Dead Man Walking (Torchwood)
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| 20 – "Dead Man Walking" | |
|---|---|
| Torchwood episode | |
 Jack brings Owen back to life with the second resurrection glove. |
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| Cast | |
| Guest stars | |
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| Production | |
| Writer | Matt Jones |
| Director | Andy Goddard |
| Script editor | Gary Russell |
| Producer | Richard Stokes Chris Chibnall (co-producer) |
| Executive producer(s) | Russell T. Davies Julie Gardner |
| Production code | 2.7 |
| Series | Series 2 |
| Length | 50 mins |
| Originally broadcast | February 20, 2008 |
| Chronology | |
| ← Preceded by | Followed by → |
| "Reset" | "A Day in the Death" |
| IMDb profile | |
"Dead Man Walking" is the seventh episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was broadcast by BBC Three and BBC HD on February 20, 2008[1]; it made its terrestrial debut on BBC Two on February 27.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
[edit] Synopsis
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The plot summary in this article or section is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the article. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. |
The team is still recovering after the events of "Reset". Owen Harper, shot dead, is about to be opened up for autopsy by Martha Jones. Jack however tells everyone to leave him alone until he returns. Jack runs to a place where he talks to a girl, a fortune teller. She says he owes her a favour, and appears to have a Tarot card with Jack's face on it. The young girl tells him where to find what it is he is looking for, though as he leaves she is seen holding the Death card, depicting the Grim Reaper.
Jack goes to the location where the girl had sent him, which is an abandoned church called St. Mary's. It is also the home of many Weevils. He manages to locate the box which holds the item he desires, and returns to the hub and shows the astonished team exactly what he had found. He holds up a resurrection glove, similar to the one that was used by Suzie and Gwen. Gwen immediately objects to what Jack is about to do, reminding him of what had happened before with Suzie, though Jack ignores her and hopes to bring Owen back for two minutes or so for everybody to say their goodbyes to him. He resurrects Owen, who is confused and scared. Toshiko tells Owen that she loves him, and Jack, after asking for the codes to the alien morgue, tries to prepare Owen for death. The connection is lost, Owen stops breathing, and Jack holds Owen's hand, believing he is dead. We then hear Owen's voice saying that he will need his hand back, and it is obvious that the plan has backfired.
As before with Suzie, the glove has brought Owen back from beyond death permanently, although this time there is no obvious source. No energy is being drained from Jack, as Suzie was draining energy from Gwen, but Owen is getting energy from somewhere. Toshiko tries to tell Owen that she meant what she told him before (that she loves him) and Owen says that this is a textbook reaction to grief, but does not want to discuss it further, changing the subject and leaving the room.
Owen then finds himself occasionally having visions of himself in a place shrouded in darkness and hearing eerie whispers. He also temporarily loses control of his body during which his pupils dilate and he speaks in an unknown language. Although he has been put in quarantine, Owen escapes and goes out to a bar in Cardiff, where he discovers that he is no longer able to digest drinks, or pump blood (in order to have sex), as he is now the walking dead, and his life processes have stopped. Jack catches him and they have a bar brawl which results in them both being put in a police cell. During their time in the cell, Owen intentionally vomits the drinks that would have otherwise been stuck in his stomach and starts to panic about death. He and Jack bond, and Jack reveals that he once dated Marcel Proust and that his immortality, which Owen is coveting in his position, is not as good as Owen suspects. They then leave after Jack reveals his thoughts on immortality. Once outside they encounter numerous Weevils that chase Owen and Jack until they are cornered on a rooftop. They are surprised that instead of killing them, the Weevils bow to Owen who again temporarily loses control of his body and addresses the Weevils in the same unknown language.
Upon analysis, it is found that Owen's cells are changing slowly, and upon 100% transformation something will happen. Research shows that a similar situation occurred in legend, and that Death itself comes back with the revived and searches for 13 victims whose consumed souls will enable Death to remain in the world; Death would otherwise quickly perish. The story says it was 'Faith' that stopped it. Believing this legend is in the process of repeating, Owen suggests that he must have his neural pathways closed by being embalmed in order to stop Death from using him as a gateway. During the embalming process, the resurrection gauntlet comes to life and attacks Martha. Before being destroyed, it drains the life from her and reduces her to an old woman. Owen shoots the gauntlet, and as his cells fully change, he loses control again. Death speaks - 'I will walk the earth forever, and my hunger shall know no bounds'.
Death escapes from Owen and heads to a hospital, being drawn to those close to death, and begins taking their souls. Martha is also brought to the hospital in her heavily aged state, where a nurse says that as her red blood cell count is low and as she is over eighty, her chances of survival are slim. The team evacuates everyone from the building while Death, after taking twelve souls, chases after a young leukaemia patient who had been accidentally left behind. Owen saves the child and helps him and Tosh to escape. Ianto, who is waiting with Martha, explains to the team that the 'faith' which defeated Death before was in fact the resurrected child, whose name was Faith. Owen then realizes that he himself is the only one who can fight the Grim Reaper as he is already dead and therefore has nothing to lose. After kissing Tosh (and stealing her lockpicking/sealing gadget), Owen locks the other members of the team out of the hospital and begins a brawl with Death, eventually consuming its energy and forcing it back into the darkness. (This also restores Martha to her original age.)
Upon returning to the Hub, Martha explains to Owen that now the energy keeping him 'alive' is dissipating but could take an unknown amount of time to do so, anywhere between 30 minutes and 30 years, or even longer. Jack explains to Toshiko that you can never defeat death, only escape it. The episode ends with Owen asking Jack to let him work again, as by doing his job as a doctor he can try and repay the lives of those lost when Jack brought Owen back.
[edit] Continuity
- The use of a second resurrection gauntlet leads to many references to that used by Suzie Costello in "Everything Changes" and "They Keep Killing Suzie". Ianto reprises his line "That's the thing about gloves - they come in pairs..." from the latter episode.
- Martha Jones's temporary rapid aging echoes the Doctor's in "The Sound of Drums".
- Dead Man Walking was the title of the Torchwood Declassified episode which accompanied the Series 1 episode, Random Shoes.
[edit] Outside references
The unknown language that Owen speaks during his possession uses words taken from The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R Donaldson: Melenkurion abatha, duroc minas mill khabaal. Owen recites the latter four over and over again, and Toshiko's translation device associates the word duroc with hunger. In the Covenant novels however, these words are a blessing calling upon the beneficent magical force of Earthpower.
[edit] References
- ^ Radio Times; Torchwood listing for 20 February. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
[edit] External links
- Torchwood at bbc.co.uk
- "Dead Man Walking" at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
- "Dead Man Walking" at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
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