'Torchwood' Wraps up a Stellar Fourth Season

What would happen if no one died? If one day death just stopped? What would you do with those who should be dead, who were about to die when death stopped?

These are some of the questions that “Miracle Day,” the fourth season of “Torchwood,” attempts to answer.

Even if you have never seen an episode of the British series, “Miracle Day” stands on its own.

The first episode of the mini-series, “The New World,” helped to answer many viewers’ most obvious inquiry: “What does Torchwood mean?” and details some of the exploits of the alien hunting institute. From there, “Miracle Day” takes “Torchwood” to exciting new heights.

For those familiar with the series, “Miracle Day” picks up two years after the events of “Children of Earth,” the previous “Torchwood” mini-series that aired in 2009. Jack has gone off to explore the universe and Gwen has finally settled down with her husband, Rhys, and had a baby. Torchwood is by all means dead. That is, until the titular miracle happens and Jack and Gwen are summoned by the CIA to reactivate Torchwood and come to America and make sense of it all.

Some of the most interesting characters in the series are those that should be dead, whose deaths were seconds from happening when the miracle occurred. Among them are CIA agent Rex Matherson, and the creepy Oswald Danes, a convicted pedophile and murderer on death row who was strapped to a gurney, about to receive a lethal injection when death stopped.

Few episodes toward the middle of the season truly stand out. Some are full of exposition and explanation, while others deal with the ethics involved in a world with no deaths. Some are heavy on medical terminology and are reminiscent of “House.”

The show is definitely geared more towards adults than “Doctor Who,” of which it is a spin off. The problems faced by the characters are more intense and the sex scenes more graphic. Thankfully, the blood and special effects are still cheesy.

Like the other three seasons of “Torchwood,” many viewers may spend time trying to figure out what exactly creator Russel T. Davies was thinking when he came up with plot lines. Like in past seasons, episodes are full of random, heart wrenching deaths and other suprises.

With by far the best finale in series’ history, the ten episodes of “Miracle Day” will have you hoping for more “Torchwood” soon. The finale will leave you in shock and deep thought and has plenty of loose ends to be tied up in future seasons. Having been a hit on both sides of the Atlantic one can only hope that there will not be another two years of waiting until season five.