Line #7 Recap/TorchwoodS2E4Meat


1	[[quoteright:348:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rhys_torchwood_meat_5689.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:348:Rhys's eyes are opened to the existence of aliens... [[ShapedLikeItself by peering into the eye of an alien.]]]]
3
4	->'''Rhys:''' What, exactly, do I need protecting from?!\
5	'''Gwen:''' [[TheUnmasking I CATCH ALIENS!]]\
6	''([[NarrativeProfanityFilter long string of profanities]])''\
7	'''Rhys:''' Piss off! [[AliensInCardiff Aliens? In Cardiff?!]]
8	-->-- '''Gwen''' finally has to tell skeptical '''Rhys''' the truth about Torchwood, leading to a verbal crossfire
9
10	The team investigates a meat company whose product seems to be extraterrestrial in origin. Jack makes the requisite bad innuendo puns about "eating alien meat". By complete coincidence, the meat is transported by... Rhys's company. Gwen doesn't like that at all, because inevitably, Rhys follows them and finally learns what Gwen does for a living.
11
12	The meat comes from a giant sentient SpaceWhale that regenerates infinitely. Sort of like Jack, only half asleep, immobile and very large. [[labelnote:''Doctor Who'' spoilers]][[spoiler: ... So, sort of like Jack [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E3Gridlock near the end of his life]], really.]][[/labelnote]] Jack feels strong empathy for the beast and vows to save it. He also merrily flirts with Rhys's HollywoodHomely secretary, who looks like she hadn't been flirted with in years.
13
14	The gang, including Rhys, infiltrate the bad guys' lair, but they all get caught. Rhys takes a bullet for Gwen. The villains are defeated and given amnesia drugs, but Owen has to put the SpaceWhale down.
15
16	Gwen refuses to make Rhys take an amnesia pill. Jack reluctantly agrees.
17
18	!!Examples
19	* ActionSurvivor: Rhys is surprisingly adept as a Torchwood member, and while clearly nervous at being a trojan horse, he's pretty good in a punch. He also TakesTheBullet for Gwen too, something Jack asks him not to do in future.
20	* AliensInCardiff: The TropeNamer; Rhys, despite seeing the Alien being carved for meat, takes a while to believe that aliens are real.
21	* {{Bowdlerise}}: The pre-watershed edit of this episode was the only one to have dialogue edited, rather than just having objectionable content cut out: Rhys's line "you fucking him or what?" became "you seeing him or what?".
22	* HomoeroticSubtext: Jack sees the conversation between him and Rhys in the Hub as this.
23	* KarmaHoudini: The three people dealing alien meat get [[LaserGuidedAmnesia retconned]] because it's easier for Torchwood to just have them forget their actions and go on like they never got involved with shady dealings rather than try to keep them under lock and key. [[spoiler:[[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] and explained in the book ''The Torchwood Archives''; The team thought they let the guys off too easy, but apparently, Jack gave them so much retcon, their minds reverted to that of teenagers.]]
24	* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: Lampshaded:
25	-->'''Ianto:''' Well, this is unprecedented, the fiancé finding out.\
26	'''Tosh:''' Mainly because we're all sad and single. ''[Ianto looks pleased with himself for a second]''\
27	'''Owen:''' Speak for yourself. ''I'' am better off without all that kind of hassle.\
28	'''Tosh:''' Maybe the answer's to go out with someone who knows what you do?\
29	'''Owen:''' [[ObliviousToLove Look around you, Tosh. Only we know what we do.]]
30	* MercyKill: Owen has to euthanize the poor alien creature, since it got free of its restraints, and was about to crush Jack and Gwen. Despite making jokes about the meat earlier, both Toshiko and Owen can be seen holding hands and are extremely sad at putting it down and out of its misery.
31	* NoYou: During Gwen and Rhys’s argument:
32	-->'''Rhys:''' Piss off.\
33	'''Gwen:''' No, you piss off.
34	* ObliviousToHisOwnDescription: Rhys accuses Jack of being a show off.
35	-->'''Jack:''' ''[to Ianto]'' Do I show off?\
36	'''Ianto:''' Just a bit.
37	* ObliviousToLove: Owen is ''superbly'' ignorant of Tosh's advances, and the more he blows her off, the more she gets increasingly more obvious at her feelings for him, even attempting to ask him out on a date by playing pool, but failing due to Owen thinking it was a tournament for the ''whole'' team.
38	* PutDownYourGunAndStepAway: When Rhys gets taken hostage Gwen immediately complies with the order. Later Jack and Tosh do the same when Ianto gets a gun to his head too.
39	* SecretKeeper: Rhys becomes one for Torchwood as of this episode.
40	* SpaceWhaleAesop:
41	** Kids, don't capture an extraterrestrial being and chop it up for meat!
42	** It also has a more relatable moral: Don't take an exotic animal, exploit/torture it, then try to justify yourself as anything other a greedy, amoral opportunist, especially if you try to ignore its suffering.
43	** Of course, bonus points for getting this across with a ''literal'' space whale.
44	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Both Rhys's assistant and Gwen give Rhys a Danish when trucking, as they both know he gets hungry.
45	* TheUnmasking: Gwen reveals the truth about her job to Rhys, and surprisingly, it sticks.

Context Recap / TorchwoodS2E4Meat