    Create an account
    Username
    Email
    Cancel
    Enter username or email
    Cancel