Episode Report Card Strega: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Happy Club
By Strega | Season 2 | Episode 18 | Aired on 09.14.2000
Back in the cell, Crichton is trying to find a way to open the door. He tells Chiana that D'Argo's probably being cleansed now. "That means it's either you or me next." Chiana uselessly pulls at her chains and sniffles that the temporary cleansing doesn't work on Nebari. Crichton sighs, "Perfect. I'm next." He asks again why the Nebari are after her. She grunts, "I don't have anything!" but admits that Zelus kept asking her about the "resistance." Crichton asks why Milac referred to her as "the sister." Chiana slowly says that her brother, Neri, is dead. She pulls at the chains wildly and gasps, "We've got to get you out of here. Get me out of these chains!" Crichton grabs her and pulls her close to calm her. As she shivers, he says, "Everybody on board has secrets. We all have secrets. You got one? That's fine. Keep it." And just as you're thinking, "Aw, that Crichton is such a nice guy," he hisses, "Right up to the point where they come to fry my brain." Not that he doesn't have a point there. He moves away and asks why she was on the run when Zelus found her. Chiana looks up at him and starts her confession. She and Neri left Nebari Prime when they were young. "We didn't escape," she clarifies. "The government gave us exit permits. We didn't know why they made it so easy. We didn't care, we just ran. It wasn't until two cycles later that Neri found out why."
Flashback. Chiana is twitching on the floor of a Styrofoam cave, gasping in pain. Neri, who looks like another refugee from Velvet Goldmine, helps her sit up as she whimpers, "I can't believe how much it hurts." He says he got through it, so she will, too. His voice is surprisingly gruff. Chiana confirms that once this is over, the "contagion" will be out of her system. Neri says they'll both be clean, adding, "I just wish I could say the same for all the others." Chiana says, "We'll be better when we're out of here. When we get off this planet." Neri bats his mascara-ed lashes and says that he's not going with her. He explains, "Somebody high up in the Establishment gave me the antibody. I saw him. He's the one they're after. I can identify him." Chiana thinks this is all the more reason to flee, and I kind of support her. Neri says that "the Establishment" wants to spread the contagion through the galaxy, so they'll be very interested in finding out who gave Neri the antibody. He argues that they're less likely to get caught if they split up, but swears that he'll see Chiana again someday.