We open with a shot of a very cool chess board that Crichton seems to have put together in his spare time. Who knew he was so talented? Actually, now I'm wondering if Zhaan built it for him. He's also tossing a sparkly ball back and forth between his hands as he stares at the board and mutters, "What are you up to?" Aeryn enters and asks what he's doing. Without looking back at her, he duhs that he's playing a game. She says it doesn't look very challenging, which is an odd remark to make when you don't know the game at all. I guess I could believe that she's judging it strictly as a physical test. Except, no, I can't, because a space-faring race like the Peacekeepers must value strategic thinking. I'm overthinking this, right? Sorry. Crichton says, "Depends on how you play," and leans over the board intently. He moves a white knight forward to take a black pawn. Aeryn says he was mumbling again. Crichton says he was thinking. Aeryn asks, "About what?"
Flash of Crichton in the Aurora Chair. Scorpius whispers, "Something to remember me by," and pokes a baton into Crichton's head. Crichton screams.
"Nothin'," Crichton lies. He hops up and starts across the room. With a sigh, Aeryn says, "You've told me yourself that your species isn't accustomed to being in space for long periods of time. Now, I have seen cases of transit madness before, and if you're cracking up --" He finally turns to face her and confidently lies that he's fine. "I don't want to talk about it," he insists, which is probably the first true thing he's said in this conversation. Exit Crichton, while Aeryn grunts, "The human doesn't want to talk." Deep down, I think that she likes that, though. Not consciously, but knowing that he's hiding damage of his own makes it easier for her.
Rygel is hovering through the cargo hold as, over the comms, Zhaan explains that D'Argo and Chiana aren't back yet. Rygel snits, "They ran out of places to defile up here, so they had to do it in a transport pod." As she strolls down the corridor with some bags of produce, Zhaan expositions that the local goods often contain parasites, so D'Argo and Chiana are looking for a local solution. Instead of, y'know, just shopping somewhere else. Hush, this is the premise we're stuck with. Rygel is disgusted, and frets about the "mud-grubbing farmers" they've been trading with. There's a twittery noise, and some of the cargo containers near Rygel are knocked over by...something. Plot point!
The transport pod returns to Moya. Cut to Chiana wheeling a barrel-shaped thing, draped in a metallic sheet, into the maintenance bay as she announces that their parasite problem is solved. Aeryn says, "Rygel's decided to leave us, then, has he?" Hey, Aeryn made a joke! Alert the media! And it's a funnier joke than even she knows, given the later revelations. Aeryn points out that they're not even sure they have an infestation. Chiana says, "That's what this little guy will tell us," and unveils her cargo. Cross E.T. with Yoda, and you're getting warm. Add a hint of the baby from It's Alive and you've got it. Ugh. The ugly critter stands and peers out of its cage. Chiana identifies it as a Vorc. And that's why for three days I had the Swedish Chef in my head singing. "Vorc Vorc Vorc!" By day two, I'd have traded that for Scorpius. D'Argo says, "We had some problems with our translator microbes and the local merchants" -- and that by itself should start a general panic -- "but from what we can gather, this little fellow hones in on one specific parasite, and eradicates it." Chiana is holding the Vorc now, and it reaches one puppety hand out as she repeats a story about a parasite that killed 200 people aboard one ship, leaving behind nothing but cocoons. And people still trade with this place? I guess whatever they have to offer is really, really tasty. Maybe it's the Uncharted Territory's version of fugu. Aeryn very reasonably says that if the danger is that great, they should dump the food they picked up. Chiana says, "When you see what this little fella can do --" and is interrupted when the Vorc squeals and releases a stream of piss upon D'Argo. D'Argo takes a second to realize what's happening, and then moans in disgust. Chiana drops the Vorc, who squeaks and skitters off behind some equipment. Aeryn dryly notes, "Yeah, that's impressive."
The camera swoops into the corridor, where the sparkly ball Crichton was playing with rolls across the floor. Crichton strolls in after it, carrying a very long pole with a funky thing on the end. I can't tell if it's a weapon or a tool or what. Crichton reenacts Caddyshack, saying, "He's a Cinderella boy." The ball is, improbably, spinning in place as Crichton approaches and does some color commentary about how "this is a big chance for the kid from the Uncharted Territories." He prepares to putt the ball and hears a snarl from behind a grating. Crichton asks, "Sparky?" Another growl, and he ducks down to peer through the grating as he calls Rygel. Nothing happens for a second, and then that samurai robot thing from Brazil leans into the camera and bellows angrily. Crichton jumps back and fires through the grating a few times. The grate is knocked in, and Crichton peers down the empty space.
Credits. Shameless plug: The second issue of Casanova should be out around the time you see this. Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba. Image Comics. It's very shiny.
Crichton, Aeryn, and D'Argo are bickering by the grating of mystery. Crichton insists that whatever he saw was eating their food. D'Argo and Aeryn are, not unreasonably, wondering if it was just Rygel. Crichton says it wasn't, and D'Argo eventually concedes that it could be one of the rumored parasites. Aeryn points out that there's no way out of the compartment. There isn't? Why is there a grating leading into a sealed compartment? I guess it's like a linen closet. Rygel hovers up and orders them all to get away from his food. Ah. D'Argo grabs Rygel and growls, "That food is for all of us!" Rygel gags and asks why D'Argo's all stinky. D'Argo snaps, "It's Vorc urine, would you like a whiff?" and shoves Rygel's face into his chest. Rygel struggles while the others tell Crichton about the Vorc. Crichton wonders if maybe that's what he saw, and D'Argo finally releases a very unhappy Rygel while Aeryn describes the Vorc. She gestures and says, "It's about this size, naked, with a face like this --" and then she puts two crooked fingers over her forehead for its horns, and squishes her face up. Crichton says, "No, it was more like tandoori chicken." He asks Pilot if the DRDs can help search.
Zhaan unpacks her bags of groceries. We go to monster-cam, as something ducks behind the counter. Zhaan crosses the room to put something away, and monster-cam hurries over toward unguarded the bag of food. Zhaan returns, and finds the bag knocked over with food spilled out. I assume it's food. It actually looks like stuff that you'd find at Lush if they had a "tragic mistakes" bin. With a sigh, Zhaan begins shoving the lumps of discolored soap back into her bag. Monster-cam makes chewing noises. A canister suddenly falls over, and Zhaan peers around before going to investigate. She stoops to get the canister, and suddenly gasps as monster-cam rushes at her.
Chiana wheels the empty Vorc cage along as she hurries down the corridor, calling for Zhaan. She enters the galley and tells Zhaan that the Vorc doesn't like his cage. "Well, what does he like?" Zhaan asks. Monster-cam is finally revealed to be the Vorc, now cowering in a corner. Zhaan tries to call it, and asks Chiana what its name is. Chiana says, "Well, I couldn't just name him, Zhaan. He's a free spirit. You can appreciate that." The Vorc wiggles its ears rapidly and eyes a vent in the ceiling. Zhaan says that she thinks it's wrong to imprison living creatures, then mutters, "There are always exceptions." The Vorc skitters out of reach as Chiana and Zhaan try to corner it. This goes on for what feels like a very long time, not helped at all by the comedic tooting on the soundtrack. It's unfair that I only mention the soundtrack when it's awful. When I don't mention it, assume it's quite good, okay? The Vorc tries to make a break for it, dashing across the floor just as Aeryn enters. She promptly grabs it by the neck and snaps, "This thing should be out hunting. You can play with it later." Chiana asks if it looked like she was playing. Aeryn thinks so, and lectures Chiana that the Vorc has to earn its keep. Then she suddenly doubles over, drops the Vorc, and examines her belly before growling, "Frelling bit me! That little..." She glares at the Vorc, which zips away as fast as it can. Wise move.
Crichton is idly playing with his ball (hush, now) while making useless suggestions to Pilot. Pilot assures him that the DRDs are searching for the parasite, but adds that he's skeptical about finding anything. Crichton asks why, and Pilot explains, "Officer Sun mentioned that you'd been distracted lately. She believes it's possible that you broke into Rygel's food cache and fired at an imaginary enemy while playing some sort of game." Crichton grumbles, and Pilot calmly notes that he's never known Aeryn to exaggerate. It's kind of rude of Pilot to openly tell Crichton that he trusts Aeryn more. He's usually more diplomatic than this. There's a metallic clang, and the camera swoops around to show Scorpius hurrying out of frame. Crichton drops the ball and unholsters his gun.
Crichton enters the cargo bay and silently creeps among the storage containers. There's a faint rattling from behind some crates. Crichton tenses himself, and swings around the crates, leveling his blaster at...Rygel. "Yotz!" gasps Rygel. Crichton asks what Rygel's doing, and Rygel huffs, "It's a cargo bay. I was checking my cargo. I was told we had parasites on board. Now, would you care to explain why you were trying to kill me?" Crichton nervously explains that he thought Rygel was the parasite, and exits. Heh. This is one of those episodes that's probably better the second time around. The first time, it drags a bit through the first half, but on re-watch it's more fun because you can look for hints. Makes it hard to grade, though. Especially because the Vorc is so unconvincing. I understand why they can't put as much effort into a puppet that they're only going to use for one episode, but yeesh.
Chiana roams the corridor, calling, "Yoo-hoo, little Vorc thingy?" D'Argo appears from a neighboring corridor and explains that, if there is a parasite, they need to know what it looks like, and that's why they need to follow the Vorc. Why do they need to know what it looks like? Just to reassure Crichton that it's the same thing he saw? For that matter, why can't Pilot locate it? It's almost like Pilot's abilities ebb and flow according to the needs of the plot. Wacky. Anyway, while Chiana and D'Argo chat, we go to monster-cam for a second and hear snarls as something stares at them from further down the corridor. Chiana tells D'Argo, "Fine, you follow the Vorc!" and stomps off. D'Argo mimics her, sneering, "You follow the Vorc," and walks away in the opposite direction. Great, now I'm imagining the Vorc as Toucan Sam. There's certainly no shortage of fruit loops when Crichton's around.
Aeryn examines the two small punctures below her belly button from the Vorc's bite. Still looking down at her torso, she walks into her own cell and then there's a squishy sound. She lifts her boot and groans at the sight of some, well, Vorc shit. Wacky toots on the soundtrack as she looks up to see the Vorc sitting on her bed. It lifts a finger toward its face and wiggles its ears at her. Aeryn moves toward it, ordering, "Get. Off. My bed." The Vorc coos at her. She reaches out and shoves her hand into its face like she's Cary Grant and it's Katharine Hepburn. As it tumbles, the Vorc says, "Waaah." She calls for Chiana, and the Vorc suddenly rears up like a bop bag. "Get off my bed!" Aeryn repeats. She shoves it again, and calls for D'Argo. She tells him, "That filthy little creature of yours is down in my quarters, and it's using them as a toilet." We cut to the sight of the Vorc rocking up and down against Aeryn's leg with an expression of, well, deep-seated need. "Among other things," Aeryn adds in a strained voice. D'Argo assures her that the Vorc has to become familiar with its environment. Very familiar, apparently. Aeryn threatens to toss the Vorc out an airlock. Suddenly the Vorc stops humping Aeryn's shin and sniffs the air eagerly. With another burst of ear-flapping, it hurries out, squealing. I wish it moved more naturally. I don't need to actually see its feet, but even actual Muppets tend to replicate that little sine wave of natural movement, whereas this thing zips around like it's riding a skateboard. Aeryn reports that the Vorc has picked up a scent. D'Argo breaks into a run, and tells her to follow it. Follow its nose -- it always knows!
Monster-cam of Chiana doing something with the Vorc cage. She turns upon hearing a noise, and asks, "Rygel?" Monster-cam continues to lurk.
D'Argo and Aeryn trail after the Vorc. D'Argo frets that the parasites are dangerous. Aeryn thinks the whole story about parasites was just a trick to get him to buy the Vorc. She says she's giving up the chase, but tells D'Argo that the Vorc was headed toward the maintenance bay.
Chiana interrupts over the comms. Rygel is with her, looking frightened. They cower behind some crates as she tells D'Argo, "I'm in the maintenance bay, and there's some kind of creature right in front of me." We see just a hint of something large moving toward Chiana.
D'Argo turns and runs for the maintenance bay, calling for Crichton and Aeryn to come help. Crichton dashes to the rescue. Aeryn reluctantly breaks into a jog. Heh. When you put it all together, they probably spent a whole day running up and down the corridor for this episode. At different speeds, with different expressions of urgency. I bet Anthony Simcoe was happy to escape most of that, since he's in platforms.
Maintenance bay. Rygel gasps, "Chiana, do something!" Chiana looks at Rygel and sniffs, "You do something!" We only get glimpses of the monster from behind, but it snarls, and Chiana and Rygel freak out. Chiana backs up against a workbench and tells the monster, "We're not gonna hurt you..." as she reaches behind her for something weapon-y. Rygel urges, "Now slug him!"
As he hurries toward the maintenance bay, Crichton tells Chiana not to panic.
Chiana says it's too late for that, and tries to brain the monster with the tool she's picked up. I don't mean Rygel. But the monster easily knocks her down before she can connect. Rygel starts to move toward her, and the monster swats her again, sliding across the floor into a pillar. We finally see it, sort of. It looks like...well. It looks like a midget Alien. It's hard to describe, but whatever you're imagining, make it shorter and redder and slightly lamer. I do understand the production difficulties here. It's still lame. D'Argo finally arrives, and has to shove some shelves out of the way because apparently someone thought it was a good idea to block the doorways. It does make him seem much more heroic, though. Rygel calls for D'Argo as the monster roars. It suddenly launches itself at D'Argo, and D'Argo makes a "Fuck!" face. Then it's clinging to him as he shouts. He knocks the monster away, and it turns and starts to run for the door. D'Argo fires his Qualta but misses, and the monster escapes. D'Argo, looking dazed, feels his neck and suddenly collapses as Rygel looks on helplessly. In retrospect, I do think that's a slight cheat.
By the time Crichton arrives, Rygel is poking a finger between D'Argo's lips. Mouth on the puppet! Ew. He mutters, "Oh, come on, Luxan, come on. You must not die." Crichton checks on Chiana, who's okay, and asks what the hell Rygel's doing. Rygel says, "He wasn't breathing. And I'm fine too, thanks for asking." D'Argo distracts us all from that by dazedly gasping that the thing Crichton saw is real. Crichton says, "Yeah, I know." Heh. Then D'Argo gasps and starts going into convulsions. Chiana and Crichton try to pin him down as Aeryn arrives and calls Zhaan to come help.
Later, D'Argo is unconscious on an exam table, and Zhaan is waving a fluorescent light over him. Being a plant makes her think that light fixes everything. She looks over at a nice 3D image of D'Argo's insides and tells Chiana that she's done everything she can, "but he appears to have some kind of secondary infection." Chiana frets, and Zhaan tells her to either shut up or shove off. Chiana finds a third option, and starts to nag Crichton about finding the monster.
Aeryn and Crichton are prowling around, searching for the monster. Crichton waves Aeryn into a cell. They notice crumbs scattered across the floor, and silently advance with their guns drawn. The camera follows chittery noises over to the Vorc. Cue the syntho-bops of comedy as it sits in a small nook, eating. Aeryn tells Chiana that they found the Vorc. Chiana sighs, "That thing's useless." Aeryn points out that it was heading for the maintenance bay when she was attacked. Crichton asks, "Isn't the Vorc supposed to kill the parasite, not just point it out?" Aeryn wonders how the wee Vorc could kill something powerful enough to knock D'Argo out. Crichton says, "We could use to flush the parasite out. It could be our bird dog." He reaches into the nook to grab the Vorc, but it jumps at him and whines angrily. Crichton nervously heads for the door, telling Aeryn that it's her job to bring the Vorc. As he exits, he hisses, "I hate critters!"
D'Argo has woken up, and Chiana leans over his blanketed form. She asks, "You want to tell me something?" and leans over as he whispers something in her ear. She chuckles, "D'Argo, you're in no condition for sex." D'Argo laughs that it might kill him, and then starts coughing. Zhaan is peering through a microscope when she suddenly jerks upright and looks horrified. She announces, "D'Argo's been poisoned. There's an alien toxin in his blood stream and it's killing him." Is that supposed to be a revelation? Something bit him, the bite itself wasn't serious but he's had a horrible reaction -- and it took this long to figure out that maybe the bite was poisonous? Man. They should consider hiring a real doctor. Chiana asks if Zhaan can make an antidote, and Zhaan hesitantly says that she'll try. Given how long it took her to come up with a diagnosis, I share her lack of confidence.
DRDs move through a dark passageway, searching for the monster. It sucks to be a DRD.
In command, Crichton watches the images the DRDs are transmitting through the clam shell. Zhaan tells Crichton that they'll have to capture the monster alive, so that she can get a venom sample to develop an antidote. Crichton wonders if the monster is camouflaging itself somehow. He asks Pilot, "Have you tried switching the DRDs to heat and acoustic mode?" As a DRD sprays a green disco laser down a corridor, Pilot says they've tried that with no success. Crichton asks to see cargo bay three, and Pilot obligingly punches up the image. Then there's a burst of static, and suddenly Scorpius appears in the clam shell. Scorpius says, "You'll never see it coming, John."
Huh. Zhaan appears to be blow-drying an unconscious D'Argo. Has he had a set and rinse yet? Zhaan's the last person you would go to for hair care, honestly. Ah well. D'Argo wakes to find himself standing in a recessed wall, which Zhaan explains are Moya's neural clusters. She says that Pilot has modified the energy fields into a sort of ICU. Zhaan goes on to explain, "The parasite's venom appears to be designed to paralyze the nerves and muscles of its prey. Your hearts and lungs have been affected." Rygel swoops into the chamber, and D'Argo snaps, "I'm not dead yet. But when I do die, Chiana's gonna get all of my possessions." Rygel stiffly asks, "Is it unthinkable that I might be here simply to offer the gift of my company to a shipmate in need?" "Yes," D'Argo retorts. Zhaan asks Rygel if he's afraid to be alone. Rygel snits, "I knew you'd be here. That didn't frighten me; why should blessed solitude?"
Aeryn carries the Vorc on her back as she walks down the corridor, asking it which way she should go. As the Vorc pokes its long, ooky fingers over her face, Aeryn tells Crichton, "So far, he's led me to the cockpit of your module, a pool of amnexus fluid, and a pile of food cube crumbs." The Vorc manages to stick one of its overly long fingers into her mouth, and she removes it with a disgusted expression. I think the puppeteers were enjoying themselves a lot on this episode. From his own corridor, Crichton says that D'Argo's in bad shape. Aeryn assures him that she'll find the monster and shoot it, and Crichton shouts, "No shooting! That's what the sleep gas is for!" Aeryn says she knows that, she was just cueing some exposition from Crichton. Then she's distracted as the Vorc starts shrieking and struggling against her. She finally eases it down onto the floor and instructs it not to go too far. The Vorc twitches everything it can twitch, and races away shrieking.
D'Argo is hit with another blast of air, and the ship seems to be jolted a bit. Pilot announces that the DRDs have found the monster. Aeryn and Crichton start running, even though they don't know where they're headed yet. I guess they're figuring they might as well build up some momentum. Pilot continues, "It's in the airlock above you, Zhaan." He reassuringly adds that he's trying to seal off the tier to catch it.
The camera swishes past Chiana, who's standing around in a corridor for some reason. Zhaan calls for Pilot. Rygel calls for Crichton. And then adds, "Anybody?" Heh. The camera swishes past some DRDs. Pilot says, "It's moved out of the air shaft. Tier Four."
A DRD moves into a dark passageway. We get DRD-POV as it looks around. And then the monster lunges out, and the image turns to static. Why would it do that? Given what we see later, it seems unlikely that the DRD could hurt it.
Pilot reports that he's lost contact with one of the DRDs. Chiana runs down the corridor and then stops suddenly. Crichton runs down another corridor. The monster hobbles into a third corridor. We can see more of its body now. It's kind of a walking pot roast.
Chiana runs back the way she came, and straight into the monster. She screams and opens fire. Crichton runs toward the sound of her screams, shouting, "Nooooo!" The monster scrambles away as Chiana keeps firing. Crichton finally arrives and tackles her so that they both fall to the floor. He snaps, "Damn it, Chiana! I don't trust Aeryn to wing that thing, and she's a good shot!" He says they have to corner it somewhere so they can use the gas grenade. Chiana yells that it was a warning shot, and asks, "What did you expect me to use? Harsh language?" She keeps arguing as Crichton tells Pilot that they lost the monster. Then he turns back to her and wheedles, "Go back to D'Argo, and give him a reason to live." Chiana protests, "And do what? What? Sit by him and watch him die? This is the only way I know how to help him." Crichton stares at her, and before he can work out whether sarcasm or sincerity will work better, Pilot interrupts. The monster is now on tier three and moving fast. Pilot's powers really do come and go for no reason, don't they? Crichton and Chiana start running again. As Aeryn joins them, she declares that the monster is heading for Command. Crichton tells Pilot to seal the exits. Doors swing shut, and Pilot says that the monster is trapped.
Aeryn, Chiana, and Crichton arrive at command. They're each holding a blaster and a grenade ready as Crichton tells Pilot, "Open sesame." The door swings open and they enter. No monster. They cautiously search, looking in all the nooks and crannies of command. Crichton steps into a small alcove and hears a "Hmm." He turns, looking resigned, and sees Scorpius smirking at him. "Not now," Crichton whispers. Aeryn asks Crichton what's the matter. Crichton returns to the main room and quickly says he's fine. They continue poking around, and then Crichton spots something and calls Chiana over. The Vorc is lurking in another alcove. Aeryn figures it followed the monster into command. "So, where is it?" Crichton asks. The Vorc shakes its head and moans. Aeryn tells it to show them the parasite. The Vorc shakes its head like it's in Jacob's Ladder and squeals. Then it opens its mouth wider and wider until its mouth folds backwards and the monster leaps out of the Vorc's skin and across the room. Whoopsie.
After taking a moment to recover, Crichton orders, "Grenades!" They pull the pins on the grenades and roll them toward the monster, then back away as hazy clouds fill the room. The monster bellows and collapses. Crichton asks if the Vorc is the parasite they've been hunting. Aeryn grunts, "The only thing I know for certain, is that [Chiana] brought it on board." Chiana snaps, "How was I supposed to know?" Crichton reminds them that their first priority is getting a venom sample to Zhaan.
Apothecary. Zhaan reports that she can't find any toxins in the samples she's taken from the monster. She says, "I checked down to its hair follicles. I tried every technique I know." Rygel says, "I'm sure that didn't take long." Crichton tells him to shut up, but Rygel is really starting to seem like the smartest guy on Moya. Even if it's not really Rygel. Zhaan wonders if the monster is only poisonous in its Jekyll form, but Aeryn remembers that the Vorc bit her without any side effects. Plus, it was in its Hyde form when it attacked D'Argo. Crichton asks how long it'll take to go back to the planet they got the Vorc from. Is he hoping to trade it in for a store credit? Pilot answers: 32 hours. Zhaan says that D'Argo won't last that long.
Chiana is holding D'Argo up in the neural clusters as she fills him in on the latest developments. Well, the latest ones that she knows about: the Vorc is the monster, and Zhaan's analyzing it. "You're gonna be fine," she insists. He tells her not to lie to him. After a moment, Chiana moans, "I brought the frelling thing on board. This is all my fault, D'Argo." D'Argo reminds her that they both brought the Vorc onto Moya.
Crichton and Aeryn pedeconference as he sums up the story so far. Basically, he realizes that since the Vorc isn't poisonous, its bite didn't poison D'Argo, which means that something else did. He figures that the Vorc is legit, it just uses two forms to hunt. Aeryn chimes in, "A smaller, faster form for tracking; a larger, more powerful form for attack." They enter the cargo bay as Aeryn asks why it attacked Chiana and D'Argo. Crichton figures they scared it, adding, "D'Argo has that affect on everything." We pan down to see the Hyde-Vorc trapped in a container. Aeryn points out that they still don't know what kind of parasite they're looking for. "Is it an insect, a microorganism, another creature like [the Vorc]?" Crichton suggests asking the Vorc, and Aeryn snits that it can't talk. Crichton insists that he's onto something: "Why don't we see if we can get the incredible Vorc here to understand us?" Aeryn looks dubious.
Jekyll-Vorc looks up at Aeryn and Crichton from inside the container. Crichton tells Pilot to "shoot him up." In the interim, they put a DRD in the cage somehow, and it injects the unhappy Jekyll-Vorc with translator microbes. Crichton taps on the container and over-ennunciates, "We just want to talk to you." Aeryn sighs that this is a waste of time, and suggests letting Zhaan dissect the Vorc to see if she missed something. Crichton repeats, "Dissect it?" and Aeryn says, "Yeah, I say we kill it." The Vorc begins angrily hopping around as it squeals, and Crichton observes, "It understands what you're saying. Take it back." Aeryn looks wearily at Crichton, and then stiffly assures the Vorc that she doesn't want to kill it. Crichton moans, "That was terrible!" He points to the Vorc, still squealing, and says, "Lassie here is trying to communicate with us!" Pilot interrupts, "I believe it's asking why." Pilot explains that he is used to "non-verbal communication," and that the Vorc doesn't have a real language but it can express simple concepts. He translates for the Vorc: "Why pain me?" Aeryn asks why it attacked D'Argo. The Vorc shrieks, and Pilot translates, "Attack -- defend." Crichton figures that D'Argo attacked the Vorc. Pilot says that the Vorc is repeating, "Friend." Crichton asks the Vorc what it wants. Via Pilot, it answers, "Bad danger here." Crichton asks if there's a parasite on Moya, and the Vorc starts hopping up and down. Aeryn adds, "Are you the parasite?" and as the Vorc squeaks at her, Crichton snaps, "The answer to that is no. Who's gonna say yes to that?" "Clarifying!" Aeryn retorts. Crichton asks the Vorc if it can help them find the parasite. Pilot says, "Hunt the bad. Kill the bad. Free. Pain! No kill I!" Whoa, sorry. I confused Pilot with Mr. Spock for second. Aeryn asks if the Vorc wants to go after the parasite. The Vorc hops around eagerly. "That's a yes," Crichton observes. He asks Aeryn if she trusts the Vorc. She's not sure, but agrees that they're out of options. Crichton shows the Vorc his blaster and tells it, "You make one wrong move, I will shoot you. You understand 'shoot'? Ka-tow, ka-tow, ka-tow. Little bolts of light. 'Ouuuuch.'" He's a gifted storyteller.
Cut to the Vorc, ambling down a corridor, sniffing the air and fluttering its ears. Crichton and Aeryn trail behind it. Crichton asks Pilot to turn down the "atmospheric scrubbers" so that the Vorc can catch a scent. Rygel bitches via the comms, "Crichton, have you taken leave of your senses? I don't expect much from Aeryn, but you --" Crichton tells Rygel, "Lock yourself in your room and do whatever the hell it is you do in there by yourself." The Vorc suddenly stops, and then pukes up its Mr. Hyde self, which disappears through a grating. Crichton peers down the vent and shouts, "We had a deal! You were supposed to lead us to it!"
Rygel ignores Crichton's suggestion and instead zips down a corridor, ordering Pilot to prepare a transport for him. Pilot says he's a little busy right now. Rygel stops as there's a roar from somewhere in front of him. He whimpers, "Help? Anybody? Help?" and starts scooting backward. Pilot calls, "Rygel? Are you there?"
Aeryn and Crichton race down the corridor again, and Aeryn tells Rygel that the Vorc is after the parasite, not him. Rygel says it's getting closer. As they all reach the cargo bay, Rygel gasps, "Crichton, you said I'd be safe!" Across the room, Aeryn and Crichton slowly move through the piles of containers as Crichton calmly tells the Vorc that Rygel is a friend. Rygel urges them to kill it as the Vorc lumbers closer to him. Crichton says, "It's just looking for a gopher, man." The Vorc continues growling from the shadows as Aeryn and Crichton inch nearer. And then the Vorc jumps out at Rygel, who gasps in terror. Suddenly Rygel gets pissed, and his brows come down angrily, and yet somehow he's even cuter. Aeryn and Crichton race over as Rygel jumps off his sled and lunges at the Vorc. Aeryn and Crichton scream, "No, get off him, no!" and it's not clear which puppet they're talking to, but it doesn't really matter. They start shooting, and the Vorc shakes Rygel off. He collapses to the floor as Aeryn and Crichton continue shooting at the escaping Vorc. Then they go to Rygel, who shakily looks up at them and wheezes, "Help meeeee..." Is there a Gepetto in the house?
It's Rygel's turn for the exam table and fluorescent light treatment. This is really where things fall apart for me; the scan Zhaan does should detect many, many things wrong here. Ah well. Rygel whimpers that he's cold, and Crichton explains that he's going into shock. Crichton's bedside manner needs work. Rygel tells Crichton that this is his fault, and I think Ben Browder was unable to contain his amusement at the dying puppet. It doesn't seem quite in character for Crichton to look as amused as he does here. Zhaan and Crichton step away from Rygel's bed, and she reports that Rygel's injuries show the same toxin that she found in D'Argo. Crichton points out that the Vorc isn't poisonous, and Zhaan figures she was wrong. That part's plausible. While they chat, Chiana is staring sadly at D'Argo, who's back in a nearby bed. Crichton asks, "If I bring it in dead, is there any possibility that you can make an anti-venom?" Zhaan says maybe. Bets? Crichton goes over to D'Argo and asks how he's doing. D'Argo blearily looks at Crichton for a second and then gasps, "Find my son." Crichton insists, "We'll find him together."
Crichton and Aeryn are following traces of green goo on the floor. "Blood. I knew we hit it," Aeryn enthuses. Crichton calls dibs on killing the Vorc. "We'll see, "Aeryn says, and peers around a corner. As she does, Crichton sees Scorpius shadowing her movements. Scorpius turns and grins at Crichton. Crichton quickly draws and fires, blasting a bulkhead a foot away from Aeryn. She whirls and gasps, "What the frell was that for?" Crichton blinks and says, "It was nothing; just clearing my head." Aeryn glares at him, but then there's a growl and the Hyde-Vorc rushes past a doorway nearby.
Aeryn and Crichton chase the Hyde-Vorc. They come to an intersection and realize that there's no blood trail to follow. They each start to move down a different corridor, and then Crichton says, "No, no, we are not splitting up!" While they start to bicker, there's a grunt, and they turn to see the Hyde-Vorc running away. They open fire and start chasing it, but then Crichton says, "That thing just gave us the slip. Why would it come back for us, unless it was leading us --" "Into a trap, what else?" Aeryn finishes. Maybe it's just tired of listening to you argue. But after a second, Crichton says, "Right. As long as we both know." With that settled, they hurry after the Hyde-Vorc.
Cargo bay again. Aeryn and Crichton edge through the crates again. There are growls and rustles in the shadows again. Maybe they should invest in better lighting for the cargo bays. It might save time. The Vorc is lurking in a back corner, and Crichton and Aeryn manage to jump out and get several direct hits. The Vorc collapses. It flails at them feebly and growls a little. Aeryn says they've got to get it to Zhaan. Crichton asks, "What is that?" He nods at something nearby, and Aeryn turns to look at a large black cocoon that's fused to the side of a nearby crate.
Chiana has fallen asleep, draped across D'Argo. Given that he's having trouble breathing, I don't know if he really needs more weight on his chest, but I guess it's the thought that counts. Zhaan is examining a slide under the microscope. We pan over Rygel, who suddenly opens his eyes just as bugs pop out of his face, skitter around, and pop back into his face. That's about twelve of my nightmares combined, so thanks for that, Farscape.
Cargo bay. Aeryn remembers that the parasites were reported to build cocoons. Crichton says, "It led us here to see this." The Vorc flails about some more, and Crichton and Aeryn move out of the way as it reaches one limb up to the cocoon. It slices the cocoon open, and inside we see a very sad, damp Rygel. Aw! Crichton frowns, "Holy body snatchers! Start talking."
Apothecary. Rygel groans and starts to sit up behind Zhaan.
Cargo bay. Rygel gasps, "That frelling thing went through my mouth. Could barely frelling breathe!" He says it built the cocoon around him to keep him as a meal for its offspring. Crichton shoves his blaster against Rygel and asks, "How do I know you're Rygel?" Cue the squeaky flatulence. Rygel whimpers at a higher pitch. Crichton wordlessly looks at Aeryn, and they both start running. With his helium-altered voice, Rygel calls, "Where are you gooooing?"
Another race down the corridor. Aeryn tells Zhaan to get out of the apothecary. Crichton adds, "It's not Rygel, it's the parasite!" Zhaan turns just in time to see the fake Rygel launch itself at her, knocking her down. Chiana wakes up as Zhaan screams. The fake Rygel's face starts to sort of...bubble...as Crichton and Aeryn arrive. Crichton pulls Rygel off Zhaan and tosses him across the room, toward D'Argo and Chiana. Chiana says, "Rygel?" and then takes in the sight of Aeryn and Crichton aiming guns in her direction. She falls on top of D'Argo as they open fire. Rygel takes a couple of direct hits, and bits of his head seem to disintegrate. Then he suddenly collapses into nothing. Just like Obi-Wan did. Only shorter. And grosser, since a second later a kajillion little bugs skitter out from under Rygel's cloak. Er. I guess that's a spare. Okay. The bugs race toward Crichton, Aeryn, and Zhaan. Crichton tosses Aeryn his gun and moves to grab something. Aeryn starts shooting as Crichton pulls a hose out of the wall. I think it's a fire extinguisher. Let's just assume so, to simplify things. He starts spraying the floor while Aeryn keeps firing. After a minute, they stop, and the clouds of vapor slowly fade away to reveal that the floor is now carpeted with frozen, dead bugs. Aeryn crunches one under her boot in a satisfying way. From her perch on D'Argo's sickbed, Chiana asks, "What the frell is that?" Aeryn and Crichton look at her and chorus, "Sorry about the mess." They give each other a "Jinx!" look, and march away before Zhaan can demand they help sweep up the bugs. If I was Chiana, I would be staying on that bed for quite a while. Ew.
Some time later, Rygel is wrapped in a blanket as he explains that the parasite was in a crate he was "inspecting." He says, "It was actually feeding off my essence, my thoughts." The bugs certainly aren't discriminating diners. D'Argo says that he remembers the other Rygel standing over him after he was attacked by the Vorc. Chiana wonders why the parasite didn't imitate D'Argo. Zhaan says, "I suspect it tried, but D'Argo's reaction to the venom was so strong, it didn't have enough time to complete its task." Rygel asks how they possibly could have been taken in by the imitation, and D'Argo says it was a perfect copy of him. Rygel sniffs, "Perhaps to undiscerning observers like yourselves. Fortunately, that courageous Vorc was here to rescue me!" Well, that answers all of the questions. Except, of course, how Zhaan was able to come up with an antidote when all of the bugs were killed.
Cargo bay. Aeryn is sitting on the floor, holding the Jekyll-Vorc tenderly, with Crichton beside her. Pilot tells them that the Vorc is happy. Aeryn isn't happy, even though Crichton's supportively resting his hand on her shoulder. The Vorc whimpers a little. Pilot translates, "'End. End.' He knows his time is near." Aeryn looks at the Vorc and says, "I am so, so sorry." The Vorc reaches up and brushes Aeryn's chin with one long finger. Which should be sweet, but it just kinda looks like it's poking at her. It strokes her face gently, and then closes its eyes and dies. Which means Aeryn's covered with Vorc shit. Again. As Brock says, they never show that part on TV. Crichton leans his head down to Aeryn's shoulder, which is sweet. Unless he's just sniffing her leather vest to block out the smell of Vorc poo.
Later, Crichton is back at his chess game. He moves a white pawn to take what I think is a black bishop. Aeryn watches quietly. As Crichton moves around to examine the board from another angle, she says, "When we were hunting, you almost blew my head off. That was a bad shot, even for you." He nods agreeably, and finally asks, "What's your point?" She wants to know what he was shooting at. Black knight takes white pawn. Crichton moves back to the other side of the board as he says, "I've been having these...well, I wouldn't exactly call them hallucinations. I've been having these flashes of Scorpius." Aeryn nods and asks, "Like memories?" Crichton says no, it's like Scorpius is talking to him. He explains, "Have you ever been in a crowded room, and everybody's talking all at the same time, so you can't hear anybody? And suddenly someone says your name, and then, like crystal, you hear every word they say. No matter how far away they are, it's like they're talking only to you." Aeryn tries not to look worried as she talks to her crazy-ass boyfriend, and asks what Scorpius is saying. Crichton tells her, "He says he's gonna get me. He says he already has, I just don't know it yet." Aeryn asks why he didn't kill Scorpius. Crichton stares dreamily at the chessboard and says, "I tried," and his voice always gets me there. He says that something stopped him. Aeryn starts to say, "If you need help --" but Crichton cuts her off. "I'll ask. Just like you do." Oh, good. He meets her eyes and starts to chuckle as he assures her, "I'm not gonna lose my mind! It's all I've got left." Aeryn smiles and looks like she's about to start bawling for a second. She puts down the pawn she was idly toying with and exits. Crichton continues to stare at the chessboard. Scorpius whispers, "You'll never see it coming, John. When the trap closes, it'll be too late." "You think?" Crichton sneers, and moves a white knight, taking another pawn. "Checkmate. You lose," he says. The music gets all Lynchian and creepy as Scorpius reaches into the frame and sets the black king on its side. He sits at the table and smirks, "That wasn't the trap that I meant." We go a wide shot, showing Crichton alone at the chessboard.