Torchwood God Among Us 3

 

After set 2 was the best set in Big Finish history, how does set 3 line up? Probably the third or fourth best set in Big Finish history - on par with 4DA s8, Doom Coalition 3, Ravenous 2 or 4, Stranded 1, 6TLA and many other amazing sets. God Among Us finishes up positively brilliantly, and for half the time, I'll still struggle to review these because of how great they are, but there's more meat on the bones for me to chew on here instead of merely mindless gushing. First off, there's what's probably one of the strongest stories yet.

A Mother's Son by Alexandria Riley

Who knew that Ng would have such amazing writing talent? Surprisingly, Ng isn't in this one, and it's instead, similarly to Man Who Destroyed Torchwood, a story starring a guest star, but while that one feels slightly auxilliary to the arc without doing that much in terms of a standalone, A Mother's Son forwards the entire world of Torchwood in a wonderful way. The timeskip to a ruined Cardiff is gorgeous, and I could have hundreds of stories in this amazing broody horrible atmosphere that this and the following 3 stories utilize so well. This is even furthered by the excellent usage of Tyler, the twat of the team, in the face of this disaster, being utterly and completely selfless for the rest of the set. It is SO satisfying. A Mother's Son is - while not the most explicit or dark (that would still be Hostile Environment) somehow manages to be just as, if not MORE emotionally devastating than the story that hit like a truck. Imagine Adrift from the Mother's perspective in a shittier world and you get this absolute genius dump truck of a play. I question why Alexandria Riley has not written more for Big Finish since, this is the most genius stuff since - okay, Eye of the Storm, that was one story ago, so, um, uh, it's still genius: 10/10

Scrapejane by Robin Bell

A lot of my problems with modern horror is that it utilizes blood, gore and jumpscares instead of the much more preferred unsettling mood and atmosphere stuff - Scrapejane is a horror story about a monster, and I usually find horror stories about people all the scarier - see Deadbeat Escape or The Landlady by Roald Dahl for example - yet Scrapejane is pretty much good in spite of it's titular monster. Scrapejane doesn't herself show up much (although there's excellent sound design when it does) and the language surrounding her (scraping nails across your soul) introducing her in the podcast doesn't as much intimidate as it seems a hodgepodge of other mediocrely famous horror creatures (much like the Ravenous) but the story is really more about the author who made her, the continued hellscape of Cardiff, and some excellent character work for Colchester and Ng (who I still love as a duo.) As a result, Scrapejane is just plain solid, another strong hitting story for the series, and despite all this criticism, I still might have given it a 10. If it weren't for one disgustingly bad line from Ng. "Hold my beer?" Please. Memes should not be quoted in audios, it definitely dates the piece (and the story isn't even that old!) Whatever. Despite that line, mostly excellent and wonderful. 9/10

Day Zero by Tim Foley

Day Zero is another hard hitter, and I find there's little much to say about it other than it is the perfect continuation of previous plot threads. It is one of the strongest ensemble pieces yet, using all of it's characters in a more unique fashion than ever before (Andy especially, gets a wildly unique role that not only is great, is even more legitimized by the next story) and the ensemble cast is just SO good. Orr is fantastic, really coming back to the series after what had felt like a long absence (despite their small appearances in the last two stories). The real best bit of the whole thing is honestly, an ordinary News reporter and their short but agonizingly beautiful subplot about impartiality in our news media. It's yet another brutal, personal moment that hits wonderfully well. All this and it still sets up the finale so well! Terribly good: 10/10

Thoughts and Prayers by James Goss

Almost a perfect conclusion, but there really never is a perfect finale, is there? Thoughts and Prayers is incredibly cathartic, because for the first time we're really seeing the whole team work together, Yvonne and Jack side by side instead of the opposed forces they've been for the last four boxsets, and it's the perfect end to Yvonne's arc - which may be one of the strongest Big Finish has given a character. Thoughts and Prayers does have a lot to tie up, and it does pull the dreaded deus ex machina, but at least this one was set up quite early on in the series, and the Lens has been important throughout. Thoughts and Prayers keeps tying things together - Orr's necklace from the third story they ever did! God babysitting Anwen! Andy and the Committee! The planet Erebus! There's a lot of connective tissue here that solidifies and ties off the last twenty four stories while leaving a future for these characters open. I absolutely adore these stories to pieces, well done Big Finish. Bravo! Happy Day! 9/10

Overall, looking back at the complete series and how it all fits together, and if there were any wasted opportunities my opinion of the whole series is:

GET IT. MAKE EVERYONE YOU KNOW GET IT. WORSHIP AT THE ALTER OF AAU/GAU. PAY YOUR GODDAMN RESPECTS, HEATHENS. LOOK AT THE OTHER BIG FINISH RANGES. MULL THEM OVER, CAREFULLY. YOU WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH? THEY KNOW DEEP DOWN IN THEIR HEARTS, THEY HAVE BEEN BEATEN. THERE IS NOTHING IN THE ENTIRE REALM OF EXISTENCE THAT IS MORE WORTH YOUR TIME, EXCEPT MAYBE CHIMES OF MIDNIGHT OR SAVING THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE FROM NUCLEAR WAR, AND THAT SECOND ONE IS A TOSS UP. THERE IS ONE (1) BAD STORY IN THE ENTIRE THING. OVER HALF OF THESE STORIES ARE 10/10. I DO NOT GIVE THAT SCORE LIGHTLY. 

[coughs up blood, staring at a photo of Yvonne, Orr and Colchester, and dies of internal hemorrhaging]

Worth it.