ewx | Torchwood #12/#13 (spoilers) (Reply)

...so it was the caretaker all along...

Jack hasn't thought through how to deal with being stranded in the past. Two possibilities come to mind:

Track down his 1940s self and give him the equations they need to get back. He knows where he'll be, knows how to survive in the 1940s since he's done it once already, so this should not be difficult. Tosh doesn't have to wait around for this, because they come back once to pick her up, then later to pick Jack up after he's got in touch with himself.
If for some made-up plot reason he can't get in touch with himself, or they can't use the rift twice, he can just wait out the 65 years; he can't die. Same arrangement for Tosh as above.

Torchwood already existed by the 1940s, too, so another option would be to leave the information with them.

The Polaroid camera is an anachronism. Jack and Tosh need not know this, but I can't help thinking it would rather stand out to natives of the period. Also, blood and photographs are not the only things that survive 60 years! (I'm not sure I'd expect blood to still be red after that long either.) Ink lasts too. I can't help but feel that a literal message in blood across time is a trifle on the over-dramatic side even for Torchwood.

Naath squeeed at length at the kiss on the dancefloor.

Owen caused the end of the world. Stupid Owen.

Once Jack and Tosh are back they are able to know that the messages Tosh sent were tampered with, so they should know Bilis is playing them. Similarly with the visions: ordinary people in spooky films are expected to succumb, but Torchwood ought to be used to this kind of thing and know better than to take it at face value.

Bilis's obsession with clocks reminds me of Taragorm from the Runestaff series. The ability to step through time and space at will is reminiscent of Jon Osterman from Watchmen. (Having to find a single component to get the time machine working obviously connects back to the 3rd Doctor's lengthy enforced stay in C20th England, too.)

Gwen caused the end of the world. Stupid Gwen.

There seems an obvious connection between Abaddon and the Beast from The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit (which is also a Torchwood crossover). This is in the future, so it's not a problem that Rose dumps the Beast into the black hole, but since Jack destroys Abaddon there must be at least two of the kind. Abaddon doesn't seem to be as bright as the Beast either, perhaps a grunt rather than a commander, though Bilis is pretty sneaky. I wonder if we'll see more of this stuff?

This wasn't a bad climax to the internal tensions of Torchwood. Sooner or later something was going to have to give, and as it turned out Gwen, Jack and Owen all snapped at once. Jack redeems himself through yet another death, Gwen through bringing back Jack and Owen... Erm.

Mashing up the Crucifixion story with Sleeping Beauty is rather amusing.

No prizes for guessing who the new companion is, anyway.