Torchwood: "Meat" (S2, E4)

"Imprisoned, chained, and drugged. Welcome to Planet Earth."

Meat, Season Two, Episode Four

("Rhys discovers the truth about Torchwood and joins them as they battle to save an extraordinary creature.")

WHAT I LIKED

* Rhys showing some initiative--secretly questioning Gwen about her whereabouts, and then following her to the alien meat plant.

* Owen's "alarm deactivator"--a bullet.

* Rhys' quick thinking when captured.

* Jack engaging in a blustery argument with Rhys and then declaring: "This is quite homoerotic."

* Jack flirting with the receptionist, full of truck-related double-entendres.

WHAT I DIDN'T

* Nothing I can pin down; just felt a little flat is all.

WHAT I'M NOT SURE ABOUT

* At the accident site, cops are telling civilians like Rhys that Torchwood is on its way. Is Torchwood secret or not?

* Why this alien whale creature, which Owen identifies as a water dweller, seems to be doing okay chained up in a warehouse for weeks.

* The idea that this alien keeps growing and regenerating tissue, even though it doesn't sound like it's getting fed (feeding something that size would certainly cut into the operation's profits!). Where's the extra mass coming from?

DELETED SCENES

* Jack walks in on Ianto holding a gun in front of a mirror and trying out catchphrases. They decide against giving Rhys a gun, and then Jack and Ianto get very flirty in a completely inappropriate-for-the-workplace but funny way.

TORCHWOOD DECLASSIFIED

* Concept designs for the alien whale creature. The original ideas were far more "alien", and then grew more (in my opinion) mundane over time. Although presented as a creative choice, I'm guessing the realities of budgets and CGI had more to do with it.

* Filming the warehouse scenes without the presence of an actual alien whale, and creating the CGI effects in post-production.

* A bit on Rhys, his discovering Torchwood, getting shot, etc.