Moya's transport pod floats through space as we hear Crichton exclaim, "I am doing it!" My advice to you regarding that statement is, coincidentally, the same as my advice to you regarding the quality of the forthcoming episode: Don't get your hopes up. Anyway, Aeryn, through Crichton's typical mélange of what he calls Southernisms and the rest of us, whether in possession of translator microbes or not, call incomprehensible, is teaching Crichton to drive. Crichton is psyched that he's learning, so much so that he's unfazed when Aeryn informs him that he's picking up the skills "more slowly than the dumbest recruit." Of course, if he paused every time someone insulted his intelligence, it's probably safe to guess he wouldn't have made it this far, in several senses of the expression. Crichton exposits that the more modifications he makes to Farscape One, the more he needs to understand bio-mechanoid technology. He then babbles about how the area they're in is such a perfect spot for a driving lesson because there's nothing around for miles and miles and miles, and with that setup, even the dumbest recruit knows these two are headed for trouble. Of course, Crichton still has no idea.
Moya. Rygel is waxing reminiscent about all the odalisques he used to have in his seraglio, and I'm not using big words to be pretentious -- it just makes thinking about all the tail Rygel scored over the years a little more abstract. Zhaan isn't exactly hanging on Rygel's every word, either, especially as he's making an irritating noise with some sort of electronic strategy game that looks like a cross between checkers, shuffleboard, and Simon. Also annoyed is D'Argo, who busts into the room complaining about Moya's pregnancy secretions and smells, particularly since his Luxan nose is quite sensitive. He basically bitches that Crichton's too dumb to teach, while Zhaan damns Crichton with faint defense, essentially saying that while he's a moron, it might do them some good to spend the requisite time edumacating him. The three-way bitchery ends with D'Argo yelling at them to shut up. You'd think on a ship this size, these three might be able to spend a little time apart from each other, but apparently the outrageous price of sound stages is a universal constant.
Now we're back in the transport pod, where Crichton is babbling about how Top Gun the experience is. Aeryn: "I have no need for speed." Hee. She does admit that she enjoys the teamwork aspect of combat flying, but Crichton is hardly her ideal partner, and he'd never make it as a Peacekeeper. "You screw up on the last day of simulation flying, you die." Crichton sarcastically asks if the simulator kills you, but Aeryn's silence confirms that that's actually the case. Between that and the genetic sieving, Crichton, it's lucky you grew up in our neck of the woods. There's an odd cut to an exterior shot, and Aeryn exposits she's getting something to eat when the pod appears to get caught by some invisible force. Despite Crichton's inability to get any "pulseback soundings," they continue to get pulled in, with both of them eventually getting thrown from their chairs and into the opening credits.
Back in the pod, Crichton crawls over to Aeryn and wakes her up. Confusion abounds, as, although they're not getting any mass readings, their view of the stars is being blocked by something. Also, Crichton thinks they hit something, since it felt like the head-on collision he was in when he was nineteen. Having only seen the first season, I don't know if that's going to be Important Later, but I figure an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of email. Aeryn admits she doesn't know what's going on.
Back on Moya, Zhaan is grabbing the plastic slingshot/tuning fork-looking thing away from Rygel. She then starts poking him with it, which is kind of hilarious, even if such hijinx are unbecoming to a tenth-level Pa'u. A high-pitched test of the emergency broadcast system cuts into the tomfoolery, causing the three infants to cover their ears and yell at Pilot. Pilot cuts the noise with a bored "So sorry. I appear to have hit the wrong comm." Hee. Pilot's finally growing a spine, and an amusing one at that. Zhaan snaps, "You desired our attention, Pilot?" I think he actually desired you to shut up, but your attention will have to do for now. He tells them that an unidentified vessel is approaching and signaling for permission to come aboard. The vessel apparently has pieces of weaponry, but nothing operational. Well, if that's the case, the indicated play is definitely to invade it. Cut to a prop ship discarded from the original Doctor Who as too technologically deficient-looking docking underneath Moya, and then some guy who will soon be joining the Australian musical tour of Pirates Of The Caribbean is being marched up to the bridge and telling them they're in the vicinity of "The Flax," which is a "magnodrift mesh, seventy-five million zacrons long." Thanks for clearing that up. Anyway, the Flax is invisible until you get caught in it (and afterward too, from what we saw), and was put there by the "Zenetan pirates." I wonder if those pirates wear belly shirts too. I kind of hope not. Zhaan bustles off to warn Crichton and Aeryn.
D'Argo gets the pirate, "Staanz," up to the bridge, where Rygel is still playing around with his tuning fork. (Ew.) Staanz says he's a "garbologist. I'm a connoisseur of what other people throw away." I wonder what they call eBay all the way out here. Staanz identifies the game as "Tadek," and notes that Rygel's set is in good shape. After the two of them each try to convince the other that he sucks at the game, they settle in to play. Of course, Rygel's slightly less convincing, given that he owns the set. And that he's a lying sack of puppet.
Back on the pod, Crichton is acting like he knows how to fix things, while Aeryn exposits that they're not moving at all, and what's more, they're not getting a comm signal despite the fact that the equipment is functional. Despite this, when Crichton tells her that their power readings are down, she claims that's "impossible." It doesn't seem any less possible than anthropomorphic Muppets, but I guess without her comment, Crichton's picturesque murmuring of "Impossible" would have seemed out of place. Then the lights go out, and he exhales, "This isn't good." Crichton, you may be an impossible combination of virile, sensitive, and scorching, but leave the editorializing to the pros.
On Moya, Zhaan worries that Crichton and Aeryn are caught in the Flax, and wonders, if Staanz did in fact come to warn them, what he wants in return. D'Argo pulls up a Peacekeeper record and discovers that Staanz is wanted...
... and then he's marching off to kick some ass as Zhaan pleads with him not to rip Staanz's head off, or at least not until they know more about the Flax business. D'Argo isn't trying to hear that, so Zhaan points out that they're both ex-prisoners of the Peacekeepers, and wonders if D'Argo's checked his own record to see what lies have been written about him. Googling yourself is probably just as effective. D'Argo: "Not everyone imprisoned by the Peacekeepers was innocent." It's too bad the translator microbes don't seem to work on Moya herself, because I would have loved to hear her wake up from her pregnancy haze to deliver an "Oh, SNAP." D'Argo rushes off to the bridge...
... where Staanz and Rygel are sizing each other up like they're at the final table. Staanz makes a move, and Rygel, who's smoking from a hookah-like contraption, exhales in his face. You'd think Moya would be a little sensitive about people smoking inside her when she's pregnant, but maybe she understands that they're trying to drown out the attendant smells by any means necessary. At least they're not using aerosol sprays. Rygel gets all plot-pointy about the "interesting move" Staanz made, and I admit I don't know how to play the game, but moving some piece three squares ahead doesn't seem to warrant a whole lot of comment here. That move would even pass in Candyland. Rygel asks to raise the stakes, and produces some sort of statuette that looks like it's made from lapis lazuli, but just then D'Argo arrives and hauls Staanz out of his chair all Darth Vader asking for the plans at the beginning of Star Wars: A New Hope. (Well, without the crushed neck vertebrae and all.) Rygel complains that he had Staanz right where he wanted him, as Staanz explains that he used to be a Zenetan pirate. He offers proof, so D'Argo lets him down, whereupon Staanz pulls down his pants. Rygel chooses this moment to go all "Oh, MERCY ME" on us, not that I blame him, while D'Argo is just all, "And?" which is another valid choice. Staanz explains that the tattoos on his leg prove that he was a Zenetan, but he was captured and spent nine cycles in a labor camp, and his Zenetan brothers did nothing to help him, so now he warns people off the Flax, both to piss the Zenetans off and hopefully to get rewards from the warnees. Zhaan shows up and checks Staanz out, and then D'Argo breathes, "Put those back on." Heh. Rygel hems and haws over asking Staanz something, but Zhaan smoothly interjects, "For an anthropoid biped, there seems to be... something missing." I think it's safe to say that she's cast her research net far and wide on that one. Staanz admits that his species isn't exactly "cut from the standard mold," and then, thankfully, the genitalia wackiness is over, as Zhaan tells Staanz about Crichton and Aeryn's possible plight. Staanz ascertains that they're not family, and clunkily says there's nothing worse than losing family. I'd say there's nothing worse than having your reproductive organs in your ears, but not having access to space travel, I may be a little provincial about the idea.
Back on the non-family pod, Aeryn tells Crichton to work faster, Crichton complains about the schematics, and Aeryn sniffily betrays the depths of her Peacekeeper roots by dismissing what he's doing as "tech work." Crichton points out that such distasteful technical knowledge might save her life, and while I find myself in agreement with him, I'm more amazed that he's gotten so far into this predicament without making a reference to Triple-A. Crichton manages to redirect enough power from the auxiliary systems to launch a message buoy. Of course, it makes no sense that the Flax would drain only main power, and it also makes no sense that the message buoy would be able to move when the pod itself can't, but I've watched enough science fiction to know that it's not a genre you turn to for your daily dose of either logic or physics.
In one of Moya's corridors, D'Argo has discovered that Staanz is wearing a pair of Luxan boots, and isn't pleased about it. Staanz whines that the Zenetans killed the Luxan after he got caught in the Flax, and he only took the boots after they ejected his body. He tried to get aboard the ship, but the Zenetans shot him in the arm. D'Argo tosses Staanz in the brig and breathes that the ship Staanz tried to loot was a Luxan deep-space voyager, and may contain some "map fibers" that D'Argo desperately needs. He asks if Staanz can take him there. Staanz gets all shifty, not realizing that those with sensitivity to arm pain might not want to get in between this crew and their quest to return to their own worlds. He tells D'Argo that the ship was earmarked for destruction and may not still exist, but D'Argo ignores that, saying that if Staanz takes him there, everything on the ship outside the map fibers is his. I don't know why Staanz would think the Zenetans would have left anything he'd be interested in, particularly since they were aware he knew about the ship, nor do I understand why he didn't go back and check it out after the Zenetans left if he did in fact think they'd leave anything, but that doesn't stop him from lustily staring at D'Argo and agreeing to the deal. After confirming that Staanz can get them past the Flax, D'Argo lets him out of the brig.
Pod. Aeryn and Crichton are attempting to break free of the Flax. Crichton punches whatever needs to be punched, and we get our second PSA for seat belts before heading into another commercial break.
When we come back, Aeryn calls Crichton over, as she's got something heavy resting on her leg. He hands her an axe, and she frees herself. I think they could have stood to sell another fifteen-second spot here, if you take my meaning.
On Moya, Zhaan informs D'Argo that she received a message from Aeryn. "It's short, but it's clear." All too rare on both counts. D'Argo informs her that they're about to launch as Rygel bitches about... all the money Staanz left behind? Okay. Zhaan gives him a look that could cut every precious stone he's got in front of him, and he nervously subsides.
Staanz's ship launches as its pilot whoops, "Luxan voyager, here we come!" One hopes he remembered to turn the intercom off, as no one's really got time for the awkward around here. Inside, we see that Staanz's ship is, not to put too fine a point on it, a shithole, and the only thing that stinks worse than all the junk cluttering it up are Staanz's delusions that one day selling all of it will put him on Easy Street. This scene is boring, so the point is this: D'Argo wants to spend no more than an arn at the Luxan ship before going to rescue Aeryn and Crichton, which Staanz is fine with, since the Zenetans won't be in a rush to loot such a small pod. I don't see what could go wrong with that plan, which probably makes me unsuitable for Peacekeeper flight training.
On the pod, we see that the attempt to escape has failed, as, according to Crichton, "some sort of field is holding us in place." See, I give him shit for being dumb, and then he goes and wows me with a detailed technical explanation like that. They ponder their move, and Crichton offers that they could wait for the others to come rescue them. With impeccable comic timing, they look at each other, and then rush off to try something else. Hee. It's nice when a moment like that sneaks up on you.
Back on the Shiphole, Staanz is offering D'Argo something unappetizing to eat, something wacky happens with the engines, and then Staanz notices something that looks like a red TIE fighter on a display, which he says represents "Kcrackic's tracer beam," and further "explains" that Kcrackic is the "red mentor" to the Zenetans. Gabba gabba whizzle. Shiz boink whoop. Oh, sorry, I was trying to make sense of all that. Anyway, Staanz reveals the incredible news that Kcrackic doesn't exactly have warm and fuzzy feeling toward him, which might have been more surprising if the Zenetans HADN'T SHOT AT HIM, and goes on that if Kcrackic learns of their presence, he'll seal the Flax up (sure, I totally understand what that means) and they'll never reach the Luxan ship or the pod. Anyway, they manage to escape the tracer beam, but Staanz realizes that Kcrackic is heading straight for Moya, so he urgently tells D'Argo to instruct his shipmates to act as though they've never seen him. That doesn't sound like much of a stretch, particularly not in Rygel's case.
On Moya, Zhaan confirms that they will try to keep the pirates distracted. She signs off, and then, seeing Rygel burping up a cloud of smoke that seems perhaps to be more, um, "soothing" than I initially thought, sighs, "I will strive to keep them distracted." Don't be too tough on him, Zhaan. His puppeteer's probably stoned too.
Establishing shot of a sleek ship approaching Moya, and then Kcrackic and a henchZenetan appear as Zhaan greets them and slings some crap about how his reputation for cruelty is well known. Kcrackic comes back that she's lucky their Leviathan is pregnant, as he once tried to commandeer a pregnant Leviathan, and eighty men died. Now that the small talk's over, Kcrackic asks after Staanz, whom Zhaan denies knowing, and then says he sees nothing of value, and is about to leave until Zhaan introduces Rygel. Rygel takes the opposite tack regarding the game than he did with Staanz, saying he's an excellent player, and he believes Kcrackic to be an easy mark. Zhaan surreptitiously glares at him, but then looks at Kcrackic with an apologetic "Hynerian Dominars will be Hynerian Dominars" look. Kcrackic smiles.
Pod. Crichton discovers that their air supply has been compromised, and he'll need to fire up a welding torch to fix the problem, only there's too much pure oxygen in the pod at the moment to risk doing so. Aeryn suggests they put on their space suits and depressurize the cabin. Just then, Crichton hears something creaking on high, and is just quick enough to tackle Aeryn out of the way before a bulkhead or something collapses on the space they were just occupying. Crichton, of course, takes way too long to get up off of Aeryn, prompting her to ask, "Are you comfortable? Can I get you a pillow?" I know slang doesn't always translate, hon, but I don't think he's lacking for pillows at the moment. And they'll come in handy in the tent he just pitched. Anyway, chastened, he gets up.
Shiphole. Staanz tells the engines, "Sing for your Daddy," and that's not the first reference to Staanz being male, just for future reference. The scene is pointless until they get caught in the Flax, affording D'Argo a great opportunity for a baleful glare. Actually, it's a great opportunity to toss Staanz into the furnace, but even a hothead like D'Argo knows that that would be counterproductive to his situation.
On Moya, Rygel makes what looks like a nice move, only to have Kcrackic find an even better parry. Rygel looks like he's reached flop-sweat time, not, of course, that it's easy to tell.
Crichton is starting to talk about how it'll be like a wind tunnel when they depressurize, like I'm sure Aeryn needs your simplistic metaphors, especially when she's just discovered that one of the helmets is broken, so they only have one working space suit. Crichton: "So one of us gets to die." It's so easy to be negative, isn't it, Crichton? No, really, I'm asking.
Pod of DOOOOOOM. Aeryn and Crichton are both suited up, and Crichton is saying there's no way to test the welder before the depressurization, since cabin go boom and everything. Aeryn hands Crichton a nasty-looking needle gun that makes any hypodermic you've ever seen have some degree of, um, envy. She explains that it's loaded up with a "kill shot" that will stop her brain and heart functions, and then hands him another vial with a "nerve shot" that will bring her back. Crichton stammers a protest, but Aeryn isn't brooking any dissent, for three reasons: one, the kill and nerve shots were designed for Sebaceans; two, Crichton knows how to weld; and three, if she's unconscious she won't have to feel any emotions. As is often the case, the unstated reason is the strongest. However, in this case, it's quickly made irrelevant, as Crichton realizes the broken helmet is his, and the intact one won't fit him. That big skull really has never done anything for him. After a long moment of consideration, Aeryn asks what exactly she has to do and how much time she has. Crichton thinks his brain can last four minutes without oxygen, or five or six depending on body temperature. Aeryn suggests that sticking with an actual number might be a good idea in this particular case. Crichton is getting emotional, which he displays by handing Aeryn the torch. As you do.
Moya. Kcrackic appears to be winning, and the henchZenetan earns his SAG card in the most sycophantic way possible, but when he's gone, Rygel makes a "very unusual move," according to Kcrackic, so we're to think that "three squares ahead" job is Staanz's signature move. Rygel gives nothing away, even in the face of Kcrackic squintingly sizing him up. And that's always an amusing expression to pair with Rygel.
Pod. Crichton is all nervous about the nerve shot, and Aeryn tells him they can't be sure it's going to work until he's dead. On the plus side, you probably don't have to spend a lot on her for Valentine's Day. She "encouragingly" tells him that Sebacean and human physiology seems similar enough, because warm- and cold-blooded creatures often have a lot in common biologically. This doesn't reassure Crichton, who decides to teach her CPR. She lies down, but we cut out before he fluffs up a pillow or two for her.
Shiphole. Staanz tells D'Argo he can dissolve a small part of the Flax if they haven't changed the code, which makes a lot of sense, and then instructs him to whack the engine very hard on his signal. We then get far too much of Staanz, um, massaging another mechanical gizmo, and then they're suddenly clear of the Flax. This apparently is the signal for a lot of belly-baring and an attempted embrace with D'Argo that goes over about as well as The Book Of Daniel did with the Christian right. (Somehow, I'm surprised Farscape escaped their wrath. Interspecies romances don't seem like they'd be too, um, kosher.)
Off Staanz's assertion that "it doesn't get better than this," we cut to Aeryn massaging Crichton's chest. Heh. She counts off in an "I get this silly technique already" voice, but I think it just shows her military discipline that she's able to refrain from going through it one more time just for hot measure. Crichton is erring on the side of caution in giving Aeryn four minutes (180 microts, for those of you keeping a conversion index) and is also getting nervous and vulnerable as Aeryn prepares the kill shot, so he talks about the human belief in the afterlife, and asks if Aeryn shares it. Aeryn: "Sebaceans believe when you die you die, you go nowhere, you see nothing." So that's a "no," then. Crichton tries to steel himself and fails, but Aeryn sincerely tells him, "I won't let you down, John." Man, the slightest bit of kindness on her part is enough to make my throat go a little tight. I'm glad we're not dating. Crichton is still resistant, saying it's going to hurt like crap, but Aeryn reassures him that that's not the case, and she injects him and suits herself up. They actually hold the suspense for about ten seconds until Crichton can't stand it any longer and starts to say that it wasn't so bad, which is of course the cue for the poison or whatever to kick in and cause him to flop around like an electrocuted walrus. Hee. Aeryn wastes no time in depressurizing the cabin.
On Moya, the henchZenetan returns to tell Kcrackic that their ship is ready to go. If I were him, seeing my boss spending hours playing a strategy game with a puppet would have been all I needed to mutinously go for a one-way joyride, but I never claimed to be normal. Anyway, it's Rygel's turn to bet, and he tries to get away with using Moya as his wager, which, amazingly, doesn't cause some eminently pungent secretion to come raining down on him. Zhaan, however, is upset, but Kcrackic reiterates that he's not touching a pregnant Leviathan with a ten-(convert "foot" to something appropriately silly) pole. Rygel instead wagers Staanz's whereabouts, causing Kcrackic to smile evilly.
Aeryn welds away, nervously hearing from the onboard computer that she has under sixty microts left. Those things never bear good news.
Staanz tells D'Argo about the air coming from the pod. He grins that maybe this means they don't have to rush. Hey, dude, just because D'Argo's going off to find some map fibers instead of saving his dying friends doesn't mean... hmm. It's not too late to change my mind on that thought, is it?
Aeryn's down to her last ten microts. She finishes up and starts to walk across the room, but gets smacked out of consciousness by another flying thing dropping from the ceiling. I guess Crichton diving on top of her wasn't as gratuitous as it seemed. The ensuing breast-rest still seems a little overplayed, though.
Back from the break, Aeryn's still unconscious, and no word on the number of microts she's over the limit. The bright side is that Crichton's brain cells don't seem to utilize oxygen to the fullest at the best of times.
On Moya, Rygel makes a move that causes a holographic tower to appear over the board. He's all gloaty until Kcrackic makes a move that produces an entire city. At least getting one-upped can't be an uncommon experience for Rygel, given that he's two feet tall. Under the threat of death, Rygel gives up that Staanz is now with one of his shipmates, and they can locate him by following that shipmate's comm signal, the frequency of which is in the ship's database. If Kcrackic is wary of accessing a pregnant Leviathan's database, he doesn't say so, but maybe the henchZenetan does more around here than we realize.
On the pod, Aeryn finally comes to, and horrifiedly realizes that the vial containing the nerve shot has shattered. She wastes little time in hauling Crichton to the floor and performing CPR, causing a large part of the audience to curse the fact that fifteen pumps of his chest are necessary before it makes sense for her to put his lips on his.
The Shiphole finally reaches the Luxan wreck as D'Argo breathes that Aeryn and Crichton have a second reserve tank of oxygen, and as such could still be alive. Well, at least time you see some air coming from their direction, you'll know for sure that they're toast. Dick. As they get closer, Staanz compliments their timing, as the ship is in line for the melt, and I'd wonder who has the lovely job of keeping track of the order in this crapyard out in the middle of nowhere if I weren't kind of sick of this episode already. Up close, D'Argo identifies the ship as a "Luxan Assault Piercer," and says he dreamt of serving on one as a boy. Presumably one that was in considerably fewer pieces than the one before us. D'Argo seems to have a moment of indecision, seemingly brought on by thoughts of Aeryn and Crichton, but Staanz points out that this is D'Argo's chance to reunite with his real family, causing D'Argo to say, "My son," in a plaintive rumble. (If you want that name for your band, it's yours.)
Aeryn is yelling at Crichton to come to. Hee. I'm sure I'd be doing the same, although I might be too lazy to be performing the CPR. Her stern exhortations work, though, as Crichton comes to, none the worse for wear aside from the incredible pain he endured from the kill shot, or at least that's his story. Aeryn's thrilled to bits until she has to tell him that she didn't finish the welding job, as his time was running out, so they only have half an arn of breathable atmosphere left. If I hadn't seen this plotline on every single science fiction episode I've ever watched (including Star Trek: Voyager, and I'm only admitting that because I love you) I'd be a lot more worried. I do quite enjoy these two, though, so I can't pretend it doesn't have some emotional resonance.
Kcrackic's ship flies away from Moya. On the Leviathan, Zhaan bitches Rygel out for giving up their secret, but it turns out Rygel pulled a double-cross -- he asked Pilot to change the comm frequency the minute Kcrackic stepped on board. I'd think that was a little unlikely given how stoned Rygel seemed, but then again, anyone who had as many servants as Rygel probably got bored enough to build up quite a tolerance to just about any sort of recreational drug. Pilot chimes in that he doesn't know where Kcrackic is headed, but it's far away. Zhaan cottons on that Rygel threw the game, and Rygel says it wasn't easy, as Kcrackic is an abominable player. At Zhaan's reaction, he notes, "Bluffing is what the game's all about." With this development, I'm just surprised "Rygel" or variants thereof aren't more popular as handles in online poker games. Not that I'd know.
In the pod of Tick Tick Tick, Crichton suggests that they could still be rescued, while Aeryn thinks their shipmates could have tried, failed, and given up already. Neither of them suggests that their plight is in second position to D'Argo's wacky adventures with a questionably gendered alien, which just goes to show you how early in the series we still are. Aeryn shiveringly notes that it's really cold, and that's a nice touch, since we know she's cold-blooded and all. (That comment was physiological, not editorial.) Crichton makes another "Southernism," and Aeryn looks like she's going to ask and then is all, "I don't want this to be the last conversation I ever have."
Staanz babbles about how great it will be for D'Argo to get aboard the Luxan ship, but D'Argo's got a contemplative look on his face, so you get the idea that he might be having a crisis of conscience. The fact that there are only seven minutes left in the episode adds an element of likelihood to that notion. Staanz says D'Argo must be looking forward to seeing his son, but D'Argo rumbles, "Yes. But when I do, I want to be able to look him in the eye." Even if you do save Aeryn and Crichton at this point, I'm not sure you're covering yourself in glory here, not that the swelling Music of Moral Dilemma Resolved agrees with me at all.
As death approaches, Crichton and Aeryn reveal their cores, as the impossibly brave Crichton says Aeryn should have finished the repairs and left him to die, while the tragically human Aeryn says she chose not to do that because she'd be sitting there alone. Although I think most of this episode was pretty pointless, this scene is totally gut-wrenching, so all the usual props to these two. Aeryn is approaching "emotional wreck" at Hetch... whatever number is "really fast." She asks Crichton what he saw when he was technically dead, and he admits that all he saw was a void. He speculates that maybe he wasn't supposed to die in that moment, but Aeryn suggests that his real time is close at hand. They look at each other for a long moment, and the tension is thicker than Crichton's skull. Finally, Aeryn seizes the day and kisses Crichton, and soon they're on the ground starting to get out of their suits, until just as Aeryn is pulling part of her face gear over her head, they hear the noise of someone docking. So in one scene, we've got two people who have never been so happy to be walked in on, and at the same time, the same people never having been so pissed to have their lives saved. That's good stuff. The hatch opens and D'Argo enters, and after too little (read: none) explanation of how he and Staanz defeated the Flax and too much use of the Pan Flute of Wackiness in F, D'Argo suggests they leave...
... and when they walk into Staanz's ship, they see him chained to his chair. He suggests he and D'Argo be mates, in the non-Australian sense, as he's actually the female of "her" species. As I suggested before, whaaaaatever, except it's hilarious that this is happening in front of Aeryn and Crichton. Crichton makes a giggle-worthy comment about two hearts colliding, and D'Argo tries to eggshell-walk his way out of there as Staanz tells him "she" loves him. Hee.
We're safely back on Moya, as DRDs roam free and D'Argo contemplates just how confused he is at the moment. Zhaan appears, notes D'Argo's expression, and asks him what happened out there. If he sums it up in fewer than eleven pages, I'm gonna be hella pissed. D'Argo self-flagellates for his indecision, and Zhaan, for once, can't come up with a bit of Delvian bubble-gum wisdom, so D'Argo stalks off. I'm really not sure why they couldn't have saved Aeryn and Crichton and then gone to check out the Luxan ship. You might point out that that would only make a fifteen-minute episode, and I might counter that that would hardly be a problem from where I'm sitting.
Elsewhere, Aeryn finds Crichton, and they're all about saying their judgment was impaired by the pure oxygen and imminent demise, as if not wanting to hook up with either of these two isn't the most deviant behavior of any corner of the galaxy. After an exchange that the translator microbes would loosely define as "Un! Comfortable!," Crichton jokingly asks if Aeryn is the female of her species. She gives him a look that scorches his eyebrows, which he takes as a yes, and then leaves, pleased with himself. He should be more pleased with the fact that a Sebacean throwing star (if there isn't such a thing, there should be) doesn't lodge itself in the back of his head. When he's gone, Aeryn smiles to herself. My closing thought is that she must have pulled a few muscles in her face holding that in for so long.