Greeks Bearing Gifts (TV story)

Synopsis
Toshiko is given an alien pendant which enables her to hear other people's thoughts. As the rest of the Torchwood team puzzle over a centuries-old skeleton, the pendant forces Toshiko to question her commitment to Torchwood: is her new-found ability a blessing or a curse?

Plot
The episode opens in a forest in Cardiff, 1812. A talkative prostitute leads a soldier into the forest, and after the prostitute, Mary, says something the soldier finds offensive, he slaps her twice. In response, Mary scratches his face and runs further into the forest. Mary sees a bright light and hears a screech, after which the soldier catches up, and shoots her. In 2007, the Torchwood team attends a construction site where a skeleton was found. Mary, the prostitute from 1812, is there in modern clothing gazing on amusingly. Next to the skeleton is a strange object, the function of which is uncertain to the members of Torchwood. Toshiko speculates the skeleton has been there for 196 years, eleven to eleven and a half months. Owen says that the skeleton is female and died from a gunshot wound.

Later, Toshiko is in a bar, when Mary comes over to talk to her. She reveals that she knows everything about her and Torchwood. She says that she is a "scavenger" or a "collector" of alien artifacts. Toshiko appears to bond well with Mary, and reveals her innermost feelings about the universe. Mary shows Toshiko a pendant, and when Toshiko puts it on, she suddenly has the ability to hear people's thoughts. Mary asks her to refine this to just hear her, and Toshiko hears her think that she would like to kiss her. Shocked, Toshiko takes off the pendant. Mary offers for her to keep the pendant, which Toshiko says, she must show to the other members of Torchwood. However, Mary predicts she won't.

The next day, Toshiko goes to the Hub, and puts the pendant on. She tells Gwen and Owen she has something to show them, however, upon hearing their thoughts, she is shocked to hear that Gwen and Owen are having an affair, and also hears that they both pity and disrespect her. Later, she is sitting down, and when Ianto offers her some coffee, she hears his thoughts about the pain caused by the loss of Lisa Hallett. Toshiko is visibly upset and takes off the pendant.

She walks to find Mary there. When talking to Mary, she expresses what Owen and Gwen thought about her, while Mary explains that the thoughts Toshiko is hearing are complicated. Mary puts the pendant of Toshiko again, and hears her thinking about having sex with her. Mary and Toshiko kiss passionately, and the scene cuts. Toshiko is lying in bed, looking regretful, and when confronted by Mary, Toshiko reveals her attracton to Owen, and how she was upset by hearing about the affair between Gwen and Owen. Mary tells Toshiko that good can come of wearing the pendant, too. Toshiko confronts Mary and asks who she really is. Mary calls herself "Philoctetes". Toshiko listens to Mary's advice and listens to the thoughts of people in public places, and hears a man planning to kill his ex-wife and son. She follows him and manages to save them both. She returns to the Hub to find that Owen is being teased by the others about misidentifying the skeleton; it was actually that of a man that died of an unidentified trauma. Tosh asks Jack about the name "Philoctetes", and he explains it is a Greek mythology character that was exiled to the island of Lemnos.

Mary later tells Toshiko to read Jack's thoughts to find out about the item found with the skeleton. Toshiko finds that she can't read his mind, and Jack seems to notice when she tries. Toshiko tells Mary this, and Mary tells Toshiko that she is an alien in exile from her home world. Toshiko offers Torchwood's help, but Mary refuses, instead requesting that Toshiko sneak her into the Hub to retrieve the artifact. At the Hub, they find Jack holding the artifact, and he explains that it is a two-man prison transporter for a guard and and a prisoner. Mary explains that she took the body of the young prostitute Mary, and has been ripping out people's hearts to feed her human form. Mary takes Toshiko at knife point and demands the transporter back, and when Jack gives it to her, it activates and she disappears. Jack explains that he programmed the device to teleport to the center of the sun. Later, Toshiko apologizes to Owen and Gwen, and then destroys the pendant.

Cast

 * Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
 * Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
 * Owen Harper - Burn Gorman
 * Toshiko Sato - Naoko Mori
 * Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
 * Mary - Daniela Denby-Ashe
 * Soldier - Tom Robertson
 * Neil - Ravin J Ganatra
 * Carol - Eiry Thomas
 * Danny - Shaheen Jafargholi
 * Weevil - Paul Kasey

Crew

 * Writer - Toby Whithouse
 * Director - Colin Teague
 * 1st Assistant Director - Nick Rae
 * 2nd Assistant Director - Lynsey Muir
 * 3rd Assistant Director - Rhian Salisury
 * Executive Producers - Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner
 * Producer - Richard Stokes
 * Co-Producer - Chris Chibnall

Music

 * Drag - Placebo
 * Spitting Games - Snow Patrol

Story Notes
to be added

Ratings

 * BBC3 - 1.3 million viewers
 * BBC2 - 1.9 million viewers

Myths
to be added

Filming Locations
to be added

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

 * Why would Captain Jack, a pansexual human from the far future, have been disturbed by his transgender colleague Vanessa (formerly Victor)? Jack's story contains almost no detail. While he seems offended by Vanessa's sex/gender-change, it's possible his consternation was due to other factors in the situation.

Continuity

 * An alien of the same race as Mary appears in SJA: Invasion of the Bane.

DVD Releases
Released in Torchwood: The Complete First Series