By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors aand Zombie Blues
photo copyright BBC
If something like Torchwood can do so much good but only in the shadows then is that good ephemeral in the long run? Some secrets are best kept hidden because they will only destroy those with good hearts.
Good drama is hard to come by. The sci fi genre produces some of the greatest episodes of solid drama which is emotionally draining that stays with the viewer long afterwards. There is no happy resolution and you know there is a long road for the characters to walk to deal with what has happened to them. It is stories like this that fans rewatch time and again because they speak to something within ourselves and the human condition. In Torchwood’s Adrift, it is the phenomenon of missing people that is explored in what could be one of television’s most perfect episodes that cannot be picked apart.
In Adrift, Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles) is asked by her former police colleague and best friend PC Andy Davidson (Tom Price) to look into the disappearance of a teenager Jonah Bevans. He disappeared within minutes from home while texting his mother. But as a nonchalant Gwen soon discovers the truth is far more terrifying than she thought and sometimes it’s best to keep your mouth shut. It’s also an interesting look at her character and how life as a member of Torchwood changes you in ways you don’t even realise. Gwen is initially dismissive of Andy’s plea as she puts it down to just another missing kid but she is slapped in the face by Andy when he attacks her for not caring anymore. He claims the old Gwen would have been on this in a heartbeat but since Torchwood she has lost that part of her. She no longer has compassion which impacts her relationship with husband Rhys who wants kids but she doesn’t as long as she works for Torchwood. Does life with Torchwood really mean you stop caring because the world is more than you once thought it was?
Photos copyright BBC
Andy shows Gwen the footage of Jonah’s disappearance. There is a flash of light as he vanishes and minutes later Jack Harkness shows up at the scene. To her surprise Jack denies being there at all and is told to drop the investigation into Jonah. She ignores his order and goes to meet Jonah’s mother Nikki played byGavin and Stacey star Ruth Jones. Nikki spends her days searching through crowds on videos looking for Jonah. Hope is killing her and she is desperate for an answer of some sort. The mystery is making her doubt her ability as a good mother. She sleeps in his room sometimes and even writes in his diary for when he comes back. What must life be like waiting for that ring of the door bell for that moment your loved one returns? How much disappointment can one person take before despair swamps them especially where your child is concerned? Gwen is touched by Nikki’s situation especially when he believes Jonah may have disappeared because he felt he didn’t love him enough or too much. To help cope, she has set up her on support group for other families whose loved ones are also missing.
Something in Gwen has changed and she knows it but turns to Rhys to ask him if she has changed. If he can give her some confirmation that she hasn’t then it will make her feel better about Andy’s opinion. She ropes Tosh in to help her look into Jonah and doscovers that there have been hundreds of people missing in Cardiff and that the rift itself has been taking them. But to where? The rift depositing all sorts of aliens in Cardiff is bad enough but now it takes as well is terrifying. But how come no one has noticed before?
She and Andy go to Nikki’s meeting but they are the only two there at first. In one of many powerful scenes in this episode, the hall suddenly fills with other people whose family members have disappeared. Gwen is stunned at the severity of it. The old Gwen resurfaces. If no one is here for these people then she will be.
Tosh and Gwen put together all the names and discover the number of missing literally fill a wall. She confronts the team with her evidence and is told to shut it all down and leave it. Gwen believes that they have a care of duty to help the families left behind rather than leave people in a limbo where they often blame themselves. Her argument falls on deaf ears. But this good intention is marred when she and Rhys have a huge fight over kids and her working at Torchwood. Rhys reminds her that she does what she does so people can live their lives, real lives and if she thinks that she is more important than real life then it means nothing. Torchwood is a job and she must keep her worklife away from home life. While both sides are valid Gwen knows that Rhys deserves a normal life despite Torchwood including kids. Torchwood is draining her of her morality despite the fact Jack brought her in to remind them all of what it is to be human. I bleive that it is seeing how much pain Nikki is in that is making Gwen dither over having kids. If the same happened to one of hers she would go mad. The only answer is to find out why Jack is so against her plan.
It is Yanto that supplies the key when he gives her a clue with a GPS. She must travel to Flat Holm but she betrays Andy once again by leaving him behind. This time it is to protect him from whatever is on the island. He has already expressed interest in joining Torchwood but was rebuked by Gwen. Going to the island may mean he can never go back to normality in a way saving him from the emotional turmoil she has felt from day one.
On the island she sees Jack and discovers a secret facility. Staff hired by Jack are taking care of peopel with severe issues and Gwen recognises the names as some of the missing. She finds Jonah but he is middle aged now and severely burned. When the teenager disappeared off the bridge he found himself in an alien war zone and on fire. He was rescued but ended up back in Cardiff older and disfigured.
Jack arrives and tells Gwen the truth. These people are taken and returned by the Rift completely at random. However many are not. Each person comes back unable to return to normal society. Jack set up this care unit to make them comfortable and live out their lives as best they can with secret 24 hour care. Gwen, haunted by Nikki’s words, insists on telling her which Jack strongly advises her not to do.
Ignoring his warning, Gwen takes Nikki to meet her son. At first she freaks out but Jonah tells her things only he would know. Despite his aging and scars Nikki insists she is taking her son back home with her. But Jonah’s scars go far beyond the surface. He screams solidly for 20 hours every day which they cannot control and causes severe pain to those that hear it. It is primal. He had looked into the heart of a dark star and it had driven him mad.
Jonah can never go home to his mother. To the world Jonah will forever be a statistic but privately Nikki must live the rest of her life alone knowing what really happened to her son. Nikki tells Gwen never to do this to anyone else as all her beautiful precious memories have been replaced by the screaming. Knowing Jonah is alive but so far out of reach is worse than not knowing. It was better when she didn’t know. Nikki had hope before Gwen turned up and turned it to ash with what she thought was the right thing to do. Nikki’s suffering is worse now despite Gwen’s good intentions. Sometimes it is best that the public or the individual doesn’t be told the truth no matter how much it hurts them.
It is a lesson to Gwen that life in Torchwood is filled with grey areas that will go against everything she is. Poor Nikki now is left to put Jonah’s stuff in black bags as she collapses with grief. Though if Jack had told Gwen the truth in the first place he could have spared Gwen and Nikki this agony.
The episode ends with Gwen collapsing in Rhys’ arms in tears as she tells him what has happened. If something like Torchwood can do so much good but only in the shadows then is that good ephemeral in the long run? Some secrets are best kept hidden because they will only destroy those with good hearts.
You cannot fault this episode in any way. It involves the entire cast in substantial roles. The incidental music is used in other episodes but tugs at your heart here especially Nikki’s tragic final scenes. Ruth Jones, cast against type is phenomenal as Nikki. Her journey of hope to despair makes you want to hug her but even if you could, you cannot ever tell her it will be alright. It never will be for her. She now lives in a limbo where she must outwardly appear as the mother of one of the missing but inwardly suffer her son’s fate. Like Torchwood she must live a double life; one that cracks your soul. Eve and Kai Owen smash it as the bickering Gwen and Rhys whose marriage is falling apart so quickly. Tom Price as Andy is the victim as Gwen keeps him dangling throughout the investigation but he remains her best friend. But perhaps it is better to keep him from being brought into the world of Torchwood as it will consume him too. Given what happens to Nikki, Gwen can rest easy Andy is safe from the tendrils of Torchwood. Life is not fair as we know and Gwen believes in doing the right thing. But her enthusiasm keeps her from getting all the facts first anout Joah and the others. It destrpys her good intetnions to ghe point it turns her into a villain in Nikki’s eyes when the truth is revealed to her. However, Jack once again could have told Gwen about Jonah’s affliction but he doesn’t. If he had, it would have spared both her and Nikki. Could it be to keep Gwen in line, Jack makes sure she learns a harsh lesson about how Torchwood works? She will never be as quick to tell the truth about what she sees ever again.
As they say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions which Gwen experiences first hand in Adrift. For outstanding drama and a perfect story that will break your heart, Adrift is the one for you.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 