We open to the sight of Zhaan fondling Stark's mask as she tells Pilot to follow the "nexus coordinates." Pilot says they've been doing that for three days now. Zhaan testily asks if she has to take control of the ship as Crichton tentatively says, "Zhaan, maybe --" Zhaan tells him to go away. She got another new coat! I think every commerce planet must have the equivalent of Burlington Coat Factory. Crichton starts to leave, but then we see Chiana and D'Argo by the door, making emphatic "Try again!" gestures. With a sigh, Crichton tells Zhaan that everyone wants to turn back. Zhaan says, "When Stark communicated with me, he insisted that we follow the nexus coordinates. If we do what he says, he will be there." Crichton argues that Aeryn's gone out on recon, and there's nothing there. D'Argo decides it's time to play bad cop, and snarls that they have to get to the slave auction. Zhaan points that without any money, they can't do anything at the auction anyway, so they might as well continue the wild Banik chase. Chiana suggests that maybe Zhaan didn't really get a message from Stark. You know things are getting strange when Chiana is the logical one. Zhaan shouts, "This mask talked to me! Unless you all think I'm imagining it." D'Argo quickly says, "I do." D'oh. Zhaan wants a quorum, apparently, and asks Crichton if he believes her. Crichton tries to duck the question, and is rescued when Stark's voice says, "Don't give up!" They look at the mask, which is magically filled in with a faint image of Stark's face. He declares, "Hurry, I'm dying!" Pilot chimes in to announce that Moya has detected a ship in front of them. They all hustle about, preparing to bring the ship aboard.
Cut to the hangar, as D'Argo and Crichton carry Stark out. Crichton says, "He's barely breathing," and suggests they get him to Zhaan quickly. Which is a good idea. A better idea would be having Zhaan there in the first place. Is it just me, or is it weird that she didn't go along to meet the ship? Stark suddenly starts gasping, and we see that his head is wrapped with strips of cloth, to hide his glowiness. Or else he's pretending to be a mummy. Stark wheezily announces, "D'Argo, I've done it! I've found it! I know how to save your son!" D'Argo is one flummoxed Luxan.
Credits. Random plug: Ziesing Books. I know the website's kind of clunky, but you can download their catalog, or get one sent to you. And they're nifty people who sell (and publish) very cool books.
In med bay, Stark's making a rapid recovery, judging by the rate at which he's babbling. I don't think he was dying at all; I think he's just a drama queen. He pulls out some papers and hands them to D'Argo, who gratefully says, "What is this dren?" Let's work on the people skills a little, D'Argo. Zhaan tries to calm Stark down, and Crichton asks how Stark survived dispersal. While Zhaan tenderly removes the cloth covering his face, Stark lectures, "This body is only a molecular creation, which enables me to live in your realm. It's merely a vessel for my true, incorporeal self." Crichton blinks and says, "You wanna run that by me one more time?" Stark basically says that he's got spooky magical powers that don't make sense if you think about them for a minute, and he used them to get the plans he just handed D'Argo. Moving on! Zhaan fastens Stark's mask around his head as Rygel arrives, late to the exposition. Stark explains that D'Argo's son will be sold in a lot of 10,000 slaves. He holds up a sheet and identifies it as the blueprints for a depository. Chiana excitedly asks, "Are we gonna rob a bank?" Stark, almost as excited, says that they are. Zhaan, ever the killjoy, says that she can't rob people. Chiana chuckles, "Sure you can." Aeryn watches, looking a bit bored, as Stark explains that it's a bank for criminals, so the money is pre-stolen. Rygel identifies this as a "Shadow Depository," which sounds much cooler than "bank." He tells Stark, "So, you are insane." He catches up quickly. Aeryn says that Shadow Depositories are heavily armed. Stark agrees, and then displays a handful of plastic cards and says, "With these I can control the internal depository door motion detectors." He says he's got blueprints of the entire place, and goes in for the kill by saying, "In one container is enough wealth to buy an entire shipment of slaves and still have enough left over to make all of us filthy rich forever." Crichton asks how Stark got the plans, and Stark waffles, "I...helped the deposit designer cross over to death. His last thoughts led me to these." Crichton gets in Stark's face and asks if he killed the guy. Stark says, "Not exactly." Aeryn asks if Stark knows exactly how well-armed the depository is. Stark confesses that he doesn't. D'Argo figures they should go take a look in person. Aeryn and Crichton think the whole thing is nuts. D'Argo harrumphs, "Chiana, it's just you, me and Stark." But Chiana hesitates, and D'Argo says, "You're against me, too." He turns back to Crichton and says, "When you asked me to do something, did I ever question if it was possible?" And then he calls them all cowards and storms out.
A transport leaves Moya. Aeryn and Crichton hurry down a corridor as Pilot reports that D'Argo won't respond to their signals. Aeryn declares, "We're taking the Prowler."
The Prowler flies through a cityscape that looks like an Ewok village as directed by Ridley Scott. They fly over the depository. Its base is shaped like a Star of Lakshmi. Which is funny, if that's intentional. Actually, it's funny even if it isn't intentional. And then there's the obligatory spooky, spiny tower. Crichton says, "That's big." Aeryn offers a mild correction: "It's very big."
Aeryn and Crichton enter the depository. Even in the Uncharted Territories, all bank lobbies look about the same. There are various oddly-dressed creatures milling about, arguing with tellers. Across the room, D'Argo walks past some pillars. Then we see a guy with a remarkably square chin snap, "Don't forget who I am!" The person he's talking to has a fairly unremarkable chin. She's made up for that deficiency by turning herself into a replica of one of Giger's "Li" paintings. Her name's actually Natira, though. She tells Square-Jaw, "I haven't. You're nobody here." Aeryn and Crichton watch as Natira pushes Square-Jaw against a wall seductively. Only instead of Square-Jaw, Crichton sees Scorpius. Crichton pulls Aeryn back behind a decorative room divider and hisses, "Scorpius!" Aeryn sighs that he's having visions again. Crichton takes another look and grunts, "Sorry about that." As they move on, Aeryn sighs, "And we're worried about D'Argo..."
They stroll through a gate, and suddenly an alarm sounds and lights flash. Aeryn and Crichton pull out their guns as several leather-clad guards order them to hand over their weapons. Seriously outnumbered, they do so, and a bald bank clerk named Akkor asks what they're doing here. Crichton declares that the security is very good. He tells Akkor, "This is a depository, right? We have something to deposit." Akkor asks why he should care. Considering its a bank for criminals, Akkor's awfully fussy. Crichton asks if they've ever heard of KFC. He explains, "It is, to my knowledge, unique in the universe, and unique is always valuable." In the background, D'Argo fiddles with a control panel as Crichton continues, "We have managed to procure all eleven secret ingredients." His spiel is interrupted when someone shouts that there's been a security breach. Akkor turns to see a door sliding open and D'Argo not-at-all-stealthily ducking through it. Guards rush over, and D'Argo manages to take out a couple before they knock him to the floor. The guards haul D'Argo to his feet, and D'Argo harrumphs, "I was told the security here was weak. I was right. The security here is frelled!" He swats another guard down and is then knocked unconscious. Natira, who has the fiercest boots ever, toddles over and murmurs, "Luxans can be inartful at love, inadequate at war, and intrinsically inept. But this one is intelligent." Hey, see what she did, with the "in-" words? That's enough to make me like her, even apart from the boots. A guard asks if they should execute him, but she coos, "He also expects to be interrogated. Don't you?" D'Argo stiffly tells her his name. I think he would have gone on to announce his rank and serial number, except he remembered that he doesn't have those things. Natira chuckles that they can't disappoint him. D'Argo is hauled up again, and the head guard sucker-punches him. Natira turns and watches as Crichton and Aeryn edge away.
Moya. Crichton shouts that this is Stark's fault, and then grabs Stark and almost punches him. Stark whimpers that D'Argo had to do what he did to rescue Jothee. Crichton shoves Stark toward Aeryn, who pushes him against a wall and asks what the plan is. They're playing pinball with Stark. Excellent. Stark stammers, "The plan to get D'Argo back, and to rob the depository." Crichton pins Stark's head to the floor as Stark tries again. He says, "Because D'Argo's breached their system, they'll scramble their codes. And while they're resetting their security codes I can link in, and they'll never even know. But I have to work quickly." He wrenches himself out from under Crichton and tells them to leave him alone, because he only has six hours before the codes are reset. Crichton isn't quite done, though. He shoves Stark again and screams, "How the hell are we supposed to get D'Argo back?" Stark insists that it's all part of his plan. Oh, good. Crichton hisses, "You manipulated us," and releases Stark. Stark calmly says that the plan will work. Bets?
Depository. D'Argo has been fastened to a big metal jungle gym in the back room. Natira strolls in and confers with Akkor. There's nothing really important about their conversation, so I feel free to wonder if Akkor normally has to supervise interrogations in addition to running the bank. That's a diverse skill set he's got. Anyway, they torture D'Argo for a while.
Moya. Rygel whines that he wants 10% of the goodies, not just 7%. Chiana twists his eyebrow and tells him he'll be happy with 7%. Oh, Dominar, you know you've lost status when even Chiana can intimidate you. We see that a DRD is encasing Rygel in some kind of metallic mold. That it can generate. With its eye-stalk-ray. Quite a handy feature. Chiana expositions, "Stark's gadget will switch our container for the valuable one." She drops something into the casing with Rygel, and plucks off his comm, explaining that a transmission would be detected. Rygel whimpers, "What if something goes wrong?" Zhaan, fiddling with a canister, smoothly assures him, "We have complete confidence in you, Rygel, especially where money is concerned." Rygel chuckles happily at that, and then Zhaan gives Chiana a pill to protect her from "the effects of the Melar gas." Zhaan pops a pill, and Rygel farts in his container. That's not the kind of gas she meant. Zhaan goes on fiddling as she explains that the gas will suspend Rygel's biological functions so that he won't be detected in a scan. She wishes Rygel luck, and then sprays the contents of the canister at his face. Rygel, with helium-voice, gripes, "Ten percent, do you hear me?" And then he slumps a little, unconscious. Zhaan frets that the gas should have knocked him out immediately, and says that she'll adjust the mist's potency while Chiana playfully adjusts Rygel in the container.
Command. Stark is flipping out, because he's Stark. He's popping various cards into the console and griping, "Wrong chip, bad chip!" Crichton confirms that Stark hasn't cracked the depository's security system yet, and points out that that they've only got one hour left. Stark says it's a matter of timing: "I must create my link at the precise moment they reset their lock." Suddenly a hologram appears, showing the depository and all the little elevators zipping up and down the tower. Stark triumphantly declares that he's in. Crichton's still nervous, because he only trusts his own insane schemes. Stark insists that he spent a lot of time thinking through his plan. Crichton mutters, "I spent too much time thinking through the Farscape project..." Stark suddenly shouts, "Your side, my side! My side, your side! Now, go." He tells Crichton to go to his quarters: "Do nothing, that's what D'Argo said you do best." Whoops. Crichton quickly pulls out his pistol and jams it against Stark's head. He says, "Ground rule: you don't lie to me. Did D'Argo say that?" Stark nervously admits that he was lying, and apologizes. Crichton asks if Stark has lied about anything else. Stark says he hasn't, and Crichton reholsters the gun. Crichton reminds Stark not to lie to him, and exits.
Depository. Zhaan enters the lobby. She's got another new outfit! This one might qualify as a costume, and an excellent one at that. She's in a sparkly black hooded catsuit. And she's wearing an eye patch! And a metallic belt that hangs low on her hips. Yay, Pirate Zhaan. Chiana is with her, wearing her cute coat. As they enter, Chiana scoffs that they can do better. Zhaan growls, "Better is what I say it is." Akkor approaches and asks if he can help, and Zhaan brusquely asks to speak with whoever is in charge. Akkor protests, and Zhaan says, "I know a functionary when one crawls in front of my face. Now, fetch me your master like a good little minion." I love Pirate Zhaan. Natira overhears the conversation and quickly introduces herself. Pirate Zhaan identifies herself as "Aralla," but she'll always be Pirate Zhaan to me. Pirate Zhaan sniffs that the depository has security problems, and says, "I had one of my operatives test your systems himself. He got halfway into your vault before you even noticed him." Natira confirms that D'Argo works for Pirate Zhaan. Pirate Zhaan confirms that D'Argo's still alive, and Chiana sniffs, "They couldn't even kill a Luxan." Pirate Zhaan says she'll take D'Argo, but Natira, to her credit, isn't quite that stupid, and sneers, "You'll take whatever I give you." Chiana makes a funny faux-intimidated noise that sounds like a pigeon cooing. As Chiana echoes her, Pirate Zhaan finally allows that she has a deposit to make. She tells Natira, "I need storage for one solar day."
Some time later, Pirate Zhaan's Rygel-shaped deposit is being scanned. Aeryn and Crichton watch as the guards report that it doesn't contain anything of note. Natira notices that it's Hynerian, and comments, "It's extremely ugly." Heh. Zhaan doesn't disagree, but she says that it's priceless, and then asks for "[her] Luxan." Natira gives her guards a little wave, and D'Argo is escorted out into the lobby. Crichton helpfully observes that D'Argo doesn't look so good. Thanks, Crichton. Chiana goes to reclaim D'Argo, and Natira tells Zhaan, "Your guards can watch you from the observation area."
Pirate Zhaan follows Natira into a neighboring vault room. Which has octagonal doors! I wonder if this is the long-lost thirteenth colony. In the middle of the room is a polyhedron. I think. I bet there's a more specific name for it, but it's been a long time since I took geometry, and really it's not important since for our purposes it's another control console. Natira and Zhaan put their hands on the console's sides, and Natira announces that the security code for Zhaan's deposit is now linked to her genetic profile. She lectures, "Only you will be able to gain access." Natira must be kind of short, because even in her fierce platform Giger-boots, she's significantly shorter than Zhaan, who appears to be wearing fairly normal pirate boots. A guard enters with the Rygel-deposit. Another door slides open as Natira announces that the container is on the way. Through the doorway we can see a huge space, with what are presumably other containers zipping up and down in the distance. And then one of the containers appears at the end of the space, and whooshes toward them rapidly. It slams into the room and stops inches away from where Natira is standing. Zhaan stumbles backward in surprise, and Natira smirks, "The first time can be a little intimidating." The massive door of the container swings open, and a guard prepares to load the Rygel-statue into the container.
Meanwhile, Akkor escorts Aeryn and Crichton into the observation room. There are a number of octagonal viewscreens on the wall. One shows Natira and Pirate Zhaan watching as the container is loaded. Crichton tells Aeryn, "Bonnie and Clyde! Oh, no, forget about that one. It's a bad ending." A guard enters, whispers in Akkor's ear, and then they both hurry out. Awkward. Aeryn peers out through the doorway while Crichton pointlessly urges Zhaan to hurry things up. Then he hears Harvey whispering, "You can't escape me," in his echoey way. Crichton grumbles, "Get out of my head!" From the doorway, Aeryn says, "Scorpius." He sighs, "Yes." Aeryn walks toward the viewscreen and says, "No. Scorpius." Crichton turns to see that one of the viewscreens shows Scorpius walking down a corridor with Braca and Scorpy's glow-stick supplier. "This is bad," Crichton notes.
Scorpius and company stroll along as Akkor nervously hurries up. Scorpius declares, "I've come for my property." Akkor asks for his patience, but Scorpius says he needs to see Natira immediately, and walks on.
In the observation room, Crichton frets that Scorpius is going to see Pirate Zhaan. Aeryn reminds us that they can't warn her via the comms.
In the corridor, Akkor blocks Scorpius's way and pleads, "Natira's policy on client's confidentiality is very strict. I could lose my position." Scorpius stops and smirks, "I understand." And then Braca clobbers Akkor, knocking him to the floor. Scorpius says, "Now it won't be your fault." But then Scorpius suddenly wobbles, clutching his head, and glow-stick girl helps him steady himself.
Crichton and Aeryn watch as Scorpius's temple unspools so that glow-stick girl can replace the, um, glow-stick. Crichton helpfully explains, "He's half Scarran, gotta hell of a heat problem. That must be how he stays cool." Scorpius pops his head back together and moves on.
Natira leads Pirate Zhaan back to the lobby as Scorpius continues on his way. As Natira pauses at a security panel, a guard hurries over and announces Scorpius's arrival. Natira gasps and quickly tells Zhaan that the guard will escort her the rest of the way. Crichton and Aeryn rush out to meet Zhaan.
With Pirate Zhaan out of sight, Natira turns to see Scorpius approaching her. They coo at each other and move to hug.
Pirate Zhaan leans against a wall and sags in relief. Then Crichton and Aeryn arrive, and she quickly barks, "Follow me," as they head for the door.
Depository backroom. Scorpius tells Natira that he wants his property. He takes a seat in a futuristic hammock-chair while Natira mopes, "Straight to business? Oh, Scorpius. For a half Scarran, you can sometimes be so cold." Heh. She purrs that they should catch up, and mentions the loss of his Gammak Base. Scorpius says, "And you thought I was dead." He guesses that she seized his property, and Natira offers to give him something of equal value. They quibble a little, but Scorpius insists on getting triple the value of his loss, and Natira finally agrees.
Moya. Crichton asks Stark, "What's black and white, and black and white, and black and white, and black and white?" while making a circular gesture with his finger. Stark guesses, "Scorpy!" Crichton says that Scorpius was at the Depository. And then we go to some kind of artsy tilted shot as Crichton shouts, "You knew!" Stark confesses that he knew Scorpius used the depository, but didn't expect him to turn up in person. It's Crichton's turn to flip out; he tosses the plastic cards all over Command and screams, "You wanna boost, boost, boost his stuff! You just wanted revenge!" Stark shouts that he wanted to free Jothee, and the Banik slaves. He says, "If it's Scorpius's wealth that frees them, well, that's an added bonus." As Aeryn joins the debate, Stark says that it's Crichton who wants revenge. Crichton calmly disagrees: "I want to kill him. That's justice." They table the discussion as Aeryn announces that D'Argo's recovering from his injuries, and asks Pilot if the Command Carrier has turned up. Pilot says no. Stark insists that their plan will still work. He offers them modified comms that won't be picked up within the depository, and a skeleton key-card. Crichton sighs that they're already committed to the plan. Oh, come on, it's only Rygel. Then he calls Zhaan and asks, "Can you concoct something for me that reacts with heat, and by react, I mean explode?" Zhaan says she'll whip up some Gelifan paste for him. Aeryn warns against turning this into a vendetta. Crichton grumps, "I didn't."
Depository backroom. Natira tells Scorpius that she's arranged to repay her debt, but he'll have to wait for a little while. Scorpius tells Braca and glow-stick-girl to return to his Marauder. The best thing about this scene is Braca, whose eyes go up and down Natira about fifty times in the course of this short conversation. Scorpius assures glow-stick girl that Natira can take care of him, and Natira simpers, "I know many ways to bleed off your excess heat." Oh, my.
Moya. Chiana is tending to D'Argo, who's groaning in his bed. Not like that! Crichton walks in to check on him and trade banter. Chiana says that D'Argo's in a lot of pain, but he'll recover. With that out of the way, it's time to bicker. Crichton snits that they're doing this because "someone had to take matters into their own hands." D'Argo quite rightly replies, "And you never do?" Chiana intervenes by pointedly offering to go get more rags in case D'Argo starts bleeding again. After she leaves, Crichton admits that he just wanted to see how D'Argo was. D'Argo replies, "We've already covered that. Is there anything else?" Crichton rolls his eyes and exits. Oh, just kiss already, you two.
I think it's usually around this time when I start saying, "Is this seriously still just the first episode? How can that be? So much has happened!" I guess what makes this story feel so dense is that...well, first the problem was "Find Stark." But they found him in the teaser. Then the premise was "Rescue Jothee," which, after a shouting match, became "Rescue D'Argo" with a side-order of "rob a bank." And now Scorpius has turned up, and we're only halfway through the episode. It's crazy!
Depository. In the container, we hear a muffled Rygel recite, " One: get out of statue. Two: use gadget to retrieve prize. Three: jump into containers full of riches!" The top of the Rygel-statue is pried off as Rygel grunts, "The problem is step one!" As we zoom in on him, Rygel starts to pull himself out of the mold while griping, "The blue bitch said this would be easy!"
In the lobby, Akkor's somewhat startled to hear that Pirate Zhaan has returned to withdraw her deposit already. Zhaan says, "I said this was a short-term deposit."
Rygel complains to himself as he climbs out of the vault container. He holds a little remote and sighs, "Let's see if this thing actually works."
Akkor escorts Aeryn and Crichton back to the observation room and then leaves. Crichton expositions that Rygel just has to switch containers, and starts pressing buttons on the viewscreen console. Aeryn asks what he's doing, and Crichton says, "Doing what guys do best -- I'm looking for Baywatch." The viewscreens cycle through various views of the depository. He finds one camera offering a view of the backroom and adds, "Better yet, the Discovery Channel."
Backroom. Natira is licking Scorpius's headgear. She asks if he's still angry at her, and Scorpius purrs, "Furious." Natira says that's fine: "It adds enthusiasm to our encounters." I like these crazy kids. Is that wrong? The two of them exit the room.
Back in the observation room, Crichton chants, "Leave the cooling rods, leave the cooling rods..." They do. He's got psychic powers! Crichton rushes for the door, dragging Aeryn out with him.
Pirate Zhaan touches the polyhedron, and a computer voice announces that her container is being retrieved.
Rygel desperately clings to the container as it zooms down a track. His robe is torn off by the wind, and he falls into the container in his short-johns. Aw!
The container slides to a stop. Pirate Zhaan and Chiana go toward it.
Aeryn and Crichton sneak into the backroom. Which has no security at all, apparently. Oh, well. Crichton spots the glow-stick case and quickly pops out Scorpius's spares. He hears Harvey whispering, "No, stop," but flicks his hands up distractedly and tries to go on with what he's doing.
Pirate Zhaan sees Rygel, who hasn't quite finished hiding himself in one of the storage crates. She distracts the guard while Chiana helps Rygel hide.
Aeryn watches nervously as Crichton argues with the voice in his head. She hushes him, and Crichton whispers, "He's in my ear. How about some Gelifan paste in his ear?" He starts to fill one of the glow-sticks with goo, and continues to hear Harvey ordering him to stop. Crichton struggles with himself, arms twitching, gasping, "I can do this!" Aeryn runs over and takes the glow-stick from him. Crichton watches as she coats the glow-stick with goo and returns it to the briefcase. They hear a door open, and Aeryn ends up diving on top of Crichton behind a chaise lounge. Yeah, the chaise seems like a weird decorating choice for Natira. But let's not stereotype. I mean, maybe in between crazy kinky sex acts with totalitarian mutant hybrids, Natira likes to curl up on the chaise with a good book. She could have layers! So anyway, glow-stick girl strolls in and retrieves her briefcase. And if you can pay attention to that while Aeryn and Crichton are on top of each other in the foreground, I salute you. Especially when Aeryn's putting her hand over Crichton's mouth. To keep him quiet, I'm sure. Not for any other reason. Glow-stick girl is apparently unable to sense the incredible sexual tension in the air, and just grabs her briefcase and exits.
In the corridor, glow-stick girl replaces another cooling rod. Weren't she and Braca meant to have gone back to the Marauder? Oh well. Scorpius closes up his head as Natira says that his payment is ready.
Chiana and a guard push Pirate Zhaan's cargo. Zhaan gripes that she's in a hurry.
Stark fiddles with the console on Moya while a recovered D'Argo watches.
In the vault room, Scorpius opens his container and finds the Rygel-shaped container. He's not happy. Natira gasps, "The Delvian woman! These are her possessions!" As she quickly initiates a security lockdown, Scorpius asks about the Delvian's companions. Natira says, "A Nebari, a Luxan and two Sebaceans." Scorpius roars, "Crichton!" He tells Braca to seal the exits.
Crichton and Aeryn start to run down a corridor as an alarm sounds. Door slide shut behind them as they race through.
Zhaan shouts, "Frell!" as she, Chiana, and the crates are locked in a section of corridor by the security doors.
Aeryn and Crichton find themselves in another locked section of corridor. Crichton says it's time to test Stark's key-card. He waves a device at the door. Nothing happens. Crichton says, "Time to try something else." The two of them run back the way they came, calling for Zhaan.
Zhaan quickly knocks out the guard, and calls Aeryn over the comms. In her own section of corridor, Aeryn figures that Scorpius is on to them, and tells Zhaan to stay put. Chiana sighs, "Do we have a choice?"
In the observation room, Scorpius tells Akkor, "I want him captured, not deafened," and shuts off the alarm siren. Hee. Natira insists that no one can escape, but Scorpius is in no mood.
On Moya, Stark's having another autism moment as he chants, "This wasn't supposed to happen." Via the comms, Crichton tells Stark to turn off the cameras.
Observation room. The viewscreens suddenly show nothing but static.
Stark asks for Crichton's location. Crichton can't answer because he's busy whining that the skeleton key-card isn't working. Then he begins arguing with Harvey again. Aeryn intercedes and tells Stark to take care of Zhaan and the others. She says, "We'll act as a diversion." D'Argo warns, "That is suicide." Aeryn harrumphs, "Almost as suicidal as strolling in and walking through a security door." Aeryn and Crichton hurry down another corridor.
Observation room. The cameras come back online, and show a flickery image of Aeryn and Crichton unlocking one of the security doors.
Crichton is swatting at himself like his coat is full of bees as Harvey hisses, "You cannot resist." Aeryn notices his odd behavior, because it's pretty difficult not to. She shoves him up against a wall to steady him as she asks, "What is the matter with you?" He grabs her head and kisses her. Aw! Aeryn shoves him back and repeats her question. Crichton strokes her hair as he whispers, "Scorpy. When he put me in his chair, he did something and it's getting worse." There are voices nearby, and Aeryn ducks her head around the corner to see two guards rush in. The guards rush around the corner, find Aeryn and Crichton waiting for them, and are quickly knocked out. Ha ha, stupid guards! Crichton announces that he's had an idea. Apparently Aeryn had the same idea, since they both duck out of the frame toward the unconscious guards. Not like that. I don't think.
Stark verbally leads Pirate Zhaan & Co. out of the depository. From his crate, Rygel gripes, "Ten percent of this plan is lunacy! Fifty percent of these riches is not enough! One hundred percent of dead is dead!" These are all valid points. Stark starts to get flustered, but D'Argo sorts him out by threatening to kill him if the others are captured. D'Argo's helpful that way.
Crichton insists, "This'll work, trust me." Aeryn's a tad skeptical. They've undressed the guards and are eyeing the pleather outfits dubiously. Like their clothes aren't peculiar. Crichton's in the middle of saying something about how they have to get their clothes off. I don't think this is the first time he's tried that line. The fashion discussion is interrupted when another pair of guards rush into the corridor. Crichton shouts, "They went thattaway!" and ducks around a corner with Aeryn. It also makes me happy that they start to disguise themselves as guards, but then they get interrupted and don't do it. It adds to the feeling that they're flailing about at random.
Observation room. The cameras come back online. Scorpius tells Akkor to keep him updated, and heads out. Natira doesn't want Scorpius wandering around without an escort. Scorpius starts to say, "Natira," but suddenly clutches his head. After collecting himself, he turns to her and asks, "How much do you owe me? In every way?" Natira smiles, " Too much, that I can not repay." Are they speaking in rhyming couplets now? Cool! Scorpius tells her that if he catches Crichton, all of Natira's debts will be forgiven.
Zhaan tells Crichton that they're almost out. D'Argo encourages Stark. Chiana waits for a door to open. Stark panics, and starts slamming his control panel uselessly. D'Argo tongue-zaps Stark and takes over the console. Oh, good.
Crichton suddenly stops and pulls Aeryn toward him. He gasps, "If Scorpius gets me..." Aeryn frowns, "I know: shoot you." Crichton duhs, "No -- shoot him." Sometimes I forget why I love them, but this scene reminds me. Crichton says that they need to talk, but Aeryn thinks that maybe there are other things to do at the moment. She starts to rush on, but Crichton grabs her arm and insists, "I have to tell you how I feel, I have to tell you..." Aeryn says he doesn't. He tries again, and she repeats, "No, you don't," because she knows, and...aw, man. Crichton, to his credit, gets it, and docilely lets Aeryn lead him away.
Scorpius, with Braca and glow-stick girl in tow, asks Natira what's going on. Natira says that Scorpius is headed for Crichton. Akkor notes that Pirate Zhaan is making a getaway with Scorpius's dough, but Natira sighs, "Least of our worries."
Pirate Zhaan & Co. are still waiting for D'Argo to figure out how to open the doors. Zhaan tells Chiana to take another pill. Rygel whines, "Where's my pill? This time I get a pill!" As usual, he is ignored. D'Argo fumbles over the control console on Moya. As some guards aim their weapons at Zhaan, she fumbles with a canister. D'Argo finally manages to open the nearby door, yay! Behind the door are even more guards, boo! Zhaan and Chiana look at each other for a second, and then Zhaan releases the canister, spraying the guards with knock-out gas. They immediately collapse. As does Rygel. Zhaan chuckles, "I knew I had to adjust the mix..."
Natira urges Scorpius to hurry. Scorpius tells Braca to capture Crichton alive. Glow-stick girl tells Scorpius that it's time for another checkup, but he waves her off.
In the lobby, Pirate Zhaan & Co. finally meet up with Aeryn and Crichton, to everyone's relief. Crichton tells Aeryn to help the others load up the cargo while he seals the door. Aeryn suggests they switch tasks, but Crichton's insistent. Harvey whispers, "There's no escape." Crichton walks the perimeter of the lobby, closing the doors, as Aeryn and the others go to load up the transport. As the last door begins to shut, a guard suddenly appears and shoves himself into the doorway, holding it open. Braca appears behind the guard, and Crichton ducks around a corner. Braca eventually snaps the guard's arm with a karate move, so that the guard's body keeps the door from shutting. Oh, Braca. As Braca slides through the open doorway, Crichton pulls his gun and greets him with, "Tell me, is the rematch ever better than the original fight?" Then Crichton punches Braca with the gun, knocking him out. Crichton moves to the door so he can shove the pile of bodies out of the doorway. He is immediately nabbed by Scorpius. D'oh.
Scorpius grabs Crichton's neck with one hand, and easily slides the door wide open with the other. Scorpy gloats, "You have no idea how patient I have been for this moment." Crichton gasps, "What the frell did you put in my head?!" Scorpius, keeping his grip on Crichton, explains about the chip as he easily lifts Crichton up and slams him against a wall. Scorpius smirks, "I trust it's helped save you once or twice since escaping my Gammak Base." Scorpius's voice suddenly turns into a croak and he slams Crichton back down to the floor. Crichton smirks that Scorpius seems to be under the weather. Something drips out of Scorpius's headgear as Crichton chuckles, "I got a piece of you in me, now you got a piece of me in you!" Scorpius slams Crichton to the floor and shouts, "Change it now!" as glow-stick girl rushes in. As Crichton struggles, Scorpius's head unspools, and glow-stick girl removes the old glow-stick, which is bright red. She walks away to retrieve her briefcase, which is lucky, since that's when the glow-stick explodes. Well, it's lucky for Scorpius. Less lucky for glow-stick girl. And Crichton, for that matter.
An extremely vexed Scorpius hauls Crichton up and hisses, "You cannot let me die, any more than I can sacrifice you." Crichton gasps, "I think I'll give it a shot." Scorpius shoves the briefcase at Crichton and gasps, "Save me." Crichton moans, "No," and twitches horribly as he reluctantly pulls the cooling rod out. Scorpius tells him to insert the new rod and then collapses against Crichton's chest, gasping, "Insert the rod." Ahem. Crichton shivers some more, and you know, this is such a scenery-chewing bit, but Browder does sell it. His eyes tear up and he gasps, "You're really not my type!" Then he shoves Scorpius away and falls the ground himself as he shouts, "Die, you grotesque bastard!" He adds, "Even if it means I die, too." He drops the glow-stick to the floor as Scorpius spits out, "Neither one of us can die!" Crichton pulls himself across the floor, loudly singing "The Star Spangled Banner," to block Scorpius's orders. As he slides away, we see Scorpius struggling to reach the glow-stick on the floor, about a foot out of reach. We move into a close-up as Scorpius gets within a few inches of it, and then his arm spasms. Well, I'm totally sure he's dead, aren't you?
Moya. Rygel and Chiana are looking over the ingots in the containers as Rygel, wearing a different robe in a nice bit of continuity, gloats, "We are rich!" Zhaan reminds him that they agreed to rescue Jothee before dividing the loot. Rygel sighs, "Let's all pretend we're not thinking how ill-advised that covenant was." Stark apologizes to Zhaan for panicking. Since Zhaan wasn't there to see it, she finds it easy to forgive him. But then D'Argo pops in to give Stark his support, too. As Chiana busies herself with all the loot, D'Argo tells her, "I'm about to see my son, and that tortured being there is the one who's made it possible." Chiana asks, "What about your other tortured friend?" D'Argo says that friends support each other unconditionally, which I'm not sure is true. Chiana offers, "They also forgive one another." The strengths of this episode are also kind of its weakness, because there's been so much going on for the past half hour that it takes a second before I think, "Oh, right, D'Argo felt betrayed because Crichton didn't go along with his plan."
Crichton is sitting on the floor in Command, looking very small. Aw. Aeryn walks up to him and he tells her, "It was real. I didn't imagine it." She sits down to him and asks what he means. He quietly says that Scorpius was in his head. "And it was hard, letting him die. There's still a part of me that wishes I'd saved him." Poor Aeryn thinks logic is going to help, and points out that Scorpius wanted to slice up Crichton's brain. Crichton huddles up, clutching his legs. He needs a hug! And a blanket. And some tea. And a few years of intensive therapy. He looks down and quaveringly mumbles into his knees, "Aeryn, I, um, meant what I said...didn't say." Aeryn frowns for second at her crazy boyfriend, and then pulls him over so that his head rests on her shoulder. She strokes his hair and looks sad, but determined, as she says, "I know." He has a nice neck.
In the now-empty hangar, we hear a scratchy noise. We pan over to one of the open crates of ill-gotten gains, and a set of robotic legs sprouts out of one of the ingots. The container's lid is knocked to the ground as an ingot-bot jumps out and skitters across the floor. To be continued.