Agent Rex Matheson, portrayed by Mekhi Phifer, is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who.
Within the series' narrative, Rex is a high-flying agent for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who begins to investigate Torchwood after being personally affected by a global supernatural event.
He and CIA coworker Esther Drummond (Alexa Havins) begin investigating the defunct British Torchwood Institute, which leads him to discover its last-surviving agents: former time traveler Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and a Welsh young mother Gwen Cooper (Eve Myles).
[5] Rex clears his name with the CIA by exposing the real traitor Brian Friedkin (Wayne Knight) and rejoins the organisation whilst Gwen, Jack and Esther go back into hiding.
[6] In the series finale Rex travels to Buenos Aires to meet Esther, whilst Jack and Gwen head to Shanghai, each pair seeking one of two access points to the Blessing[broken anchor], an antipodal geological formation connected to the Earth's morphic field.
At Esther's funeral Rex discovers that he has acquired Jack's self healing abilities when he is shot by the Families' CIA mole Charlotte (Marina Benedict) and resurrects.
Shantella Sherman-Wi writes: "On first glance, it’s unclear whether the Torchwood franchise can handle two powerful and handsome leading men, but Phifer and Barrowman make it work – and look good in the process."