In Old Town, Dutch and D’avin come across two scavengers for
Company tools. They agree to hand over the devices in exchange for technology
for their condition. Then, Dutch and D’avin reveal their identities as RAC
agents and arrest the men. As they take the two down, Dutch ponders John’s
mission with Pawter, questioning if things will turn out okay. D’avin reminds
her who she’s talking about but doesn’t share her worry. He suggests meeting up
for a drink at the Royale, leading Dutch to remark on how interested he is in
the new assistant bartender Sabine.
On Qresh, John escorts Pawter to her family’s home where
they meet the servant Castor. It’s John and Pawter’s hope that she can convince
her mother to lift her exile ban from Qresh in order to help the citizens of
Old Town. The two then meet with Pawter’s sister Louella Seyah Simms. She
introduces her sister to her fiancé Hank who appears to have had a romantic
history with Pawter. Regardless, they are less impressed with Pawter bringing a
Killjoy escort. In the midst of the awkwardness, Pawter’s father Weyner comes
to see his daughter. Despite her exile, he warmly embraces her.
D’avin arrives at the Royale where Sabine already has his
favorite drink ready: a beer. In exchange for knowing him so well, Sabine asks
that after he leaves the wall of Old Town if he could pick up some peaches for
the return since her family used to farm them. She then asks about D’avin’s
background, leading him to reveal that he was born on Telen. Instinctively, she
deduces his horrible childhood noting that he wouldn’t be halfway across the
galaxy if his upbringing was good. D’avin begins to respond but then starts
hearing an odd tune playing in the background. He then sees strange images of a
green ooze and bright lights before finally losing consciousness.
At the same time, Khlyen links himself with the green ooze
to search for D’avin’s father. Fancy tells him that the Black Root is on their
trail. Using an electric weapon, he plans to fight off the people tracking
them.
Pawter: There used to be a family of four in this picture.
Johnny: Points for being thorough.
Back on Qresh, Weyner admits that he is a little
disappointed that she left the protection of Spring Hill, but Pawter is
insistent to speak to her mother. He attempts to offer help, but Pawter reminds
him that he is a Simms only by marriage. Only the head of the house can lift
her exile, and as her daughter, she reveals to her father, she can pull her
weight in protecting Old Town by speaking with the board. With the help that
she has done on Old Town, this can mean exponentially more.
Meanwhile, John
enjoys the comforts of the wealthy by skinny-dipping in the baptismal pool.
Pawter meets up with him in order to prepare him for the traditions he needs in
having a dinner on Qresh.
On Telen, Khlyen and Fancy track down D’avin and John’s
father Marris and asks for a talk.
D’avin returns to the ship and recounts everything that
happened between him and Sabine. When he reveals that he had passed out in the
middle of the talk, Dutch grows a little worried, remembering the last time
D’avin passed out for no reason. Without thinking, D’avin begins humming the
song he heard, leading Dutch to hold him at gunpoint. She reveals that only
Khlyen knows that song since he wrote it for her.
In the midst of this, Khlyen and Fancy continue to
interrogate Marris who insists that D’avin left him for the Army a long time
ago. With no clear answers, Khlyen moves on to another method of learning the
truth: finding out if Marris shares his son’s immunity.
The Qreshis begin their dinner rituals, much to John’s
discomfort. They welcome the rest of Pawter’s family and attempt to act
naturally with Louella referring to her new interest in deep sea diving. Then,
they are presented to Adeline Simms, Pawter’s mother. Weyner attempts to appeal
to his wife, but Adeline is insistent that Pawter’s exile remain. Nevertheless,
she allows her daughter to eat with them. Pawter leaves the table, peaking
John’s attention. Hank tries to advise John on the proper tradition to exit,
but John shoots him down. Since he is not a Qreshi, he doesn’t care about their
manners.
In the main room, John tries to console Pawter who feels as
though she has been no better than the girl she was when she left Qresh. John
then reminds her about the reason she came back since she believes Old Town
deserves better, but, suddenly, the two are interrupted by Castor. He walks in
stilted, keeping everyone away from him. Suddenly, he warns the two about a fog
and then freezes before their eyes.
The rest of the household gather together to analyze what
happened. Adeline plans to study the pieces of Castor and orders everyone to
stay where they are. John disagrees, believing the attack could be a part of a
larger biological warfare. Nevertheless, Adeline states that she will protect
the family as she has for the past twenty years. John tells Pawter that,
despite her mother’s insistence, she should help while he sets up a distress
signal.
Pawter enters her mother’s lab and proceeds to help analyze
the frozen pieces with Adeline. In spite of the crisis, Pawter remarks on how
the situation of watching her mother in the lab seems familiar. Watching her
mother in the lab, she notes, is probably why she became a doctor. Adeline
still shows her disappointment in her daughter even as she tries to help since,
according to her, Pawter couldn’t measure up to being a household head. In
order to do that, she would need to prove that she could make hard decisions.
In their research, Pawter discovers that the fog is actually a pathogen.
Back on the ship, D’avin begins to experience more images of
Khlyen. This time, D’avin attempts to focus on what Khlyen can see as he
tortures Marris. Since Marris has proven weak against the green substance, they
have found that the father apparently has no immunity. Fancy then suggests they
search for D’avin’s mother, but Khlyen then begins to experience D’avin’s
connection. As the men struggle, the two scavengers from the warrant attempt to
escape, forcing Dutch to fight them off by herself. In the intense connection
between D’avin and Khlyen, the two end up switching consciousness as D’avin
faces his father and Khlyen fights off the warrants in each other’s body. The
resulting fight causes Khlyen to bleed as he uses D’avin’s body.
On Qresh, the family gathers together as the fog begins to
gather closer to the house. Louella suddenly remembers about the ship crew on
the yacht and runs to try and warn the others. The family attempts to stop her,
but she reaches the door as her arm touches the fog. Her hand begins to freeze
over without signs of stopping. Thinking quickly, Pawter takes a decorative axe
and hacks her sister’s arm to stop the pathogen, much to the shock of her
family.
On Telen, D’avin attempts to fake his way as Khlyen, but he
is quickly found out by Fancy. The two fight off with Khlyen’s enhanced
strength playing in D’avin’s favor. He defeats Fancy by knocking him out with
the electrical weapon and attempts to wake up his dad to save him.
On Qresh, John tries to develop a plan as Weyner breaks
apart a chair to provide heat. In that moment, Weyner reveals that he used to
be a carpenter before he married into the Simms family. In fact, he and his
family helped to build the Simms family home. He and Adeline fell in love,
despite her family’s objections, and the two married following Adeline fighting
for their relationship. John fires back at him, questioning what he did when
Adeline called for the exile of their own daughter. Weyner explains that when
you love two women equally, you chose the path that makes you a better man.
John simply calls him an asshole, since he of all people knows about asshole
fathers. Weyner just replies that John does not know what’s best for the Nine
or his daughter. In his research, John discovers an alpha barrier surrounding
the building, one that keeps everything except light and air trapped in the
area. All he needs to do now is destroy it.
Back on the ship, Dutch demands to know what happened.
Khlyen explains plainly that his and D’avin’s consciousness were switched, but
now, he needs to message Fancy before the Black Root can track his body on
Telen. Dutch remarks that the Black Root seems to be the only thing she’s seem
him to be afraid of something, but Khlyen states that they ordinarily report
him. The wounds on D’avin’s body keep bleeding, however, so Dutch proceeds to
staple the area, despite helping Khlyen.
John goes to the lab to demand that Adeline explain why she
didn’t reveal she had an alpha shield on the building. Unfortunately, she
reveals that she has infected herself with the pathogen in hopes of inspiring a
cure. John correctly deduces that she created the pathogen in the first place,
but Adeline admits that this is otherwise an attack on the family as someone
has stolen it. John believes he can stop the spread around the area by planting
a bomb at the power line of the shield, destroying the barrier in order to let
them escape. Adeline, however, argues that the barrier is what keeps the
pathogen from infecting the planet. When John states that the water will help
disperse the toxic, Adeline reveals that the pathogen would actually replicate
and spread until it reaches the rest of the planet.
Pawter then arrives to see her mother being infected with
the pathogen. In spite of being infected, Adeline remarks that she was
impressed by Pawter’s quick thinking with her sister. She then reveals to her
daughter that Qresh is under a ticking bomb, and the pathogen was a method to
make the planet uninhabitable for anyone who would want to take it. While some
members of the Nine have accepted it, others have not. Pawter doesn’t
understand what her mother is saying, so Adeline gives to her the pathogen
formula to figure out a new cure. In spite of her daughter’s fears, Adeline
insists that this is what it takes to be the head of the family, something
Weyner never wanted for her. Adeline then freezes from the pathogen.
Adeline: To protect those you love you must become something you hate.
Dutch finishes stapling D’avin’s wounds as Khlyen explains
that he is interested in D’avin’s immunity to the green substance. Dutch
questions what the substance is, but Khlyen only responds that it is the
beginning or the end, depending how one looks at it. Rapidly, however, D’avin’s
body starts shutting down, unaccustomed to the change. The only way to save
either of them is to switch back, something that even Khlyen is unsure how to
do.
D’avin continues to try and move his dad, but Marris refuses
to listen to him. D’avin then recounts a time when Marris forced him to sleep
in a cave for a summer as a child, and Marris recognizes his son. As Khlyen,
D’avin helps his dad escape the room before Fancy can reawaken. Marris attempts
to apologize to his son for his actions, but D’avin refuses to listen to him.
D’avin then fights a renewed Fancy, but the stress of the switch finally knocks
D’avin unconscious.
Khlyen reawakens in his ship with Fancy. He reveals his new
knowledge on D’avin’s experimentation based on the military, providing a new
angle to discover his immunity.
Using her mother’s research, Pawter delves deeper into the
pathogen, discovering it to be a hybrid of a virus. One of its fatal components
is heat. If they can find a way to create a devastating heat, they could
destroy the pathogen. Dutch then calls John and asks, on the hypothetical
notion, on how to switch two people’s brains. John responds that with the right
electrical jolt she should be able to produce a change. He then asks her, on
the hypothetical notion, of how many explosions would it be necessary to
disrupt a power system. She gives him the idea that if he goes after the main
line he would only need one clear shot. He reiterates this plan to the others,
but Pawter reminds him that the main line is located outside the house in the
fog. Fortunately, Louella reminds him of her deep sea diving hobby. She lends
him a diving suit to move through the fog untouched to the main line. Once he
reaches the power system, he confronts a vengeful Hank.
John learns that Hank was the one to set off the pathogen,
and now he is willing to let it kill of the family to collect the bounty.
Weyner, questioning the time John is taking, decides to go after him. Pawter
and Louella protest since he has nothing for protection against the fog, but
Weyner is determined to save his family.
On the ship, Dutch prepares to shock D’avin’s body, though
she has no full idea if it will work.
Weyner arrives just in time to save John, but their time is
almost up to blow up the main line. With no other solution, Weyner orders John
to evacuate the system so that he can set off the explosion to the main line.
John protests, but Weyner admits that he will be killed by the pathogen anyway.
His last request is for John to take care of his daughter as he gives the
younger man two minutes to return to the house. John leaves with a deeper
appreciation of Pawter’s father.
Meanwhile, Dutch’s electric treatment is proving unhelpful,
though she remains desperate to have D’avin return. Khlyen asks if she has any
last words for him before he goes, and she reveals that things have changed.
She used to hate him, which was simpler than things are now. Now, she feels as
though she is floating. Khlyen then notices D’avin’s readings and realizes what
he wanted to know all along. He asks Dutch who had experimented on D’avin
before him, to which Dutch responds the army. Khlyen then admits that his last
transmission from Red 17, the one they have not yet decoded, will provide her
answers. Before she shocks him one last time, Dutch asks why was she on Arkyn.
Khlyen responds that it wasn’t her before shocking himself.
Weyner sets off the explosion to the main line which
disrupts the barrier and disintegrates the pathogen. Unfortunately, when John
returns to the house, Pawter and Louella face the fact that both of their
parents are dead.
Pawter is then sworn in as the Lady of the Land to represent
her family. Although she still has many opponents in the Nine, she is now in a
position to fight for the people in Old Town. Despite his neutrality as a
Killjoy, John encourages her to keep to her plan to help the people in
Westerly. Pawter questions his devotion, but John admits that he prefers giving
a shit, believing she is the one who reminds him to give one. Unfortunately,
Pawter advises John to keep their plan hidden from Dutch and D’avin, but John
responds by kissing Pawter.
Back on the ship, John asks D’avin what it was like being
Khlyen and seeing their dad. Surprisingly, D’avin remarks on how small their
dad looked now. Dutch then arrives to alert that the Level 2 warrants have been
secured. D’avin leaves the two to talk, but Dutch immediately hugs John. She
tells him that she has realized something. While so many things have made her
feel distant, John remains her gravity. She asks him to reassure her that
things will not change between them. Despite his own word to Pawter, John
assures her that things will be fine.
Level 6 Notes
- The episode title "Meet The Parents" refers to the 2000 movie by the same name.
- Based on Adeline's pathogen and Delle Seyah's preparations, a war may indeed be coming to the Quad.
- Could the Army have had something to do with D'avin's immunity?
Photo Credit: Syfy
