Episode Report Card Keckler: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Zhaan Goes To Seed
By Keckler | Season 2 | Episode 7 | Aired on 06.15.2000
Aeryn and Crichton are arguing. Again. Aeryn's peeved that she's being made to stay aboard Moya, while Crichton explores the budong with the others. Crichton explains that both he and D'Argo are having allergic reactions to Zhaan's ragweed state and she's not. So there. With her dinners ratcheted up to her ears, Chiana prances out in a new outfit, eliciting a "Sha-zam!" from Crichton and a calm "That's nice," from D'Argo. Aeryn glares over at them as Chiana preens, "You think this will catch Temmon's eye?" Temmon's an old friend, who presumably didn't just get benefits from Chiana, but also set up a 401K in her pants to which frequent contributions were made. Chiana edges seductively by D'Argo, and Aeryn mutters, "Oh, that's just great -- I get to stay aboard with the blooming blue bush and you get to pay with your favorite little trelk." Crichton ignores both Aeryn's jealousy and her ignited blowtorch and says they'll be back in a couple of arns. I say "Aeryn's jealousy" because that's the simplistic answer. However, I'm sure it's not just jealousy she's feeling. Given her personality, I'm willing to bet she's way more mad that Crichton has relegated her to what she feels is the fairly inactive job of babysitting. She's pissed that Crichton's the one giving orders and making decisions, she's even more pissed that she can't argue with his logic, and finally her whole personality, upbringing, and training chafes when she's not out there in the thick of all the action. I'm sure there's a bit of jealousy mixed in there but it's completely drowned out by everything else.
Deep in the fetid tissues of the budong, Crichton bitches about the smell of the place. D'Argo points out the obvious, "What did you expect? It's a corpse." Seriously. D'Argo quietly asks Chiana about Temmon, "Why didn't you tell us about him before?" And by "us," he means, "me" because Aeryn's not the only one feeling pangs of jealousy. Except, again, it's not that simple. Like Aeryn, D'Argo is too tough to be derailed by jealous tendencies, especially when he has -- as yet -- no real claim on Chiana or her affections and therefore has no reason to expect fidelity. If anything, D'Argo is at the point in his infatuation where he just wants to learn all he can about Chiana because he's interested in her. He's also still sort of acting parental towards her. Chiana, deciding that D'Argo's question could only mean he wants her, gives him an open-mouthed, come-hither look, and doesn't answer. She's still treating D'Argo like a toy. Not really caring too deeply about his feelings, she wants him hungry and left wanting. Chiana tells Crichton that once she tells Temmon that Neri's dead, he'll forget all about the money she stole from him. However, her shaking voice and refusal to meet Crichton's eyes tells us that she doesn't quite believe that herself. Crichton clutches his pearls at the idea of Chiana using her dead brother to play on Temmon's sympathy. "I have a plan!" Chiana retorts, staring Crichton down, her voice much stronger. After Crichton repeats this sarcastically to D'Argo, an alarm goes off. Chiana announces, "An attack! D'Argo, Crichton! A keedva!" Everyone runs off and a tall dude with a crow feather collar steps out of a cave and stares after them.