Episode Report Card Jacob Clifton: A+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Believing The Strangest Things
By Jacob Clifton | Season 1 | Episode 7 | Aired on 05.07.1999
Zhaan enters Rygel's quarters, where he's having himself a snot on the bed. "If this is about me climbing around in the ship's entrails, then you can simply turn round and go back the way you came." Zhaan asks His Eminence for permission to speak, because she knows his whole deal, and because she is manipulative. Rygel breathes regally and gives his leave. "Pilot's done all he can," she says, but the device is frying anything metal that comes near it, which is why that poor DRD got toasted. Zhaan tells him that they have to "start the separation procedure immediately" and can't wait for the others to return. I guess this is because of the intense weight issue. Rygel asks how they're supposed to do it without chlorium, and she smiles. "Among my sect, I am a ninth level Pa'u." Which is nearly true. "A priest of that level can harbor the power to...share another being's pain. If you are willing to begin the procedure, I'll do all I can to alleviate Moya's discomfort." He turns to look at her: "This is an awfully big ship," he grumps, and she smiles a bit ruefully. "Don't I know it."
Aeryn and D'Argo, those mighty warriors, are now hiding up a tree. Aeryn sits between D'Argo legs as they scan all around for the searchers -- at one point, D'Argo's hand drops to her shoulder, and she huffily shoves it off. D'Argo is awesome because he totally forgot that Sebaceans are racist pigs and think of Luxans like buffalo soldiers. Aeryn is less awesome because she didn't, and she doesn't even have the plausible deniability of being a robot lady because now she's even below him on the Racist Pig Flowchart of Peacekeeperism. He tells her to be careful and calls her "Peacekeeper," which makes her snort. "If I was a Peacekeeper, would I be sitting on this planet next to you?" Aeryn, you're boring me. You can be more. D'Argo growls and does...something behind her back. I have no idea what it is, like he reaches down and scratches his ankle. Or, knowing this show, does a quick readjust. Aeryn's boring even herself and wants to leave, but D'Argo says they should wait until the "hounds" are further gone.
"Oh fine, let's just perch up here and do nothing then," Aeryn bitches, and D'Argo tells her to speak up if she's got any problems with his strategy. She laughs rudely. "I should have known that this would be Luxan strategy -- probably why you did so well against the Grezodians." D'Argo's like, "You don't even know about the Grezodians," but she says it's the biggest joke in the world, "how the Luxans went screaming into retreat so fast," and D'Argo tries to get real with her. "Those monsters killed thousands of Luxan women and children, we had no alternative to retreat." And then, as though to get our respect, points out that they later got their revenge. Aeryn hums condescendingly (and at the exact frequency of a complete hypocrite): "And killed thousands of their women and children." D'Argo protests that they had no alternative for that either, and Aeryn -- because Peacekeepers are so very above mindless conflict -- says the Grezodians probably believed the same thing. She's just having a conversation, not even thinking about the fact that this is his people they're chatting about. The idea that the PKs haven't done anything wrong -- that she herself is just getting fucked over by an accidental coincidence, and that even her death sentence and exile are correct. Well, I mean, she has to believe that, right? If it's not a Peacekeeper war, then war is stupid, because the Peacekeepers are always right. Even if it kills her coming from the other direction, it's all she's got. She's like an ideal Peacekeeper. Her loss of innocence has so much to do with realizing that people not only break the rules constantly -- but have been doing so the whole time. Pretty ugly stuff.