Directed by Rowan Woods
In which the crew of Moya finds a shelter in Tormented Space…only to have Aeryn assassinate world’s next Prefect
Synopsis - Analysis - Memorable Quotes - Observations
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Synopsis
(Note: The following synopsis is an attempt to place events in their proper chronological sequence. The actual episode jumps between scenes during the teaser and first act, revealing parts of conversations out of context before showing the actual events, still out of order.)
The episode begins with the crew of Moya on the cold surface of a planet, surrounded by fog and mostly wasted “orchards”. Aeryn stands by her Prowler, checking out her craft efficiently. Behind her in the distance (and across a chasm) is a palace set on top of a cliff, which overlooks the “orchard”. She admonishes a child playing with her Prowler behind her, and then slaps a stinging insect. A moment later, Aeryn’s vision seems to get fuzzy for a moment.
Meanwhile, D’Argo is doing his best to extract Chiana from the latest awkward position she has managed to get herself into. Having come to the only planet in the last twenty to have drinking water and other essentials, the last thing they need is Chiana going around sleeping with the locals. They decide to banish Chiana, rather than kill her…and Aeryn has programmed her Prowler to return Chiana to Moya. Chiana tries to bribe E’alet, a servant of the world’s Prefect, but her begging falls on deaf ears.
In the palace, Crichton notes Chiana’s departure. The current Prefect, Falaak, wonders about the other women among the crew. Crichton reassures him, but Aeryn calls him over the comm in a distinctly less-than-pleasant tone. Aeryn is being dragged to a marketplace by the child. Crichton informs her that he has managed to placate the Prefect for the time being. Aeryn has an odd vision of a man being shot to death, and sternly cuts communication.
Following Chiana’s departure, D’Argo has a tense conversation with Gaashah, the local clan leader (and the man Aeryn saw getting shot in her vision). He is also the man most likely to become Prefect when the current ruler steps down at the end of his half-cycle term. Gaashah reminds D’Argo that the 200 clans on the planet have only recently developed a peaceful means of sharing power, and people like Chiana are a threat to that peace. And Gaashah’s chances to become Prefect and lead are already threatened by the behavior of his son.
That young man, Zerbat, is busy exploring the lovely Sikozu’s upper body…sans clothing. Sikozu seems to enjoy playing the young innocent romantic. It appears that before peace was established, Gaashah sent Zerbat off-world to remain safe, and to learn other ways. But now Zerbat is seen as corrupted by outsiders, something Chiana’s behavior reinforces. Which is hardly the worst part…because despite having been programmed to return directly to Moya, the Prowler lands close to the palace, and Chiana jumps out.
D’Argo and Gaashah go to the marketplace, where Gaashah is confronted by one of his rivals for the Prefecture: Jabuka. Threats are subtly exchanged, and Gaashah calmly explains to D’Argo that should enough of his rivals come together, they can prevent his ascension through assassination. Despite the peace, this accommodation to the past was engineered by a withered old priest named Paroos. D’Argo offers his help, but Gaashah is convinced that D’Argo can best serve the goals of peace by leaving as soon as possible.
Crichton, leaving the palace via a long stone stairway cut into the side of the cliff, consults with D’Argo. D’Argo tells him about Gaashah’s request, but Crichton reminds him that Moya might not be revived yet. Tormented Space is apparently just as bad as Aeryn hinted it would be, and it’s beating Moya up left and right. D’Argo asks Crichton to return to the ship, and he reluctantly agrees to check in with the ship. Crichton calls Rygel and discovers that Chiana never arrived.
E’alet is coming up the stairs as Crichton cuts communications, and as he passes Crichton, he reaches out and takes him by the throat. He calmly pushes Crichton until he is hanging over the edge of the stairway, with the abyss far below. E’alet remarks that he is concerned by off-worlders, but Crichton counters that Falaak appears to not mind their presence. E’alet appears to take that at face value, pulling Crichton back onto the stairway, seemingly amused as he walks off.
Still a bit rattled, Crichton calls Aeryn to tell her about Moya’s condition and ask after her own. Aeryn tells him that she has an odd feeling. Crichton almost immediately takes a hit from the laka drug, and then tells Crichton that D’Argo might be right. With this being their only source of food and water since entering Tormented Space, they have to play by the rules. Aeryn, distracted by her visions, dismisses Crichton after an uncomfortable silence.
After running across Paroos, who apparently is amused enough by her to not tell anyone of her return, Chiana comes across Sikozu and Zerbat’s little tryst. She confronts them, wondering just how much trouble Sikozu might cause by sleeping with the son of the next Prefect. D’Argo hears Chiana’s voice, and rushes to the scene, enraged, grabbing Chiana and ordering her back to Moya. He orders Chiana to return, and suggests Sikozu do the same. Zerbat appears ready to object, but D’Argo reminds him that his father needs him now.
Sikozu agrees, but before anything else can happen, they hear the sound of pulse rifle shots being fired in the marketplace. On the stairway, Crichton hears the shots as well. As D’Argo races into the marketplace, he sees Aeryn gunning down Gaashah. D’Argo cries out, but before he can realize the danger, Aeryn shots him directly in the chest, which sends him to the ground. Her work complete, she turns and walks blandly out of the marketplace.
(From this point on, the episode proceeds in chronological order.)
Following the massacre, Crichton arrives just moments before Zerbat and Sikozu, who check on Gaashah. Chiana comes soon after, running immediately to D’Argo’s side. D’Argo is injured, but will recover. Against Crichton’s objections, D’Argo confirms that Aeryn was the assassin. They are still arguing over it when one of Jabuka’s guards smacks Crichton to the ground with a rifle to the head.
Jabuka accuses the entire crew of Moya for Gaashah’s assassination, as well as the two previous killings. Jabuka is ready to execute them, but Paroos denies him the right, reminding him of the new laws. When Falaak arrives, and orders that Aeryn be killed, or tortured into naming her sponsor. When Crichton offers to find her and bring her back alive, Zerbat steps forward instead. When Jabuka scoffs at the idea, Zerbat faces him down, and then order Crichton to assist him.
As they walk through the “orchard”, Crichton tries to convince himself of some reason why Aeryn would have killed Gaashah. Zerbat takes exception, pointing his weapon at Crichton’s head…until Sikozu shows up and gets him to see reason. When the search appears to be getting them nowhere, Zerbat orders Crichton to continue along the nearby river bank, while he and Sikozu take a trail up the ridge.
Crichton watches them go, and sits for a moment, pulling out the laka drug, contemplating over using it. Ironically, Aeryn comes out of hiding at that very moment, asking if she really killed Gaashah. When she explains that she couldn’t stop herself, Crichton asks about the others. Aeryn is stunned; she was sure she only killed Gaashah. Crichton tells her to check her weapon to confirm how many shots she took, and she is stricken by the truth.
Paroos arrives, and tells Crichton and Aeryn that he believes someone is trying to start a war again. Aeryn, he says, must remember what happened if they have any chance of preventing it. With Crichton’s help, Aeryn runs through her memories of the event. She struggles with the difference between reality and vision until Crichton slaps the back of his neck to kill a bug. Then Aeryn remembers how she had been stung, just before the first visions. Paroos muses that there are no insects on the planet, but even as Aeryn struggles with the knowledge of what she has done, Crichton insists that he must leave. Now he’s having visions…of killing Paroos.
Despite the warning, Paroos continues traveling with Crichton and Aeryn, even returning Crichton’s weapon (which had been lost in the marketplace). Zerbat and Sikozu happen upon them, and Zerbat accuses Aeryn of killing his father. Crichton and Paroos try to convince Zerbat that Aeryn wasn’t responsible for her actions, but again he resists until Sikozu convinces him. Together, they determine that if the insects are responsible, they must have come from an offworlder.
In the Prefect’s palace, Falaak is enraged at E’alet. E’alet apparently is responsible for controlling the insects. Chiana is being manhandled as they argue. E’alet reminds Falaak that it will take more of the insect bites to incite offworlders to kill, and demands double the price to continue. Falaak agrees. Once the Prefect leaves, E’alet begins releasing the insects. Using her vision-gift, Chiana discovers that E’alet’s head is the hive from which the insects emerge. E’alet notices that Chiana is watching, and beats her unconscious.
As Crichton and Aeryn move towards the palace (getting bitten like mad the entire way), Zerbat orders D’Argo’s release. Together with Sikozu, they quickly run to meet their two friends. Chiana awakens, and quickly calls Crichton, explaining that she’s blind and everything she saw. But before she can get very far, Crichton and Aeryn stop on the stairs, pointing their guns at each other’s heads. Each has a vision of killing the other. They resist for the moment, but they each realize it is a close thing.
They rush to Chiana’s aid, but they are losing control quickly. E’alet rushes into the room, attacking them while they are distracted. Crichton and Aeryn fire back, and they manage to wound the alien. But they both wind up pointing their weapons at each other again. They each fire once, barely missing. Neither of them think they can miss the next time they fire.
D’Argo and the others run into the room just in time to tackle Crichton and Aeryn to the floor. They each struggle to shoot at each other while they are down. As everyone is distracted, E’alet recovers. D’Argo calls for Paroos to help, and the priest easily dispatches E’alet with a buzzsaw to the back of the head. Crichton and Aeryn immediately recover their control.
Falaak walks in, acting as though he was unaware of the threat. None of them are fooled. When Zerbat confronts him, Falaak doesn’t bother denying his responsibility for very long. Zerbat intends to bring Falaak before the other clan leaders, as according to the new law. Falaak chooses suicide instead, launching himself out of the palace window into the abyss below.
Sometime later, Zerbat and Sikozu stand on the plain. Zerbat’s first act as Prefect has been to destroy the palace. He asks Sikozu to stay with him, but as much as she wants to get away from Moya’s crew, she cannot stay. In the marketplace, Chiana discusses the worsening blindness from her visions with Paroos. Sikozu stops by to let her know that Moya is ready to leave. Consoling Sikozu on her choice, they leave for the ship together.
Crichton finds Aeryn kneeling in front of the fresh graves of her victims, her body language speaking volumes of remorse. Crichton walks up behind her, and gently strokes her hair with the back of his fingers. She lays her head against his knees as he slides his hand over her hair, and together they stare at the graves in silence.
Analysis
The fact that the synopsis for this episode is so disjointed ought to be an indicator of how haphazardly the scenes unfolded in the teaser and first act. The complete clarity of the rest of the episode never quite made up for it. Even now, having watched the episode twice and having studied the transcript in detail, I still cannot be sure that I have all of the plot elements in the correct order. And something like that ought to be possible for the average viewer.
This is the first attempt by this author to write for the series, and as such, there are small inconsistencies that shine through. Most of the problems involve characterization. For instance, D’Argo has always been the kind of person to take someone on their own word, especially in the beginning of the series, so his backing of Gaashah makes sense to a certain extent. At the same time, I’m not sure why D’Argo would pick this moment and situation to suddenly vent his frustrations at Chiana. Certainly there have been better and more severe opportunities.
Some of the other character inconsistencies are more subtle. Chiana would certainly be liable to get herself into trouble by flirting or even sleeping with one of the locals, but she’s not stupid or needlessly reckless. She’s simply impulsive and sometimes thoughtless. I find it hard to believe that she would return to the planet when she knows the stakes…especially when it could affect her own survival. In a similar way, I don’t see how Sikozu would be foolish enough or open enough to get involved with the son of the next Prefect, when most of her decisions have been a matter of personal advantage and cunning. “Sikozu in Love”, however photogenic, doesn’t fit well.
Another weakness of the script is the assumption that many key relationships between the crew and the inhabitants of the planet are already existent. While they certainly might be, it gives a slightly false impression. Some scenes suggest a rather lengthy stay on the planet up to this point, while others suggest a shorter time frame. There are very few character introductions, so when people are referred to, we don’t always know who they are. And since the dialogue is peppered far too often with alien invective, it’s even worse.
The plot, in the end, is rather straightforward and derivative. We’ve seen this played out several times before, if not necessarily on this series. But there is something odd about the way this plot is conceived. From the beginning, Chiana and the others are treated with suspicion because they are off-worlders, even though the Prefect vouches for them. But when the source of Aeryn’s odd behavior is revealed, we are told it must come from another off-worlder: E’alet. Which is fine…except there’s never anything like suspicion to suggest that he is an off-worlder!
This episode works to the degree that it does because of two key elements: the direction, and the advancement of the John/Aeryn relationship. We see Crichton taking the first tentative steps back towards love and trust, especially in that wonderfully small moment at the end of the episode. Perhaps the best part about the way it’s written is how low-key it is. This episode manages to bring the matter squarely in that direction, but its not forced.
The direction, along with the cinematography, was simply stunning. This episode looked better than most of what passes for television on the major networks. I’ll go even farther, and say that it looked better than most films produced for television these days. A little more work might have gone into the puppet for Paroos; it looked like they just revamped Rygel for an episode or something. But overall, this episode gave off a distinct mood of its own, rising above the material itself.
There is one last element I think bears consideration. Early in the episode, Crichton makes a quip about Aeryn’s mother being moody. There’s just one little problem. This John Crichton never met Aeryn’s mother. So what would bring him to say such a thing? It’s certainly possible that this was an unfortunate writing error, but I don’t think that’s the case. I believe that for some reason, Crichton is beginning to acquire the memories of the other John Crichton. And that could prove to be interesting.
Unfortunately, this episode was not. It was more confusing than anything else.
Memorable Quotes
FALAAK: “Sounds a bit…moody.”
CRICHTON: “Man, you should’ve met her mother…”
AERYN: “I’m getting a really bad bribe.”
CRICHTON: “Oh, God, she’s talkin’ English…”
FALAAK: “Find her. Kill her.”
JABUKA: “And if she acted on anyone’s behalf, we’ll catch her…and torture her…until she tells us.”
CRICHTON: “Damn, how come I didn’t think of that before…”
AERYN: “I’m not sure…I have the strength to miss next time.”
CRICHTON: “I think…I’m just a bad shot.”
(Long, tortured silence.)
CRICHTON: “You know…I really thought…the coin toss ended badly.”
AERYN: “It did…”
Observations
- I thought the directing for this episode was very interesting. The skewed perspectives were a nice visual cue of the mental manipulation, and the cinematography was amazing.
- About time we saw Chiana getting in trouble like this!
- And it’s also about time we saw Sikozu get some action…even if it doesn’t really fit her character well
- I’m still rather intrigued at the idea that, somehow, Crichton is gaining the memories of his other half. Perhaps this is a result of Stark’s little game from “John Quixote”?
- Great shot of Aeryn taking down D’Argo!
- The priest puppet was rather annoying…it looked very fake, as compared to Rygel. But he did have that neat (if convenient) buzzsaw, so at least he had some flair…
- Love that dialogue about the coin toss. John and Aeryn continue to be my one and only ‘ship obsession!
Overall, this has to be the worst episode of the season thus far. The plot was simply too derivative, and wasting the teaser and first act on the exact same action was very annoying. Also, too many of the relationships between the characters were assumed or developed too quickly. Still, it was good to see the plot arc elements continue to develop, as well as the beginning of a restoration of emotion between John and Aeryn.
I give it a 5/10.
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