I E.T.

Hi everyone!

A quick note before the review. At the time of the original airing of I E.T, SACC did not exist. In fact I was still lurking! Shows what difference a few weeks make :-). Anyway with that in mind, here is the News from the SACC I E.T. Review! WARNING!: If you haven't seen I E.T. than you need to avoid this review, there be SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Overall:

• A very solid episode with a good balance of all kinds of different elements (action, humor, character interaction and evolution, and stunning visuals). A great show, especially for one of the first episodes to air!

Crichton:

• Well the OCB this episode is not too bad. We've got the eye twitching noise, the random crash landing bumps, and of course the zap from the Rubber Chicken Rod. This episode gets a Shaken Like A Bowl Full of Jelly rating.
  
• At least he didn't die.

The Good:

• All right, even though it was OCB, having the sound effect Crichton in a different way than the rest of the crew (especially Aeryn). I expect stuff that should work for everyone else won't work for humans simply because they weren't made for them, and it's nice to see this small thing to acknowledge the "alien-ness" of Crichton.
• Also the fact that he continues to twitch until he leaves Moya, nice touch.
• Lots and lots of Pilot in a nice meaty roll! his episode provided great closeups of Pilot, and I am constantly amazed by his fluid motions and utter believability. I admit I sometimes have problems with Rygel's "performance", especially his mouth movements (although admittedly Rygel has a lot more to do and is a lot more mobile), but even with I am looking for it, Pilot's movements exactly match anything he might be saying!
• Speaking of Rygel, this is one of the few episodes where we see him as a full character instead of just being the comic relief or obnoxious windbag. From his interaction with Zhaan, to his hands shaking with the knife after his first cut into Moya, to his admission about being afraid of hurting the ship and failing because of his own possible incompetence, he truly shines.
• With hindsight, it's wonderful to see the totally in control of her dark side Zhaan, and her selflessness and compassion are sorely missed.
• What little Aeryn had was very well done, and you can see the respect she gains for Zhaan very clearly when she returns to the ship.
• Crichton's devotion to rescuing D'Argo was very nice, even if D'Argo won't return the favor for a while.
• The final shot of Zhaan and Rygel laying head to head on their backs in sastifyed exhaustion was a wonderful picture to end their part of the story.
• Finally, the shot of Moya crash-landing was EXCELLENT!

The Bad:

• Not much in this one. I still think the fact that Crichton and the Jody Foster Contact woman could understand each other should have had SOME kind of acknowledgment...even after Crichton's notes explained it away. A simple "You can understand me?" by someone would have been enough.
• I don't quite understand the reason the kid had to walk up to D'Argo before Crichton could surprise the guards. The plan could have been just as effective without him, but it did allow the nice exchange between D'Argo and the kid after he was rescued.
• And speaking of D'Argo, this Luxian is supposed to be a fearsome general and yet he appears to be captured fairly often! Especially this time with the relative weakness of the natives, it seemed that his capture was only a plot device.

The Nitpicky:

• So they landed in the Southern part of the planet eh? 5 minutes after landing they have Uncle Jed and Billy Bob rounding up the neighbors and their hounds to protect the farm.
• What is with the large ugly jellyfish in the clear tube in the middle of the main room? You can see it clearly when Jody Foster is talking to the General.
• So D'Argo would have found out about handshaking in this episode, and not in TTBRC?
• The last shot of Crichton staring out at the planet is accompanied by soothing, happy, hopeful music...until the credits break in and it changes to the awfully harsh theme song :-) That just felt like a sudden jolt, like the scifi lady suddenly releasing the safety harness and telling us the ride had come to a complete stop and to please exit the car.

And that's all. Next week we've got another new episode, so get your VCR's ready and keep looking to the skies!

Howabout you being a bit sensitive? - Crichton to Aeryn
Lauren (OboeCrazy)