Torchwood Review: ‘Aliens Among Us’ Episode 9: ‘Poker Face’
By James Aggas
She’s back! Yvonne Hartman, the original boss of Torchwood One, returns in ‘Poker Face’, the first episode of ‘Torchwood: Aliens Among Us 3’. But is she really the same Hartman we know?
Yvonne Hartman’s return, how she’s come back and the consequences of this are the main focus of Poker Face. Continuing directly from where the previous Torchwood: Aliens Among Us box set left off with The Empty Hand, Jack has already lost a lot of trust from his teammates. Hartman’s surprise return further complicates things. She’s very confident that, by dawn, she’ll be in charge of Torchwood once more. For Jack, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
From the very beginning, Poker Face is just a joy to hear. The dialogue between Harkness and Hartman is snappy, witty and very clever. It’s everything you could have hoped for from a collision of such very strong personalities.
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I’ve been a big, big fan of Hartman for a long while now. I’ve enjoyed her own spin-off prequel series, Torchwood One, a great deal. Along with a constantly brilliant performance by Tracy-Ann Oberman, consistently brilliant writing equally serves the character very well. So having her show up to meet the new team is wonderful to hear.
Secrets and lies
Of course, as well-written as the character herself is, there is one lingering, obvious question. Specifically: how is she back from the dead?
The answer is surprisingly simple and satisfying. It doesn’t negate the impact of her character’s death in Doomsday, but it also doesn’t feel cheap or out of left-field. In fact, the explanation is quite obvious. It perhaps shouldn’t be too surprising to know that the explanation was thought of by Russell T. Davies himself.
Poker Face also addresses the secrets and lies that Jack has been keeping from his team for a while. It also shows just how completely and utterly broken the team has become. This isn’t entirely because of Jack, but a great deal of it is. Yvonne’s plan to bring him down is completely and utterly calculated. She’s clearly been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time. Unfortunately for Jack, that timing pays off for her in a big way.
Focusing entirely on the team, and paying off greatly, Poker Face is a satisfyingly clever, witty and dramatic way to begin the final episodes of Aliens Among Us. It’s also a very satisfying resurrection of such a brilliant character.
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