This episode is a clever take on the old "Carrot & Stick" ploy; of offering something badly wanted, only to deliver a short sharp shock! The crew of Moya encounter an alien geneticist who can track down a path across the universe to the home world, simply by sampling the races' D.N.A. Then deliver the results in the form of an interstellar map. The introduction of such an opportunity causes major upheaval to the crew, as Rygel, Zhaan and Dargo quickly decide that the cost (one of Pilot's four arms)is well worth the sacrifice, much to pilot's dismay. Crichton and Aeryn object but are not consulted in time to stop the event occurring, needless to say Crichton in his human-ness is horrified as is Aeryn (possibly due to the fact that Crichton has no foreseeable route home anyway & Aeryn cannot return from exile to the peacekeepers and has no home"world" to boot, unlike the other 3). The geneticist then proceeds to graft pilots' D.N.A into Aeryns prompting major changes to her overall form.
This episode is one of my favourites from Season 1, for many different reasons: It highlights how quickly the crew turn mercenary and forsake pilot to look out for number 1. It is also one of the major indicators that Aeryn and her "tough-girl" attitude is all a front, as she leans on Crighton heavily throughout the second half of the episode, reaching out to him both physically and emotionally for help and reveals a great deal of her inner feelings. P.K Tech girl highlighted her jealousy of having a significant rival for John's attention, but this episode far outstrips it with real emotional turmoil sparking the start of what I consider to be THE best "Space-Opera" romantic relationship, that takes well over 3 seasons to properly develop. It also shows us how aggressive Zhaan's encounter with Maldis in the previous episode has resulted in her being decidedly darker and quicker to anger than we had come to expect from earlier episodes.
All in all this episode really delivers on many different levels and represents why so many fans have heaped critical acclaim upon this fantastic and underrated Sci-Fi series...Superb!
