April 7: Children of Earth: "Day Four" (TW)

Man, if you thought the first three episodes were good, that's nothing compared to what "Day Four" brings -- not only do we get the same character drama as before, but we also get some terrible decisions being made as the plot advances.  The combination of this sends the audience on one hell of an emotional ride over the course of this hour, as Children of Earth continues to excel.

So the 456 want 10% of the children of the world.  That's a lot more than the twelve they wanted 44 years ago (oh, and hey, Rhys specifically mentions 44 years, so therefore this takes place in 2009 -- useful if you're the sort of person who wants to work out the dates of all the franchise shows of this era).  The flashbacks we get are interesting; it suggests that the 456 were offering a cure to a new strain of flu in exchange for those twelve kids.  That was a deal Britain was willing to make: the lives of twelve in exchange for saving twenty-five million.  It's interesting because here we get no such offer: it's "give us ten percent or we will wipe out your entire species."  As Gwen points out to Jack, it's essentially a protection racket, and now the 456 are leaning on the human race.

It's also quite disturbing to see what they've done to the children they were given; it's not clear why exactly they were needed, but seeing one of them connected up to the 456, still young and apparently conscious is really creepy.  "We do not harm the children.  They feel no pain.  They live long beyond their years," the 456 state.  "Oh well, that's OK then," Gwen replies sarcastically.  We know that, at the very least, the children aren't going to be treated well by our standards.  Yet, it seems the 456's threat has backed humanity into a corner.

As such, the most disturbing scenes in "Day Four" aren't those of the child hooked up to the 456 inside that tank, or the 456 spewing green bile all over the cameraman, but are instead those of the British government, trying to decide the best way to select 10% of the nation's children to give to the 456.  It's rather horrifying to watch them start from suggesting a purely random selection to eventually advocating a form of eugenics based on test scores:

Now look, on the one hand you've got the good schools.  And I don't just mean those producing graduates, I mean the pupils who will go on to staff our hospitals, our offices, our factories.  The workforce of the future.  We need them.  Accepted, yes?  So, set against that you've got the failing schools, full of the less able, the less socially useful.  Those destined to spend a lifetime on benefits, occupying places on the dole queue and, frankly, the prisons.  Now look, should we treat them equally?  God knows, we've tried, and we've failed.  And now the time has come to choose.  And if we can't identify the lowest achieving ten percent of this country's children, then what are the school league tables for?

(from The Torchwood Transcripts - Children of Earth, Day Four)

The only upside to this (well, other than a chance to finally see Dalek-and-more voice artist Nicholas Briggs in front of the camera, as Rick Yates) is that Torchwood has been recording all of this (thanks to Lois), and they finally have enough material that they can use as leverage to get inside Thames House and confront the 456.  It really is something of a punch-the-air moment, as Lois stands up and slowly but with increasing confidence tells the assembled Cabinet that the meeting has been recorded and that Torchwood must be given access to the 456 or else all these meetings will be made public.  It really is a great moment.

Jack kisses Ianto goodbye. (Children of Earth: "Day Four") ©BBC

It's a shame that it goes south so quickly, though.  It's really great to see Jack and Ianto make a stand against the 456, to tell them what will happen if the 456 try to take the children -- "When people find out the truth, you will have over six billion angry human beings taking up arms to fight you," Jack tells them.  "That might be a fight you think you can win, but at the end of it, the human race in defence of its children will fight to the death.  And if I have to lead them into battle, then I will" -- but the consequences of that action are dire, as the 456 seal off Thames House and release a virus that kills everyone inside.  Tragically, this means that Ianto dies as well, with a very poignant death scene as he wonders if Jack will even remember him in a thousand years' time.  So goodbye to Ianto Jones, who became easily one of the best characters on Torchwood.

But now we see that the 456 have called Jack's bluff -- and it seems the British government has no choice but to comply with their terms.  "Two choices," Yates says.  "Either we go to war against an enemy we can't beat, or we go to war against our own people for their own good."  "An injury to one is not an injury to all," says Denise Riley, the engineer of the "lowest 10%" plan, explicitly refuting what Jack told the 456.  "We have to surrender."  "Thirty five million children," says the Prime Minister.  "Or six point seven billion people," Riley replies.  And so the stage is set for the final episode of Children of Earth...