Brief synopsis:
Aeryn takes Crichton for piloting lessons in one of Moya's pods, but the pair get trapped in space somehow. Meanwhile a mysterious being, Staanz comes aboard Moya to warn the crew about a gigantic spacenet called the Flax. When they realise Crichton and Aeryn are trapped in this net, D'Argo and Staanz set off on a rescue mission whilst Rygel and Zhaan confront one of the operators of the Flax, a commander Kcrackic.

The Main Story:
Out in space, with nothing to crash into, no wormholes to fall down, no blackholes to collide with and no other obstacles, Crichton takes flying lessons from Aeryn, and proves that humans are in fact slow learners. Aeryn states that even the slowest Peacekeeper cadet would have mastered flying before John had, or would have been killed for failing. Back on Moya, the crew argue about the noise Rygel is making, and the fact that Aeryn and John have been gone for some time. Pilot interrupts however to announce a new arrival.

Staanz comes aboard and warns the crew about a gigantic net called the Flax, and of the Zenetan pirates who run it. Rygel plays a game with him, Tadeck, and looks to be on the verge of victory when D'Argo stops them. The Luxan had learned of Staanz's Peacekeeper record and demands an explanation.

Staanz tells them that he was once a Zenetan pirate as well, but has now become a garbologist. He agrees to help D'Argo find the pod, as well as tracking down a Luxan Assault Piercer stuck in the Flax. Should they find the ship, with maps aboard, D'Argo says he will give Staanz anything he wants aboard Moya.

Back on the pod however, things go badly as Crichton and Aeryn hit the Flax and get left with no comms, no power, and no movement. Aeryn sets up a message bouy which she sends away in an attempt to get help, but both she and Crichton doubt they will be rescued, and so begin to form their own plans. In order to make repairs, they will need to use a blowtorch, but can only do so in vacuum thanks to a large amount of venting oxygen. For this they need fully operational space suits, of which they have only one, Aeryn's.

Aboard Moya, Zenetan pirates Commander Kcrackic and Goon come aboard, and though they aren't interested in a pregnant leviathan after having lost 80 men in a previous attempt, they demand to know the whereabouts of Staanz. Zhaan denies all knowledge after being told by D'Argo of the intricate past Staanz and Kcrackic have, and instead, Rygel plays a game of Tadeck with Kcrackic.

The little Hynerian loses game after game to Kcrackic, and eventually bargains for the location of Staanz's ship, much to Zhaan's disappointment. However, the Hynerian had a plan, setup the moment Kcrackic came aboard. He lets the Zenetan win deliberately, and allows him to check Moya's records to find the location of D'Argo's comm signal where Staanz will also be found. However, Rygel had already asked Pilot to alter this, so Kcrackic is sent off on a wild goose chase.

D'Argo and Staanz also find themselves trapped in the Flax, but the ex-Zenetan has a few tricks that allow them to break through. They see the pod venting atmosphere, and decide it may be too late, and head off to find the Luxan ship before it gets destroyed. However, when they reach the magnificent ship, D'Argo feels too much guilt, and order Staanz to take him back to the pod to help Aeryn and John. He may be too late however, as Aeryn kills John.

Deciding that they must continue with the repairs, despite only having one spacesuit, the pair agree that John needs to be killed so that Aeryn can continue the repairs. To do this, Aeryn uses a Peacekeeper killshot with the promise of using a nerve revival shot afterwards, thus allowing Crichton to survive the conditions the insides of the ship are about to enter. Aeryn vents the atmosphere and starts the repairs.

Unfortunately, Aeryn doesn't finish in time, deciding to revive John before any brain damage could be done. Even more unfortunately, she is knocked out before reaching John, and when she awakens moments later, finds the revival shot broken on the floor. Thankfully, Crichton had taught her a backup plan, CPR. She tries the technique and amazingly Crichton is revived. However, with the repairs unfinished, the two await death... in eachothers arms.

With nothing to worry about anymore, the two finally express their feelings and are all over eachother, but are interrupted as D'Argo unable to conceal his surprise, enters the pod. Aboard Staanz's ship, love is still in the air, but from Staanz *herself* towards D'Argo. The Luxan leaves, uncomfortably, and takes Aeryn and John back aboard Moya. Back on the ship, John and Aeryn play things down, claiming to eachother that it was all merely a heat of the moment experience.

References and continuity:

When describing Aeryn's love for piloting, John refers to Top Gun, a movie starring Tom Cruise where the best pilots in the US airforce come together to compete for the prize of Top Gun. The Need for Speed is a similar idea, though without the flying, and has had several computer games made about it.

D'Argo talks of his son, Jothee, who we first here about in the episode They've Got A Secret. The Luxan would have loved to take the Luxan ship and go to find his son, but instead he rescues his new allies.

Funny or interesting quotes: Pilot: "So sorry, I appear to have hit the wrong comm" Pilot attracts the crew's attention with a loud comm burst when Staanz is approaching. His attitude is certainly growing in strength, which is good to see.

Aeryn: "You comfortable? Can I get you a pillow?"

When Crichton falls on top of Aeryn, he stays there. Pleasingly, Aeryn doesn't do the expected and kick him off, but merely comes up with a sarcastic comment.

Crichton: "You are the female of your species... Right?"

After discovering Staanz was in fact female, Crichton turns mock suspicion towards Aeryn after their encounter on the pod a few hours ago.

Episode Trivia:

• Ex-Zenetan pirate Staanz has no sense of smell after an operation to remove this sense, something he finds useful as a garbologist.
• Staanz has 9 million of the play toys he uses for fuel aboard his ship.
• Sebaceans do not believe in any after life, though Aeryn us curious to know what John saw.
• This episode is the first and only time we see Rygel smoking a cigar from his ear
• Writer Justin Monjo and director Peter Andrikidis return together to write and direct season four's Prayer.

Justin Monjo wrote this episode, and later went on to write:

Director:

The director of this episode was Peter Andrikidis who also directed:

Episode Aliens:
Zenetan Pirates are Crichton's next encounter, though he only meets ex-Zenetan Staanz. However, Rygel and Zhaan encounter Kcrackic, one of the men who use the gigantic flax net to capture ships and loot them. Males and females are clearly defined differently amongst Zenetans.

Farewell to:

• D'Argo's newly found Luxan Assault Piercer. It was next in line for destruction when D'Argo left it to help John and Aeryn.
• A fair amount of Rygel's winnings, given away to Kcrackic as Rygel deliberately loses.

Guest Stars:

• Rhys Muldoon as Staanz.
• John Batchelor as Kcrackic.
• David Bowers as Goon.

The Flax was an enjoyable episode, and two things seem to stick out in my mind. Firstly, Rygel shows just how cunning he can be, by losing deliberately and having false coordinates setup all along. Also, this was the first time we see Aeryn and John get together, and this leads to a complex relationship over the next few seasons.

The idea of a huge stasis net floating in space was quite clever I thought, and it would be fun to see that getting used again (hint: see Plan B). It was also good to see that D'Argo is getting closer to his crewmates as he abandons the Luxan ship in favour of helping John and Aeryn.

	Good ideas and budding relationships.		7/10