Escape to LA (TV story)

Escape to LA
Main character(s):	Jack, Gwen, Rhys, Rex, Esther, Oswald
Featuring:	Vera, Jilly, Sarah
Main enemy:	The Gentleman
Main setting:	Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Cardiff, 2011
Key crew
Writers:	Jim Gray, John Shiban
Director:	Billy Gierhart
Producer:	Kelly A Manners
Release details
Premiere broadcast:	29 July 2011
Premiere network:	Starz
Official trailer
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Torchwood
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Escape to LA was the fourth episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day.

Synopsis

Torchwood follow PhiCorp to California to continue the fight, but walk straight into a trap. Elsewhere, Oswald Danes and Jilly Kitzinger face off against their own adversaries.

Plot

Despite the risks, Esther desides to pay a visit to her sister Sarah, only to find her house boarded up with messages to stay away. When Sarah answers the door, Esther discovers she's added several locks to it and is apparently having a nervous breakdown. When Sarah explains that she's been questioned about her, Esther explains she's leaving Washington, D.C. soon and wants to say good-bye to her nieces. However, Sarah says she won't let them outside, believing everything people are saying about the Miracle online. Forced to leave, Esther calls Child Services, explaining Sarah may pose a danger to her daughters. Unbeknownst to her, an agent of "the Families" has found her and is ordered to follow her to Jack.

Arriving in Los Angeles, the Torchwood team take in their new surroundings while Rex puts money in the parking metre. Jack expresses his fondness for seeing the Pacific ocean, saying it must have been in the 1940s that he last saw it. Esther questions him if he's joking, but Gwen changes the subject, asking where PhiCorp headquarters is; it's in the next city. Jack informs his team that they have to find a base of operations in the meantime, with Gwen complaining about the locations he always chooses.

In the meantime, Rex phones Dr. Juarez, having been handed a flier advertising Dead is Dead, learning Ellis Hartley Monroe is leading a campaign to treat those who should have died as they are dead and wait for their "pause" from death to come to an end. Dr Juarez, on the other hand, is being shown an abandoned hospital along with a medical panel; it's intended to be used as storage for the overflowing ICU patients. Despite protests, the plan will go through.

Elsewhere, Oswald is enjoying the privileges of being in a fancy hotel, everything paid for by PhiCorp of course. Jilly arrives and explains to him that PhiCorp has made her his personal assistant, saying she will do anything within her job description for him; however, that doesn't mean she has to like him, as she is disgusted by what he has done. Oswald prepares to leave for another interview, but is told he has been replaced by Monroe; her popularity is growing fast, putting Danes in danger of being thrown back to the mob.

Jack has located a small house of residence, and a mysterious man, following Gwen, states that "Torchwood has been located."

Rex goes to meet his dad, who has regressed into a thief. He says he doesn't want to live forever. When Rex shows him his wound, his dad tells him "to get the hell out."

Esther shows that server 113 of the PhiCorp. Every entry point is activated Frumkin's (the company designer) voice print, palm print and iris recognition. Jack and Gwen impersonate a couple and gain the respective things with the help of a water bottle and Gwen's cell phone.

The new temporary hospital that Juarez is managing is failing miserably. No ID checks, no electricity and people just bing thrown in without permission. Moore has a rally just outside. Oswald, who is there at the time, decides to go into the hospital, locking everyone out. He says he is not scared of the people inside. He says he wants to help, promising food and security. This gets him more popularity among the populace of the world. Monroe, while leaving, is poisoned.

Frumkin is put at gunpoint by an unnamed person. He tells them that Torchwood is behind what is about to happen. For the palm and eye, he kills Frumkin. Esther's sister Sarah has been taken to a psychiatric hospital.

Gwen is admitted undercover at PhiCorp, and Ellen poses as "Lorraine" to get Gwen to Floor 21. She also sends Jack to Floor 21, with him posing as a worker. Jack sets a small fire and then extenguishes it, to set of the fire alarm. They enter the room with a blank server.

Rex realize the possibility that someone might have followed Esther while she was at her sister's house. The mysterious knocks out and gags Gwen,and when Jack enters, he follows. Rex goes to rescue them. The man says that the reason Jack is mortal is because of something that happened many years ago, and that he caused this. He has says that the moment had come when they found "specific geography." He is about to shoot Gwen when Rex bursts in and shoots him in the throat.

Monroe finds herself gagged, inside a truck and into a compacter. She's still alive due to Miracle Day. A voice tells her that, "The families will rise."

They find that PhiCorp plans to build overfloe camps, and worse still, it's already started. They capture Gwen's dad.

Cast

• Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
• Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
• Rex Matheson - Mekhi Phifer
• Esther Drummond - Alexa Havins
• Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
• Oswald Danes - Bill Pullman
• Dr. Vera Juarez - Arlene Tur
• Mr Peterssen - Brian Guest
• Ellis Hartley Monroe - Mare Winningham
• Bisme Katusi - Juanita Jennings
• Sarah Drummond - Candace Brown
• Nicolas Frumkin - Kelvin Yu
• Male Nurse - Desean Terry
• Thin Old Man - Roger Vernon Burton
• Voice of the Cousin - Chris Butler
• Woman - Katsy Chappell
• Young Mother - April Clark
• Lobby Guard - Anthony Dilio
• Burly Guard - David Fofi
• The Gentleman - C Thomas Howell
• Spanish Newscaster - Teresa Garza
• Jilly Kitzinger - Lauren Ambrose
• Maurice - Roy Lee Jones
• Veronica - JoKnell Kennedy
• Japanese Newscaster - Masami Kosaka
• Simran - Ronobir Lahiri
• Sick Man - Michael D Nye
• Scared Old Woman - Barbara Mallory
• Landlord Brian - Keith Russell
• Chauffeur - Christian Svensson
• Candice - Randa Walker
• Male Newscaster - David Grant Wright

Crew

Created by Russell T Davies

Executive Producers   Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter

Co-executive producers   Vlad Wolynetz and John Shiban

Written by Jim Gray & John Shiban story by Jim Gray	Produced by Kelly A Manners	Directed by Billy Gierhart	Director of Photography Nathaniel Goodman	Production Designer Gregory Melton	Visual Effects Lion Visual Effects, Inc.
Key Make-up Artist Todd McIntosh	Casting by John Frank Levey, CSA and Melanie Burgess	Score Murray Gold assistant composer Stu Kennedy	Costume Designer Shawna Trpcic	Edited by Hunter M. Via, A.C.E.	Key Hair Stylist Susan Boyd
Science Advisor - John Sotos, M.D.

General production staff Production Executive - Shelley Stevens Associate Producer - Skip Schoolnik Location Manager - Brad Bemis Unit Production Manager - Robert D. Nellans Production Accountant - Vince Robinette Transportation Coordinator - Heath Culp Camera and lighting department 1st Assistant Director - Polly Mattson 2nd Assistant Director - Carla Bowen Script Supervisor - Anne Melville Camera Operator - Jeff Greeley Key Grip - Isaac Chee Chief Lighting Technician - Don Mosley	Art department Set Decorator - Natali Pope Set Designer - Arthur Chadwick Property Master - Eric Bates Construction Coordinator - Chris Forster Computer Graphics - Twisted Media	Make-up and prosthetics Special Make-up Effects - Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger General post-production staff Post-production Supervisor - Kenneth Requa High Definition Post-Production - Modern Videofilm, Inc. Special and visual effects Visual FX Supervisor - Michael D. Leone Sound Production Sound Mixer - Julian Howarth Supervising Sound Editor - Walt Newman Co-supervisor - Ken Young Music Editor - Tom Trafalski Re-recording Mixers - Dan Hiland, Gary Rogers Post-Production Sound - Warner Bros.

Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.
The Starz broadcast carried a final credit of "Originally Developed and Produced by BBC Cymru Wales". The BBC One broadcast says, instead, "BBC Worldwide Productions for BBC Cymru Wales and STARZ Originals".

References

• One can find a guava jalapeño cheese tart at a nearby café.

Story notes

• A supporting character in this episode has the last name Katusi. This was going to be Esther's last name before Alexa Havins was cast.

Ratings

• UK: 5.19 million

Filming locations

• It appears that the beach locations were shot in Venice Beach, CA. (e.g., when Gwen is on the phone with Rhys.)

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.

• At the beginning of the mission to infiltrate Phicorp, Rex asks Esther if all the systems are online. Esther says yes, and the signal looks good; the computer screen, however, states the I-5 is offline.

Continuity

• Jack introduces himself as John Smith, the alias often employed by the Doctor. (TV: The Wheel in Space, Spearhead from Space et al)
• When Gwen attempts an American accent, Jack tells her she should never try it again, similar to what the Tenth Doctor tells his companions. (TV: Tooth and Claw, The Shakespeare Code, The Unicorn and the Wasp)
• When Ellis Hartley Monroe takes centre stage at the hospital instead of Danes, Jilly describes it as a "timing malfunction". This was also the term used when the Bruce Master took control of the Doctor's TARDIS before landing in San Francisco on 30 December 1999. (TV: Doctor Who)
• Vera calls Rex a "dead man walking", the exact title of a series 2 Torchwood episode.

Home video releases

This episode was released worldwide in a box set containing all ten episodes of Torchwood: Miracle Day. In the United Kingdom, it was released on Region 2 DVD and Region Free Blu-ray on 14 November 2011. In Australia, it was released in Region 4 DVD and Region B Blu-Ray on 1 December 2011. In New Zealand, the same sets were released on 7 December 2011. In North America, it was released on Region 1 DVD and Region Free Blu-Ray on 3 April 2012.

Footnotes