Torchwood (TV Series) Greeks Bearing Gifts (2006) User Reviews

1x7

[notar0b0t · 8/10 · 27 November 2021]

One of the best Torchwood episodes. Interesting story, I think we all have, at some point, imagined what hearing others' thoughts would be like. This delves into that, and it does it quite well. The CGI for Philoctetes was very well done, too.

On another note, you can really see how selfish and a douchebag Owen is. This episode really cemented for me how unlikeable and annoying he is.

Gwen is not much better, she has been selfish as well, but at least at the end she admits it and apologizes to Tosh. I can appreciate that.

Now the whole anecdote about Jack's friend who transitioned from male to female, that was in poor taste. Especially in a show created by Russel T Davies, a gay man and starring John Barrowman, another gay man. They probably know, as gay men, what it means and how it feels to be ostracized, mocked by society, and somehow this subplot/"joke" made it into the final script? It's disappointing.

Still, even with that, it is one of the best Torchwood episodes. The pilot was okay, but episodes 2 to 6 weren't to my taste. It felt silly, but not like Doctor Who's enjoyable silliness: just plain silly.

It feels like they tried so much not to make it like Doctor Who that they forgot it's still supposed to be somewhat linked to Doctor Who. (Read: the swearing, the sex scenes, the uncomfortable sex jokes, I could go on.)

I am not surprised to learn that Toby Whitehouse penned this awesome episode, as he wrote Doctor Who's School Reunion, another awesome episode of the... Whoniverse, I guess?

I don't think anybody will ever read this review as it's an episode that aired in 2006, exactly 15 years and 1 day ago, but here's my review.

Interesting take on a common concept

[thomasgouldsbrough · 7/10 · 19 March 2022]

This episode of Torchwood was actually pretty good. It follows the concept of reading into everyone's mind, but has an interesting take on it, mainly due to the idea of the moral guilt of invading people's private thoughts. It's interesting, as throughout the episode the amulet achieves mostly good. It stops the murder of a family, it prevents Owen from doing anything stupid in the hostage situation, and grants Toshiko a wider knowledge of her team around her. Yet, because of Toshiko's morally rigid code, she views it as bad, and is weighed down by the guilt stopping someone from having privacy, as well as feeling like she is a God.

Toshiko is interesting in this episode. So far in Torchwood, we know so little about her, as the show has only ever focused on Gwen and Captain Jack. The viewer really gets a grasp of her loneliness, and her inability to connect with everyone around her. Probably the best episode in Torchwood so far.

A thoroughly enjoyable episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 6 February 2023]

The team are busy investigating a found found in the ground, believed to have been shot in the eighteenth century.

I have always enjoyed Greeks Bearing Gifts, and would consider it one of the strongest episodes from the first series. Tosh has been a little anonymous until this point, very much the back seat character, here though she is very much the focal character. The subplot of Gwen and Owen was pretty good too.

I thought the visuals and special effects were quite striking, holding up even now all these years later.

One thing all of us have, but don't need to share, our thoughts, imagine losing that ability, and people being aware of our most personal feelings and imaginings, this is the main theme of the episode.

Daniela Denby-Ashe is really good as the unusual blonde that walks into Toshiko's life. She definitely has a presence in this episode, her scenes with Tosh were great.

Very enjoyable, 8/10.

Dangerous alien

[sinceverona · 30 August 2009]

In the year 1504 a young prostitute Mary is chased into the forest by a soldier. After they argued and Mary had scratched him over his face and ran away, he takes his gun enraged set out to kill her... But they both see in the distance a bright light. Back in Torchwood Toshiko isn't so happy, when Owen yells at her. In the bar she meets a beautiful young woman Mary who ask her if she can sit next to her. At first she says that the man in the bar is annoying her, but then she admits that she knows everything about her and Torchwood. After few drinks Toshiko talks to her about Torchwood and in return beautiful blonde gives her a locket. Soon Toshiko is able to hear everybody's thoughts. The episode was very slow. Mary seemed as a dubious person. Her feelings toward Toshiko was a puzzle. Always saying her lines witty, and seemed to clever for her years I really liked Mary. Toshiko most of the time looked confused or in pain. Yes the influence of the locket was a hard burden to bear, but the scene in bed where she is half crying and half in agony was just to much and not well played. The ending was however quite the opposite from the rest of the episode. It was intense, and I really liked the moment when Mary says those few lines to Jack. Special effects were very unusual, the alien looked beautiful like a creature from a fairy tale and not a ruthless killer at all.

Greeks bearing gifts-Oh toby, oh toby

[ScourgeOfImdb · 7/10 · 15 August 2023]

Episode seven is an episode that focuses primarily on tosh, a character who otherwise hasn't been explored to this point. I've not got much to say about this episode but at the time some of the stuff with jack at the end being so pro-killing feels a bit weird and purposefully edgy and comes off as annoying. However, exploring tosh's loneliness in this episode and the burden of hearing other people's thoughts is a really great concept and I think that this episode gets in on greatness through its concept alone.

Overall, a nice episode which is brought down slightly by some edgy stuff for no reason.

7.5/10.

Whithouse's worst script in the Whoniverse.

[connorwdrysdale · 3/10 · 10 July 2021]

"Greeks Bearing Gifts" is a poorly paced character piece that is meant to focus on Toshiko Sato and give more insight to how she feels, while the episode does a good job in showing that she can be easily manipulated, it does little else.

The whole "Reading Minds." Concept is hardly explored here, Toshiko does one thing with it (That being saving that family.) and that's it, plus we don't even get any insight as to why that man wanted to kill his family so badly.

So we're left with a remaining 40 or so minutes of padding and awful alien sex scenes with Mary's awful excuse of a character and poor CGI, with a poor resolution that was rushed in the blink of an eye.

The rest of the Torchwood gang is almost completely sidelined in this, but that's a problem with Series 1 as a whole.

And to top it all off, Jack's transphobic speech at the end... just... why, how did that get past the drafts?

Trust me, you can skip this one.