Talk about buyer’s remorse! It seems that every time this bunch buys something it turns around and bites them on the butt. You think they’d learn, but nooooo, they just keep on spending. Thank God! Things that come aboard Moya always cause problems, whether invited (T’raltixx) uninvited (the Draks) stolen (Borinium ingots/Karack Metalites) purchased (the Vorc) rescued (Verell & Matala) captured (the Intellent Virus) hidden (Paddoc Beacon) or given asylum (Scorpius) to mention but a few. 

This week it was Talikaa, a slave girl who touched Chiana’s compassion. Unfortunately, when Talikaa actually touched her things began going downhill. Talikaa had the ability to magnify a person’s dominant trait and then steal it from them, leaving them lost and lethargic. She would then store the neural energy pods in her “nest” for later consumption and go hunting for a new victim. One by one she worked her way through the crew. 

Crichton: Poor John. Even in the worst of times he’d always been hopeful and tenacious, but once Talikaa got finished with him, he just wilted, giving up and giving in to despair. After her first touch, it seemed that nothing could steal John’s positive attitude, not a whack upside the head from Aeryn, not the thought of the traders returning for retribution, and especially not Pilot’s communications woes. You wouldn’t think a little bug bite could change that, but in an instant he became a quitter, doing not much more than waiting for death.  

Aeryn: At a touch from Talikaa, Officer Aeryn Sun returned in full Peacekeeper military mode. She hasn’t clobbered John that hard since season one! Aeryn lost all the “humanity” she’d acquired over the last several cycles. After spending months of begging John to take her back, when he agreed she merely walked away. Talikaa harvested all this energy, put it in a pod and hung it in her nest leaving Aeryn confused and directionless. 

Chiana: The whole thing began with Chiana. Remembering her own imprisonments, she felt sorry for Talikaa, and insisted on  buying her away from the traders. A short while in Talikaa’s company and, as Crichton noted, she was in overdrive, coming on to everyone who came near her regardless of whether or not they were interested. After Talikaa, she was the only one actually aware of what she’d lost. In fact, when she pointed out everyone’s lost personality traits, Chiana was the only one who was sorry about the loss. 

D'Argo: Talk about anger! D'Argo was one snarl short of hyper-rage before Spiderwoman bit him. Afterwards he was just a little bit too even-tempered. No anger, no rage, no D'Argo as we all know and love him. 

Rygel: Who would have thought that Rygel could become more greedy? Or for that matter, less greedy. Talikaa did a number on our Dominar – he actually wanted to give currency away! And speaking of numbers, can anyone tell me what number you could add a digit to in order to make a coin worth 100 crindars, twelve times its original value? Has he been taking math lessons from the Vorcarians? Or have I? 

Scorpius: I guess “oh yuk” is probably the best description of Scorpy this week. The Scarran part of him isn’t pretty, not pretty at all. Come to think of it, the Sebacean half isn’t all that gorgeous either. His new industrial-sized cooling system is really…um…cool, though. 

The final scene: At last John fesses up to Aeryn why he was snorting Laka bug juice. A short while ago he told D'Argo that it was more complicated than merely forgetting Aeryn and now we know what he meant. He needs to hide his feelings from Scorpius, who’s been spying on him via the comms system. While he was inhaling the Laka, he must have forgotten the Scorpy problem along with his feelings for Aeryn because he could have confessed to her while they were on earth if he had cared to. In any case, it was great to see the two of them happy for a little while.