Torchwood "Children of Earth" Day One

*SPOILERS*

Day One of the 5-part (boo) mini-series (season 3) of Torchwood started tonight and what a doozy!

A bus full of small children are being driven out into the middle of nowhere, they depart the bus and walk toward a white, blinding light. All except one small little boy, who hangs back. The rest of the children disappear and BOOM!, back to Cardiff.

Gwen is on her way to work and encounters a strange site. A few children, stopped right where they are, in the middle of the street, chanting "We are coming" over and over again. Then, they just continue on as if nothing has happened. When she gets inside Torchwood she can't find Jack or Ianto.

That's because they are in a hospital, pretending to be the caretakers of some old dude just so they can get access to his body and remove a little hitchhiker, which did not kill him. They also meet a doctor names Rupesh, who we are to assume is the new Owen...he's not :( It'd revealed toward the end that he is working for some kind of group that was ordered to kill Jack. He shoots him and a horde of baddies enter and implant a bomb inside of Jack. Oh, and Rupesh gets shot dead. Which I was sad about because I liked this guy.

We also learned that some Frobisher guy was the one told to off Jack...but by whom? He tells the Prime Minister about this '426' business (so called because the 'aliens' are broadcasting on that signal). The Prime Minister tells Frobisher that he never heard of this and it's his problem. Great...

There also appears to be an eldery man who is in a psychiatric hospital. Turns out he's psychic and is the little boy who ran from the white light at the beginning. He meets with Gwen and tells her that she is pregnant and that he can smell the 'aliens' and has been for weeks. He also runs from the hospital near the end, when the same people who planted the bomb in Jack come to the hospital. Ut-oh!

We learn a bit about Jacks' life as well, when he goes to see his daughter and grand-child. She doesn't want him around because he's always the same age and she doesn't want her son to have to know about Jack's immortality. Jack wants to spend time with the son, but is it only to experiment with the signal frequency, or because he really wants to be part of his life? His daughter thinks it's just to experiment and tells him that he won't ever experiment on her son.

Jack ends up back at the Hub where he find Gwen giving herself some kind of scan. She finds out she is indeed pregnant and when Jack touches her hand and an alarm goes off. He does have a bomb inside of him and he orders Gwen and Ianto out of the Hub now! It explodes...and what comes next?

What I love is that it still has that Torchwood feel, even though it's only a 5-part mini-series. And that we learn some more about the characters and Jack in particular. He's so mysterious a character and he's immortal, so there is no telling what lives he's lived. It was hinted at by Captain John just before he stepped into The Rift in 'Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang' last season. Wonder what else is in store for our fair Jack?

One thing I always wanted more of on Torchwood is the chemistry between Jack and Gwen. I know they love each other, but now she's married to Rhys and is having his child and Jack is with Ianto, so will there be more? I hope so. I also really miss Tosh and Owen. Burn Gorman did such a wonderful job with Owen last season, showing him going through all the emotions of literally losing his life and yet still being alive. What was he? What happened to him? Etc...and then he died. It was heartbreaking. I'm sad he's not on anymore. I've always loved this show for it's slight camp, creepiness, seriousness and some very powerful episodes/scenes (Adrift, season 2, is a favorite of mine...absolutely haunting and sad). Can't wait for more tomorrow!