WRITER: Toby Withouse DIRECTOR: Colin Teague
CAST: John Barrowman (Capt Jack Harkness), Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper), Naoka Mori (Toshiko Sato), Burn Gorman (Owen Harper), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones) & Daniela Denby-Ashe (Mary), Tom Robertson (Soldier), Ravin J. Ganatra (Neil), Eiry Thomas (Carol), Shaheen Jafargholi (Danny) & Paul Kasey (Weevil)
Toshiko strikes up a friendship with a young lady called Mary, who gives her a pendant with the ability to let you hear people's thoughts...Toby Whithouse wrote School Reunion for Doctor Who, an episode summarised as being serviceable with flashes of greatness. The same can almost be said for Whithouse's Torchwood episode, Greeks Bearing Gifts, were it not for his stronger hold on the premise and enjoyable characterisations.
The premise behind this episode is simple -- it's the age-old story of how hearing people's thoughts would alter your opinion of them. There's nothing particularly fresh about the approach taken here, but the concept is always ripe for drama and the script is pleasingly written. In particular, I enjoyed the depth and believability of everyone's thoughts (heard as echoing voice-overs), which provide most of the episode's spark.
Naoka Mori finally gets a story to herself, and the two-dimensional computer whizz Toshiko Sato becomes more rounded as a result. Torchwood often chooses to divide its stories between the hyper-reality of the Hub (with its alien tech) and the normal everyday life of its characters. It's a balancing act the show usually struggles with, as the difference between these two "worlds" are so pronounced they just clash. This is probably why you never saw Mulder and Scully in the supermarket or walking the dog.
Amazingly, Greeks Bearing Gifts successfully mixes the two worlds, presenting us with a believable social life for Tosh that doesn't jar with the exaggerated SF of Torchwood. A lot of this success is down to Mori and the performance of Daniela Denby-Ashe, as Mary, who is superb as the episode's femme fatale. As a bonus, Denby-Ashe and Mori share genuine chemistry that helps immensely.
Ultimately, the storyline isn't anything to get excited about, but it's performed and written with a conviction that it works. However, the Teaser, a period piece set in 1812, hints at a more interesting story than we're eventually given, and the finale is anti-climactic -- again featuring one of Jack's patented controversial decisions!
Technically, the CGI for Mary's alien likeness is very good (albeit not as expressive as the fairies in Small Worlds), and the sound mix during the telepathic sequences are fantastic (most notably the rear speaker's use during Mary's demonstration to Tosh).
Overall, while it was disappointing to see the show feature yet another same-sex kiss (they've all had one now, except Ianto!) the handling of the "adult nature" of the show was much improved. Whithouse's script is heavily indebted to Buffy The Vampire Slayer's Earshot (mind reading, discovering a sexual relationship, stopping a murder, even the inability to hear the thoughts of a main character -- Jack/Angel), but while the story isn't original, it's well told.
