The good news: I had my best day on the treadmill today in ages, clocking more steps and a farther distance than I have in ages. The other good news: I hit 65 push ups today, which means odds are I should be back up to 100 per day by mid-October. The bad news: Well, just look at the trend line on my weight chart. I keep thinking that today will be the day it turns around, and thus far today is not the day. I am proud of what I have achieved in this ridiculous project, but it's no lie that I am terrified that I will fail hard and gain it all back. So that's pretty terrifying. So rather than dwell on that, I'm going to talk about Torchwood.

They Keep Killing Suzie

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

Back in my food service days, as a young twenty-something, I managed a Sbarro's pizza joint. I worked at least six days per week, sometimes seven, and was usually there pretty much form store open to close. On those rare occasions that I got away, I really wanted to get away. I remember one rare Sunday morning when I had the day off, and I was sleeping in blissfully until my telephone rang. It was a customer calling to complain that at 10:03 am there were no pepperoni rolls available. She had apparently nagged my employee so much that he finally gave in and provided her with my personal phone number (I definitely had words with him later about that). All I could think at the time was: I finally got a day off, was sleeping soundly, and couldn't they just let me rest?!?!?

So you can imagine how I felt watching today's episode, in which the Torchwood Three crew is trying to identify a serial killer who is painting the word "Torchwood" in his victim's blood, and they come to the conclusion that the sensible thing to do is use the Infinity Gauntlet Resurrection Glove from the first episode to raise poor Suzie from the dead and get her take on the situation. I mean, the woman literally put a bullet in her own brain to get away from work and just get some damn rest, and then her freaking replacement drags her back from Eternal Banishment to the Nether World in order to get some serial killer tips. Bastards.

On the other hand, it ultimately turns out that Suzie completely orchestrated the serial killer and her own resurrection, and preys upon the kindness of Gwen's heart. So, yeah, Suzie is just as evil as she ever was. But before she is killed a few more times, she raises some really interesting and difficult questions for several of the main characters. Also, this episode features the beginning of the romantic relationship between Jack and Ianto, and that is pure gold right there.

I love this episode, with its stark brutality and the challenges it presents to all of the leads. It's a shame that this is the one and only story written by the team of Paul Tomalin and Dan McCulloch because they really knocked it out of the park. After yesterday's kind of blah story, this one rights the ship and tees off all of the plot threads driving to the end of the season. Just great, great stuff.

Apparently there was an intention to bring poor Suzie back to life yet again in the second season, but actress Indira Varma was pregnant when the time came around and declined to return to the show. Such a shame, she would have made a fantastic returning villain.

So all a good day today. Tomorrow is another great episode, and then I will miss two consecutive days due to a work trip. 

STATS:

Featuring: Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Ianto Jones
Episode(s): They Keep Killing Suzie
Steps Walked: 7,620 today, 3,766,767 total
Distance Walked: 4.11 miles today, 1,969.37 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 65 today, 7,116 total
Sit-ups Completed: 0 today, 1,029 total
Weight: 257.32 lbs (five day moving average), net change -49.98 lbs