As with the 6th season of DOCTOR WHO, this 4th season of Torchwood is transplanted to the United States. It's over a year later from Season Three and Gwen and her husband have had their child and are hiding out in a secluded house in Wales. They are the last of Torchwood and constantly fear for their lives, as they were hunted down in the last season.
The new story begins with a child killer, Oswald Danes (Bill Pullman of INDEPENDENCE DAY, SURVEILLANCE) being put to death by lethal injection. However, he does not die. In fact, no one is dying. Not anymore. CIA agent Rex Matheson is in a fatal car accident and gets a pole through him, yet he's able to walk away. He has to gulp down fistfuls of pain killers but he's miraculously alive. There's lots of speculation, worldwide, why this is happening.
Another CIA agent, Esther Drummond, tries to contact Torchwood, since it seems that this weird event may have something to do with them. Jack Harkness soon shows up to visit her. They're almost killed by a bomb--and it's at this point we find out that Jack is now mortal, while everyone else is immortal. This event does have something to do with him, stemming from a horrible thing that happened to him during the 1927 Prohibition Era.
World governments, realizing that this lack of death is going to sorely deplete the planet's resources, instigate a category system. Those who have "fatal/nonrecoverable conditions, like massive heart-attacks or comas, are sent off to mysterious facilities and never heard from again. They are being cremated. When Gwen's father is sent there she tries to rescue him.
Ultimately, the source of this "Miracel" is traced to Shanghai, China and Buenos Aires, South America. Here, Jack and Gwen have to make some big sacrifices, which will forever affect Torchwood.
I loved these ten episodes. It's much larger in scope than the previous seasons, has a budget to do it justice and introduces some new characters who will most likely be new Torchwood members in the new year. Highly recommended.