Episode Report Card Jacob: A+ | 2 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT Agnus Dei
By Jacob | Season 2 | Episode 22 | Aired on 2001.01.26
And into Moya's burnt-out blackness. D'Argo and Jothee march down the corridor. "It's a Peacekeeper signal," D'Argo growls, and Pilot identifies it on comms: "Crais says it's a special pulse code, known only to Captain's rank and above." Jothee shouts, confused, that John's never been a Peacekeeper; D'Argo realizes it's the chip. Jothee wonders what they're supposed to do once they find him, and D'Argo tells him: nothing. "It's too dangerous." Jothee begins to whine, and D'Argo turns on him, shouting again: "No!" Jothee watches his father walking away.
Aeryn's body lies on the floor near John, who's still working on his signal in the Cluster. Jothee orders him to stop; John tells him to relax. "Scorpius only wants me." Jothee: "My father says you're in no condition to make that decision." But, says John, Jothee's in no condition to stop him. "You really should have brought a pulse rifle," sighs John, and then grabs Jothee by the tonguelash, knocking him out. John drops the kid next to Aeryn and almost chuckles. "Like father, like son." Too true: D'Argo lashes him from behind, and Harvey goes down. It would be easier if Harvey were just Scorpius, plain and simple, just a tiny robot in the brain; the truth is so much scarier.
John is immobile, strapped to a table on the planet that's too short for him. Stark leans over, sweet and concerned and wearing that ridiculous coat. "How do you feel?" Stark would have to be here, wouldn't he? He's always been John's madness. He's always loved Aeryn, and Zhaan. And Scorpius. He's the only one who will ever understand that part: how the devil gets in; how you can love him. "Like a Popsicle," John mutters. "Gotta love this sphincter end of the universe." Tocot stands near John's head at one end of the platform, Grunchlk's off to the side, opposite Stark, who reassures him: "They're just going to have a look. An examination." John's head is held in place with a plastic band. "Make sure he puts the K-Y on the glove," says John, rolling his eyes. Stark's literally the only person he could make that joke with, I think.
Crais enters the Diagnosan's chambers, to John's irritation, but he calls his attendance a "meager gesture of support," with just a hint of passive-aggression: "...While the others attend to Aeryn and Jothee." Crais circles around to look at him. John asks if he did any "permanent damage," and Crais says it's only their pride. "You seem remarkably lucid." Grunchlk hides behind Stark, circling back away from Crais. "Don't get too close," says John grimly. "I could turn any second." Stark lovingly promises that they'll fix it. "Everyone's pledged to give whatever it takes." Tocot bleeps at Stark, and getting no response, pokes him in the tummy. Stark steps off the platform accommodatingly. I don't like that; I need him so much closer. John needs him closer. Tocot turns the lights out in the chamber, and the platform is illuminated green. Tocot slowly removes his face mask; the chamber doors are still wide open. Stark's confused: "I thought he couldn't inhale our contaminants?" Grunchlk points up at the green light. "Biological neutralizer...you could have the Karatonga Plague in here, wouldn't touch him. Outside, pick your nose and he's dead." Grunchlk's gotta lot of fucking rules for somebody that looks like rotten seafood on meth.