Released February 2019

SOME SPOILERS FOLLOW

The second third of God Among Us 2 draws to a close with David Llewellyn’s ‘Eye of the Storm’ with the entire team uniting to undertake a desperate mission. But as people turn to stone and water levels rise with an alien energy station sending out waves of lethal energy, allegiances are tested and a far more nefarious plan is revealed.

While this set as a whole hasn’t necessarily propelled the overall narrative forward beyond introducing the Lens and offering intriguing hints about the Committee’s reach and plans, ‘Eye of the Storm’ dutifully takes everything that has been presented before and crafts a wholly engaging tale that more fully develops the true menace working against Torchwood. Indeed, there’s something strangely refreshing about pitting Torchwood against very definite and visual threats to Cardiff and beyond after the brutal honesty of homelessness and the intriguing notion of body swapping were tackled, and Llewellyn maximises the tension and sense of foreboding as the dangers continue to escalate to give the story a true sense of darkness and scope.

It should come as no surprise that the Committee as portrayed through David Warner’s uniquely ominous but cordial tones features quite prominently, and the framing device in which Warner and Jacqueline King’s God casually take tea while commenting on the events occurring before them is undoubtedly the highlight of the story, outshining even the actual Torchwood segments. These lend another layer to the fascinating development of Norton, in particular, a known Committee operative who in quick order uses Jack’s unique physiology to his advantage before disposing of Colchester to put his furtive plan using the Lens into action. Proving that Torchwood is staffed as much by deliberate intellectuals as by improvisational action heroes, Colchester is able to deduce just how unlikely it is that, given all of the technology and comrades Torchwood has lost or destroyed over the many years, they have managed in quick succession to find a long-forgotten submersible to aid them and obtained both the Lens as the only piece of technology that can send the energy being discharged to another dimension and Norton as the only person experienced enough to use it. This is a needed moment of perspective for the series that again shows how monumentally events have been manipulated from behind the scenes, but the enigmatic figure that is Norton thankfully rises to the occasion after discovering that he, too, has been mislead and put the entire planet at risk as a result.

Although Yvonne is likewise known to be involved with the Committee, it is nonetheless shocking to see this woman who is so quick to assume control of any situation instead be content to simply let the impending devastation overtake them as part of the ultimate plan. While she does ultimately allow her humanity to show through as she takes control of Cardiff’s old air raid systems to warn the citizens, this is a brilliant bit that hauntingly reinforces that Torchwood is absolutely not being run by Torchwood at this time. More shocking, however, is the fact that the Committee has foreseen these deviations and incorporated them into the plan, taking what was assumed to be a narrative turning point in Torchwood’s favour when Norton declares that he knows God is with him and instead deviously proving that God has unwittingly been made part of the Committee due to known cost stemming from any action taken on her part. With events fast approaching the reset washing over the planet the Committee has wanted all along rather than complete destruction, the stakes have rarely been higher for Torchwood, and the bar has certainly been set high for the resolution to the events on display here.

Although Jack and Ng have not focused quite as much in this set as might have been expected at the beginning, John Barrowman and Alexandria Riley do share several strong scenes together as Ng struggles to affirm to herself that she is part of Torchwood despite her previous actions. There is no doubt that Ng in particular still has a bigger part to play in this story as a whole, but having these two face near-certain death together should allow both to connect and mutually understand each other on more level ground going forward. Ultimately, dealing with what has already occurred to set the scene for what is yet to occur is exactly the remit of ‘Eye of the Storm,’ and it fulfills its task brilliantly while likewise providing am all-too-fitting closure to one lingering aspect of Norton’s journey and reintroducing the incredible potential threat that the Committee holds.