Episode Report Card Jacob Clifton: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Mothers & Fathers and Brothers & Suns
By Jacob Clifton | Season 1 | Episode 10 | Aired on 06.24.1999
"Aeryn, shut down the DRDs," John says, to which she of course replies that he's being ridiculous. "Do it!" And she does, immediately.
Bridge. Aeryn, Zhaan and John are sitting around the table, discussing Rygel and D'Argo. Zhaan: "D'Argo took his 'son' on an excursion." Aeryn frets about the DRDs -- "they're vital services, we need them operational" -- and John points out that "operational" is off the table for now. (That's the third time Moya and her immune system have been described as in "service," if you're counting. Which only bugs because of last week.) Zhaan, passive-aggressively to a certain extent, wonders aloud if the DRD weirdness is related to "what we've been calling" a virus, and John finally gives in. "No, you're right. It's not a virus, these guys are not biomechanoid. They're entirely mechanical; wires gears, servos. No way a virus would have any affect at all...they only do what someone tells them to do." Aeryn points out that Pilot's unconscious, but John says it's not Moya controlling them. "You're saying that Moya wanted these DRDs to try and kill you?" asks Aeryn, just as Zhaan realizes the DRDs are also the ones that shut down the environmentals. "Moya has an independent intellect, right?" says John. "Maybe the explosion that D'Argo was involved in short circuited that -- maybe she consciously cut off Pilot's resources in order to prevent him from keeping us alive." So maybe Moya's trying to kill them. If she were a poet, and not a spaceship, those DRDs would be chopping their arms off. No poetry today, though.
Lest you think that we've gained any kind of respect for Moya and the things she's going through right now, we cut to John and Zhaan looking at Moya's blueprints and wondering about how to bypass her intellect altogether. And they're being sneaky about it, avoiding using her viewscreens and stuff. This is creepy and disrespectful: that beautiful shot of the control collar coming off should tell you that at least. But we're on the trail of yet another red herring, and they're fighting for their lives, so I don't think the vulgarity really makes them look bad, it's just generally gross. Zhaan finds it hard to believe that Moya doesn't know what they're planning. "How do you know about the few bacteria inside of you? No, you don't know until you get a symptom." Love isn't invasion, it's symbiosis. "My body carries no bacteria," Zhaan overshadows, as Aeryn comes in with more blueprints and asks what exactly they're planning. She points out the grossness, and it's less hypocritical and more transcendent, that she's the only one getting this: "But that would be like...like when Moya was still wearing the Peacekeeper control collar." Exactly. Zhaan's more worried about getting Moya's brain working again. "It may be the only way to save her," says John, as Moya dips in space again, "And us. I think the most direct access point would be in Pilot's chamber." He invites Aeryn to head to Pilot's chamber; she nods and leaves. John comms to Rygel, who's "getting a piggy-back ride," and asks him to ride D'Argo back up to command.