The Way We Weren't

Hi everyone! Welcome to the SACC review of The Way We Weren't. This review is brought to you by Wayne's World Flashbacks...for when you just need to have a good flashback make that "dulledo" noise and have a Wayne's World Flashback! As always this review contains big huge honkin' spoilers for The Way We Weren't, and all the opinions and views contained here are my own. Trust me, if I HAD stolen from someone this review would be better!

And away we go...

Overall:

• How far Aeryn and Pilot have come. Two beings from totally different worlds and cultures; they now share DNA, a common enemy, an understanding of Leviathans, and now a trait from their past. Both have done something in their past they regret to gain a job they wanted, and had the strength of resolve to go through with it. At first I was afraid this would tear apart the friendship that both have built, but two beings who have been through so much and shared so much will only gain strength from this shared pain, and shared forgiveness. Perhaps one day Aeryn and Pilot can forgive themselves in the same way they have forgiven each other.

Crichton:

• With the exception of a whack from Pilot nasty enough to knock both him and D'Argo clear across the room, Crichton survived this episode relatively unscathed. Of course, we have next week to worry over... This episode gets a Talk to the Claw Rating.
  At least he didn't die.

The Good:

• Velorek is a very interesting PK, a tech trying to do the right thing in the wrong situation. It's interesting that he was not deemed irreversibly contaminated by his obvious close contact with the Pilot species...perhaps in this case Command turned a blind eye since his expertise was so useful. Also the idea that he's high enough in tech command to affect where officers are assigned is an interesting facet in their life.
• This is a powerful episode for both Aeryn and Pilot. Claudia Black and Pilot's "wranglers" all do an excellent job of conveying such a wide range of emotions from horror to remorse to anger to rage...excellent job!!
• In a way Chiana made the right decision by going to Crichton first with the found tape. She must have known he would choose to show everyone at once, and keep calm about it...perhaps the best choice in this situation.
• I love the fact that Pilot's language is so complex and dense that the translator microbes can't handle it. This goes along so perfectly with everything we know about their species multi-tasking capabilities.
• Aeryn's MO when dealing with intense emotions is still to punch the living daylights out of something...at least she's evolved to the point in where it's no longer someONE.
• As a member of SACC, let me just say how HAPPY I am to see the calm, sensitive Crichton back. Perhaps that trip to madness was what he needed to calm him down...but it was very nice to see more of the sensitive Crichton and a little less of the rough, sarcastic one.
• It's interesting that in the scene where Aeryn discusses her former relationships, she says "You might have noticed I kept you at a distance." Even as they sit separated by the red triangle PK symbol on the floor...hmmm...symbolism for how her training has kept them apart?
• We've seen Pilot happy, sad, snarky, pissed, and sarcastic...but I don't think we've seen him truly furious until this episode. And I must say Pilot can be terrifying!
• Knowing Pilot has been in pain all this time puts a new spin on his whole attitude since day one. It also makes me wonder what his personality will be like now that he's no longer in pain...
• "I'm a Dominar of principal as well as action!"
• Zhaan is very open with her emotions in this episode, and one of the most powerful scenes is when she's tending to Aeryn's injuries from being strangled by Pilot. Zhaan's contempt and anger for Aeryn's former actions is clear at the beginning, but when confronted by an Aeryn being eaten alive with guilt and remorse you can almost see the guilt spring into Zhaan's eyes.
• Ah yes, you have to love the return of Rock Paper Scissors! And D'Argo shouldn't be surprised that Crichton keeps winning...it is after all a HUMAN game! :-)
• I can completely understand why Aeryn would not want to talk with Crichton about Velorek. Crichton is the only being who would fully understand...and yet he reminds Aeryn so much of Velorek it must be painful to even be reminded of him!
• Anyone else get a cold shiver when Crais gave Aeryn that appraising look after leading Velorek away?
• Aeryn is teary-eyed in this entire episode, but it's interesting that she doesn't let a single tear fall until Pilot touches her cheek at the end.
• There are few pairs of actors out there who can convey so much dialogue with so few words...the writers must have discovered that Claudia and Ben have that chemistry, because they give them scene's like the last one where the last full minute of the show has no dialogue, and yet we know exactly what is being said.

The Bad:

• We never do find out WHY Aeryn was removed from Prowler duty in the first place! Perhaps she never knew herself...
• ARG! Aeryn lays gasping and crying in Crichton's arms, the scene just barley begun, and WE GO TO COMMERCIAL?! What a sucky place for a station break!
• I got very very very very very scared when Aeryn's flashback was leading me to believe Velorek had raped Aeryn. That scene just makes my skin crawl and my stomach churn every time I see it, even though I KNOW what's coming! I can deal with a lot of things...blood, guts, gore...even sex...but I just can't deal with rape.

The Nitpicky:

• I don't have many for this episode. Perhaps because I spent so much time wrapped up in the episode to get snarky :-)
• I've been wondering where the huge honkin' spotlight flashlights had disappeared from the X-Files set...now I know, they're on MOYA!
• Did we ever find out how MOYA feels about all of this?
  

"He said I could be so much more. That's exactly what you told me my first day here." - Aeryn
Lauren (OboeCrazy)
SACCer #1: The Most Vocal Defender
TAC, TAR, FA, FBBHB