Greeks Bearing Gifts (Torchwood)

The seventh episode of *Torchwood*’s first series, “Greeks Bearing Gifts,” aired on BBC Three on 26 November 2006. Its central figure is Mary, an Arcateenian alien who can change shape. She has been stuck in Cardiff for roughly two centuries and wants to get back a recently uncovered transporter so she can leave Earth.

At a building site, Torchwood investigates a centuries-old human skeleton and a rusted alien device. Later, in a bar, Toshiko meets Mary, who collects alien objects and has been shadowing Torchwood. Mary gives Toshiko a pendant that lets her read minds, on the condition that she keeps the gift’s source secret. The next day, Toshiko uses the pendant and picks up dismissive, contemptuous thoughts from Owen and Gwen. She goes home to find Mary waiting there. Toshiko tries to return the pendant, but Mary insists it can do good. She persuades Toshiko to read her mind again, revealing sexual intentions toward her, and they sleep together. When Toshiko asks Mary’s true identity, Mary evades the question, answering only “Philoctetes”—the name of a Greek mythological archer exiled on an island. Wearing the pendant in a crowded street, Toshiko is overwhelmed by everyone’s thoughts but spots a man planning murder, follows him, and stops him.

Mary then urges Toshiko to question the others at the Hub about the artefact, using the pendant in case they are hiding things. Toshiko learns Owen knows nothing about it, and she cannot read Jack’s mind. Meanwhile, Owen finds that the same kind of trauma seen on the skeleton has appeared several times over the centuries, and Jack notices Toshiko acting oddly. When Toshiko returns to Mary, Mary reveals she is an alien exile and that the artefact is a transporter she needs to leave. She asks Toshiko to take her to Torchwood to retrieve it. At the Hub, Jack has already deduced Mary is the alien and the serial killer. He explains the transporter carried a prisoner (Mary) and a guard, whom Mary killed before taking a human woman’s body. Mary holds a knife to Toshiko, demanding the artefact. Jack trades Toshiko for it, then reprograms the device to send Mary into the sun. Owen and Gwen apologise to Toshiko for their earlier behaviour. Jack offers her the pendant, but she smashes it underfoot.

Mary belongs to the Arcateenian species.