Episode Report Card Keckler: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The One Where Talyn And Crais Elope
By Keckler | Season 2 | Episode 1 | Aired on 03.16.2000
Talyn drifts in the asteroid field. Inside the ship, Crais orders, "Talyn, stop this senseless behavior! Your mother has gone, do you understand? Moya has abandoned you!" Crais is such a dick. Talyn flashes lights and makes sad bloopy sounds. Crais demands to know what he is doing and then orders him to power down his engines at once because leaving the protection of the asteroid field is suicidal. "I know you detest all this hiding. You're a gunship, a warrior!" Crais growls proudly, "You want to move, to fight, but you're not yet strong enough to take on a command carrier." Aeryn walks in, presenting us with the human parallel to Talyn, the ship she christened and helped nurture as an embryo. She, too, is a warrior who detests hiding and would rather fight than hide. But she has grown up in a year and realizes there are some battles that cannot be won. She also discovered that the more emotional connections you make, the less you want to go down in a deadly blaze of glory. Talyn, however, will never really be given a chance to grow up and know any emotional connections aside from Aeryn and Crais. Therefore, he is doomed to go down in a deadly blaze of glory. My, that got frightfully English major-y. I'll try and control myself in the future. Crais tells Aeryn, "He's going berserk -- talk to him!" The father turning in frustration to the mother in order to have her deal more gently and effectively with their child is clearly evident here. I wonder if Crais would have the same issues if Talyn were a girl. Come to think of it, is it just because Talyn is all testosteroned up with guns and armor that he is considered a boy? Usually all ships are given the female pronoun but then again, we are in the UT, so anything goes I guess. Smilingly, Aeryn affectionately runs her hands along a ceiling bulkhead -- something Daddy Crais failed to do -- and asks calmly, "Talyn, what's the matter?" At the sound of her voice and the touch of her hands, Talyn immediately bloops more calmly. "Show us," Aeryn says in response. More bloops. "There's no reason to be afraid, I'm here," Aeryn assures him. She then adds, "So is Crais." They want to help him. Talyn bloops more happily. Aeryn again asks to see what is upsetting him. There's some clicks and whirring. "Communications," Crais determines. Aeryn joins him at a console and notes, "Broadband transmissions -- random noises mixed with distortion spikes." "Scorpius," Crais concludes. Aeryn goes back to touching Talyn. Again smiling, she tells him the noises are meant to scare him and to make him run. "Talyn," Crais instructs severely, "Don't play into the hand of your enemy. Remain right where you are." Crais looks over at Aeryn and adds, "You're brave enough to do that, aren't you?" He's tempered his tone to be a bit more encouraging and gentle. Talyn lets off a stream of cooing bloops as he shuts down his powered-up engines. "Very good, Talyn," Aeryn smiles. Crais asks Talyn to excuse them for a moment. Her hands off Talyn now, Aeryn tells Crais that D'Argo is awake, and he and Crichton are both itching to leave. Crais steps up very close behind Aeryn, who doesn't seem to mind it. Or maybe she just doesn't notice. Standing slightly behind Aeryn, Crais props his arm on a bulkhead (the standing version of the arm slung over the top of a couch) but it's not clear if he's actually touching her. Aeryn tells Crais not to even suggest abandoning D'Argo and Crichton because that wasn't part of their arrangement. "We can't leave just yet," Crais says, infusing the "we" with suspicious intimacy and ownership. Crais explains that Talyn is too young, he hasn't any weapons yet, he can't starburst, and he keeps ignoring his commands. Aeryn smiles fondly and sort of inclines her head toward Crais'. "Can't command a leviathan, you can only persuade," she explains. Crais reminds her that as Talyn is part-leviathan, part-Peacekeeper, he is designed to take orders. Aeryn turns to face Crais. Again, they are standing oddly close together in a way that implies more than just an attempt to get them both in the shot. Aeryn asks Crais to let her talk to Talyn, "Alone." Crais refuses gently, "I'm willing to share command of Talyn, I will not relinquish it." Aeryn smiles softly and seems to be looking at Crais's lips. What the hell is going on and why didn't I ever pick up on it before?