BBQ'd 'scape
I Shrink Therefore I Am
'scape links
ep discussion
The one where Jen goes, "I rock!" And the BBQ can't help but agree.
I Shrink stands as our absolute favorite in the Season thus far. Rockin' ep, and questions actually get *gasp* answered, even for those too blind to see.
Returning from a grocery run, John discovers uninvited guests have boarded Moya and taken the remaining crew prisoner.
New to 'scape
Aliens & Critters
- Coreeshi. The Coreeshi are a bipedal alien species who also apparently excel at the Bounty Hunter Trade. Exact appearance unknown as these go about in full body armor. Flesh the consistency of pumpkin guts is about the closest we'll get here. That and dark red blood.
- Scarran. Yeah, okay, we've seen these before so, not new. However, this is yet another 'sub-species', a member of the Scarran Ruling Class. Yet more evidence that the Scarran also enjoy a bit of genetic tampering. As though the existence of Scorpius wouldn't be evidence enough.
- Filima Bug. Tiny species of insect. Pick your tiny insect of choice for appropriate mental picture. The BBQ went for pill bug, wood louse, doodlebug, roly-poly. Take yer pick. A small terrestrial isopod crustacean of the genus Armadillidium closely related to the sow bug and having a convex, segmented, flexible body enabling it to curl into a ball when disturbed. Okay, too much information. Moving on.
Words
- dranuk. Hynerian insult, potential Earth translation; ambiguous. Potentially really rude. "What are you staring at, dranuk?"
Self-Referencing's a Bitch!:
Big Deals, Nicknames and Crichtonisms
- Historic, nixa, Historic...
John mentions needing a Blunderbuss. An antique shooting device (17th-19th Century; Earth)-- a big frellin' gun with a very wide firing range. Very popular and signature weapon of Pirates.
He also deems D'Argo's purloined big gun [LGM3/IP1/JQ], a 'Bazooka'. A close range infantry weapon developed by the US Army (Circa WWII).
John mutters a historic line before crushing la cucaracha: Neil Armstrong's, "One small step for man." And leaves an icky footprint on the deck.
- John Culture
Die Hard. Pop culture film reference: 1988 Bruce Willis film with more than a 'few' similaries to 'I Shrink'. I get that this makes John, 'John McLane', but does this mean Scorpy is Sgt. Al Powell?
Honey, I Shrunk The Kids 1989, genre comedy where mad-dad-scientist Rick Moranis invents a shrinking ray- used to 'comic' effect. As John worries later on, one of the unfortunate side-effects of the ray was to 'blow things up'. Matt Frewer, of Max Headroom fame, co-starred. Wormholes also play a 'large' part in the film. Not those kind, silly. Cool. Do they do this on purpose?!
Battlestar Galactica. 1978 television series; and fans get all excited as John gives heavy rotation to the reference. Designating Axikor as both 'the head Cylon' and 'Imperious Leader'-- two different antagonists in the BG mythos.
The Day The Earth Stood Still. Pop culture film reference, a 1951 classic. John's dubbing of Axikor as Gort-- another armored figure, although far less benevolent than the film's. John also quotes the classic line, 'Klaatu barada nikto', the line the alien from a better place than ours gave to Helen to give to Gort-- in effect, 'Go fetch Klaatu'. Which serves to place John as Klaatu, another thinly disguised savior from another planet. Oh, and damn! Let's not forget Klaatu's message to the warring species of Earth, "Your choice is simple. Join us and live in peace or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer. The decision rests with you.". Man. I love this stuff. At least Klaatu didn't die. ;)
In the interest of there being 'never too much trivia', Kevin reminds the BBQ that 'Klaatu Barada Nikto' was also used in 'Army of Darkness', by Ash, the reluctant and horribly inept hero of that saga, mis-stating a spell and bringing all hell down on his head *snicker*. Trying to think if there have been 'other' AoD reference in 'scape. Thanks, thanks, Kev!
John mentions the classic game show 'Jeopardy' as a potential pastime for the crew.
Another Three Stooges reference, obliquely, although pretty certain it ain't a coinkidink.
A nod to Warner Bros. Cartoons - John's goin' wabbit huntin'. Which sorta makes John 'Elmer Fudd' here. Perhaps not the greatest role model goin' in.
Darby O'Gill and the Little People John's reference to the little people might be a reference to 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People', a 1959 Disney movie that - incongruously in retrospect - starred Scotsman Sean Connery in a film about leprechauns, three years before he became Bond, James Bond.
John ref's Noranti's vacuum coma remedy as 'Play-doh'. - Buggin'... Crichton also called Crais a cockroach in "Green-Eyed Monster". Apparently Crichton has a considerable antipathy to cockroaches. 'Como estas, la cucaracha.' probably the closest he can get to 'eat this, you cockroach'. How hard is that? 'como esto, la cucaracha.'?
- John nicks D as Captain James T. D'Argo, and refers to the bounty hunters as 'gate crashers', erp lingo for uninvited party guests, and later as 'battlebot's. Chiana calls one of the bounty hunters, 'Soldier Boy'. John refers to the shrunk Chiana and Aeryn as 'inaction' figures. Calls Chiana, 'nurse', and Rygel 'tadpole'.
- We finally get to hear the dead or alive bounty on Crichton. 15 million alive. Grayza's holo is cut off before we hear if they get more for dead. Probably not.
- Cue The Cool Stuff
Magnetic Pain Cuffs. More dren for Moya, but with at least five and a half pairs hangin' around Moya, seems a nice tool to use to keep Scorpy in line.
Moya's Air Ducts. We knew they were there, just never seen them before. They seem to run inside the ceilings. At least in Command and passageways.
Noranti can induce a vacuum coma which lasts for three arns.
Tormented Space. And okay, we hardly ever giggle at 'scape stuff, but we got a severe Space Balls vibe when Pilot reluctantly mentioned this potential new refuge. No Scarrans or Peacekeepers, but a whole new Torment. Will they have to travel there using Ludicrous Speed? Will they encounter Darth Helmet? Will the key to wormhole travel be 1-2-3-4? *snicker*
Casualties and 'Frell! That's gonna leave a mark!':
- The Coreeshi; big and small. John tags one with big gun, gets another with a little help from a friend, and crushes big guy like a bug. Big Guy nails the three remaining, for a total of five Coreeshi and one Scarran.
- John drops some blood for the cause. Shot in the leg by a Bounty Hunter and bloodied by a backhand to the kisser. The rest is tit for tat so be won't count that.
- Chi loses sight for the sake of the team, lingering in darkness for longer than ever.
- Both Aeryn and D'Argo feel the effects of the magnetic pain cuffs.
- Wow, who ever would have guessed we'd be keeping count of Scorpy's major insults? Scorpy takes one in the armor for the team and also feels the effects of the pain cuffs.
- Aeryn and 1812 feel a near miss and go down in a pile.
- Sikozu, D'Argo, Aeryn, Chiana, Rygel and Scorpius; all shrunk to a size hardly larger than a filima bug. It's not the size that counts... yeah, yeah. Counts as, what? Blow to the ego?
Very Fine Lines
- "Ka D'Argo is currently... helping Rygel with his... laundry. And Aeryn's writing some... poetry."
- "You could do with some assistance."
"You really think our relationship... has progressed that far?" - "This is John Crichton paging the head Cylon. Pick up the phone, Imperious Leader."
- "You didn't expect me to give you a loaded weapon, did you?"
"Well, yes." - "I've been around long enough to know how ignorant I am. I don't assume the universe obeys my preconceptions. Hah! But I know a frelling fact when it hits me in the face."
- "You're smoking. -- You know that's not good for you."
"The replacement cooling rods Sikozu has formulated... does not function well in times of exertion."
"Then don't exert. Hit the bench, go on."
"How did you survive this far?"
"Charm. Good looks. Winning attitude."
CONTRIBUTORS:
The BBQ would like to kindly acknowledge the following fans who cared enough to send a lovely email and, you know smack the hell outta me for a mistake or an overlooked gem.
Atana_Mirtai, Minnie Moi, 4-GOM...
...and a couple other people I've forgotten because I've just now thought of this cool way of keeping track. Keep the thwaps comin' I really love this stuff!
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