Rendition (TV story)

Rendition was the second episode of the fourth series of Torchwood. It demonstrated that Jack had lost his immortality, and showed that there were other forces at work, trying to prevent him and Gwen from investigating the Miracle.

Synopsis
Jack and Gwen travel to America by plane. Rhys is left behind in England. Jack is poisoned en route, while Esther discovers more about Torchwood and those seeking to stop her. Vera Juarez attends a conference and learns there will be even more ways for the human race to run itself to painful extinction. Oswald Danes appears to a national audience, winning, of all things, sympathy.

Plot
Jack and Gwen are bundled onto a plane headed to America. Rhys and Anwen are taken back to Wales by the CIA. Jack's vortex manipulator is taken. Jack and Gwen are stuck handcuffed on a plane with Rex and Lyn Peterfield, CIA agent.

Oswald Danes, newly released convicted rapist and murderer, is interviewed on TV. Before the interview, Oswald takes most of the food for the people at the station, to a female production assistant's disgust, she tells him that she wants him to die. On the air, he cries and says he's sorry. Esther and other CIA agents watch on the TV. Oswald wins some agents' sympathy. Afterwards, Oswald and a police officer enter a lift. Jilly Kitzinger congratulates him on his performance, certain he was acting. Jilly offers her card, but Oswald makes a point of tearing it up outside the lift after he had received news of another interview. Jilly, still trying to win Oswald over, explains that if Satan himself walked the earth, he would need representation. However, Danes counters, by saying if Satan DID walk the earth, "he would trully be working in PR."

On the plane, Gwen and Jack catch up; she's angry that he took so long, thus putting Anwen in danger. However, Jack easily counters most of her angry comments by asking "Did you miss me?"; she does. Gwen then goes on to say that she thought the next time they met would be like a fairytale; she'd be an old woman and he'd still be the same. Rex interupts them, asking what Jack's vortex manipulator is. Not answering, Jack asks if anyone is investigating Morphic fields, going on to explain the basics of it. He then decides to make fun of Rex, pointing out that the beeping coming from his manipulator means he has low sodium levels and needs salt. Rex calls Dr Vera Juarez, who confirms this diagnosis.

Dr Juarez attends a conference in Washington, D.C. She learns the scope of the problems that the Miracle is causing. People still age and can be critically injured; a fellow doctor compares it to the Greek story of Tethonus. She overhears that skin cells will continue to grow as old cells die and the Miracle is species-specific to humans. Germs will become resistant to medicine as they have an eternity to feed on bodies and grow stronger. Vera also learns food and medical supplies will drop rapidly and the ever growing population could become a big problem.

Meanwhile, Esther discovers Rex's account has been deleted from the CIA database after she sees agents she doesn't know in Rex's office, altering his computer. She has received a lot of money from a Chinese bank account, framing her as a double agent. She prepares to contact Rex.

Back on the plane, Jack asks for a Coke. Lyn slips arsenic into it while one of the flight attendants, Danny, is distracted. Jack drinks it and announces that he feels sick, quickly becoming pale. Rex takes him to the bathroom where he vomits repeatedly. Upon finding out that there is no medicine onboard, Gwen suspects the flight attendant until realising Lyn went to "supervise" him; she tells Lyn, "it's either you or the big, gay steward; so my money's on YOU." Rex examines Lyn's purse, finding a bag of pills. She denies it is poison. Rex asks her to eat it, so she admits to poisoning Jack. She is handcuffed; Gwen slips her own handcuffs and she and Rex work, with help from the flight crew and Vera and the others at the conference, to create an antidote: improvised EDTA. Lyn tries to stop them and frees herself, but Gwen knocks her unconscious. Gwen and Rex save Jack, and Gwen is handcuffed again.

When Jack, Gwen, Rex and Lyn arrive at Dulles, we find that Esther has been trying to contact Rex. She tells him about his office and her account. Having been given a key by one of the corrupt agents Friedkin sent, Lyn slowly unlocks her handcuffs. Rex notices via a text message that he has also been "bribed", and received even more money than Esther. He lets Jack and Gwen go, knocks the guards out and breaks Lyn's neck. Vera and Esther arrive in cars outside the airport, and Jack, Gwen and Rex get into Esther's car. Vera drives off. Lyn, with a twisted neck, stumbles in front of their car, surviving because of the Miracle. She tries to harm them, but falls over, making Vera run over to assist her. The four drive off. Panicing, Esther wonders what's happening. Calmly, Gwen says "Welcome to Torchwood."

Cast

 * Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
 * Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
 * Rex Matheson - Mekhi Phifer
 * Esther Drummond - Alexa Havins
 * Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
 * Oswald Danes - Bill Pullman
 * Dr Vera Juarez - Arlene Tur
 * Charlotte Wills - Marina Benedict
 * Noah Vickers - Paul James
 * Brian Friedkin - Wayne Knight
 * Andy Davidson - Tom Price
 * Lyn Peterfield - Dichen Lachman
 * Goeff Reed - Tug Coker
 * Lianna - Halley Feiffer
 * Danny - Finn Wittrock
 * Greta - Erin Chenoweth
 * George Sayer - Richard Augustine
 * Bridget Howe - Amy Benedict
 * Jilly Kitzinger - Lauren Ambrose
 * Airport Security Cop - Antonio D. Charity
 * Man - Sedly Bloomfield
 * Yu-King So - Ewan Chung
 * Laurie - Rachel Leah Cohen
 * Man - Joseph Eid
 * Assistant - Chrissie Marie Fit
 * ER Nurse - Bari Hochwald
 * Paul Goldstein - Scott Hoxby
 * Simran Baidwan - Ronobir Lahiri
 * Gate Guard - Don Luce
 * Dr. Mandrell - David O'Donnell
 * James Percey - Jefferey Self
 * Woman - Kristi Swensson
 * EMT - Luke White
 * Government Clerk - A.J. Tannen
 * Security Chief - Glenn Taranto
 * Doctor Paul Bell - Richard Wharton

Biology

 * The continued use of antibiotics (and other drugs and medicines) and the lack of people dying will further the production/evolution of drug-resistant bacteria, such as MRSA.
 * Human flesh affected by Miracle Day continues to age.

Drugs and medicines

 * Rex is given an aspirin on the plane by Danny. It was found in the co-pilot's shirt pocket.

Elements

 * Jack is poisoned with arsenic and saved by chelation with EDTA, made on the plane from (amongst other things) silver, cyanide, and degreaser.

Foods and beverages

 * Jack asks for a cola while on the plane.
 * Gwen drinks water whilst on the plane.
 * Rex requests some pretzels while on the plane — the salty kind.

Individuals

 * Jack had a boyfriend who took arsenic for his skin.
 * Rex continues to refer to Jack as "World War II" and notes his clothing makes him look like a flying ace.

Theories and concepts

 * Jack speaks at length about morphic fields and how their manipulation may have created the Miracle Day.
 * Oswald and Jilly mention the Devil in humorous context.

Vehicles

 * Esther steals a blue Mini.
 * Gwen is sorely disappointed by the getaway car Esther has for the group, thinking the Americans should have big, boastful SUVs.

Story notes

 * Unlike broadcasts of Doctor Who and previous series of Torchwood, this series was broadcast in the United States, Australia and Canada before the United Kingdom.
 * United States - 15 July 2011
 * Australia and Canada - 16 July 2011
 * United Kingdom - 21 July 2011

Ratings

 * UK: 5.75 million

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors

 * While in the Washington DC City Hall, Dr. Juarez can clearly be seen walking past the Colorado state flag. A Colorado flag would not usually be displayed in an official city building outside Colorado. However, the appearance of a California state flag in the same building in TV: The Categories of Life suggests it is one of a collection of the flags of all fifty US states.
 * The needle Gwen uses on Jack is far too big to be a standard insulin needle. Instead, it's obviously a standard IM (intra-muscular) needle, which a diabetic like Danny wouldn't carry.
 * While EDTA is a chelating agent, it's not useful for all heavy metals — in particular, arsenic. (This may have been intentional dramatic license rather than a mistake.)
 * Rex breaks Lyn's neck and she is later shown walking with her head twisted 180 degrees on her body. Standard neck breaks of the type administered by Rex do not spin the head around like that.
 * When Jilly is smoking a cigarette with Vera Juarez, on the camera shot behind her the lighter isn't in her hand, but on the front shot the lighter is.
 * Most American health professionals pronounce MRSA as "mersa" rather than spell out the letters.

Continuity

 * Jack and Gwen discuss Jack leaving Torchwood. (TV: Children of Earth: Day Five, TV: The End of Time)
 * The moon landing is mentioned as being among the things the human race has achieved. (TV: Blink, Day of the Moon)
 * Very similar to Jack's poisoning, the Doctor survived a cyanide by producing an antidote out of materials around him. Also, the people who frantically gather the materials for Jack's detox are worked into a hysteria similar to that caused when the Doctor was poisoned. (TV: The Unicorn and the Wasp)
 * Gwen's expectations in American cars are put down when she sees Esther has a tiny blue Mini waiting for the group. She complains, "I thought you Americans all had big SUVs. This is rubbish." Her assumption could stem from Torchwood Three's use of a high-tech SUV, which was later stolen by teenage hoodlums in TV: Children of Earth: Day One. In this respect, she might see the CIA as lower calibre and inferior compared to Torchwood.

Home video releases
This episode was released worldwide in a box set containing all ten episodes of Torchwood: Miracle Day. In the United Kingdom, it was released on Region 2 DVD and Region Free Blu-ray on 14 November 2011. In Australia, it was released in Region 4 DVD and Region B Blu-Ray on 1 December 2011. In New Zealand, the same sets were released on 7 December 2011. In North America, it was released on Region 1 DVD and Region Free Blu-Ray on 3 April 2012.