Episode Report Card Sobell: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT "Can I Get A 'Hell, Yeah'?"
By Sobell | Season 3 | Episode 1 | Aired on 03.15.2001
Crichton and D'Argo head outside. Crichton notes that the Scarran hasn't followed them yet, and D'Argo expresses his hope that the reptilian menace will. "Sounds like you've got a plan," Crichton says hopefully. D'Argo does: "We're going to bring him out here, and see how he likes being out in the cold." Crichton asks, "What if he likes it?" and an exasperated D'Argo shouts, "Look! One! Plan! At a time!" Hee! Oh, how I love the interplay between those two.
Zhaan kisses the unconscious Stark (oh, the wailing and rending of garments that will occur when he's later hipped to what he missed) and murmurs, "Forgive me, Stark, but I need your strength. And I know you'd never allow me to risk this." After that bit of exposition, she lifts his mask, we get that lightbulb-in-the-Pulp-Fiction-briefcase effect, and Zhaan stands in the radiant light in front of Aeryn's casket. She rests her forehead against it, and in a truly elegant transition shot, we move from the golden effulgence of the physical scene to the cool blue-lit setting of...the cosmic waiting room for souls? I don't see a stack of Reader's Digests in there from the Bush I administration, or someone attempting to fill out paperwork, but it's got the same vacant, timeless feel that most waiting rooms have, and Aeryn's slumped in her seat like someone who's already read everything, even the pamphlets on getting your fetus to quit smoking and the Newsweek predicting a Dean victory.
While some operatic hussy trills in the background, Zhaan walks toward Aeryn with a bemused, maternal smile. The music swells, Aeryn slowly lifts her head -- she's still strapped to the chair that held her as she sank -- and the wind conveniently blows her hair back so we can all remember that damn, Claudia Black has some of the loveliest facial planes in the sci-fi actress realm. Aeryn opens her eyes. Not surprisingly, there's no serenity there -- just a wary challenge. Zhaan's smile grows, and she asks, "Do you know who I am?" Aeryn only stares at her; the furrow in her brow provides the answer. Zhaan continues, "Do you know who you are?" Aeryn answers, "Officer Aeryn Sun, special Peacekeeper commando, Icarian unit, Pleisar regiment." This must be the cosmic equivalent of the Geneva Convention's "name, rank and serial number" routine. Good thing Alberto Gonzales hasn't extended the Executive Branch's reach to the afterlife yet! Zhaan is looking at Aeryn with affectionate amusement. Aeryn's voice, still echoing as if coming from a great distance, asks, "Have you come to reassign me?" Zhaan is echo-y now too; she says, "I have come to take you back." Then she walks over and takes the warrior's hands in hers. Then the two enter unity.