Major spoilers lie ahead.

I was a little confused while watching this week’s episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day, but not because the narrative or story was confusing. Unlike last week’s episode or the ones before which were solid but not exceptional, this one made me begin to truly love the show. The style, the dialogue, the scene structure were all vastly improved upon, and overall this may have been the best episode so far.

What changed? What was so different from one week to the next?

Then I saw the answer: written solely by the one and only Jane Espenson. She definitely brought her “A” game to the table when penning ‘Categories of Life.’

The conspiracy of who is behind PhiCorp has come to a head. In a perfectly cast role comes Ted Seals as a character simply called The Blue Eyed Man.

I loved Ted Seals in the short-lived show Raising the Bar. He was a very sensitive and well meaning character and played it perfectly. But there is no denying that he could be the poster boy for the typical Aryan role on television.

Oswald’s speech was “epic,” that’s the only way to put it. He bucks Jack’s pleads to help bring PhiCorp down and finally bring him the sweet release of death that Jack thinks he’s looking for, and even goes off-script from his planned PhiCorp-approved speech. His fumbling and progression during the speech brings a very human and flawed aspect to his character. Very believable, but the craziness of how well written he is that you can’t tell if it’s an act or if he is honestly opening up before bringing in the Angels and Revelation rhetoric.

Lauren Ambrose has always been an actress that I loved watching (Psycho Beach Party is a definite guilty pleasure), but now she has moved beyond the second tier she’s usually cast in and really thrust herself into the forefront. It is going to be a shame when the new story arc starts and we never see Jilly Kitzinger again.

The same cannot be said for Dr. Vera Juarez. I’ll be honest: I hate her character. Maybe it’s Arlene Tur’s portrayal of Dr. Vera Juarez or that the character never really seemed to matter at all, but her exit here was BRILLIANT! When she was on her guided tour driven by the little kid from Kate & Allie, you had the sneaking suspicion that something was going to go down, but at no point was I expecting to happen what happened. Shooting her in the leg was one thing, but shooting her in the hand was completely out of nowhere. What happened next was completely and totally an (insert expletive of your choice) moment. While Mare Winningham’s exit was a great example of how serious the Miracle is, Vera’s exit shows how horrific it can truly be.

Top notch writing, great characterizations, and plot progression second to none made ‘Categories of Life’ one of the best episodes of a series I’ve seen in a long time. The bar is set awfully high now and hopefully the rest of the season can hold up.

– James Zappie