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| | 2.07 - Home On The Remains | | |
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| Brief synopsis: |
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As the crew become desperate to find food, Chiana decides to lead the crew to a place she once lived with her brother. The settlement they visit is located on the dead remains of a Budong, a huge space creature, whose arteries now serve as mines for the inhabitants. Whilst there, the crew try to find food for a starving Zhaan, but end up fighting against the mines owner, B'Sogg, and a vicious creature, a Keedva. Meanwhile, Aeryn tries to deal with the spores Zhaan spills out across Moya, calling on all her resources to try and protect the Leviathan.
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| The Main Story: |
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With the crew nearing starvation, Chiana suggests a place they can visit that might allow them to find food. Crichton meanwhile refuses to give up, and cooks a dentik, only to find that they really aren't edible (as Aeryn points out). After shoving the remains of the fried dentik down Rygel's throat, Crichton learns more from Chiana about the place they might visit. Chiana and her brother Nerri once stayed there, on the remains of a massive space creature, a Budong. The arteries and other passages that once allowed the Budong to live, now act as passages and mines for the inhabitants.
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Though at first John and Aeryn aren't convinced, they soon realise they have no choice when they see Zhaan. The Delvian has begun to produce buds and spores as a natural reaction to her starvation. Without food soon, she would certainly die. As Aeryn seems to be the only person immune to the spores Zhaan releases, she stays aboard whilst the other crew head down to the Budong to find food. Upon arrival, they hear alarms, and from one of the tunnels, a body is brought forward, that of Temmon, an old friend of Chiana. He is barely breathing, having received wounds from a creature they call the Keedva. Chiana kills him, after Temmon asks it of her, relieving him of a painful death.
At this point, Temmon's brother, B'Sogg arrives, and greets Chiana, appreciating what she did for his brother, though oddly he seems to show no grief at all. B'Sogg learns what the crew's problem is, and agrees to feed them all, except Chiana. He says that after she chose Temmon over him, he felt she owed him, and would not give away free food to her. Luckily for Chiana, she meets another old friend, Altana, who feeds her, and tells her that she has found a valuable supply of ore in the mines which she will be able to use to buy her freedom from this place. Unfortunately, B'Sogg has closed the mines after the Keedva attack, probably to get to the minerals before Altana can.
Crichton takes the vegetables given to them aboard Moya, and passes them to both Aeryn and Zhaan. However, Zhaan says she has passed the point of being able to recover by eating vegetables, and says that she will need meat in order to make a recovery. Rygel decides that as they need money to pay for meat from B'Sogg, he could win it by gambling. However, on this Budong, cheating is apparently legal, its just how well you cheat that matters, and despite Rygel's reputation, he loses. The gambler, Vija, who wins the game, sends Rygel into the mines to earn his payment. Chiana meanwhile tries her own method, offering herself to B'Sogg as payment. D'Argo, showing his feelings clearly, stops her, but Chiana continues to make her offer. However, her offer of one night is rejected. B'Sogg would want her forever.
Refusing to let this happen, Chiana takes D'Argo to Altana, and brings him in on the big score. If D'Argo can help Altana get into the mines and get what they need, then Altana can get off the Budong, and Moya's crew can afford meat for Zhaan. Aboard Moya, Aeryn has ideas about slowing down Zhaan's spores, and tries intense light, but this only makes the spores increase, and worse, it angers Zhaan against Aeryn. The spores get so bad that even Aeryn begins to sneeze, and Pilot reports that Moya's internal hull is getting dangerously numb, and could reach a point where it will not recover. Aeryn offers to take Zhaan to a pod, and allow Pilot to vent the air from Moya, and cleanse the ship of the spores. Back on the Budong, Crichton finds out that D'Argo is in the mine, and goes after him.
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Searching through the mines, Crichton bumps into Sparky (Rygel), and sadly, he also meets the Keedva (after a suspicious whistling noise). John jumps aboard Rygel's thronesled as the two hover precariously above the enraged Keedva. Rygel tries to bite Crichton to get him off the sled, but Crichton bites him back, creating a stalemate. Fortunately, the whistle sounds again, and the Keedva leaves. On Moya, Aeryn's plan is starting to look less easy to employ as Zhaan is nowhere to be found. Reluctantly, Aeryn gives up, knowing that something must be done now to protect Moya's inner hull. She heads to command and seals it off, allowing Pilot to decompress the rest of Moya, presumably with Zhaan being released into space.
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D'Argo and Altana meanwhile have great success, finding all that they need, but are soon attacked by the Keedva. Altana is killed, and D'Argo knocked out, though the Luxan is able to make his way to the cave exit. Once there, he is bleeding all over the place, but has only regret that he wasn't able to save Chiana's friend. Aeryn meanwhile finds that Zhaan is also in command, and the two begin to argue, with Zhaan accusing Aeryn of being a Peacekeeper murderer. Aeryn tries to talk sense into Zhaan, but eventually has to knock the Delvian out in order to continue helping Moya. Crichton, down on the Budong, decides to make his move, and heads down into the mines again, where he finds a stash of meat, and a large cave chamber. He is confronted here by B'Sogg, who calls the Keedva, as it is he who controls his "pet" with the whistle, and then leaves the two of them to it.
Crichton, tries to evade the Keedva at first, but realises its attention is firmly fixed on him. In the end, he has to vault over it, go through a door, and use the same door to crush the Keedva. Chiana meanwhile deals with B'Sogg, demonstrating that she hasn't become a killer since she left, but shoots the Budong tunnel near B'Sogg that releases a gush of acid taking off B'Sogg's hand. Now able to leave freely, John brings with him the Keedva, which they barbeque aboard Moya, creating "Carolina style Keedva", which is enough to satisfy Zhaan's need for meat, and everyone else's hunger.
Finally, Zhaan apologises to Aeryn, whilst Chiana and D'Argo talk about the days events. Chiana isn't totally clear about D'Argo's intentions towards her, but after the Luxan kisses her deeply, she is left stunned, their relationship has truly begun now.
Trivia Quiz:
References and continuity:
Crichton: "Its not exactly Dominos, but it got here in less than thirty minutes."
Popular in America and England, Domino's has a delivery service with a promise to get pizzas to anywhere in their zone within a certain time limit.
Crichton: "No more Captain Kirk chit chat."
A reference to the popular Star Trek character, Kirk, Captain of the Enterprise, played by William Shatner. Of all the Captains, he was the most willing to resort to extreme action to solve problems, and Crichton is certainly willing to do what's necessary after spending so much time in the Uncharted Territories.
- Zhaan's a plant? Yup, there were clues in Till The Blood Runs Clear when she responded well to light, but we find out the full truth in Bone To Be Wild, that she is in fact a plant.
- Seen dentiks before? Yeh, they were introduced early in season 1. They look a little bit like a large white maggot, and are used for cleaning teeth. You put it in your mouth, and it cleans away unwanted dirt and bacteria. Clearly you don't want to eat one though!
Funny or interesting quotes:
Crichton: "C'mon, let's go."
Aeryn: "Oh, that's just great. I have to stay on board with the blooming blue bush, and you get to play with your favourite little tralk!"
Could that be jealousy towards Chiana that Aeryn is feeling? Either way, she isn't happy at being left with the starving Zhaan.
Crichton: "You can ignore the little green eating machine, we appreciate what you've done for us."
The diplomat, Crichton comes up with another superb name for Rygel as the Hynerian asks for more food, and in particular, meet.
B'Sogg: "Chiana, you're a thief and a tralk, but you're not a killer."
Chiana: "I'm evolving as a, as an individual."
Chiana has certainly done a lot of growing up since B'Sogg last saw her, but he is right, she doesn't kill him, just.
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Writer:
Writers Gabrielle Stanton and Harry Werksman were also responsible for:
Director:
The director of this episode was Rowan Woods who also directed:
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| Season 1 | Season 2 |
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| Season 3 | Season 4 |
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New Aliens:
| B'Sogg's species | | A dark leathery skinned humanoid species with a strange accent, this species has colonised the remains of the Budong, and now mine its arteries for great profit. |
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| Budong | | A massive space creature capable of swallowing ships whole. Once dead its threats continue thanks to the inhabitants who seek to exploit the riches found in the Budong's arteries. To see what happens when the crew meet a live Budong, skip to season 3's Green Eyed Monster. |
Farewell to:
| Temmon | | Mercifully killed by Chiana after receiving fatal wounds from the Keedva. |
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| Altana | | Killed by the Keedva when mining with D'Argo. |
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| Keedva | | Crichton killed the Keedva Rancor style (like in Return of the Jedi), then the crew cooked and ate it. |
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| B'Sogg | | Chiana let him live, but shot off his hand. He'll need some serious treatment for that! |
Guest Stars:
- John Brumpton as B'Sogg.
- Justine Saunders as Altana.
- Rob Carlton as Vija.
- Hunter Perske as Temmon.
- Gavin Robbins as the Keedva.
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Personal Opinion:
With the exception of Taking The Stone (also directed by Rowan Woods) there haven't really been any episodes based around Chiana, so its nice to see her backstory being explored. If you're a big fan of her character, then another episode worth taking a look at is A Clockwork Nebari which takes place later in season 2. Another prominent part of the story is the developing relationship between D'Argo and Chiana, a story so significantly different from that of Aeryn and John that it doesn't repeat itself or seem as if the writers are just trying to pair everyone off.
I realise that Zhaan's hunger was responsible for her behaviour in this episode, but this combined with her bad attitude towards Aeryn (seen especially in The Way We Weren't has really made me start to dislike her. She's meant to be the Priestess aboard, but she's the least controlled of the lot of them. Still, that made Aeryn's punch that much more enjoyable! Interestingly, this was the first episode to earn an 18 certificate, thanks to the disintegrating hand of B'Sogg, shot by Chiana.
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| Some good performances, but a weak story. | | 6/10 |
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