I was slightly worried that I would bounce back up this morning when I weighed in, but happily that was not the case.  Assuming the same is true tomorrow, then my five day moving average should finally start to turn back around tomorrow as well. Time will tell, but I am feeling positive. As for Torchwood, well... I think today's episode may even have been better than yesterday's. Why couldn't we have had this show all along?

Children of Earth: Day Two

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The entire focus of the second day is to fragment the Torchwood Three team (in the case of Jack, quite literally), take away all of their resources, and see what they can do. The Hub is completely destroyed, just a massive crater in the ground, and the government hit squad is trying to make sure that the entire team is taken out. Gwen manages to get back home and then to run away with Rhys, making use of his advanced haulage knowledge in order to hide away on a truckload of potatoes headed for London. Ianto manages to safely get a note to his sister, and have her bring him a laptop computer from which he can trace the license plate of the hit squad's van. As for Jack...

The hit squad hauls away what remains of Jack (a head, most of an arm, and some other tiny bits) in a body back. From there his remains are locked into a secret military jail cell, where they watch him slowly (and gruesomely) regenerate. Being as he is genuinely impossible to kill, they opt for Plan B: they open up a hole in the ceiling of the cell, and then fill the room with concrete, leaving Jack permanently entombed with no possible way to escape. Wowza.

Meanwhile the Twelfth Doctor John Frobisher sets about orchestrating the construction of... something... using plans sent by the 456, who announce via the world's children that they are coming tomorrow.

Of course eventually Gwen, Rhys, and Ianto are reunited, culminating in a daring rescue of Jack by way of a forklift hauling the JackBlock over the side of a cliff into a rock quarry. It's the Whoniverse, there has to be a rock quarry at some point. In any case, by the end of Day Two the whole team is back together, and at the top of the MI:5 building a reception room has been constructed for the 456.

Tomorrow: we got tentacles!

I love this episode so much. There are so many great character moments, and the whole sequence of seeing Jack rebuild from bloody little bits back into a healthy body was just stunning. As was the whole concept of the cement tomb and subsequent rescue. God this show works so much better when it has time to breathe and to focus on character, with punctuated bits of action. The scenes between Gwen and Rhys are pure gold, especially in the way that he rises to the occasion and surprises her with his own expertise. You can really see how and why they work as a couple. Actor Kai Owen is a real gem, I would love to see him in other things.

And on that note, I need to get to bed. The only time I can treadmill tomorrow is at 6am, so I need to go get my beauty rest.

STATS:

Featuring: Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Rhys Williams, Ianto Jones
Episode(s): Children of Earth: Day Two
Steps Walked: 8,184 today, 3,920,271 total
Distance Walked: 4.20 miles today, 2,051.63 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 0 today, 7,923 total
Sit-ups Completed: 50 today, 1,079 total
Weight: 261.60 lbs (five day moving average), net change -45.70 lbs