Torchwood: The Complete Second Season (Blu-ray) $38.99 Shipped

Torchwood: The Complete Second Season (Blu-ray) $38.99 Shipped

12/22/09

The following are included in the second season of Torchwood: repeated bouts of unrequited love, homicidal ex-lovers, monsters from space and impending doom for major characters. Now, that’s how a series’ second season should play out! But what makes Russell T. (Doctor Who) Davies’ sophomore set of adventure for Torchwood so engaging is that he bundles them together in a tight and cohesive package that remains dramatically involving while maintaining the proper level of science fiction adventure. John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness is back, having materialized in the final episode of Doctor Who’s third series (“Last of the Time Lords”), and with him comes one of the show’s most inventive characters: fellow Time Agent and former lover Captain John Hart, played by Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s James Marsters. Hart wreaks considerable havoc in the series opener, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” and returns several episodes later in “Fragments” to reveal Harkness’ long lost brother Gray, who brings the series to a close in “Exit Wounds” with a horrific rash of violence that rends the Torchwood team permanently asunder. It’s a finale that will leave fans agape by the final frame, but it’s not the only stunner in the second season. “Reset” should also raise eyebrows with both the introduction of Doctor Who companion Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) in a three-episode arc, but also the shocking death and resurrection of a Torchwood member. Other highlights include “From Out of the Rain,” which introduces one of the series’ most intriguing villains, the Ghostmaker, and the alien “Adam,” who throws the team into chaos with his power to suggest false memories. But the season’s key storyline is the conflict between Jack, his brother Gray, and Captain Hart, which brings emotional heat and weight to the show’s complex science and fantasy elements. Blu-ray specs are DTS HD and 1080i high definition, and standard-definition extras include all 13 episodes of Torchwood Declassified, the 10-minute companion series which explores elements of each episode, as well as “The Life and Deaths of Captain Jack Harkness,” a 22-minute featurette (narrated by Freema Agyeman) about the character’s immortal status that includes comments by Barrowman and Davies. Nine minutes of amusing outtakes and 18 minutes of deleted scenes bring this satisfying set to a close. –Paul Gaita

Tags: 2nd season, Blu-ray, torchwood

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