As the show has progressed, Morgan and Bess have gone from the troublemakers of the group to flawed people who are earnestly trying to help. It’s nice that, as we near the end of the show, they get a chance to shine one last time.

In this one Bess is exposed to mystical flower energy that is one part pollen, one part Ophiocordyceps, and one part super soldier serum. (Bess has made it clear that the fact she was raised on Earth means that she is better at wilderness than the rest, but it sure didn’t stop her from getting her face right in that dangerous plant.) This weird flower force triggers maternal feelings in Bess, making her want to protect it, gives her euphoric feelings and regenerates her wounds, and finally takes over her mind and impels her to hike to a volcano and jump in. During all this, Morgan is trying to protect his wife, but also notably trying to protect the rest of the group too. At one point their wedding vows had them forsake all others, but now Morgan is willing to hypospray Bess and keep her restrained in an attempt to protect the camp. But naturally when Bess escapes, Morgan tracks her down to protect her. And when he realizes the only way to help her is to get her to the volcano, he helps that and even takes in some flower force himself. The two of them would have died if they’d not been stopped by Julia and Alsonso from actually jumping in, but they do successfully deliver the flower force to where it needs to be. And somehow, this causes winter to end.

For the record, Danziger was also exposed to the pollen, but he wanted it out of him before it could really get into his head, so he mostly just spent the episode being sick in bed and allowing us to see what the illness could do to someone. We also see a Grendler who had been a carrier, but didn’t make it to the hole. And near the volcano we see a human skeleton, so presumable some penal colonist died long ago after being exposed. Flowers that force a living being to carry their life force to a volcano to instigate spring would seem like a pretty nonsensical way for an ecosystem to work, but it makes more sense than the space-folding subway system created by spiders, right?

Other thoughts: 1) We get Morgan with an eyepatch for a bit! That’s fun! 2) When most of the group want to force the flower force out of Bess and Bess wants to keep it, we get a debate among the cast and I like that sort of things. Morgan and Devon defend Bess’s bodily autonomy, but any actual comparison to debates like that about abortion are lessened by the fact that this one is an actual weird alien that intends to throw Bess into a volcano. That said, it had no ill intentions toward the rest of the group, which is what they were so worried about. 3) It’s worth noting that, before Julia knows what is actually going on, they think Bess is pregnant. Morgan is worried that their current living situation wouldn’t be ideal for a birth, though Julia points out that people during olden times on Earth gave birth with much less technology than they have access to. This is correct, but also G889 is throwing weird new supernatural threats at them every couple weeks, so it’s not exactly the same.

CAMERON WATCH!!!

Now that I know to look for Cameron, he’s all over the crowd shots. In this one we get to see him smile at one point and later drive one of the vehicles. He’s having a perfectly nice time.