Season 4, Episode 20:
We're So Screwed, part 2: Hot to Katratzi
As Commandant Grayza of the Peacekeepers and Emperor Staleek of the Scarrans meet to work out their peace agreement, Crichton, Aeryn, D'Argo, Chiana, Rygel, Sikozu and Noranti arrive at Katratzi in Lo'La with a "plan": they're going to ignite the already-tenuous relationship between the Kalish and the Charrids into a full-on civil war, and use the chaos to escape with Scorpius. As cover, Crichton claims that he's willing to sell the wormhole technology to whoever's willing to pay the most and can guarantee the freedom of Moya and her crew, and for protection, he constructs a small thermonuclear bomb attached to a lifesigns monitor, so that if he dies or even goes outside the optimum range of readings, the bomb will go off and likely kill everyone on the base.
Rygel meets with the Charrids and plants the suggestion that the Scarrans are planning to break their alliance, while Sikozu makes contact with the Kalish underground resistance movement, and it's revealed that she's actually a bioloid. Crichton and Aeryn meet with Staleek note and Grayza, who are each willing to deal, but Scarran War Minister Ahkna believes the bomb is a bluff and that Crichton has come for Scorpius. Scorpius is being tortured by Ahkna for his knowledge about wormholes, but he's tight-lipped and knows that he'll die before giving any information. Ahkna has a backup plan: Stark, who is present, willing to torture Scorpius and able to take the knowledge from Scorpius should he die. However, it transpires that Scorpius is playing along with a ruse that Ahkna isn't aware of, and when Scorpius gets a moment alone with Staleek, it's revealed that Scorpius has (seemingly) been serving the Scarran Empire as a spy for the past ten cycles.
To keep everyone distracted, Crichton gives the Scarrans the location of a wormhole as a "demonstration" and when a Stryker is sent to investigate, it gets too close and is destroyed. Meanwhile, Sikozu discovers a way to trigger the riot: deep within the asteroid base, there is a cavern full of strange flowers that has the highest level of security. If the crew can get access, the Scarrans will look for someone to blame, the Charrids and Kalish will accuse one another and start fighting. After checking that Scorpius is indeed on the base, Crichton and Aeryn use a stolen access code to get into the flower chamber, and when the Scarrans catch them, they claim the lift was down to the chamber was simply left unattended. Accusations fly between the Kalish and the Charrids, and then the fighting starts. In the chaos, Crichton and Aeryn rescue Scorpius and everyone heads to where Lo'La is docked. For once, the plan is going smooth... until at the last moment, when Scorpius turns on Crichton and summons the Charrid guards. Shocked and angry, Crichton's lifesigns start going haywire and the nuclear bomb starts to beep ominously...
Tropes present in this episode include:
- Dance of Romance: Crichton and Aeryn have a sweet moment in the elevator where they dance together.
- Foreshadowing:
- Crichton mentions to the Scarrans that their flowers are quite common on Earth, which comes back to bite him hard in the finale. He and Aeryn also enter a chamber full of the flowers, which is under strict security.
- While derailing Crichton's escape plan, Scorpius hints at his reveal in Part 3 by whispering an apology and saying to trust him.
- Game of Chicken: With a nuke.
- Groin Attack: Chiana attempts this against the Scarran that ordered the procedure to transfer Aeryn's baby to her. Unfortunately for Chiana, it turns out that while male Scarrans do have "mivonks" they're not not external. So she ends up smashing her knee futilely while the Scarran just leers at her.
- Insult Backfire:Rahzaro: Ordering biscuits and repairing urinals has never won a war.
Vakali: And neither have you, as I recall. - Moment Killer: In the flower chamber, Charrids arrive and demand that Crichton and Aeryn leave at once. The two stand up to adjust their clothing, with Crichton expressing irritation about being interrupted.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: It's really not hard for the crew to exploit divisions between the Charrids and the Kalish into all-out fighting.
- Too Kinky to Torture: Both played straight and subverted with Scorpius. He starts off joking around and claiming to have been waiting all his life for a woman like Ahkna. However, by the end it's clear the torture he's gone through has been quite real.
- We Need a Distraction: Crichton's escape plan hinges on causing the Charrids and the Kalish to go at it, which is expected to leave the Scarrans too distracted to stop the crew from escaping. All seems to be going according to plan, until Scorpius betrays Crichton at the last moment.
- Wham Shot: Ahkna reintroduces Scorpius to "an old friend" that will be taking over the interrogation: Stark.
- You're Insane!: Ahkna to Crichton.
