Unearthly Times

Torchwood
2006-11

Adam

Story
2.5

N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

Adam was a much better episode than I remembered it being.

True, some of the old memory loss = personality change stuff is a bit silly and it all does begin to fall apart once Jack figures out something is wrong, but it’s an enjoyable ride for the most part.

Inserting Adam into the opening montage is a nice touch. For one, it tells you something’s up from the start. Then there’s his wiping Gwen’s memory of Rhys, which sets up the happy couple for an episode of falling in love all over again.

Elsewhere, Owen’s gone all meek and nerdy, Tosh all sexy self-confidence and Jack’s seeing things — his brother, his Dad, the Boeshane peninsula.

“I’m remembering a man who doesn’t exist.”

Ianto, Adam

Ianto gets the worst of it, though. When he realises Adam isn’t in any of his diary entries, Adam implants false memories of Ianto being a serial killer. It’s a genuinely disturbing moment, even if some of the dialogue gets a bit rum at times.

Afterwards though, Adam takes the inevitable Torchwood turn for the worse. What’s the lie detector meant to detect if Ianto believes his murderous past to be true? Why did none of them pipe up and say ‘Hang on, we’re an inquisitive bunch, we might want to warn our post-amnesiac selves not to investigate the missing two days!’

And how good are those amnesia pills! Are they so utterly precise that they wipe exactly the right amount of time and memories from each of the team? Presumably Gwen’s pill is for a shorter time period, otherwise she’ll forget some of her Paris trip as well And do they give a pill to Rhys too? He’s not going to forget his fiancé didn’t have a clue who he was!

Still, before all that, there’s some good stuff, and for the most part, it’s fun!

Better yet, next week Martha Jones turns up!


Feb
18
2023
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