I read that this episode had been intended as the season opener originally but was then slightly changed so it was told in flashback and moved to a position later in the season; to my mind this was an unfortunate move as showing it in flashback removed the sense of danger. The episode opens with Zhaan and Crichton stranded in a pod; while they wait to be picked up Zhaan tells Crichton of her experiences on the planet Litigara while she, Chiana and Rygel were searching for Crichton, D'Argo and Aeryn. While there she was framed for a very minor crime; this is a major problem though as the punishment is ten days in prison and Moya is preparing to leave the system to search for her son. It looks like her problems are solved when a local helps her escape; this was just part of a larger conspiracy though as her escape route leads her to the body of a murdered civil rights activist and she is promptly arrested for that crime... there is only one punishment if she is found guilty; death, in three days time! Even though the planet's population is ninety percent lawyers nobody will defend her as knowingly bearing false testimony would lead to them sharing her fate and they all think she did it. If she is to survive she will have to rely on the representations of Chiana and Rygel... hardly anybody's first choice for a lawyer!
As said before I think this would have been better as the opening episode, however it was still fairly gripping and it was nice to Chiana and Rygel save the day for once. Gigi Edgely once again impressed as Chiana, Rygel is so well animated it is easy to forget that he is really just a puppet and Virginia Hey put in a fine performance as the increasingly distressed Zhaan. The idea of a society where ninety percent of the population are lawyers isn't really believable but if you can suspend your disbelief at that the story is fairly tense. The ending is somewhat deus ex machina but is satisfying none the less to see the tables turned on the real villain. Over all this was a pretty good episode although I think next time I watch the series I'll try watching the original version at the beginning of this season.
As said before I think this would have been better as the opening episode, however it was still fairly gripping and it was nice to Chiana and Rygel save the day for once. Gigi Edgely once again impressed as Chiana, Rygel is so well animated it is easy to forget that he is really just a puppet and Virginia Hey put in a fine performance as the increasingly distressed Zhaan. The idea of a society where ninety percent of the population are lawyers isn't really believable but if you can suspend your disbelief at that the story is fairly tense. The ending is somewhat deus ex machina but is satisfying none the less to see the tables turned on the real villain. Over all this was a pretty good episode although I think next time I watch the series I'll try watching the original version at the beginning of this season.
