End of the Road (TV story)

 was the eighth episode of Series 4 of Torchwood. It was written by Ryan Scott and Jane Espenson, directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton and featured John Barrowman as Jack Harkness, Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper, Kai Owen as Rhys Williams, Mekhi Phifer as Rex Matheson and Alexa Havins as Esther Drummond.

It introduced Allen Shapiro as the snark-spouting superior to Rex and Esther at the CIA. Brian Friedkin also reappeared after a five episode absence to retaliate against Torchwood, more specifically Matheson, for his painful interrogation. This ultimately failed and he attempted suicide, a choice that took down Olivia Colasanto with him.

Among the many secrets about the mysterious group behind the Miracle, more was revealed about the effects it is having on the world. The first true death to happen since the Miracle occurs in this episode, the demise of a very elderly Angelo Colasanto. Also, the Hub is mentioned to be the place where the piece of alien technology Colasanto had was found, following its destruction in Children of Earth: Day One. Even more surprising, it shows how much more Angelo was infatuated with Jack than the immortal's previous lovers, even taking photos of him throughout the 20th century. Another important revelation would be that the Categories of Life was adopting a fourth category: Category 0. This news angered Oswald Danes and led him to become a fugitive, attacking Jilly Kitzinger for not informing him about this, who scrapped back after putting up with his repulsive behaviour for so long.

Synopsis
Jack Harkness showdowns with a man he thought long dead, but will the outcome be beneficial? Rex Matheson takes extreme action, but is it too late to prevent the collapse of society?

Plot
The Torchwood team arrive at the Colasanto residence. The woman who brought Jack Harkness is Angelo Colasanto's granddaughter. She explains that since meeting Jack, Angelo has devoted his life to making immortality possible. Angelo himself is now aged and infirm, bedridden and connected to life-support machines.

His granddaughter, Olivia Colasanto, explains the three men who witnessed Jack's resurrection represented three different families who are in some way responsible for the Miracle. When Esther Drummond tried to trace them, there was no record of them.

The CIA enter the residence, having tracked Rex Matheson through a phone call he made to Vera Juarez' brother. Rex confronts Brian Friedkin, who confesses that he is working for the families, which he transmits through the contact lenses.

Allen Shapiro arrests Friedkin, but he triggers a bomb he is carrying, killing Olivia and him. Rex and Esther are once more allowed to work for the CIA.

While speaking to Angelo, Jack removes his breathing apparatus and kisses him. The life support machines to start beeping frantically and Angelo dies, leaving the CIA attempting to figure out how he died.

Esther notices the flooring under Angelo's bed is higher than the rest of the room. Jack examines it and says it is a null field, cancelling the morphic field causing the Miracle. Jack warns that any state with knowledge of this alien technology could cause a catastrophic disaster, since a null field can conceal mass weapons. Shapiro insists Jack find a way to stabilise it, given he's the best expert they have on the device.

Oswald Danes begins to wear down Jilly Kitzinger's last nerves inside a hotel at Dallas by tuning her out with rockabilly music when she tries to discuss the televised exposure she has planned for him. He requests that she brings him a prostitute. Jilly is also approached by a woman who addresses herself as Shawnie Yamaguchi, with unusual eagerness to become her assistant. When the weary Jilly enters her room to take off her high heels, Yamaguchi wins her over, as Jilly does not realise she is a mole for the CIA. Meanwhile, Oswald receives his prostitute, but attempts to treat her more like a date, which irritates the woman. After her patience is exhausted, she walks off in a huff, warning Oswald he is a "Category 0".

Oswald beelines to Jilly and confronts her for not mentioning this to him. Congress has initiated a mandate that will allow a new category of life to deal with people who have earned the ovens for violating morality, such as criminals and death row convicts like him, and contrary to what Danes thinks, he is only loved on television, not in society. He then strikes Jilly across the face and gives her a bloody lip. Finally sick of putting up with Danes, Jilly's temper explodes and she grabs hold of him in retaliation, flailing and screaming. Oswald clobbers her again and charges out of the room, stealing her laptop. Kitzinger picks herself up and stands outside her room bellowing at the departing Oswald her many grievances — she'll issue a whole new set of charges on his head for the assault, that the ovens are opening up just for him, and even if he runs, his face is too famous for him to hide.

Jilly later discusses with Shawnie her plans to turn the world against Oswald, when she encounters the same man from the Cowboys Stadium. He tips her off that Shawnie is a CIA field agent, then shoots Shawnie as she stands in the hotel elevator after being excused by Kitzinger. The man tells the bewildered Jilly that she is being considered for a promotion above PhiCorp for a position in the family, to which she agrees. He whisks her away while informing someone else on his mobile phone Jilly is now in the family's hands. This person is revealed as Charlotte Wills, secretly infiltrating the CIA under her colleagues' noses. Noah Vickers asks her who she was talking to after fetching records from several Catholic churches. Wills replies, "It's just a family thing — that's all," resuming her masquerade without missing a beat.

Jack, while working on the null field, calls Rex and Esther over to help him. Once with him, he reveals that he set the field to nullify all sound around them so they can talk privately. Once Rex verifies it by having Esther count aloud while he wanders away from them, Jack informs them he needs to get out of the Colasanto manor, claiming the alpha plate from the generator could lead America to start world wars in an effort to conquer areas of the world given that's what the generator can help accomplish. After stating they'll help but remain with the CIA to get information "on the inside", Rex knocks out the guard by Jack and instructs him to leave Esther and himself behind so he can implement a lie that Jack escaped on his own with a stolen vehicle, since the CIA may still need their services. As they sneak out the back door, a guard spots Esther and shoots Jack. Rex takes out this guard from behind and sends Esther away to deal with the guards who will investigate the shot. He smears the blood from Jack's wound over his chest so it looks like his injury is leaking out and leaves Esther driving away with a critically wounded Jack in the back seat, listening to a radio announcement declaring total economic collapse of biblical magnitude on the horizon. Esther panics when the faintly conscious Jack does not provide any words at all that could defuse this crisis. She has no idea where to go for help. Elsewhere, the deported Gwen sits on a plane back to Wales, crying in despair.

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
 * Jilly Kitzinger - Lauren Ambrose
 * Sarah Drummond - Candace Brown
 * Mary Cooper - Sharon Morgan
 * Charlotte Wills - Marina Benedict
 * Allen Shapiro - John de Lancie
 * Brian Friedkin - Wayne Knight
 * Noah Vickers - Paul James
 * Olivia Colasanto - Nana Visitor
 * Blue Eyed Man - Teddy Sears
 * Claire - Megan Duffy
 * Shawnie - Constance Wu
 * Agent Baylor - David Desantos
 * Wilson - Nayo K. Wallace

Story notes

 * Esther finds no record of the three families. In the past, we've also seen Torchwood, Rose Tyler and the Doctor himself erased from various computer databases. (TV: The New World, Love & Monsters, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship)
 * When searching for the Three Families, Esther makes reference to the "Vivaldi Inheritance," a case that she says occurred in 2004. This is likely in reference to Russell T Davies's 2004 ITV series, "Mine All Mine," in which a man called Max Vivaldi claims that the town of Swansea is his inheritance. The show starred Gareth David-Lloyd as a homosexual man called Yanto Jones.

Ratings

 * UK: 4.64 million
 * US: 1.17 million

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors

 * Esther hangs up the phone after Rex gives her the names of the Three Families, but the call somehow stays connected.
 * When Brian Friedkin interrogates Rex, his voice should not be audible on the television set the Eye-5s are projecting their feed on, as the Eye-5s cannot pick up sound. Secondly, Friedkin's voice isn't turned into the generic male voice by the translation systems of the Eye-5 contact lenses.
 * When Rex and Charlotte search for the Three Families' names in Catholic Church archive books, the books appear to be empty.
 * The computer system on Esther's laptop that records the conversation have Olivia's words written before she says them and Gwen's words are written a bit different than what she says.
 * After Jack pulls out the plug to Angelo's life-system, Angelo still breathes (however it could be his last air leaving him).

Continuity

 * Gwen once again gets irritated when someone calls her English. (TV: Rendition)
 * The null field generator was said to have been taken from the Torchwood Hub in Cardiff after its destruction. (TV: Children of Earth: Day Two)
 * Friedkin threatens Rex in the same way that Rex once threatened him, using his own words against him. (TV: Dead of Night)
 * Esther's cheek is still gashed from the violent struggle she had with Colin Maloney. (TV: The Middle Men)
 * Jack gets various flashbacks of the events in 1927. (TV: Immortal Sins)
 * Jack asks the dying Angelo whether he saw Ianto while watching Jack. (TV: Everything Changes et al.)
 * Rex mocks Jack by saying "the whole world got screwed because two gay guys had a hissy fit", referring to Jack and Angelo's tearful parting. (TV: Immortal Sins)
 * Esther's sister Sarah discovers that it was Esther that reported her. (TV: The Categories of Life)
 * When Rex gets blood on his hands he plans to cover by saying that it's his heart again. It would previously bleed when he exhausted himself. (TV: The New World, Rendition, Escape to LA)
 * Rhys asks Gwen whether Jack is grumpy because he got another bruise, referring to his previous scarring on the arm. (TV: Dead of Night)
 * Gwen asks whether Olivia ordered a gun at Anwen's head to get revenge on Jack. Gwen's mother later reveals that she and her father were threatened with guns in their own house. (TV: Immortal Sins)
 * Rex says that he was supposed to die. (TV: The New World)

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.
 * It was also released in the Series 1-4 boxset (Region 2 release: 14 November 2011.)