Alonzo narrates this episode, stating they've been crossing
the planet for weeks.
Alonzo, who normally drives the red ATV, rides in the yellow
DuneRail with Julia as the episode opens. A nice detail is
that, as the camera delivers a close-up of Alonzo's eye as
he's receiving a dream communication from the Terrians, the
details of the yellow DuneRail can be seen reflected in his
cornea.
When it starts to rain, the group runs for cover in and
under the TransRover. Julia scans the downpour and announces
it is not toxic in any way, a reference to the pollution of
Earth, where most rainfalls are probably acid rain.
Morgan mentions that he's a lawyer.
Danziger refers to Terrians as "diggers" here and continues to
do so a number of times throughout the series.
Gaal mentions the Terrians existing in tribes.
Julia is finally able to get close enough to a Terrian to
scan one. The device is unable to identify the life form as
either animal, vegetable, or mineral. But Julia will later
refer to the Terrians' bodies as "plant-like" in
"After the Thaw".
Alonzo says that the Terrian has told him that all Terrians
are male.
Alonzo thinks that the healing the Terrians have done for
Uly created a bond to the beings such that when the Terrians
are suffering, Uly does too. That is why Uly has started to
get sick again.
At 27:43 on the DVD, as Devon first raises the jumpers
(electro-binoculars) to
her eyes to look at the lone Terrian below, notice that a
couple of other Terrian heads poke up in the bottom of the
viewer, even though she's supposed to be seeing an empty
scene. The shot was obviously taken from the one that
occurs about 30 seconds later, when Gaal's controlled group
of Terrians shows up.
After Devon and Danziger report that they spied Gaal in the
area, Magus describes the weaponry the group has available:
Commander O'Neill's old hunting rifle, 2 Mag-Pro rifles,
one handgun, and one Mag-Pro grenade launcher.
At 30:17 on the DVD, as Gaal is preparing his own weapons,
it sounds as if he may be humming "Ride of the Valkyries"
from Richard Wagner's 1870 opera The Valkyrie.
During his monologue as he ponders the slaughter he plans to
inflict on the Eden Advance group, Gaal indicates there are 17
members. But there are only 16 unless Zero is counted as a
member.
We see that Gaal has his own Mag-Pro rifle and grenade
launcher.
At 33:55 on the DVD, a wheeled box labeled Mobile Repair
Unit can be seen behind True. It appears to hold tools and
devices used by Danziger in his work as a mechanic.
Gaal reveals to True that he has discovered that Terrians
can not strike at their own kind. He wears a necklace of
Terrian bones which keeps him safe from them. I don't know
why the Terrians wouldn't be able to work around the
difference of an actual Terrian and some other species
wearing a bone necklace.
Gaal mentions to True his having read the Iliad and
refers to the Trojan Horse. This lets us know that he was
aware of her deception regarding the TransRover from the
start and is prepared to destroy it to kill her father and
the other group members within. However, the
Iliad, Homer's epic poem from ~8 BC, does not
mention the story of the Trojan Horse; that story is most
widely known from Virgil's Aeniad, written between
29-19 BC.
Despite his programming against firing a weapon, Yale
manages to do so in order to blast Gaal's Mag-Pro away from
him, though the action appears to strain him.
Unanswered Questions
Is Gaal dead? We see him dragged underground by the Terrians,
kicking and screaming. But did they end his life? We do not
see him again after this episode.
Did the Eden Advance group manage to salvage any of Gaal's
equipment, such as the Mag-Pro weapons and telescope device?
How do the Terrians reproduce if they are all male?
Memorable Dialog
a fierce, cold breed.wav
I will consider anything that will help my son.wav
every digger on this planet could get croaked and I could
care less.wav
come and meet your fate.wav
it's time to sin again.wav
is that a problem, pet?.wav
more in common with a mosquito.wav
I would've missed your whole childhood.wav
that part might have been true.wav
