Episode Report Card Couch Baron: C+ | 1 USERS: C+ YOU GRADE IT Next Time, Just Count To Ten
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 14 | Aired on 07.29.1999
... and then they're walking through the woods, where unbeknownst to them, Rokon and several of the hunters are surrounding them. They quickly use nets to capture D'Argo and Crichton, and Lisala pleads with Rokon to let them go, to no avail...
... and then they're back at the shore, where Lisala's entreaties are enough to wake Rygel. Seeing two of the hunters approaching his spot in Crichton's shelter, he wraps himself up in some sort of small sleeping-bag-looking thing. The hunters grab Crichton's stuff, including Rygel, and head back to join the rest of the party.
So it appears that the hunters acted with Kato-Re's knowledge and permission, as a tribunal is taking place at the village. Kato-Re charges Crichton and D'Argo with assault against his personal guard. Neera rails against Crichton and the "creature," causing D'Argo to give Crichton a "FUCKING humanoids" side-eye that's far more amusing than it has any right to be. Kato-Re says that assault against his guard is punishable by death, but taking into account that he believes them not to be "entirely" at fault, he commutes the sentence to ten cycles in some sort of labor camp. Neera bitches him out, he stands firm, but before we can really get into the power struggle, Rygel twitches and moans from within the bag. Kato-Re has a minion open it up, revealing Rygel's confused and fearful head. People start pointing in adulation, and it seems very true to Rygel's character that he clearly enjoys the attention despite having no idea what's going on and also being in a bag that, given what we know of his digestive system, probably is no longer the cleanest it's ever been. Crichton snarks, "So glad you could join us, Your Eminence." You'll be delivering the same line a little differently in about thirty seconds, Your Eminently Hot. All the locals get down on their knees and start chanting and prostrating themselves in Rygel's direction, and Crichton looks at the rocks that Will Now Be Important and sees that, from a certain angle, they look an awful lot like a Hynerian. That's rather quick on the uptake for Crichton, but maybe gingko biloba figures heavily in this planet's ecosystem. As even Neera reluctantly gets to her knees, Crichton voices the opinion that the people think Rygel's a god. Rygel: "No. Not a god, but... a sovereign." Hee. And props to Rygel's puppeteer, because his royal wave is pretty awesome.
So everything's hunky-dory now that the Dominar is in charge, as the Moya crew has taken over Kato-Re's royal hut or whatever. Rygel, offhandedly yet imperiously, explains that his empire consisted of tens of thousands of planets, and this must be one of them. D'Argo thinks that doesn't add up, as they're in the Uncharted Territories, and Crichton agrees. Some women come in to bathe Rygel, at which he's all too nauseatingly thrilled, and Crichton rides an eye-roll straight on out of there. Despite the fact that keeping Rygel clean is one of the most beneficial things I can think of for this society, I can't say I blame him.