The Categories of Life

36 – "The Categories of Life"
Torchwood episode
Cast
Starring John Barrowman – Captain Jack Harkness Eve Myles – Gwen Cooper Mekhi Phifer – Rex Matheson Alexa Havins – Esther Drummond Kai Owen – Rhys Williams Bill Pullman – Oswald Danes
Others Lauren Ambrose – Jilly Kitzinger Arlene Tur – Vera Juarez William Thomas – Geraint Cooper Sharon Morgan – Mary Cooper Tom Price – PC Andy Frederick Koehler – Ralph Coltrane Teddy Sears – Blue-eyed Man Marc Vann – Colin Maloney Daniel Adegboyega – Guard Brad Bell – Nurse Chris Charles Carpenter – News Reporter Jim Conway – Man Jonathan Dane – Handsome Man Teresa Garza – Spanish Newscaster Brendan Hughes – Pidgeon Joelle Elizabeth Jacoby – Excited Teenager Liz Jenkins – Rachel Ria Jones – Pushy Woman Masami Kosaka – Japanese Newscaster Eve Mauro – Maria Candido Francine Morgan – Stressed Woman Stuart Nurse – Thomason Tracy Pfau – Pale Woman Caroline Whitney Smith – Paramedic Vito Viscuso – Angry Man Randa Walker – Candice
Production
Directed by	Guy Ferland
Written by	Jane Espenson
Produced by	Kelly A. Manners Brian Minchin (UK unit)
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner Jane Tranter Jane Espenson (co-executive) Vlad Wolynetz (co-executive)
Production code	105
Series	Miracle Day
Length	55 minutes
Originally broadcast	5 August 2011 (2011-08-05) (US) 11 August 2011 (UK)
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "Escape to L.A." "The Middle Men"
List of Torchwood episodes

"The Categories of Life" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Torchwood, and was first broadcast in the United States on Starz on 5 August 2011 and in the UK on 11 August.

The government panels are cancelled after PhiCorp and the world's governments implement a categorization system regarding life. Those who should have died and are brain-dead are assigned Category 1 status, and those who have persistent injuries/diseases are to be given Category 2 while Category 3 status are normal people who have no or minor injuries. Category 1s and 2s are sent to Overflow Camps which resemble concentration camps where there are hidden modules not appearing on satellite footage, and Torchwood suspects that these modules have a dark purpose.

Appalled by growing governmental control over life and death, Vera travels to California to assist Torchwood. As he survived a fatal injury, Rex investigates a camp in California as a Category 2 patient while Esther sneaks in and administratively assigns Rex a Category 1 status and smuggles him a camera to film evidence.

Using her medical panel credentials, Vera attempts to inspect the treatment of Category 1 patients and discovers that many conscious people are being assigned Category 1 status, essentially being declared non-living by the government. Vera threatens to prosecute Colin Maloney, the man overseeing the overflow camp, after she sees the inhumane conditions which conscious Category 1 patients are enduring. He panics and shoots her. To cover up his actions, he and soldier Ralph Coltrane transport her to one of the modules and place her inside.

Elsewhere, Jack tries to convince Oswald to use his fame to expose PhiCorp's advanced knowledge of the Miracle, but Oswald goes ahead with his pro-PhiCorp televised speech to a packed stadium. Meanwhile, Gwen returns to Wales to rescue her father from an Overflow Camp. During the escape attempt, her father suffers another heart attack and the doctors later give him Category 1 status, which Gwen struggles to challenge. When her husband Rhys reveals to her that the camp's personnel are taking Category 1 patients to the "burn unit", Gwen deduces that the modules are in fact incinerators used to burn the Category 1 patients. This is grimly confirmed when, back in the California Overflow Camp, Maloney activates the incinerator on the module containing Vera. Rex comes across Vera but cannot free her, and is forced to watch her being burned alive, reluctantly video-recording her agony.

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