- The Gathering With The Gathering, though, I felt it was all just a little bit muted. That Torchwood: Miracle Day, at the point where it should be paying off on the weeks of steady build up, was spluttering just a little. I say that appreciating that not everyone out there has warmed to Miracle Day as much as I. The thing is, though, at the point I expected my head to be awash with thoughts of the season finale, at the end of this episode, I just wasn’t really pumped up for it at all. That’s not to say that The Gathering is a bad episode, because it isn’t. It’s just that it lends some weight to the argument that perhaps the story of Miracle Day might have best fitted a shorter, more concentrated run that the one we’ve got. The episode itself spreads the work across the full cast of key characters. Gwen is caring for her surely-doomed father, who is being hidden away from the authorities. She’s eventually reunited with Jack, who is being tended to by Esther in Scotland, having being smuggled into the country. And then Oswald Danes appears. Danes has been an underplayed card throughout Miracle Day for me, and then suddenly, the most notorious man in the world has managed to sneak into Wales. Surely they’d have recognised him at the toll bridge, if nothing else? Nonetheless, he’s got some key information – the name of the man who created the miracle – and Gwen is forced to co-operate with him. Reluctantly, as you might expect. In fact, and this might fly in the face of what I’m going to say shortly, she gave me my favourite moment of the episode. “What does The Blessing tell you about yourself?”, she was asked. “That I’m right”, she beamed. I loved that. I didn’t love The Blessing, though, and this is the recurring problem with a high concept science fiction idea. I always thought that Groundhog Day proved the best template for this, in that it comes up with a central idea, and then doesn’t bother explaining it. As such, you’re left to watch the ramifications, which are usually far, far more interesting that the explanations that tend to be offered. Given the number of plot strands Miracle Day is juggling, it didn’t really have the same luxury as Groundhog Day, though, and inevitably, the explanation was forthcoming. It was something of an anti-climax for me, even though it was well realised on screen. Personally, I’m far more interested in the influence of the three families than I am The Blessing, and it’s here where Miracle Day keeps a few chips in its back pocket. I wonder if the threads being set up surrounding them will outlast Miracle Day, and if strands are being put in place for future Torchwood seasons. Appreciating that Russell T Davies has said, right back at the starter, that we’d get a self-contained story in Miracle Day, that doesn’t rule out leaving some additions to the Torchwood legacy. It might be, of course, that the families are wrapped up in the finale. But I hope they’re not. After all, we’ve still not got to the bottom of just why The Blessing is so interested in Captain Jack, to the point where his blood is being drawn towards it That’s going to take a bit of time to explain. He must be intrinsically linked to it in some way, but how? Also, it’s probably fair to assume that the miracle has to come to an end at some point, and that points the finger of death not just at Gwen’s father, but also at Rex. It’s going to be a busy finale. Ultimately, I’m not getting the sense of escalation that we had with the startlingly good Children Of Earth, and comparisons to the previous season don’t always do Miracle Day too many favours. I’ll tune into the finale, certainly. But with perhaps a little less urgency that I was expecting, that’s all.
