Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT NOOOOO!
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 18 | Aired on 09.16.1999
In the cargo bay, Larraq locks Rygel in the crate as Aeryn duplicitously asks what will happen to Rygel once the virus is leeched out of him. Larraq says that Rygel is as good as dead, and Hassan adds that it's not a pretty process. And they know this how? It doesn't sound like they've captured a virus before, and obviously they never leeched the virus out of the rubber chicken, so how do they know that their process will even work? I'm going to borrow Keckler's "Not realistic, entertaining." I understand it's well-used in situations such as this. Hassan leaves as Larraq zips the dead Peacekeeper and the rubber chicken up in body bags, and then asks if Aeryn has ever thought about going Special Ops. Well, she hadn't before, but the competence with which this mission has been handled is certainly making her think... once. Larraq, though, thinks Aeryn's talents are being wasted, and plus, "I like the idea of having you nearby." Once again, can't really blame him. He chalks the unlikelihood of them serving together up to bad timing, and starts to leave, but Aeryn admits that timing has nothing to do with it. Larraq returns basically to offer her a job, and suggests they talk about it when they get to the Gammak base. I don't know whom I feel worse for -- Larraq, who's not going to make it to the Gammak base, or Aeryn, who totally will. Also, Larraq is pretty hot. Aeryn and I both wonder where the hell Crichton is.
Oh, here he is, with the stupid rattler of evil viruses accompanying him, sauntering in to see Hassan in the apothecary. I assume the virus is worried that Hassan will actually create an antibody to it with Zhaan's supplies, otherwise it could HOLE UP AND LAY THE DAMN SPORES. It still seems weak, but let's move on. Crichton takes a moment to be all spider to her fly, but then slams her head down on the table, grabs something heavy, and bashes her head in like an overripe cantaloupe. He gives the stun gun (which she had with her... why?) similar treatment, and saunters off, without disposing of the materials in the apothecary, so there goes even that flimsy reason. Also, yikes. Crichton is not going to be happy when he wakes up from this.
Zhaan and D'Argo are whispering about the location of the virus, and then Chiana shows up, saying that Pilot told her Zhaan wanted to see her. Basically, we can infer that between the suspicious behavior she witnessed while Rygel was being captured, combined with Crichton's not pulling his punch at all, Zhaan thinks that the virus was never in Rygel at all, but in Chiana. She asks Chiana to lick her bedcover, as it contains litmus fibers. First off, file that away for later, but more importantly, I wouldn't lick anything of Zhaan's unless I was sure she'd done laundry before her last exposure to bright light. The test quickly confirms that Chiana did host the virus, and D'Argo concludes that now it's not in Rygel, but someone else. This is a really tense storyline if you don't really pay attention to the details. I'll have to try that. Seriously, though, just about everyone's got things going on underneath the surface that makes this a very dark and complicated episode. Ironically, it's Crichton's last episode for a long time, if not ever, to behave like a big happy dork, so let's enjoy that while we can.