Series Would have been better as a Mini Series
Torchwood Miracle Day has a very intriguing premise, and one that allows the audience the explore the consequences of what would happen if one day, people stopped dying, while still getting injured or growing old. The premise was handled well for the most part, being done with a no-nonsense gritty realism. Here, the hospitals are overflowing with the undead, and resources are rapidly being depleted as the population spirals out of control.
However, audiences are informed rather heavy handedly that sending people suffering a Fate Worse Than Death to Concentration Camps to get disintegrated is a bad thing. Yes it is horrible, but until they eventually end the Miracle, it's the only way to deal with overpopulation.
The new characters were hit-and-miss. On the one hand, Oswald Danes is a very compelling, fascinating monster, but Esther was very grating at times, and seemed like a filler character who exists to fill the void left behind by the other characters in the early seasons.
The cliffhanger at the end was frustrating, because first we're given a very satisfying finale. But then there are some rather jarring developments, and it feels like the makers of the show grabbed the camera and said "we're making more episodes!" Which is rather pretentious, don't you think?
And the series was riddled with side-plots that distracted from the overall plot, and killed the tension. Do we really need to know so much about Jack's boyfriend, or Gwen and Esther's family? And the plot meandered all over the place, with plot developments that could be covered concisely and effectively in five or six episodes, but was stretched to ten episodes, and by the time the finale came around, I was practically begging for the story to conclude, as it was losing the tension from being so prolonged.
Trim the side plots, shorten the series to five episodes, and it would be great.
Series Started off okay, and had a decent premise...
but ultimately failed to follow through adequately.
For starters, 90% of the season was dedicated to JACK HAS SEX WITH A MAN! JACK HAS SEX WITH A MAN! Also there's this whole immortality thing going on, but JACK HAS SEX WITH A MAN!
The immortality subplot was really only exploited for Squick value and the villains were never clearly identified beyond being the never seen Man Behind The Man, where the man is The Omniscient Council Of Vagueness, JACK HAS SEX WITH A MAN!, their goals in making Miracle Day happen are never explained and they don't seem particularly put out by Miracle Day being foiled. JACK HAS SEX WITH A MAN!
The man that Jack has sex with JACK HAS SEX WITH A MAN makes another appearance, and it turns out he for some reason is now some sort of ultrapowerful businessman that has access to alien tech that Jack's never heard of. JACK HAS SEX WITH A MAN!
I don't mind the occasional hanky panky in a show, and I have no problems with homosexual hanky panky, but what I do have a problem with is when it's shoved down our throats (snerk) for no reason other than for the people in charge of the show to say JACK HAS SEX WITH A MAN! JACK HAS SEX WITH A MAN! There's this other stuff too I guess, but JACK HAS SEX WITH A MAN!
Overall it's a terrible season that would have been better if they'd spent a little more time on the plot and a little less time on JACK HAS SEX WITH A MAN!
3/10. Avoid at all costs.