For the purpose of narration and such, the focal point of this episode is Alonso, the character played by the Shark Hunter himself, Antonio Sabato Jr. Of the main cast, Alonso has probably been the least interesting character to me so far. His deal is that he was the pilot on the ship that crashed and he was never supposed to see the surface, so he never took the pills that the rest of the group took to keep themselves healthy, so he was more wounded than the rest in the crash and is still recovering, but he also has the strongest connection to the Terrians and communicates with them in the dreamscape. Anyway, he narrates this episode, but it isn’t really his episode. This is a direct continuation of True’s plot from last time.
I assumed Gaal was going to be gone for the show for a while, but absolutely not. He is back in this very episode and he has managed to capture a tribe of Terrians and is making slaves of them using shock collars that were presumably used when the planet was a penal colony. We also learn that the bone necklace that Gaal has been wearing all along has been made with Terrian bones and that Terrians are unable to hurt one another and also that wearing a necklace of Terrian bones is sufficient to make them unable to attack you as well. The enslaved Terrians reach out through the dreamscape to get the group’s help (Gaal calls the group “the Utopians” so is that what I should be calling them?) and it turns out that there is now a link between the Terrians and Uly, the child they healed. When Terrians suffer, so too does Uly.
The group is willing to help the Terrians (even if some only to help Uly), but young True is still torn. She still trusts the manipulative bastard. She goes to him and warns him and he lies to her and all that. But he messes up when he shows off his enslaved Terrians and tortures on so that it dies. That turns True against him at last and she sneakily gets a message to the group. In the ensuing scuffle is is actually True who defeats Gaal, destroying his necklace, so that the freed Terrians can exact their revenge. The Terrians drag Gaal into the dirt to maybe never be seen again (or maybe he will, I have no idea if Tim Curry will be back).
And then Alonso gets a scene where he is sad that a Terrian died, just to remind us that this was his episode. Good for you, Alonso. You really knocked it out of the park there, pal. Really you did.
Some other thoughts on the episode:
1) Danziger isn’t fond of Terrians and has a tendency to call them “Diggers” in a way I don’t care for. Most of the time Danziger is intended to be a character the audience roots for, but his racism is unbecoming (but does allow for more nuance). 2) The Utopians encounter rain on the new world for the first time and I like the scene. At first they panic and run for cover until Dr. Julia can scan it and make sure it is safe. Once that is confirmed, they love the rain. 3) Morgan is still the character used to voice the unpopular opinions. If his near-death experience has had a lasting effect on him, it is taking its time. 4) It is confirmed that Pegasus the horse ran away. Presumably he’s out there having weird horse-on-an-alien-planet adventures until he turns up again (and if he doesn’t turn up again, definitely he was eaten by Grendlers). 5) Yale’s behaviour-modifying cybernetics are supposed to include an aversion to using weapons, but in a moment of stress he overcomes this. The risk of him going criminal increases.
ALIEN STUFF: We learn a bit more about the Terrians here. In spite of their general humanoid appearance, Dr. Julia’s scanners can’t even say if they’re animal, vegetable, or mineral. We’re also told that they are all male, for whatever that means in a species that is utterly different from Earth life. But in the end, Alonso says that in spite of the biological differences, humans and Terrians may be more alike that they realize. Shut up, Alonso. Go hunt some sharks or something.