Posted at 11:30 p.m. Saturday, April 19

If you haven’t seen the Season 2 finale of BBC America’s “Torchwood,” be warned: This post is one big SPOILER.

Naoko Mori on alien kisses, "Ab Fab," being geeky.

Wow, what an ending.

BBC America’s captivating sci fi series wrapped up its second season Saturday bringing back troublemaker Captain John Hart and introducing viewers to Captain Jack Harkness’ long-lost and vengeful brother Gray.

Oh, and the writers killed off Torchwood team members Toshiko Sato and Owen Harper.

That’s right, and according to Naoko Mori, who plays Tosh on the series, they are really, truly dead. Captain Jack won’t be using a reanimation glove on them.

“No, I think both gloves were destroyed,” Mori told me earlier this week, as she laughed about the gloves used to bring back dead people in past episodes. “I believe we really are dead. But who knows?”

Tosh was shot in the stomach by Captain Jack’s crazy brother, who left her for dead. She survived long enough to help Owen stop a meltdown at the Cardiff nuclear power plant—but a glitch in the plant’s system caused his death.

Owen, who knew Tosh still carried a torch for him, said apologized for not noticing “until it was too late.” Despite efforts to save her, Tosh also died. Later, Ianto stumbled onto a video message from her that she had set to play in case of her death.

“If you’re seeing this, I guess it mean, I’m, well dead,” she said in the message. “I just wanted to say, it’s OK. It really is.”

Response to the finale, which already has aired in Britain, has been “phenomenal,” Mori said.

“It’s nothing like I’ve experienced before,” she said. “[The finale] did what it was supposed to do—kind of shock and make some people sad.

“I’m so sort of overwhelmed by the success of the episode. I’m glad. I had people running up saying, ‘Oh my God, you made me cry. The whole family cried.’”

Viewers weren’t the only ones to cry. Mori said she put off watching the episode until the day before it aired in Britain. She was too nervous to see it.

“That’s the first time when it hit me,” she said. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God, that’s the end. That’s Tosh gone. That’s the end of ‘Torchwood’ for me at the moment.’ It was emotional.”

Mori and I talked more about filming the finale, her future plans and what it feels like to be dead. You can read all that on the jump. For more from the interview, check out my earlier post here.

The former Torchwood team: Ianto, Gwen, Captain Jack, Toshiko, Owen.

How does it feel to be dead?

Ohhh. Well it’s very strange. I watched the final cut of the episode literally the day before it went out on air. I was so nervous; I was putting it off. It was really hard.

Eve [Myles], who plays Gwen, and I were texting each other afterward saying, “God, that was harder than I thought it would be watching it.”

I’ve been playing Tosh for two years. She’s like a part of me. I care for her and all that. It was just really strange watching it.

You don’t remember what went on when you’re in the moment filming it. But I just remembered we shot, because of the scheduling, we shot that [death scene] two separate days.

The main bulk of it, when Tosh is talking to Owen, was the last scene to be shot on the entire production. That was the day after the wrap party and it was like 2 a.m. in the morning. We did it in one take, which is miraculous. [Laughs.] And I remember after they said cut and that was a wrap, I don’t know, it just felt weird.

So your actual death scene was shot before Owen’s?

Yeah, I kind of died and then came back. All I can say is it was incredibly emotional on and off camera. Yeah, it feels really strange. To me, in a way, she was real. She was a real person. You do become very attached and you care about the characters you portray. Obviously you’re not dying but it’s like your friend is dying.

And for me, when I read the last bit—[Tosh’s good-bye] video thing—that kind of killed me. I was bawling my eyes out when I read that. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending.

When did you find out that Tosh was going to die?

I think it was a good two or three months before we finished filming.

How did you feel about them deciding to kill off your character?

I was kind of shocked and sad. But ultimately, it made sense. And I didn’t disagree with them. We trust the writers so much. Every decision is thought out so carefully that I knew they had thought about it for a long time.

But also I kind of agreed with them. The show needed a big bang at the end. Tosh had been in Torchwood the longest and it certainly reinforced that everyone dies young in Torchwood. It reinforces the danger of what we do in Torchwood.

And in a sense she kind of came full circle. She’s gone through so much that it kind of made sense. It was time for her to go, I think. Obviously I was sad that I wouldn’t see everyone and that I’ll miss it, but it made sense. So I was OK about it.

It would have been entirely different if I felt that she still had a lot more … to say. It felt like everything had been done and she’d been through everything.

Were you happy with the whole ending, the way she died?

Oh my God, over the moon. There was a lot of discussion about how it was going to be done. One of my concerns was about the whole Owen and Tosh [unrequited love story]. I made sure that they knew that my feelings about not making it too soppy and romantic for the sake of it.

I wanted it to be done well and delicately done. I didn’t want it to be overly romantic out of nowhere. It’s never been a huge romantic thing. It’s been more of a yearning and more underlying feelings and emotions.

Would you ever go back to the show if they found a way?

I would because I love them all and I love “Torchwood”—if it’s done right and for the right reasons [I would]. We’ll just have to see. I don’t know.

What have you been doing since filming ended?

To be honest, because I worked pretty much straight through from Season One [of “Torchwood”] to “Avenue Q” to Season Two, I kind of wanted to take a break.

It has been great, because I can actually be at home for once. When we’re filming I’m down in Cardiff, Wales. So coming home [to London], … I’ve been just kind of chilling out and catching up with friends I haven’t seen for so long and seeing if I still have any friends left. [Laughs.]

There are a couple of [career] things happening. There’s one project in Japan. And one or two things working in the States, but we’ll see.

I’m recharging, you know? Being in Torchwood is exactly like being on “Torchwood”—[working all the time]. Tosh is dead, but I’m not, thank God. Not yet, anyway.

How has it been working on this hugely popular show?

It’s been the most amazing experience to do so many different things under one umbrella. I couldn’t have really asked for more. I’m pretty hard-pushed to name anything I haven’t done as Tosh. There were tears, there was laughter—all sorts. It’s been incredibly satisfying and I feel so lucky and pleased. It’s been an incredible experience.

And working with your co-stars?

We really, genuinely get on so well—all of us. That’s the biggest thing I’ll miss. It was the best job in that sense. We just got along so well and had such a fun time. It was like a family.

I’ve read creator Russell T. Davies is talking about moving on from “Torchwood” and “Doctor Who.” You have any scoop on that?

To be honest, I don’t really know. I know he has new projects … I know that there will be a lot of changes to both “Doctor Who” and “Torchwood,” I think. But I don’t know.

So can we expect Captain John [James Marster, above right] to be a regular? One could take the ending as it hint to that effect.

I genuinely don’t know what’s going to happen, but [Captain John] is certainly a great character and I hope comes back in some shape or form. I think people want to see more of Captain John. I certainly would. He’s such an enigmatic and great character. And James Marsters is a great actor.

For more from the interview, check out my earlier post here.

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451600969e200e551ec786b8833

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Torchwood's 'Tosh' on Season 2's deadly end:

Post a comment