Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Reality Bites
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 13 | Aired on 07.22.1999
Zhaan has decided to share Unity with Tahleen, although the latter cautions that Zhaan can't have the slightest bit of doubt. Given what's to come, I assume that means that the transfer will be unsuccessful if Zhaan isn't one hundred percent committed to what she's doing. I'm surprised she doesn't have any misgivings, considering it took her about a year to come to this decision. They take each other's head in their hands and touch foreheads...
... and then we see a vision of their two essences coming together. All seems well at first, but once the transfer begins, Zhaan appears to be in pain. Tahleen apologizes, but says that what Zhaan has learned will take her too long to master on her own, so she's taking all her restraint, or knowledge, or knowledge of restraint, or whatever. (Don't email me.) I'm starting to think this Unity thing isn't all it's cracked up to be. Zhaan cries out some more...
... and then the Unity breaks, and Tahleen stands tall as Zhaan looks at her with red eyes and snarls that Tahleen betrayed her. It's too bad I'm watching this on DVD, because I'd love to see if Visine cleverly bought time in the imminent commercial break.
Zhaan's moping somewhere in the temple when Crichton finds her and asks her what's up with the eyes. Zhaan, with bitter humor, says it's tissue burn migrating to her brain. Crichton does not say, "Boy, I know what that's like." Sorry, I'll stop now. (Heh, right.) Zhaan goes on that Tahleen took her ability to control her dark impulses, and what's more, she can't just take them back from Tahleen -- she'd have to start from scratch to regain her discipline. Crichton starts to give her a pep talk, but Zhaan grabs him and snarls that it took her seventeen cycles to master her impulses last time, and she doesn't have the strength to start again. Considering the way she's manhandling Crichton, she might be underestimating herself here. Crichton regards her warily, but asks her to stay where she is.
Cut to Crichton trying to track down Tahleen. He comes across "Alex," who tries to distract him with kisses and a minor guilt trip about how he's always there for other people before he's there for her. She also asks if he remembers when they "made love in the reflecting pool at Canaveral." Given that he doesn't seem to get a false memory here, I hope the water was chlorinated. Crichton ignores "Alex" long enough to learn from Pilot that everyone is behaving rather strangely. From the look on Crichton's face, he seems to be picking up on the implicit "for them" at the end of the sentence.