Season 1, Episode 11:
Till The Blood Runs Clear
Crichton and Aeryn are bombing around in his module, testing the Leviathan components he's added and investigating some solar flare activity. Crichton explains to Aeryn that he thinks it was the combination of solar flare activity and his slingshot maneuver that opened the wormhole that brought him here. Aeryn asks what maneuver Crichton is currently performing.
"Slingshot."
Surprisingly, a wormhole actually opens as a result of this. It's unstable so Aeryn wants to steer clear, but Crichton is enthralled at the prospect of perhaps getting home. He comes to and they evade the wormhole, but his module is damaged. Moya won't let them board, as she doesn't want to risk her unborn baby. So John decides to set down on the planet to see a local mechanic about getting his module fixed.
The mechanic, Furlow, insists that fixing the module is no problem, but that it won't be finished before the solar flares die down at the end of the day. But not to worry, they'll be back, regular as clockwork, every 4.8 cycles.
Wandering around while they wait for the repairs, Aeryn and John see a wanted beacon left by Crais, identifying D'Argo, Zhaan, and Rygel. John is a bit confused why the message excludes him and Aeryn, but Aeryn has an idea and takes the beacon. That's when the Blood Trackers show up. Aeryn tells John to let her handle it. This quickly results in John with a gun in his face while the other, female Vorcarian leaps on Aeryn, apparently intent on ripping her apart.
Realizing he's basically dealing with exaggerated alpha male canine behavior, John shouts the blood trackers down and insists they let Aeryn go. Keeping up his posturing, John convinces Rorf and Rorg that they can help "Butch and Sundance" track the fugitives. All to buy time to keep the crew safe and get the module fixed so they can flee.
Between John and Aeryn taking a day trip on a random planet, Zhaan going nude sunbathing for photogasms, and Rygel completely disinterested because all this interrupted his nap, D'Argo decides he's had enough and takes Aeryn's Prowler to find John and Aeryn and bring them back. He's promptly captured by the Blood Trackers.
John tries his best to get D'Argo out of this, but is has to maintain his cover with the Vorcarians, which leads to him saving D'Argo's life by torture. Rorf cut one of D'Argo's head tendrils, and John squeezed it to get the blood to run clear so D'Argo didn't go into toxic shock and die. This leads to John and D'Argo having a big argument while the Blood Trackers are away, which starts them down the path to allies and, eventually, friends.
One of Furlow's mechanics turns out to be a bounty hunter, and Aeryn is blinded by a solar flare during the scuffle. But, fiddling with the wanted beacon, she has an idea.
Zhaan, recovering from "enjoying" the solar flare light on Moya, decides she also should go down to the planet to keep D'Argo out of trouble. The Blood Trackers go after her, but Zhaan cloaks herself with her Delvian Pa'u powers. The Blood Trackers return as Crichton and D'Argo are making to leave, and a shootout ensues. The blind Aeryn staggers through it, resets the beacon, which activates and states that the bounty is rescinded.
- Rorf: No reward?
Rorg: Then is there any point in continuing this?
Rorf: Are you hungry?
(D'Argo shoots at them, they cower from the near-miss explosion)
Rorf: Not that hungry.
With the bounty hunters dealt with (for now), Zhaan informs Crichton that the flares have stopped, and she should know. Crichton just has to settle the bill with Furlow for the module repairs, cyber manipulation on the beacon, goggle rental. . . too bad the crew is flat broke. Furlow accepts payment in the form of rights to Crichton's wormhole data. . . exclusive rights. Grudgingly, Crichton hands over the tape, stating that he can start again. He leaves Furlow with a promise.
- John: Five years from now. I'll be waiting for you on the other end of that wormhole!
Tropes present in this episode include:
- All for Nothing:
- Aeryn convinces the bounty hunters to retreat by having Furlow alter the wanted beacon to state that the Command Carrier is leaving the area and thus the bounty is rescinded.
- John's experiments at the start of the episode and push to get the module fixed before the flares die is all for naught. The flares go away before the module is fixed, and Furlow convinces John to hand over his data to pay the bill for the repairs ("Exclusive rights or there's no deal.")
- Alpha and Beta Wolves: Done as a Species of Hats.
- Blinded by the Light: Furlow gives (actually, rents) goggles to John and Aeryn to protect their eyes from the solar flares. During a scuffle with a bounty hunter, Aeryn is pushed close enough to the door to catch a solar flare in the face, blinding her for the rest of the episode.
- Both Sides Have a Point: John and D'Argo's argument. D'Argo is absolutely right that John is obsessed with wormholes and getting home, and willing to (unwittingly) put the others in danger in pursuit of them. John is absolutely right that D'Argo can be just as selfish when it comes to what he wants, throwing the time he chopped off Pilot's arm back in his face.John: I saved your ass today!
D'Argo: You tortured me.
John: I saved you! You know what? I have no idea what goes on in that tiny little brain of yours, D'Argo.
D'Argo: I have no idea why you do anything that you do.
John: Catch a clue, pal. 'Cause I'm tired of sticking my hand out only to have you snap at it!
D'Argo: Every time I let down my guard, you disappoint me. - Cold-Blooded Torture: The Blood Trackers cutting on D'Argo's sensitive tentacles with a knife. Crichton's con and D'Argo's life in the balance, Crichton is forced to participate, and does so by squeezing D'Argo's cut tentacle, to save him from Luxan toxic blood shock.
- Cruel Mercy: The wanted beacon contains a secret message for Aeryn. Crais promises that, if she turns over the fugitive, he'll restore her commission and grant her honorable retirement. Later, Aeryn informs Crichton that "honorable retirement" is induced Living Death. She never intended to take Crais up on the offer. . . but wanted to pretend, just for a moment, that she could go home.
- Deadpan Snarker: When Crichton says he didn't make the Alpha Male rules, Aeryn snarks that he seems to understand them well enough.
- Dwindling Party: Inverted. First, Crichton and Aeryn land on the planet to get his module fixed. Then D'Argo goes down to retrieve them. Then Zhaan learns D'Argo left and decides she'd better follow and stop him from doing something foolish, leaving Rygel and Pilot alone on Moya, but almost the entire cast embroiled in the bounty hunter adventure on the surface.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Pilot says that Delvian females are quite sensitive to ionic radiation, and Zhaan calls the photogasm "a gift of the Delvian Seek." Later episodes imply it to be just part of Zhaan's plant-based biology, and presumably males would be equally. . . susceptible.
- Fantastic Arousal: Zhaan spends a good chunk of the episode on a terrace with no clothes on so she can enjoy "photogasms" triggered by the solar flare.
- "Hey, You!" Haymaker: Furlow kills a bounty hunter with a cheerful "Yoohoo!" followed by a Wrench Whack.
- Holding Hands: Crichton holds out his palm, explaining the gesture's origin on Earth as a way for warriors to show they weren't holding weapons. D'Argo is holding his Qualta blade, but after a moment he transfers it to his other hand so he can shake Crichton's.
- The Nose Knows: The Vorcarians are amazing scent trackers. They smell D'Argo and Zhaan pretty much the instant they land on the planet, the latter from within the building they're using as a lair.
- Shout-Out: Furlow says to Crichton, "Must be hard for someone as invulnerable as you to have to rely on the kindness of strangers."
- Stealth Insult: Barely stealth. Crichton calls D'Argo a pain in the ass before breaking off communication. After Pilot fails to raise them again, he turns to Zhaan.D'Argo: What is a 'pain in the ass?'
Zhaan: Human speak, I believe, for someone. . . irritating, stubborn, obnoxious.
D'Argo: (turns to Rygel, clearly already knowing where this is going)
Rygel: A simpleton, a dolt, idiot?
D'Argo: I get the idea.
Rygel: Moron.
D'Argo: (storms off the command) - Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
- Crichton and Aeryn with the Blood Trackers, not helped by the fact that Crichton is trying to con them long enough to run for it.
- D'Argo and Crichton begin to shift through this towards Fire-Forged Friends. After a long argument, they agree to be not friends, but allies, and to have each other's backs as needed.
- Title Drop: The Vorcarians capture D'Argo and want to interrogate him as to the whereabouts of the other two fugitives. John insists it's a waste of time. They go ahead anyway and cut into one of D'Argo's tentacles. John again tries to stop them, stating that D'Argo will die unless they stimulate the blood flow "Till the blood runs clear."
- Too Many Halves: Crichton says he might be willing to cut the Vorcarcians in on the bounty, "seventy-thirty." Rorf responds with a menacing "Seventy. . . FORTY!" Crichton shoots back with "Eighty-forty," convincing Rorf to back down lest the deal keep getting worse.
- "Wanted!" Poster: Beacons with a holographic image of Crais reciting the bounty serve the same function. Aeryn finds that they contain a hidden message for her offering "retirement" if she turns the others in. Knowing that this is actually code for "execution" she doesn't take the offer but admits to Crichton that she wanted to believe for a moment that the offer was real.
