Episode Report Card Strega: B | 419 USERS: B- YOU GRADE IT You Know, For Kids
By Strega | Season 2 | Episode 4 | Aired on 2000.04.07
Then we see T'raltixx, and heavens. So, he's like a wizened old elf, sort of, with the pointy ears and the pointy head. He doesn't have eyes, and his hair is sort of like insect hairs seen under a microscope, and he's got tubes running into his nostrils, and as if that weren't enough, you know those pumps you see in ER scenes where the little accordion pleats go up and down as someone breathes? He's got one of those in his head. Why? And also, why? T'raltixx gamely tries to act past his extremely peculiar prosthetics as he explains that the device he'll install on Moya will be larger, but that this will get the idea across. He asks for someone to start the module up for him, and Crichton grumbles his way over and starts in on how he bought a set of knives once: "Cat swore to me that they could cut through anything. Bone, metal, shoes -- hell, he could cut through my damn car, and still dice tomatoes! You know what? He was lying." Aeryn keeps working on the beacon and ignores Crichton, but Zhaan gives him a pained "Don't be crazy in front of the guests" look. A bemused T'raltixx asks, "If you don't wish my services..." Crichton interrupts: "Bingo!" T'raltixx puts his hands to his head and and whimpers that Crichton's voice hurts his ears. Crichton more quietly says that he doesn't want T'raltixx around, but that the others do, so he'll go start the ship. Apparently he just wanted to complain for a while first. But Crichton can't do anything without yammering about it for a while. If you took out all of his carping, they'd have a half-hour show. Crichton warns T'raltixx that if anything "funky" happens to his module, he'll be most displeased. Zhaan starts tugging T'raltixx away from the crazy person, and T'raltixx tells Crichton that he should only run the ship for ten microts -- any longer and the device will explode. Crichton sighs, "It just gets better and better," while Aeryn munches more crackers and giggles.
Crichton hops into the cockpit and fires up the module, and T'raltixx's device starts glowing and making noise as everyone watches expectantly. Then there's a wide shot of the module, which gradually starts to vanish from the back toward the front. Which, okay, visual medium and everything, but it still seems questionable that something that's supposed to interfere with tracking actually makes things disappear when you're looking right at them. Crichton counts to ten as more and more of the ship vanishes behind him. He's too busy being ostentatiously long-suffering to notice the reactions of the people watching, and the invisibility starts to creep over him as he finally reaches ten and turns the engine off. The module is, um, unerased, and the device powers down as Zhaan gasps, "By the Goddess, it worked!" She laughs delightedly, and maybe she's turned invisible herself, because Crichton obliviously grumps, "See, nothing happened! What? What are you all looking at?" Aeryn smirks at him. This is not one of the episodes you use to prove that he's intelligent, honestly.