March 4: "Meat" (TW)

Look how responsible a driver Rhys is, pulling over to the side of the road before answering his phone...

So, like the last two episodes, "Meat" is interested in examining the human cost of these strange alien occurrences.  It just happens to be the case that the person affected this time around is Rhys, who stumbles across Torchwood's activities when one of his lorries overturns and he spies Gwen at the scene investigating.  And frankly, it's about time that Rhys found something out about Torchwood's activities -- he's been kept in the dark so long that it's nice to finally see him learn something.  It also gives Kai Owen a chance to shine -- he's been one of the best things about Torchwood, and it's nice to finally see him take center stage in an episode.  He's particularly good in this, tailing Gwen and then getting involved in the alien goings-on, which leads to him acting undercover and even taking a bullet for Gwen.  It's also wonderful to see him so enthused about the thought of alien life out there in the universe.  It's little wonder Gwen refuses to retcon him.

The alien creature, tied down in a warehouse. ("Meat") ©BBC

But the ostensible main plotline is about an alien beast that's fallen through the Rift which is composed almost entirely of flesh -- hardly any bones in its body -- and which some unscrupulous people have decided to start harvesting while it's still alive, as the creature keeps growing.  Oh, and look, it's Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior and Constantine's Matt Ryan as the leader of the criminal operation.

What's nice about this plotline is that, for once, Torchwood wants to help the alien lifeform rather than kill it or lock it up.  "We see enough death," Jack comments.  Of course it doesn't work out, and Owen is forced to euthanize the creature instead of being able to save it, but it's nice that they tried.  It's also worrying that the creature was seemingly sentient, which makes the criminals' actions even more heinous, despite their protestations that the creature is just "meat".  Jack and Owen both seem particularly affected by this.

If there's a downside to "Meat", it's that the main storyline doesn't have a larger point behind it, other than the now-standard one of "people are the real monsters".  But that doesn't really matter -- by focusing sufficiently on Rhys (but not to the point of exclusion), this is the best character-driven episode series 2 has provided yet.