Before the crew can get vital repairs they must undergo a medical examination to ensure that they aren't infected by space madness; while Doctor Tumii does the tests he leaves the others dining on a variety of clams he has provided. He doesn't tell them that the clams must not be shared or it will cause fatal food poisoning. This is caused by the bacteria in the clam having a type of telepathic link; it also means that those who share each clam will share each others feelings; so when D'Argo sneezes so does Naranti, when Sakozu gets stomach ache so does Crichton and when Rygel breaks wind so does Aeryn! Tumii then informs them that he is the only person to have the cure and if they don't pay him a substantial amount he will let them die. The cure is made from other clams of the same colour and Tumii only has one purple clam; this means he can cure D'Argo and Noranti but will have to get more clams to help the others. This will be a problem though as the only source of clams is a group of women fighting for equal treatment and they want to eliminate Tumii as he is a threat to their planned revolution. If Crichton, Aeryn, Rygel and Sakozu are to survive they will have to keep Tumii alive and get their hands on the required clams.
This was an enjoyable episode with a good sense of danger as well as some good laughs... D'Argo's reaction to Noranti getting aroused was as hilarious as it was disturbing! Almost as funny was seeing Crichton dressed as a woman to infiltrate the rebel women's club... Anthony Simcoe and Ben Browder were great in these scenes! Tumii was a strange antagonist; his large nose made him look like a pantomime villain; although its length did make it easier for Rygel to bite! The women's rights subtext wasn't heavy handed and fitted well into the story without feeling as though the creators had a political message to push; the only possible fault with it was that the female mechanic who was meant to be disguised as a man did not look at all manly; she just looked like an attractive girl with short hair! Keeping spoilers to a minimum it was interesting to see Scorpius risk himself to help the others; perhaps he has given up his evil ways after all.
This was an enjoyable episode with a good sense of danger as well as some good laughs... D'Argo's reaction to Noranti getting aroused was as hilarious as it was disturbing! Almost as funny was seeing Crichton dressed as a woman to infiltrate the rebel women's club... Anthony Simcoe and Ben Browder were great in these scenes! Tumii was a strange antagonist; his large nose made him look like a pantomime villain; although its length did make it easier for Rygel to bite! The women's rights subtext wasn't heavy handed and fitted well into the story without feeling as though the creators had a political message to push; the only possible fault with it was that the female mechanic who was meant to be disguised as a man did not look at all manly; she just looked like an attractive girl with short hair! Keeping spoilers to a minimum it was interesting to see Scorpius risk himself to help the others; perhaps he has given up his evil ways after all.
