The crew finds that their reputation isn't helping, as they negotiate for medical supplies amidst local political intrigue. But John's dual identity proves useful, as they race to to heal Talyn and Crais before a face out of Aeryn's past can catch up to them.

:) What appears as an ordinary episode and then the bombshell drops. Xhalax Sun!

The main storyline of this episode isn't the best but its the underlying themes that notch this episode up a gear.

The reaction of Crais to seeing that Aeryn is still alive, the odd goings on on the planet, the excellent flashback to Aeryn's childhood and the two John's rivalry and subsequent separation. You have to feel sorry for green t-shirt Crichton, he saves Black T's life only to be left behind.



Crichton to Stark 'Work now freak later'

Stark 'ok... how much later' :lol:

Also some funny Crichton/Jool interaction.

:rolleyes: Another not so subtle Wizard of Oz reference

'John Crichton Wizard of Oz'

John: "Who did you piss off this time?"
Crais: "Talyn and I were not the aggressors."
John: "Course not, you never are. So, who is it? The Plokavoids? The Skeksis? The Big Bad Wolf?"

Love that quote, especially the reference to Henson's own The Dark Crystal. :)

Anyway, I really like this episode. As Alex says, in terms of the main plot it is very basic and straight forward, but that does no harm at all with everything else going on. In fact, there is a hell of a lot to take in during this episode, setting up the plotlines for the foreseeable future on the show.

After the chat Alex and I had the other day about the nature of the show, and how it's about these people trying to survive in a universe where trouble continually finds them, I was amused by D'Argo and Chiana's reaction to their spot of bother with Tolven:

Chiana: "I tried, I tried not to start any trouble."
Tolven: "Well, you're not in any trouble."
D'Argo: "Well, you are." (beats Tolven to unconsciousness) "Every frelling planet..."

:lol: :lol: :lol:

The main plot does have some nice touches to it, particularly with the two Crichtons working the situation to their advantage with the Strannat. It is also finally determined that both Johns are 100% perfect copies - nobody can tell the difference between them, even Aeryn. Jool also seems to be becoming the ship's doctor, a replacement for Zhaan.

Ben Browder, as is the norm, seems to be having a ball with the whole situation, although is it me or does he seem a lot louder and hyper in this episode as Green T Crichton as opposed to Black T?

John: "Cross my heart, smack me dead, stick a lobster on my head."

There are a couple of major developments that set mini arcs in motion. The first is Crais's revelation that the Peacekeepers have sent a retrieval squad after Talyn, and that the squad is being led by Aeryn's mother, Xhalax Sun. To prove this he finally gets to give the chip he showed us in Die Me, Dichotomy to Aeryn (and his shock at seeing her alive is very well played).

Aeryn's reaction to seeing the recording of her mother visiting her in the dorm in the middle of the night is wholely believable: she thought she had dreamed it. Xhalax tells the young Aeryn that her father, Talyn, and she conceived Aeryn out of love, rather than the usual Peacekeeper method of assigned birthing, or even by accident.

The second development is in the splitting up of the crew between Moya and Talyn as they make their escape from Kanvia, just as the retrieval squad arrives (good timing, that :lol: ). Black T Crichton goes with Aeryn, Crais, Rygel and Stark aboard Talyn, whilst Green T is left fuming aboard Moya with the others.

John: "I just...I just hope he's having a good time... No, forget that, I hope he's having a terrible time. I don't know what I hope. He just better be taking care of her."
D'Argo: "I'm sure he's taking care of her."
John: "You KNOW what I mean."

It's a very brave move, I think, because normally I hate it when they split the family up - whether it's here or Buffy or Star Trek or whatever.

Nice effects of the PK shapeshifting agent returning to its normal state at the end, surprised that Xhalax doesn't deal with it more harshly for failing her. And how gory is the end of Tolven? :x

Another good episode that is more important in retrospect than it maybe appears upon first viewing. The aftermath is certainly going to be interesting.

:thumbsup: Excelllent review, its hard to review when you know what happens next and don't want to spoil so well done :D


:lol: At the Chiana/D'Argo quote. Poor Chi, she didn't mean to start anything.

I agree that there does seem to be a slight difference between the two John's characters and I will have to post my thoughts as we get through more episodes.

Forgot to say, loving the coloured blobs :lol: :lol:

This is so true. This episode definitely benefits from rewatches later down the line. Its a very fast paced episode too which detracts from what is really happening in terms of setting up future arcs. Very cleverly done :thumbsup:

Thanks, Alex :D

Don't you just love it when Steve reviews first. Nothing to add, 'cept will we finally see Aeryn's mother :o

Agreed, lovely scene between young Aeryn and her Mom, and Aeryn's reaction to the footage, awwhh :)

Chianna, pfft, she just loves all that unnecessary attention :rolleyes:

That's it! I'm not doing it anymore. :P

Erm, except I'm just about to go and review Relativity. :rolleyes: :lol:

But sweetie, you do great reviews ;) :lol: :lol:

Thanks Lisa. :)

But so does everyone else, and I like to read what you guys think, you know? :D

John: "D'Argo, tell him who his daddy is."
D'Argo: "I'm your daddy!"

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Just had to post that while I thought of it. :rolleyes:

:lol: :lol: Great scene, D'Argo comes into his own this season doesn't he :lol:

It took a long time for the character to settle down. I thought it happened towards the end of season 1. I think a lot of my posts for those episodes go on (and on :rolleyes: ) about how it wasn't the D'Argo I know and love, but then something just clicked and it was him. :)

:) Well character wise D'Argo was still in torment in Season 2 hunting for Jothee, he has some great scenes but in Season 3 he is just so funny. Especially Scratch n sniff but I'll wait till everyone has seen that.

For me it was always a case of him coming across like Worf in TNG, growling and shouting all the time. Once they toned him down I think Anthony Simcoe really came into his own. He really plays the emotional side beautifully. Plus, I think the changing of the make-up between seasons 1 and 2 really helped, it looks much more natural from season 2 onwards. :)

Absolutely. Once the make up changed he looked fantastic. Its great though as I totally believe in his character hence great acting.

I can see the Worf comparison to begin with but its been so long that I can't honestly remember what I thought. I suppose when I first watched it Rygel and Aeryn were favourites and D'Argo & Zhan were just in the background more or maybe they were just less interesting at the time.

They never did enough with Zhaan, imo. John and Aeryn were favourites for me straight away, with Rygel and D'Argo somewhere behind. John and Aeryn have stayed that way, but now D'Argo, Pilot, Rygel, Crais, Scorpy and Chi are up there with them. By the end of the first season all of the characters were really hitting their stride, except Zhaan. Pilot's one of the most remarkable creations I've ever come across, if not the most remarkable. :)

:thumbsup: Yeah I love Pilot. Its fantastic when we first get to see him in the flesh and Johns surprise mirrors ours.

I took an instant liking to Chi of course. I didn't realise I liked Zhan until she was gone. Its a shame as you say they didn't do more for her character, it was a little like the tip of the iceburg, we saw a little of her past and plant based biology but not enough.

Love Zhan with eye patch. Its a shame we didn't see more of her like that, she stayed on Moya most of the time didn't she.

Yes, she virtually turned into the ship's doctor. <_<

If they wanted a blue woman they should've got Natira aboard. :lol: :ph43r:

:thumbsup: Now that would have been fun.

Natira and Rygel fighting over spoils for a change. I guess the way the story was going there wasn't enough time for her to develop.

So who did you like more Zhan or Jool? Not including anything spoilery or should I ask on a different thread?

I actually really like Jool. :)

So most of this has been covered, but......

3.7 Thanks for sharing

The two Crichton’s are acting like a couple of kids with their “Why me” attitude to Aeryn trying to help them. Get over it boys. You’re gonna have to learn to share!

I was just wondering why Crais had accessed Aeryn’s personnel files. That’s kind of creepy! Did he mention something about the chip at the end of last season? If so at least that means he looked whilst he still thought she was alive. Somehow thats less creepy than if he did it when he tought she was dead.

Sarova’s PVC suspenders. One for the boys, eh. No wonder John said he was under pressure. They really did like the black PVC look on that planet didn't they <_<

The transformation of the shape shifter alien is really quite gruesome, but very well done. It sort of reminded me of Jacobs ladder.

Poor green shirt John. He gets back to Moya to find that black shirt has absconded with his beloved (Aeryn and Winona), and his note book. At least he was honest enough to admit that he would have done the same thing in his position. It’s all your own fault green shirt, if you hadn’t have saved his life you could have done away with the competition!!

This episode is great; the dialogue is pretty funny (“Cross my heart, smack me dead, stick a lobster on my head”), the plot is interesting and it really sets up the season arc by conveniently arranging for the two Johns to be on separate ships, pretty much splitting up the crew of Moya too. And then there is the introduction of Aeryn’s mother………

I liked this one. I preferred it to the previous episode.

There are some great character moments, between Crais/Aeryn and the two Johns in particular. The story itself was fairly conventional, but interesting nonetheless. The look on the bad guy's face when Crichton appears unscathed was quite amusing. The rest of the episode again, essentially, serves to set up subsequent events, with Aeryn learning certain things about her mother, the knowledge that there's a PK retrieval squad searching for Talyn and the ultimate splitting of the crew. Similar to the previous episode in that regard. They're both conventional stories that further the arc slightly whilst setting up certain events further down the line. This one works better than Eat Me though.

:thumbsup: The story itself isn't great but its all the little things going on in the background that make this good.

It is quite a funny episode too :thumbsup:

I've noticed this before with the standalones. The plot device is often irrelevant (to my mind) compared with the character development/interaction that goes off within the episode.

Definitely

As Lani says "Its all about heart", its the character storylines that bring the episodes to life :thumbsup:

Very true :)