Episode Report Card Couch Baron: C+ | 1 USERS: C+ YOU GRADE IT Next Time, Just Count To Ten
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 14 | Aired on 07.29.1999
Back in town, some pre-prophecy celebrations are depicted, happily for my fingers but not so much from the standpoint of drama, for far too long. D'Argo kneels down and asks if Rygel has anything they can use, and Rygel explains that the original settlers of the planet (the "Aquarans," or some such) were colonists sent out from the Hynerian Empire during the reign of Rygel the Tenth as part of a program to expand the reach of the monarchy, but they were abandoned. D'Argo refrains from commenting that he was more interested in anything they can use to their benefit. And the bad news keeps on coming, as Rygel tells him that the power drain is intentional -- there's a device in place causing it in an effort to make sure the settlers can never develop the ability to reach out to any other worlds. "They can't be anything other than the blind followers of the family of Rygel." Call the device nefarious if you must, but you have to admit that achieving the goal of blind loyalty to a Hynerian was likely to require great lengths. I do like the parallel between Crichton's "abandonment" and that of the Aquarans, though. Rygel goes on that the priestains made up the whole Masata thing, elevating his status up to god in order to make their position more important. D'Argo points out the obvious, that the Aquarans are preparing not for the return of their king, but of their savior. Rygel: "Then we are frelled." I wonder if they can get away with saying words like "frell" and "dren" on television in this part of the galaxy, or if they have to make up words to substitute for them, like "fuck" and "shit." But that would be kind of silly, wouldn't it?
The pre-show is still going on, and on, and on. Crichton returns to town and awkwardly and unnecessarily makes his way through the dancers, and then enters the royal hut or whatever. He tells them the news that they're screwed, which D'Argo already knows, but which Rygel for some reason now is trying to spin, saying that the whole "rising up into the light" thing is only a metaphor. Crichton is all, "NOT," and says that the people are out burning their possessions because they expect Rygel to part the heavens. Rygel moans that he can't do that, and unfortunately Neera is at the door and hears this, and shoots away with a satisfied smirk, ignoring Rygel's command for her to come back. He certainly picked a bad time to lose his delusions of grandeur.
Moya. Zhaan enters the bridge with the latest map, which shows that all three of their shipmates are very close to the vortex site. They launch the projectile, which reads as on target until it disappears into the vortex. They resign themselves to waiting. I just hope it doesn't take their shipmates three months to return, as that's when Zhaan starts to lose her patience.