Torchwood: Reset

By Rhea Dee

I really love Martha Jones. Really, really love Martha Jones.

So naturally, I had a bit of a squee fest during Reset, the first of three episodes featuring Martha Jones. Martha’s life as the Doctor’s companion was way too short for me. I latched onto Martha’s smart sassiness like a crazed fangirl and if I didn’t believe in the almighty power that is Russell T. Davies, there would have been some serious flames coming out of my mouth at her departure.

Luckily for me, Martha isn’t truly gone. Her life lives on in the web-toons, comics and now Torchwood.

The lovely Martha Jones has been called to Torchwood to help investigate a series of murders across England. She now works for UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) as a medical officer, studying the paranormal (she later reveals to Jack that she got the position after someone gave her an impeccable recommendation, which Jack believes was the Doctor).

It’s clear from the get-go that there is a bit of office jealously going around The Hub. Owen and Jack flirt with Martha shamelessly, which bothers Tosh and Gwen quite a bit (Gwen eventually warms up to Martha once she finds out that she is not one of Jack’s old flings). Everyone is a bit curious about Martha’s relaxed relationship with Jack, as he continually drops hints about Martha saving the world and a certain Doctor. Martha has an insight to Jack’s past that the rest of the team is dying to know about, although they don’t get much out of Martha except for the same vague Doctor and world saving comments.

Owen’s flirting is particularly notable as it seems to have embodied itself in the ‘I’m totally gonna impress the hell out of you!’ category. For example: Martha is examining an alien device when Owen rushes up and tells her that it is a singularity scalpel, a device that kind of works like a disintegration ray. He crumples up a piece of paper and puts it inside a cup, and tells her that the device will allow him to disintegrate the paper without destroying the cup. The rest of team looks dubiously amused; apparently Owen has tried this trick before with little success. This time is no different–the device explodes something completely off mark, behind poor Ianto, who screams and falls to the floor.

And quick aside: Ianto’s face when he popped up again, the little frown-y face? Totally classic. Just another reason for me to be completely obsessed with Ianto.

As Martha and team Torchwood investigate the murders happening across the country, they discover that each of the victims was killed in the same way, a hypodermic needle in the eyeball (ick). When they research the victims, they discover that their medical records have been completely wiped. The team is stumped until the come across a woman who was attacked but not killed. The team learns that she was part of an experimental medical study with the Pharm, called “Reset” which has cured her of HIV. The team also discovers that another one of the victims was also cured of diabetes. While Owen and Martha are investigating the HIV-cured woman, she suddenly convulses and then dies. And if that wasn’t bad enough, a bunch of creepy X-Files-esque flies fly out of her mouth and attack Owen and Martha. The attack is short, however, as after about a minute of aggressive attack mode, the flies die.

Weird, yes? Jack and Owen decide to investigate the Pharm, but they hit a dead end when head-honcho Professor Copley isn’t fazed by Jack’s ‘fear me’ tactics. Luckily back at The Hub, a new plan is hatched: Martha will infiltrate the facility undercover as a participant in the medical study. Ianto gives Martha a bunch of cool 007 spyware and sheds some light on his and Jack’s relationship (apparently they ‘dabble’ and it’s ‘innovative, bordering on avant-garde,’ which results in even more squeeing from me) and Tosh gives Martha the coolest spy gizmo ever–camera contact lenses that can receive text messages. Wow.

At the Pharm, Martha is posing as Samantha Jones, a creative writing student that really needs the cash from the experiment. The doctor takes some tests and Martha meets the Copley. Martha gets an eye-text to get close to Copley, and she lies that she has hepatitis. Martha’s lie allows her to gain instant approval for the Reset experiment, as Copley and his crew have been using the mayflies to cure people with diseases in hopes of finding a singular cure for all major diseases.

While Martha is settling into her quarters, Tosh and Owen are playing the awkward romance game (while monitoring Martha, of course. Team Torchwood can multi-task like crazy). Owen casually brings up the pool tournament Tosh had mentioned a few episodes back and Tosh admits that she was trying to ask Owen out on a date. Owen is surprised at first, but then accepts her offer, although Tosh is initially suspicious that he’s just being polite. Once she’s sure that he’s sincere, she has a little mini-squee moment to herself and I squee with her because YES! Tosh is finally going to get Owen!

Back at the Pharm, Martha is playing super snoop. She grants Tosh access to the Pharm network and we discover the downside to the Reset drug. Yes, it does cure all incurable diseases, but the mayflies cannot be extracted once injected into the body, and they eventually grow up and eat their way out.

Torchwood is really making way with the ick this season, aren’t they?

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Through Tosh’s hack, the team discovers that there is a person on the Reset test list that isn’t dead yet (either through mayfly or assassination to cover-up the mayfly eventual death). Gwen and Ianto seek out this last person and rescue her just in time from a Pharm assassin. They haul him back to The Hub.

While Jack is questioning the assassin about the Pharm, he begins to convulse. Owen discovers that he has a mayfly inside him, which probably flew into him when he was killing the other victims and the mayflies flew out of their mouths. Owen again tries to use the singularity scalpel to disintegrate the mayfly but ends up exploding the man’s stomach allowing the mayfly to crawl out of him in a very Alien-esque kind of way.

Like I said, Torchwood is really going with the ick this season.

Meanwhile back at the Pharm, Martha’s job is done, so she makes her escape. However, something else is also trying to escape from the Pharm–a fully grown Mayfly (really big. Pterodactyl big.) Martha is apprehended in the struggle and her awesome contacts are rendered inactive. (Sad.)

Jack, nervous that he’s lost contact with Martha through her contacts, decides to infiltrate the base. Team Torchwood loads into the SUV and they’re off, using the assassin’s dead body to ‘drive’ the SUV right through the front door.

The team splits up and begins to search for Martha, who has been captured by Copley. Copley tells Martha that her white blood cells are unique–a byproduct of traveling through time and space. Copley asks how it’s possible, but Martha sticks to her cover story. Copley decides to inject Martha with mayflies to see how they will react to her unique immune system.

While investigating, Team Torchwood (specifically Tosh, Gwen and Ianto) stumble across one of the Pharm’s labs. The Pharm apparently stems all their research through medical experiments done on captive aliens. This is the second episode this season that has touched on the fact that not all aliens need to be captured or destroyed; in fact there are many aliens that are seemingly harmless being used against their will. Torchwood hints that the mayfly just might be one of the docile aliens; when Gwen approaches its glass chamber, it tilts its head along with her and even puts its arm on the glass when Gwen rests her hand on the glass.

Jack and Owen find Martha, suffering from the Reset Mayfly drug. Copley remarks that Martha is responding better than any other patient exposed to Reset. Jack assaults Copley, who insists that both he and Jack are on the same side. Jack denies this, saying he would never harm innocent aliens.

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During that, Martha, our lovely Martha, isn’t handling the mayflies so well anymore. One mayfly has eliminated the others inside her and has grown to be a very angry alien baby thing, pushing on her abdomen. Martha is going to die unless Jack and Owen can extract the mayfly.

Owen busts out the singularity scalpel. Jack disapproves, quite rightly, since the last two times Owen has used it resulted in blood and guts and Ianto frown-y face.

Luckily Owen’s got the hang of it this time, and the mayfly is destroyed with Martha still intact. Owen helps Martha to her feet and the team leaves the complex, which is being destroyed.

However, before you can play the awesome ‘heroes triumph’ music, Copley wanders out of the facility holding a gun to the team. Owen steps in front of Martha protectively, and Copley shoots Owen in the chest.

What? Owen gets shot?

Jack in turn shoots Copley in the head, and as the team tries to help Owen, he dies.

Dies. Owen, delightful sarcastic, ‘I’m going on a date with Tosh soon’ Owen, is dead.

What?!?!?!?

Rhea Dee loves being a geek. She also loves female revenge flicks, campy horror, trashy novels and rock ‘n’ roll records. Rhea’s love for rock ‘n’ roll led her to be a regular contributor for the now defunct Now Wave webzine. She’s all about Edgar Wright. Important to know.

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