I thought this was the weakest of the four episodes thus far. I think there were some kernels of a good story in there- actually, there were kernels of several good stories in there, but they seemed all mishmashed together, and nothing really substantive came of it.
For example, a Ianto-centric episode was a good idea, as we've seen/learned nothing of him so far. Unfortunately, when the episode centers around him being a complete git who puts everyone in danger, and whose actions lead to the deaths of two innocents, and then we have an extended scene featuring his anguish where- presumably- we're supposed to be moved by the pain he is going through... needless to say, it didn't work for me. If we'd learned more about him in previous episodes, if we'd had some groundwork for us to say- hey, this guy is a standup and interesting fellow, rather than having it thrown at us all of a sudden that he's a man tormented by love and his actions are a result of that torment, it might have sat better with me. Give me some buildup, is what I'm saying. Now I really don't give any sort of fig about Ianto at all.
(Plus, that whole scene where Ianto is talking about "oh, you've never bothered to ask about me before, you don't care." Wah, and wah. Not feeling it, dude.)
The love story in and of itself might have been an interesting exploration- but there wasn't enough done with it. We get some glimpses of Lisa's humanity early on, then *blammo* she's suddenly and incomprehensibly full-on Cyberwoman. Just as suddenly, she decides she needs to sacrifice her cyberness for Ianto's love. It just didn't play out evenly.
Far too much time was spent with some other story elements that seemed tacked on as well. The snogging in the morgue drawer, as horacethegrey mentions, seemed random and unnecessary to me. Much like the overtly (and needlessly) sexual gun shooting scene from last week, it was just over the top. I don't mind the snogging and adult themes, but I just think they go about them in a tacky way. No sense of subtlety, no sense of trying to really fit them into the plot. It's like the director just shouts out- "okay, um, how about you shove your tongue down her throat?" and the actors don't ask "what's my motivation?"
Similarly, Jack trying to revive Ianto- that didn't look much like mouth-to-mouth resuscitation the way I learned it. Kind of pointless. If you want to have same sex snogging, do it, don't concoct some silly scenario for it, just have it actually occur as a result of character development and plot.
I also got tired of hearing Toshiko constantly saying how she couldn't leave everyone behind; okay, we got it the first time. Not to mention Jack's constant reiterations of how he's in charge and everyone needs to listen to him. If they aren't listening, then you're not getting through, and maybe you need to hire a better staff.
Jack's darkness is getting old. This isn't the character I begrudgingly came to enjoy on Doctor Who, and whose return I so eagerly anticipated. Plus, the darkness almost seems more like something we're being told about, and not seeing. "You're the monster!" Really? What's he done so far that's so monstrous, besides yell at his panic stricken, unprofessional team? Oh, yeah- he isn't willing to help the lying, whining sack with his murderous, rampaging girlfriend. That's evil, man. Give love a chance, Jack!
Plus, a cyberwoman can't take out a single pterodactyl? Wow. The Mondans wouldn't have had any problems.
I've enjoyed Torchwood so far- it hasn't knocked my socks off, but it's fun. This episode really just tanked for me.
On the plus side, it looks like next week we'll finally start getting some answers about Jack.
