The opening shot shows a man and woman trotting around a really lovely old staircase with hand-cranked instruments. They encounter a nurse who seems inordinately fearful of them; ah–the explanation: she thinks they’re ghosts. The man and woman, named Gerald and Harriet, ask whether she’s seen any ghosts lately. “Three today,” the nurse announces, almost accusingly. Gerald (patronizingly): Well, you’re a very brave girl. The nurse says ,”Thank you, sir.” Harriet clears her throat and asks where the ghosts showed up. “In the ward.” Their ghost geiger counter ticks away as they stride into a ward in St Teilo’s Military Hospital. The year is 1918, a year before the end of World War I. There are a lot of shell-shocked men here; the nurse says they’ll be shipped back to the front as soon as they’re up for it. Harriet, the soul of sympathy: Field Marshall Haig’s order. Every position must be held to the last man. Each one of us must fight on to the end. Whenever that it. Easy for her to say; she hasn’t seen the trenches. They’re looking at a young man sleeping curled up on his side. The lights flicker, the kid wakes up, and the geiger counter goes nuts. Harriet calls Gerald’s attention to this in case he missed it. They leave; glass breaks, and the kid sits up. Gerald and Harriet come to a stop “right on top of it” but don’t see anything. There’s a rumbling, and a bright white light fills the room. They look through it and see the kid and Tosh clutching each other, sitting on the floor. The light fades to blue. Gerald: Hello? Tosh to the kid: Tell them. Gerald: Tell us what? Tosh (more urgently): Tell them what to do! You’re the only one who can stop this! The kid looks down. Tosh: If you don’t, it’s the end of everything! Tommy! The kid (named Tommy, apparently) gets to his feet and walks over to Gerald and Harriet: Take me! I’m in there, in the ward in 1918. You have to take me so I can be here now. Harriet and Gerald look puzzled. Tommy: Take me! Gerald and Harriet stride down the ward once more and collect Tommy from his bed. Tommy: Who are you? Gerald (somewhat smugly): We’re Torchwood. They hustle Tommy out, stage right.
Cut to modern-day Cardiff. Apparently Tosh moved after the whole Mary thing because her place is large, spacious, very tidy. She’s brushing her teeth, eating breakfast, drinking coffee, ect. Her hair is up and she’s in a dress with slacks underneath. I happen to think it’s a stupid look for anybody, but she seems to like it. She primps into a compact mirror and looks expectant. She smiles and leaves the apartment. As she goes, we see that the date is cicled in her planner in red ink.
Jack gives Gwen background on today’s science experiment. She holds a picture of our shell-shock victim and Jack identifies it as Thomas Reginald Brockless. Ianto contributes: Tommy. Jack: Twenty-four years old. Sort of. There’s disagreement between Jack and Ianto about how old he is. Jack leaves the office and asks Owen if he’s ready. Owen’s almost done and notes Tosh’s dress. It’s rather ugly, something like a floaty purple tent, but it does emphasize her tits nicely. They troop down to the cold storage, where Torchwood has kept Tommy pretty much frozen for ninety years, making him 24 or 114 years old, depending on how you count it. Owen explains that Tommy has to be defrosted every twelve months or so for one day, then back in the freezer, just to make sure he still works. Jack: One day we’re going to need him. Yep, meat for the grinder that is Torchwood.
Owen injects chemicals into Tommy’s neck; he’s got Tommy wired up to a monitor. The chemicals aren’t working, possibly because they haven’t actually reached the heart due to the, you know, lack of blood flow. Owen manages to jump start him. Tommy is very disoriented and violent, whacking Owen, although that may be just on general principles. Tosh calms him down; he remembers her. Owen mutters that this gets harder every time; Ianto cheerily mentions that he’s got a good left hook, though. Tosh asks Tommy how he’s feeling: I could murder a cuppa tea. Everybody smiles; Tosh looks at Ianto, who drops the smile fast and goes to fetch the tea. Later, up in the conference room, Tommy is dressed and everybody’s having a celebratory meal. Tommy compliments Tosh’s dress and catches up a bit on latest styles.
Tosh and Owen put him through some physical and mental tests. He’s surprisingly chipper for a shell-shocked guy. He knows the routine by heart now. Tosh tries some empathy and predictably misses her mark: We wake you up once a year and stick needles into you. It’s not fair. Tommy: Once a year for you; it’s every day for me.
In his office, Jack tells Gwen that at the hospital in 1918, there was a time shift, a fracture that juxtaposed two slices of time together, 1918 and some other time. They don’t know what the other time is, which makes it tricky to predict when it’s going to happen again. Chunks of Great War Cardiff will start to appear at the hospital when the slice of time coumes around again and this will spread to the rest of the world. It’s unclear as to what damage this might cause or its duration, or, actually, any kind of detail. Tommy is important because somehow he stops it. Jack takes a small rectangular case from a locker and hands it to Gwen; she can’t get it open. This is because it’s sealed with a temporal lock and contains sealed orders from the 1918 Torchwood command. The box will unlock before the shift starts in earnest. Considering the importance of the box, it’s odd that it’s stuck away in a locker, where it could open at any time and not be noticed.
Tosh brings in Tommy, who’s dressed in modern civvies. Gwen: You look like a film star. Tommy: Who? Charlie Chaplin? Ah, for the days when our pop culture was beloved, not derided. Tosh and Tommy are going out for a drink, a movie, and perhaps a pizza. Gwen speculatively (and rather sluttily for an engaged person) asks Jack if they’ve got any more like him in the freezer, and Jack tells her it’s hands off; Tosh got to him first. It’s a rather pointed reminder of just how bleak Tosh’s life is that defrosting a guy for a day is a significant highlight of her social calendar.
This is further illustrated when Tosh and Tommy walk out by the bay. Tommy asks what she’s been up to, and she gives him the standard brush-off answer. Tom learns that she never learned to play the piano or learn Spanish as she said she wanted to in years past. She uses the nature of her work at Torchwood as an excuse why she has no hobbies.
While Tosh and Tom are off on their date, Ianto shows Gwen a picture of Gerald and Harriet. Gwen: He’s a bit of all right. Ianto: He’s the boss. Gwen: Nothing changes. Ianto tells Gwen that Harriet died the year after the photo was taken; she was 26 years old. Gwen: So young. Ianto: They all are. Nothing changes. Buzzkill! Gwen gets up and goes to St Teilo’s.
Tom and Tosh are shooting pool; she shows off her education by telling him that it’s just angles and velocity. He says look what happens when you give women the vote, and then asks whether Tosh has found a boyfriend yet. She says, rather witheringly, that he sounds like her mother. So I guess that’s a no. Tosh is good with the darker emotions; maybe that’s why it seems so false when she tries to be upbeat and happier. She finds out that he had a girlfriend but broke it off the last time he was home because the war had changed him too much. Tom lightens the mood: Right pair we’d make.
At the hospital, Gwen walks through the corridors into what had been the ward, now empty and derelict. She’s surprised by the ghost of a man on crutches, missing part of his leg, who makes a beeline right for her before vanishing. The lights flicker. Jack, who has accompanied her, tells her that hospital is due to be demolished, which might have triggered time shift. He posits that the psychic trauma and the Rift enery charged up the place like a battery.
Tom gives the barman their drink order, then catches Lewis James narrating the news of the Iraq war. Tom: Seems like there’s always a war somewhere. Tosh plays with the semantics: It’s not exactly a war. Tom: It looks like one…the war to end all wars, they said, then three weeks later you had the second world war. After all that. Do you ever wonder if we’re worth saving, the human race? Tosh: Yes. He’s diverted and tells her that he’d do anything for her. All she’d have to do is call him her brave, handsome hero and tell him that she needs him. He’d do whatever she asked. This tender moment is interrupted by a harsh noise; Tom winces and doesn’t know what hit him.
We see the deconstruction of the hospital; workers ripping away at it. Jack strides through the dead corridors and hears a man singing. A nurse wheels a singing soldier through the hall. Owen asks him over the Bluetooth if he’s seen anything as he’s getting readings; Jack reports his ghosts. In another corridor, Gwen sees a nurse walk to a soldier sitting bent over in the chair and direct him somewhere else. The nurse follows him. Gwen turns her head to look to the side, and in the background the nurse peeks around the corner. They look at each other: they are ghosts to each other. The nurse shouts, “You shouldn’t be here!” and vanishes.
Tom chases Tosh down a pier, catching her and picking her up. Predictably, she’s uneasy with the horseplay. He kisses her; she looks at him like she’s affronted, then says thanks, which wasn’t quite the response Tom was hoping for. She thinks of herself as an older woman. Tom retorts that he was born in 1894 and is old enough to die for his country but too young to kiss her? “You daft, lass? What goes on in that head of yours?” Socially awkward, rather than replying she gives him a peck. He says that while he may look young, he’s seen quite a bit in his time. She asks what he wants to do now. Tom: Well, we could go back to mine, but there’s only room for one, and it’s bloody freezing. Tosh makes her decision and invites him back to her place. Tom: I’ll race you. This tender moment is interrupted by Jack, who tells her to come back to the Hub.
In the conference room, Jack reports that the demolition of the hospital causes the time shift, and that it can’t be stopped. The team go to work, leaving Tom alone. Tosh and Owen are assigned to the hospital to get readings, and Gwen double checks the files.
At the hospital, Owen and Tosh tack up gizmos to the walls. Owen cautions her about falling for a guy from the past. He seems very kind about it, remembering what he went through when Diane left and not wanting her to feel the same anguish, although Tosh is unlikely to want to cage-fight a Weevil as a consequence.
Gwen has Owen go to what had been the radiology department; she’s found a description of the event in the report that gives some details about the site of the encounter. “Through a hole in the exterior wall, we hear the roar or great engines. Outside is a woman in strange armor ripping a Union Jack, perhaps a future heroine of the Empire.” Owen pokes around and finds a hole in the exterior wall; through it he sees an ad for car insurance that features a woman in Xena-like armor and hears traffic and sirens. He believes the shift will take place soon.
Jack is doing paperwork. The box subtly unlocks, releasing a wispy gold light. Jack pulls out a sealed envelope with an old-school Torchwood logo and scans the pages. They’re instructions for Tommy and Tosh.
In the conference room, Jack tells the team that the confluence of time will occur in twelve hours. Tom needs to be in the hospital at that time, ready to step into the time shift to close the fracture. Tom’s dismayed to learn that he’ll have to go back to 1918. He knows what waits for him then. Jack: You’re the only one who can do this. We brought you from 1918 to now; when you go back to 1918, your life will be like a thread stitching time back together again. He gives Tom a Rift manipulator that will set time right when he steps into the shift and activates it. Jack splits Tosh off for a conference. He tells her that three weeks after he goes back, Tom dies. Execution by firing squad for cowardice. When Tom goes back, he will forget everything from the new time; all his memories will be gone. More than 300 men suffering from shell-shock, not a recognized condition at the time, were executed as cowards. Tosh: I can’t do this! Jack: You can. He trusts you. Tosh: To send him to his death? Jack: To help him save the future. It has to be you! He holds out a portrait of her, one page from the sealed orders. The previous Torchwood saw her giving instruction to Tom.
Ianto gives Tom back the clothes he was wearing when Torchwood took him from the hospital; they’d stored them in a box. Tom: So I’ll be saving the world in some pajamas. How daft is that?
Tom doesn’t know what will happen to him when he returns. But Jack does…Tosh yells at him: If he asks me, what do I say! Jack has no answer.
The team doesn’t know what to do with Tom. Gwen asks him what he’d like to do. Tom: Night before we went over the top, we used to play cards, write letters, have a drink if anyone had some. Owen: We could do that. Tom cuts off any attempt at support: You’re not coming with me. I’m going on my own.
When Tosh appears with Jack, Gwen updates them on the social conundrum. Jack draws a breath to dictate, but Tosh gets there first: He can come home with me. Everybody looks at her. A little fearful she’ll be overruled: He’s not our prisoner. He doesn’t have to stay here. Does he? Jack: No. If that’s what you both want. Tomorrow morning, 6:30.
Tom observes that Tosh’s flat is very neat. Tosh: Well, it’s only me here. Tom: And me. Just for tonight, then I’ll be gone. He won’t even be able to write to her. They kiss passionately.
At the Hub, Ianto asks Jack whether he’d go back to his own time if he could. Jack: Why, would you miss me? Ianto: Yep. Jack: I left home a long time ago. I don’t know where I really belong. Maybe that doesn’t matter any more. Ianto: I–don’t you get lonely? Jack: Going home wouldn’t fix that. Being here, I’ve seen things I never dreampt I’d see. Loved peopled I never would have known if I’d just stayed where I was. And I wouldn’t change that for the world. Moved, Ianto kisses Jack.
In bed, Tom asks Tosh what happens to him. She says that he’s sent back to France. Tom: Do they find my body? Tosh touches his face, then nods. Tom: Well, that’s something. He kisses her.
Bright and early, Torchwood and Tom are at the hospital. Tom is in his pajamas and uniform jacket. The Rift alarms klaxon. They head down to radiology. They hear singing, and see a nurse walking down the hall. Tom runs after her into the ward and figures out that she was a ghost. He hears Gerald talking to him and freaks out. “I won’t do it. I can’t go back.” Jack: You’ve got to. Tom: No! I know what’ll happen! He pleads with Tosh for help. Tosh: You’ve got to go. Tom (with some justification): Why me? You’re no better than the generals. Sitting safely behind the lines, sending us over the top. Any one of you lot could go, but you’re not, are you! You’re sending me! Jack: We belong here. Tosh: I’m sorry. Tom comes to a devastating realization: I have been shoved from pillar to post all my life, by the army, by Torchwood–all this time I’ve had, it means nothing. He slides down the wall to squat on the floor. Jack tries to get him to stand. Tosh tells him to leave them alone. Jack leaves, putting a hand on her shoulder in passing: You’ve got two minutes.
She kneels by Tom, touching his shoulder; he recoils as if she hit him instead. Tosh: Listen. You’re a hero. Do you know that? Because you can stop the time shift and save everyone. You save us all. Tom: I can’t do it. Tosh: We need you. Tom: I don’t want to be a hero. I want to stay here with you. There’s noise and wind; they clutch each other as a bright white light fills the room.
Gerald: Hello? Tosh: Tell them. Gerald: Tell us what? Tosh: tell them what to do. You’re the only one who can stop this. If you don’t, it’s the end of everything. Tommy! Tom gets up and says, “Take me…” The light flashes again, and Tosh and Tom are alone in the room.
Tom: I’ll be gone soon. Tosh: Remember the Rift key. Use it. She kisses him. “You’ve got to get back in bed. Like you’ve never been away. Then use the key. Tommy? Remember. It’s nearly time.”
Tom shuffles back to the ward. There’s that light again, and he finds himself in a supply closet. A nurse scolds him for being out of bed, then escorts him back. Tom sees Gerald hustling him out of the ward. Gerald looks at Tom and leaves. He gets tucked back into bed and freaks out.
At the Hub, alarms blare. Jack: The time shift hasn’t stopped. The monitor shows Rift activity spreading out from the hospital. Jack: Tommy hasn’t used the key. Ianto: Why not? Tosh: I don’t know, because he’s just gone back 90 years ago and he’s shell-shocked? Nice of her to remember. Owen has a plan to use the Rift activity to their advantage. In medical, he removes a rack of culture tubes from the refrigerator. His plan is to use a substance to induce psychic projection that someone can use to contact Tom. Tosh volunteers because Tom trusts her. Jack: You’ve got one shot, Tosh. That’s all. Owen injects her (with blood? You’re kidding, right?); she gasps, and then is with Tom, sitting on his bed. “It’s me, Toshiko.” Tom: Who? Tosh: I’m here to help you. Tom offers her the key: Is this yours? Tosh: No…it’s a key. You have to use it. Tom: I’m scared. Tosh: It’s all right. Tom: That’s why I’m here–I’m a coward. Tosh: No, you are not. Tom: What am I fighting for? Tosh: For the future. For me. Because you’re my brave, handsome hero. Tommy, use the key. He does, and a wisp of gold light escapes. He’s done it. Tosh: Thank you. Tom: Goodbye. There’s more white light and a crackling noise.
Tosh wakes up: He did it. Later, she gently folds his new clothes into the same box that held his pajamas and uniform jacket. Owen comes in, sees what she’s doing, and leaves. She puts on her coat–nice lining–and makes to leave. Jack: Hey. Thank you. She nods and leaves. She goes out to the spot on the bay where she and Tom had started their day. Owen hustles up to her through the rain. Tosh: He trusted me. Right to the end. Owen. Because you were strong. All of this (gestures around the bay) is still here because of you. Tosh: Because of Tommy. Let’s hope we’re worth it. She leaves him by the rail and walks off, distraught at first, then smiling.
Some comments: Seems like Torchwood could have spent some time treating Tom’s shell-shock over the years. His mental state required them to browbeat him into doing what they wanted him to do. Secondly, it wasn’t true that Tom was the only one who could have stopped the shift; Jack prepared to go back when Tom hadn’t used the key. Even if he’d been stuck in 1918, Jack would have gone through the rest of the century, revisiting people and events from those times, and would have eventually caught up with the present again. Granted, Tom was the best candidate, but hardly the only one who could get the job done. I also think that had they explained more fully the situation, it might have been easier for Tom to do what they wanted. They failed to realize that his worldview was different from theirs; he’d be conscripted for his duty; Torchwood members choose it. Tom didn’t want to be a hero; he wanted to live, going about his life and not face the hells of the trenches of the Western front again. In the end, he went back because he wasn’t given a choice. Tosh never made it perhaps easier for him by asking him to do it for her, by referring to her feelings, not even saying geeze, I hate for you to go, but I won’t even exist unless you do. The only time she referred to them was when he didn’t remember her anyway, and even then she just used what he’d given her and didn’t offer anything of herself to him in exchange. I also think it would have made more sense to write on the Rift key: Use me, with a little arrow pointing to the handle. Like Alice in Wonderland.
