“Torchwood” Episode 104 Recap: "Cyberwoman"

With communications cut off, Jack has no way of knowing what's going on or if his people are in danger. It never occurs to him to, ya know, just go downstairs.

Fingers flying across her keyboard like there's no tomorrow, Toshiko has found something else that's both interesting and diabolical; someone has been trying to delete files from the internal surveillance cameras. Tosh brings up the footage from earlier that night. She and Jack watch as Ianto greets Dr. Tanizaki and escorts him downstairs. Ianto is so frigging fired.

Downstairs, Gwen and Owen proceed with caution. They approach the door to the storage unit and unlock it. Guns and flashlights at the ready, they burst into the room.

They can't believe their eyes — Lisa's metal gurney, all the monitors and equipment, wires everywhere — it makes no sense. Gwen hits the "Off" switch and power is restored throughout the rest of the building. Owen recognizes the apparatus.

Owen: These things brought down Torchwood One. They were all destroyed. [angrily] Why is there one in our bloody basement?
Gwen: Just tell me what it does.
Owen: It's the remnants of the conversion unit. This machinery turns humans into cybermen…

Jack cuts in on the restored comms and wants a progress report. Is there any sign of Ianto? Owen tells Jack there's no sign of Ianto but they did find a nasty little robot factory.

Just then, Lisa reappears and knocks Owen out with one powerful swipe like a polar bear. I seriously love this chick's dominatrix-from-outer-space outfit, especially that ice bucket she wears on her head. Gwen is left standing face to face with Lisa.

On her comms, Gwen tells Jack and Tosh there's someone down here you have to meet. Owen being face-down on the floor doesn't make it into her report. Like I said; ninny.

Jack tells Tosh he's going downstairs. If he's not back in 15 minutes, Tosh should activate "total shut-down procedures" and get the hell out of there. Tosh doesn't want to abandon her team, but Jack doesn't want Lisa running amok on the streets of Cardiff. Jack wins that one.

While Gwen waits for Jack to come save her ass, she and Lisa do a little girl-talking. Gwen tells Lisa she means her no harm. Hey, Ninny, blow her face off. Lisa just knocked Owen out and she's looking at you like you're dinner. Are you always going to be this cordial to invading cyberkillers? Because if you are, you are so off patrol detail. Sheesh.

Lisa is a fembot of few words. She easily knocks Gwen's gun out of her hand and grabs her by the throat.

She slams Gwen down onto the conversion table and turns on the power. "You will be like me," Lisa says in her monotone fembot voice as Gwen shrieks in her hysterical human one. If she converts her, does she earn a toaster, like we do?

Finally, Jack arrives on the scene. He's shocked to see what's been going on right under his nose. Unlike Gwen, Jack doesn't hesitate and fires at Lisa. Too bad Ianto comes out of nowhere and deflects Jack's arm, sending the shot into a pipe in the ceiling.

"You are fighting the wrong guy!" Jack screams at Ianto. As they wrestle with each other, and not in the fun way, Lisa calmly walks out of the room.

Meanwhile, Gwen is still strapped to the gurney. The ceiling hatch opens and down comes the Swiss Army knife from Hell; drills and blades thrashing wildly. Gwen's eyes are bugging out of her head. She does that a lot. Jack and Ianto stop tussling with each other and try to help Gwen, but they can't get the power to shut down. Jack yells into his comms at Tosh to manually shut down all the power in the lair, even though that traps everyone inside with Lisa.