Torchwood Series 4

The Middle Men

2011.08.12    

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Phicorp Central, Los Angeles, U.S.A. 10:00 AM

Janet: Stewart. Is everything all right? You don’t seem happy.
Stewart Owens (Ernie Hudson): Everything’s fine. We’re living in miraculous times. I couldn’t be happier. You shouldn’t call me Stewart in the office.
Sorry. Mr. Owens.

Of course suicide is impossible now, but people are becoming inventive. They’re finding ways to get as close to death as possible. That’s the philosophy of the 45 Club. People who believe that jumping from forty-five floors up or higher is the only guaranteed way to lose consciousness forever.

Owens: Of course you are aware the changes going on in the world.
Zheng: Yes. My uncle was dying. Now he’s not.
Owens: I’m trying to understand what happened, whether Phicorp had anything to do with it. I believe this construction site is key.
Zheng: I asked my uncle what happened. He told me to never question a miracle. You may not like what you find.
Owens: He may be right.
Zheng: Call me back in a few hours.

Owens: What did you find?
Zheng: A dead end.
Owens: What do you mean? What are they building?
Zheng: There’s nothing there. I looked. I found nothing. Nothing at all. Goodbye Mr. Owens.

San Pedro Overflow Camp, California, U.S.A.

Rex: My name is Rex Matheson. I’m with the CIA. I’m on an operation inside the San Pedro Overflow. No, strike that. I’m not with the CIA. Or a US government authority. I’m with Torchwood. And we’re gonna expose everything that’s going on here. Everything that I’ve just witnessed. […] They’re calling them category one’s, and from what I’ve seen, don’t ever let them call you that. The minute you hear “category one,” you better get the hell out of Dodge. Because they are going to burn you. That’s what this place is for. Incineration. And we all know the drill. They’ll start with the category ones. The ones who can’t protest. Then they’ll go on to convicted felons or illegal immigrants—hell, anyone we just don’t like. Because everybody gets sick. Which means one day everybody ends up here. Those ovens are waiting for all of us.

What happened to her?
Not any problem. Not anymore.

Ralph: Colin, that module thing. What happens there?
Maloney: It’s Mr. Maloney, and it’s “sir”.
Ralph: I’d like to know, sir, what happens in that module?
Maloney: It’s not my fault. It’s the system. The module was storage and we’re supposed to use it as storage until some senator signs some paperwork and gives some command. I just did things a little early, that’s all.
Ralph: But what did you do?

Maloney: The modules were designed to kill. Therefore death within this compound is legal.
Ralph: How does that work?
Maloney: Because I say so.

Rex: It’s a lock down. Yeah. Look at that, they’re closing the gates on the slaughterhouse. There’s no way they’re stopping me. I will get this evidence out.

Cowbridge Overflow Camp, Wales, U.K.

Gwen: They move the category ones at 6am. They take them to the module—
Dr. Alisha Patel: Sorry. Not my department.
Gwen: Really? Is that so. Well do you even know what your department is, Dr. Patel? Do you even know what really happens here? Do you know what happens in the module?
Dr. Patel: Like I said, I’m rather busy.
Gwen: They burn people. They burn living people.

Dr. Patel: Category Ones are dead. That’s the law. Under the emergency rulings for the sake of public health, category ones can be incinerated en masse.
Gwen: Well I’m glad you’ve got the law on your side.

Rhys: Oh my god, I was driving them to the modules! I was driving living people into the ovens!
Gwen: You weren’t to know, all right? You were just doing your job.
Rhys: Yeah? Well I’m not doing it anymore. I quit the bastard thing.

Janet: What do
you want?
Jack: I want your help, Janet. Right now I’ve got some friends risking their lives because we think Phicorp is doing some very bad things. And we need to find out who’s behind it.
Janet: Please, you can’t tell anybody about us.
Jack: I won’t.
I just want some information from your boss.
Janet: I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.
Jack: Sweet Janet Rae. I wish he felt the same about you.

Maitre’d: Love the vintage coat.
Jack: Thanks. Maybe the three of us should have dinner sometime.

Stewart: The truth about what?
Jack: The Miracle. How was it done, why was it done and how can it be undone.
Stewart: Why would I have the answer?
Jack: When the day came, Phicorp was ready. We found warehouses stocked with painkillers, waiting for the miracle to come along.
Stewart: That’s your smoking gun?

Stewart: It’s not me you’re after. In fact I’ve been trying to find out the truth just as much as you. I’m not a bad man, Mr. Harkness.
Jack: Captain.
Stewart: I’m not a bad man, Captain. I’m not a good one either. I’m a middle man in every sense of the word.

Stewart: You have a rather archaic view of good versus evil don’t you?

Stewart: I’ve sent agents all over the world, following the paper trail, the backroom deals, the holding companies within holding companies. That’s when I came face-to-face with the true face of evil.
Jack: The system itself.
Stewart: Precisely.

Stewart: Someone is playing the system right across planet Earth with infinite grace. Beyond any one person’s sight. Now I’m sorry Captain. But Phicorp isn’t controlling this. Profiting, yes. But this is part of a much larger design. Way beyond any of us.
Jack: But how can you be part of it and not know what’s going on?
Stewart: Let me give you an example. These warehouses full of drugs. No doubt you’d love to uncover an incriminating memo, dated before Miracle Day, signed by me, authorizing the stockpiling of painkillers. The truth is, a pattern like that began say, maybe five years ago. When the system dramatically increasing production at random factories around the world. Based on market share projections.

Jack: So that means everyone’s to blame. Everyone and no one.
Stewart: Whoever’s behind this, they don’t show themselves. Not to me, not to you. But to play the system like this—the markets, the politics, industry—they had to be planning this for a very long time. I wish I knew who they were.

Jack: I was told that the Miracle involves geography. Does that mean anything?
Stewart: No. But there is one word that my operatives picked up, dating back to the mid-90s and then erased.
Jack: What is it?
Stewart: “The Blessing”.

Stewart: There was a document from Italy, from a source inside the Council of Ministers. A contact then-deceased. It simply referred to the Blessing. It said, “They have found The Blessing.”

Rex: Just need to go out for a cigarette.
Who the hell are you?

Ralph: Someone’s breached the compound, someone with a camera.
Maloney: No no no. Nothing’s going wrong. Nothing nothing nothing.
Ralph: He wants to talk to whoever’s in charge.
Maloney: No he doesn’t. No no no he doesn’t.

Rex: They built ovens. And you’re the director. So you know that.
Maloney: I’m not in charge of policy. We had instructions that got sent out nationwide—worldwide—and we had orders from above not to say anything. I just did as I was told.
Rex: Okay. All right. Okay, you’re the middle man. I get it.

Rex: What happened?
Esther: I killed him. Oh my god, I killed him, Rex.
Rex: No you didn’t. No one dies. He’s just a category one now.

Ralph: This has got to stop!

Rhys: This Captain Harkness must have taken a shine to me. He had that look about him, you know. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Gwen: Just hope someone’s listening.

Gwen: I’ll be there soon. I’m coming back to the fight.
Jack: We need you.
Gwen: But first there’s something I’ve got to show you.

Gwen: You watching?
Jack: I’m here. And I’ve opened up the radio link. Make your message.
Gwen: This is the truth for the whole world to see. We let our government build concentration camps. They built ovens for people in our names. Now I don’t care if the whole of society bends over and takes this like a dog. I’m saying, No. {she blows the complex}
Jack: That’s my girl.

Rex: Well all the guards are going. Regular army’s coming in. They’ll shut it down.
Esther: It was sanctioned. By the government. And they’ve got my name. They’ve got my name, I was on staff as Esther Drummond.
Rex: Esther, listen. Stop it, okay? Just stop it. You saved me.
Esther: I spent all that time wanting a job like yours. Look at me now.
Rex: It’s okay. You’re allowed to feel like this. Come here. {he kisses her forehead} But listen to me. This is not over. Not for Torchwood. And I need you in this fight. So get it together. And do it fast.
Esther: Done. I’m fine now. I’m ready.
Rex: Yeah. Me too.

Jack: We did it. We’re whistle blowers. Every major news organization. The world knows the truth now. Let the outrage begin.
Rex: You really think it’s that easy, hm?

Jack: Torchwood wasn’t designed to fight politicians. If we really want to stop this happening, we need to look at the bigger picture. Find out what The Blessing is.

Voice: Lenses.
Gwen: What did you just say?
Voice: Lenses.

Voice: We have your mother. We have your husband. We have your child.
Gwen: Who are you? What do you want? What do you want?!
Voice: Bring us Jack.