Spoilers inside...
The imagery is something which has been stepped up from previous series: the scene with the burnt "corpse" was perhaps the most vivid of this change. However, that is not to say that it was unnecessary. It certainly added to the obscurity and danger of the situation. The latter scenes, which confidently mixed babies and guns, were also nail-bitingly frightening.
There were some scenes in the episode which were boring and incomprehensible and could have been discarded, such as the conversation between the rapist and the police officer. However, keeping them did extend the mystery and the viewer's expectation to see Captain Jack n' Co. a bit longer.
What I enjoyed most was how Gwen's homely, Welsh lifestyle has been abruptly collided with a bigger, alien situation, harking back to the first ever episode of Torchwood. Yet the style did not seem copied or watered down. Some viewers may find that the episode itself is very alien to them because of the stark inclusion of the American lifestyle which we have not been used to in previous series. The problem was that it made the scenes in Wales also seem Americanised, an effect which distorted Gwen's transition between the two.
As with many Russell T Davies-written works, references were made to previous series and stories ("Owen Harper", retcon etc.) but not so much that it seemed cheap and tacky. Davies did extremely well in capturing Miracle Day as a story on its own, a technique well executed in realising that some American viewers would not have seen previous series of Torchwood.
The storyline itself was very engaging and the episode was delivered very well. This opens up the series with a very high expectation! However, it must be noted that judging by the first episode in America, the show may not be suitable for children (the unsuitable scenes may be taken away in the UK airing.)
4 'Starz'
