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?
After
setting off down a darker path in the previous episode ‘Countrycide’,
can Torchwood continue to walk down that path or will they
return to the lighter side?
The
blood filled, bad language ladened previous episode finally
pushed Torchwood in the more adult oriented direction
that creator Russell T. Davies had promised but the big
question for fans was could the show keep up this new momentum?
The good news is that ‘Greeks Bearing Gifts’
does, but not to the same extremes.
After
an ensemble show we finally get around to Naoko Mori’s
time in the spotlight. The computer technology expert Toshiko
Sato has been mostly the character who supplies the answers
and the research for the previous cases, but this is her
chance to grab some of the limelight.
Here
we discover a little bit more about her and her life outside
of Torchwood. We also uncover her state of mind, her doubts
and her feelings towards the rest of the team, as she discovers
what they think about her.
This
all happens after Toshiko meets Mary, played by British
TV soap and comedy starlet Daniela Denby-Ashe. She is a
mysterious, highly sexual young woman that Toshiko is instantly
drawn to but when Mary gives her a necklace that has been
in her family for generations, her view of the world changes
forever.
Wearing
it, she can hear the thoughts of everyone who comes near
her, which overwhelms her at first. When she wears it in
the Torchwood headquarters, however, she makes her most
shocking discovery.
Like
any other first season of a show, each character is given
their chance to shine and Toshiko Sato is no different.
The episode is good, not just for her development but also
for the development of the rest of the team. There are also
more revelations about Captain Jack Harkness’ past,
which will continue to answer some of the many questions
that fans have about what happened to him after the ‘Bad
Wolf’ incident and how he came to be in Torchwood.
It's
taking time, but Torchwood is becoming the show
that we all hoped it would be.
