Torchwood Review: ‘Aliens Among Us’ Episode 7: ‘Zero Hour’

When Tyler meets a new guy on a job with a zero hour contract, he’s very keen on learning more about what that job actually is. But are there some paid jobs that have too high a price?

Zero Hour is quite an unusual episode to review. While enjoyable, it was also low key, in some ways, and very deliberately slow-paced. Are these faults of the story, or do they work in Zero Hour’s favour? Let’s take a look.

The story focuses mainly on Tyler Steele. He’s been up to a lot since the opening episode of Aliens Among Us. Initially someone who looked perfectly set up to be the new team member, he’s now instead working for the Mayor of Cardiff. And considering that the Mayor of Cardiff is essentially the leader of the Sorvix refugees, it’s made his loyalties become very complicated.

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At least he’s still able to find a few nice things in his life. At the beginning of Zero Hour, he meets a very attractive guy called Hasan. It starts out slowly, as Tyler tries to work out what Hasan does for a living. Outwardly, it’s a very boring job working for a new company called Deliverables. But there may be more to Hasan’s work than meets the eye…

When audio is better

As I mentioned earlier, this episode is definitely a slow-burner, and it takes a while to get going. Especially during the first half hour, which is Tyler following Hasan and watching him do very repetitive work. If Zero Hour had been a TV episode, it’s easy to imagine it being very boring to watch.

But this is an example of when an episode is possibly better to just listen to. I don’t mean in terms of budget, either, as I can imagine that it would be very cheap and easy to make. No, the fact that it is audio only allows you to focus purely on the dialogue between these two characters, as they gradually learn more about each other.

The beginning of the relationship between Tyler and Hasan is very sweet. Of course, this being Torchwood, that sweetness doesn’t last for too long.

Employment and exploitation

What I personally enjoy about Torchwood is how wonderfully allegorical it can be. Zero Hour is no exception. While plot-wise it seems to be very low-key, the themes the episode examines are very wide-scale. The story focuses on the relationship between employee and employer, and how often the latter can exploit the former.

More than that: how easily a worker can allow such huge exploitation when the circumstances are desperate. How much someone can want to be just another cog in the machine, as long as they have something to do. It’s an interesting and unique look at human nature that’s overall handled rather well.

The more I listen to Aliens Among Us, the more confident the writers seem to become with the stories they’re telling. Telling a story that’s deliberately slower-paced and low-key than previous episodes is quite a risk to make. Done wrong, and it can simply come across as just filler. Done right, however, and it can be an enjoyable episode with a lot to say beyond the surface plot. Zero Hour, I think, is a great example of the latter.

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