They Keep Killing Suzie
Encyclopedia
"They Keep Killing Suzie" is an episode in the British
science fiction television
series Torchwood
. It is the eighth episode of the first series, which was broadcast on 3 December 2006.
investigates a serial killer writing their name in blood over the bodies of their victims, but there is even more to this than meets the eye.
is called by Detective Kathy Swanson to investigate the grisly murder of a suburban couple, with similar injuries to a murder victim the day before. However, at this murder scene, the word "TORCHWOOD" is written on the bedroom wall above the bodies of Pilgrim members Mark and Sarah Briscoe . The team tries to find any correlation between the victims but find none; however, a DNA analysis of a hair sample from the murderer shows the presence of "Retcon", the primary ingredient of the amnesia pill. Realizing this could mean that one of over 2000 people that Torchwood has used the amnesia pill on and that any one of them could fall into a similar rampage, Gwen
suggests the use of the Resurrection Gauntlet on the victims to determine who the killer is. Owen
is worried about the Gauntlet after what it did to Suzie Costello
but Jack
allows them to proceed. They quickly find that only Gwen has the ability to use the glove, and though they aren't able to learn anything from the first victim, they find that the killer was named "Max" who went to something called "Pilgrim", and that Max knew someone else from the group better: "Suzie". The team investigates Suzie's belongings and finds a flyer for the Pilgrim group. Jack recognizes that the only way to get answers is to use the Gauntlet on Suzie.
The initial attempts to resurrect Suzie with the Gauntlet fail, until Owen remembers that the Gauntlet worked better when the alien knife was used to kill the victim. Jack stabs Suzie's corpse with the knife, and Gwen is able to bring back Suzie, who is furious that they used the Gauntlet on her and that Gwen herself is using it. Jack tries to get information about Retcon and Max from Suzie but time runs out and Suzie falls back, apparently dead. However, they quickly realize that Suzie is still alive, simply unconscious. After she wakes, alive but still showing the signs of the gunshot wound from her suicide, Jack asks Suzie about other Pilgrim members, and she recognizes that one girl is missing but usually spends time in a nearby bar. There, they are able to find the girl, and through a quick warning from Suzie, are able to subdue Max before he could harm the team. Max is brought back to the cells where he remains peaceful except when the word "Torchwood" is stated, sending him into a ten-second period of rage. Suzie admits that she used Retcon pills on Max repeatedly, as a way to talk about the events she saw in Torchwood to someone else, wiping his memory after every meeting.
While the rest of the team avoid Suzie, Gwen begins to bond with her, and learns that Suzie would like to see her dying father one last time. Gwen starts to drive Suzie towards the hospital where her father is. Meanwhile, Owen
discovers that unlike the other uses of the Gauntlet, where energy flowed from the user to the victim temporarily, Suzie is still draining energy from Gwen, and that Gwen will likely die if they can't stop it. As they begin to track Gwen's car, the Hub suddenly goes into lockdown, preventing them from leaving or contacting the outside world. They find that Max is rocking back and forth in his cell, repeating the first stanza of Emily Dickinson
's "Because I could not stop for death", and realize that the response was programmed into Max by Suzie and used to trigger the Hub's organic computer. Jack realizes that this has all been a setup by Suzie; should she have died and not seen Max in three months, he would have become murderous, forcing Torchwood to use the Gauntlet on her and eventually capturing Max for him to act as a Trojan horse into their computer system and allowing her to escape. Ianto rigs an outside line and Jack places a call to Detective Swanson, and in order to get her help, is forced to admit that they are trapped in the Hub. Swanson agrees to help by reading lines of other Emily Dickinson poems from the same book that Suzie used to read. None of the stanzas seem to help, but Tosh recognizes that the ISBN of the book may be the code, and successfully removes the lockdown. The team quickly leaves to find Gwen and Suzie.
As they approach hospital, Gwen finds herself nearly sapped of energy. They enter Suzie's father's room, where Suzie wakes the old man, and then quickly removes all the life-support equipment; killing him. Gwen tries to stop her but finds blood at the back of her head, while Suzie reveals that her wounds are gone, and wheelchairs Gwen out of the hospital. Suzie calls Jack, who tries to bargain with Suzie for Gwen's life, but Suzie promised to keep running, and drives the two of them to Hedley Point in order to take a ferry to the outer islands. Suzie tries to carry Gwen down the pier but is forced to let her go after she collapses, just as the rest of Torchwood pulls up. Jack holds Suzie at gunpoint, but she simply taunts him. Jack fires on Suzie, but finds that she cannot die from the bullet wounds. Suzie taunts Jack with that something is there in the darkness and it is coming for him. Jack tells Tosh to destroy the Gauntlet; as soon as it is destroyed, Suzie's body collapses and she dies while Gwen starts to recover. They return the body to Torchwood's storage, citing "Death by Torchwood". There it is revealed that Ianto and Jack are having a sexual relationship, after Ianto propositions Jack. As Jack leaves to prepare, Ianto says that he plans to make certain to lock the storage unit for Suzie in case she were to rise again. When Jack says that's not necessary due to the destruction of the gauntlet, Ianto reminds him that gloves usually come in pairs.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science fiction television
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Torchwood
Torchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
. It is the eighth episode of the first series, which was broadcast on 3 December 2006.
Synopsis
TorchwoodTorchwood
Torchwood is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. The series is a spin-off from Davies's 2005 revival of the long-running science fiction programme Doctor Who. The show has shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing audience, moving from...
investigates a serial killer writing their name in blood over the bodies of their victims, but there is even more to this than meets the eye.
Plot
TorchwoodTorchwood Institute
The Torchwood Institute is a fictional secret organization from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and its spin-off series Torchwood. It was established in 1879 by Queen Victoria after the events of "Tooth and Claw". Its prime directive, is to defend the earth against...
is called by Detective Kathy Swanson to investigate the grisly murder of a suburban couple, with similar injuries to a murder victim the day before. However, at this murder scene, the word "TORCHWOOD" is written on the bedroom wall above the bodies of Pilgrim members Mark and Sarah Briscoe . The team tries to find any correlation between the victims but find none; however, a DNA analysis of a hair sample from the murderer shows the presence of "Retcon", the primary ingredient of the amnesia pill. Realizing this could mean that one of over 2000 people that Torchwood has used the amnesia pill on and that any one of them could fall into a similar rampage, Gwen
Gwen Cooper
Gwen Cooper is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off to the long-running show Doctor Who, portrayed by Welsh actress Eve Myles. The series' lead female character, Gwen has featured in every episode of the sci-fi programme to date as well as two crossover...
suggests the use of the Resurrection Gauntlet on the victims to determine who the killer is. Owen
Owen Harper
Owen Harper is a fictional character played by Burn Gorman, and a regular in the BBC television series Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. The character last appeared onscreen in the Series 2 finale, "Exit Wounds"....
is worried about the Gauntlet after what it did to Suzie Costello
Everything Changes (Torchwood)
"Everything Changes" is the first episode of the British science fiction television programme Torchwood, which was first broadcast on 22 October 2006.-Synopsis:Police constable Gwen Cooper comes across the mysterious organisation known as Torchwood...
but Jack
Jack Harkness
Captain Jack Harkness is a fictional character played by John Barrowman in Doctor Who and its spin-off series, Torchwood. He first appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "The Empty Child" and reappeared in the remaining episodes of the 2005 series as a companion of the ninth incarnation of the...
allows them to proceed. They quickly find that only Gwen has the ability to use the glove, and though they aren't able to learn anything from the first victim, they find that the killer was named "Max" who went to something called "Pilgrim", and that Max knew someone else from the group better: "Suzie". The team investigates Suzie's belongings and finds a flyer for the Pilgrim group. Jack recognizes that the only way to get answers is to use the Gauntlet on Suzie.
The initial attempts to resurrect Suzie with the Gauntlet fail, until Owen remembers that the Gauntlet worked better when the alien knife was used to kill the victim. Jack stabs Suzie's corpse with the knife, and Gwen is able to bring back Suzie, who is furious that they used the Gauntlet on her and that Gwen herself is using it. Jack tries to get information about Retcon and Max from Suzie but time runs out and Suzie falls back, apparently dead. However, they quickly realize that Suzie is still alive, simply unconscious. After she wakes, alive but still showing the signs of the gunshot wound from her suicide, Jack asks Suzie about other Pilgrim members, and she recognizes that one girl is missing but usually spends time in a nearby bar. There, they are able to find the girl, and through a quick warning from Suzie, are able to subdue Max before he could harm the team. Max is brought back to the cells where he remains peaceful except when the word "Torchwood" is stated, sending him into a ten-second period of rage. Suzie admits that she used Retcon pills on Max repeatedly, as a way to talk about the events she saw in Torchwood to someone else, wiping his memory after every meeting.
While the rest of the team avoid Suzie, Gwen begins to bond with her, and learns that Suzie would like to see her dying father one last time. Gwen starts to drive Suzie towards the hospital where her father is. Meanwhile, Owen
Owen Harper
Owen Harper is a fictional character played by Burn Gorman, and a regular in the BBC television series Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who. The character last appeared onscreen in the Series 2 finale, "Exit Wounds"....
discovers that unlike the other uses of the Gauntlet, where energy flowed from the user to the victim temporarily, Suzie is still draining energy from Gwen, and that Gwen will likely die if they can't stop it. As they begin to track Gwen's car, the Hub suddenly goes into lockdown, preventing them from leaving or contacting the outside world. They find that Max is rocking back and forth in his cell, repeating the first stanza of Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
's "Because I could not stop for death", and realize that the response was programmed into Max by Suzie and used to trigger the Hub's organic computer. Jack realizes that this has all been a setup by Suzie; should she have died and not seen Max in three months, he would have become murderous, forcing Torchwood to use the Gauntlet on her and eventually capturing Max for him to act as a Trojan horse into their computer system and allowing her to escape. Ianto rigs an outside line and Jack places a call to Detective Swanson, and in order to get her help, is forced to admit that they are trapped in the Hub. Swanson agrees to help by reading lines of other Emily Dickinson poems from the same book that Suzie used to read. None of the stanzas seem to help, but Tosh recognizes that the ISBN of the book may be the code, and successfully removes the lockdown. The team quickly leaves to find Gwen and Suzie.
As they approach hospital, Gwen finds herself nearly sapped of energy. They enter Suzie's father's room, where Suzie wakes the old man, and then quickly removes all the life-support equipment; killing him. Gwen tries to stop her but finds blood at the back of her head, while Suzie reveals that her wounds are gone, and wheelchairs Gwen out of the hospital. Suzie calls Jack, who tries to bargain with Suzie for Gwen's life, but Suzie promised to keep running, and drives the two of them to Hedley Point in order to take a ferry to the outer islands. Suzie tries to carry Gwen down the pier but is forced to let her go after she collapses, just as the rest of Torchwood pulls up. Jack holds Suzie at gunpoint, but she simply taunts him. Jack fires on Suzie, but finds that she cannot die from the bullet wounds. Suzie taunts Jack with that something is there in the darkness and it is coming for him. Jack tells Tosh to destroy the Gauntlet; as soon as it is destroyed, Suzie's body collapses and she dies while Gwen starts to recover. They return the body to Torchwood's storage, citing "Death by Torchwood". There it is revealed that Ianto and Jack are having a sexual relationship, after Ianto propositions Jack. As Jack leaves to prepare, Ianto says that he plans to make certain to lock the storage unit for Suzie in case she were to rise again. When Jack says that's not necessary due to the destruction of the gauntlet, Ianto reminds him that gloves usually come in pairs.
Production
- The episode title, a reference to the AvengersThe Avengers (TV series)The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
episode "They Keep Killing Steed", was originally announced as only "They Keep Killing" in order to conceal Suzie's death before the first broadcast of "Everything ChangesEverything Changes (Torchwood)"Everything Changes" is the first episode of the British science fiction television programme Torchwood, which was first broadcast on 22 October 2006.-Synopsis:Police constable Gwen Cooper comes across the mysterious organisation known as Torchwood...
". - This episode was originally planned to be an "overcommission" episode, for use in the case of emergency or as a potential second series episode. However Russell T Davies was sufficiently impressed with the writing to produce it conventionally.
- Yasmin BannermanYasmin BannermanYasmin Bannerman is an English actress. Bannerman was born and brought up in Gloucestershire and attended the Rose Bruford College in London until 1993...
, who played Jabe in the Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episode "The End of the WorldThe End of the World (Doctor Who)"The End of the World" is the second episode of Series One of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Russell T Davies and directed by Euros Lyn, the episode was first broadcast on 2 April 2005....
", plays police detective Kathy Swanson in this episode. - The implication that there may be a second glove was added to the script by Davies. The second glove was seen in the later episode "Dead Man WalkingDead Man Walking (Torchwood)"Dead Man Walking" is the seventh episode of the second series of British science fiction television series Torchwood. It was broadcast by BBC Three and BBC HD on 20 February 2008; it made its terrestrial debut on BBC Two on 27 February.-Synopsis:...
".
Music
- "Red Is The New Black" by Funeral for a FriendFuneral for a FriendFuneral for a Friend are a Welsh post-hardcore band, from Bridgend. Formed 2001, they have released five studio albums, seven EPs, sixteen singles, one DVD, and one compilation album.-Formation and Early Years:...
(when the team look for Lucy at the Wolf Bar), "Sing" by TravisTravis (band)Travis are a post-Britpop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Fran Healy , Dougie Payne , Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose...
, "Soley, Soley" by Middle of the Road (when Gwen and Suzie in the car, Suzie says her mum used to sing this) and "GóreckiGórecki (song)"Górecki" is a 1997 single by Lamb from their debut album Lamb.The song starts with a tenuous atmosphere and the lyrics "If I should die this very moment"...
" by LambLamb (band)Lamb is an electronic music duo from Manchester, England, whose music is influenced by trip hop and drum and bass. The duo consists of producer Andy Barlow, who also produces under the pseudonym Hipoptimist, and singer-songwriter Lou Rhodes...
(when Owen comforts Gwen; Jack and Gwen return to work; Suzie's body is placed back into storage) are featured in this episode.
Outside references
- One character recites the poem Because I could not stop for Death — by Emily DickinsonEmily DickinsonEmily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
. Jack gives ISBN 0-19-860058-5 for the book, which is actually the ISBN for "The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations". The correct ISBN is ISBN 0-316-18413-6. - Suzie's line, "Captain! my Captain!", is a quote from the poem O Captain! My Captain!O Captain! My Captain!"O Captain! My Captain!" is an extended metaphor poem written in 1865 by Walt Whitman, concerning the death of American president Abraham Lincoln.-Analysis:...
by Walt WhitmanWalt WhitmanWalter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
.