In the previous episode John and the crew visited '80s Earth; then they get back to Moya they find themselves in orbit above Earth in the present. This leads to a surprise when they find John's father and other humans on Moya... it turns out Moya arrived over a month before and Sikozu replied when Moya was spotted by IASA. After an initially nervous meeting John accepts that they really are back home. The US government are keep to examine various pieces of alien technology but John insists that no one country may have it... his father argues that he no longer understands Earth politics because he was away during the terrorist attacks of September 2001; John can't say that his return may have exposed Earth to an infinitely greater danger. Not all the dangers are theoretical; the creature Grayza left on Moya is now on Earth and has killed people to get information; if it can transmit information about Earth's whereabouts to Grayza the planet could be destroyed! The episode isn't all about danger though; Noranti and Chiana seem to enjoy singing Christmas carols and Aeryn has to deal with the fact that one of John's old girlfriends is trying to get close to him again.
This episode contained a great mix of action, drama and comedy. I liked how the episode dealt with how the politics of Earth had changed but didn't have John changes his views. Grayza's creature; the Skreeth; was impressively scary and so well made up I didn't realise it was a woman in the costume... perhaps I was too busy looking at its vicious teeth to notice other signs! The way it communicated with Grayza, using a telepathic device attached to Braca was inventive and the way she explained his memory lapse was hilarious in a way that made me feel sorry for the poor chap. The scenes where John's ex-girlfriend tries to get close to him again might be considered a bit soapy but that could serve to make him confront his feelings for Aeryn and bring them back together in the long run. I rather expected them to spend longer on Earth but I think it was the right move to have them depart again at the end; spending too long on Earth would just have lead to clichés and real excitement is the other side of the galaxy with the Peacekeepers and Scarrans... two species that can't get near Earth as they are far too dangerous to be believably defeated here!
This episode contained a great mix of action, drama and comedy. I liked how the episode dealt with how the politics of Earth had changed but didn't have John changes his views. Grayza's creature; the Skreeth; was impressively scary and so well made up I didn't realise it was a woman in the costume... perhaps I was too busy looking at its vicious teeth to notice other signs! The way it communicated with Grayza, using a telepathic device attached to Braca was inventive and the way she explained his memory lapse was hilarious in a way that made me feel sorry for the poor chap. The scenes where John's ex-girlfriend tries to get close to him again might be considered a bit soapy but that could serve to make him confront his feelings for Aeryn and bring them back together in the long run. I rather expected them to spend longer on Earth but I think it was the right move to have them depart again at the end; spending too long on Earth would just have lead to clichés and real excitement is the other side of the galaxy with the Peacekeepers and Scarrans... two species that can't get near Earth as they are far too dangerous to be believably defeated here!
