The gang's first real confrontation with the Peacekeeper captain sworn to kill Crichton is set against the backdrop of a spooky alien wizard who draws power from violence. The Day of the Dove-style setup resolves quite differently from the Star Trek episode from which this episode clearly draws inspiration.
The alien world enthralled by the mysterious wizard is gloomy, well-designed, and instantly convincing. Even its animals are memorable. Zhaan is revealed to be every bit as dangerous as the alien enemy when she lets her violent past overcome her instinct to resolve every problem peacefully.
D'Argo and Sun do nothing in this episode except serve to prove that force alone will not solve the problem. While Crichton duels with Crais, Zhaan duels with her own demons. Crichton, Crais, and Zhaan are all neatly propelled to violence by forced reminders of their own pasts, most graphically Crais being driven to rage by the alien wizard's cruel visions of Crais's dead brother.
Crichton succumbs to the instinct for violence to no meaningful end, where when Zhaan gives in to the same impulse she is at least able to temporarily subdue the alien wizard at least long enough to disperse him and save the day.
This otherwise extremely dark episode is lightened only by Rigel's lighthearted B-plot that contributes nothing to the story but some much needed levity. Henson's seeming predilection for alien mucus gives us some momentary relief from the anger and rage that bleed from half the cast most of the episode.
Where Star Trek's crew defeated its death-eating wizard nemesis with laughter and merriment, Zhaan defeats evil by unleashing perhaps a greater evil within herself. The episode ends with an ominous promise that the Zhaan we know now is as possessed by malevolence figuratively as Crichton and Crais are literally for most of the episode.
The alien world enthralled by the mysterious wizard is gloomy, well-designed, and instantly convincing. Even its animals are memorable. Zhaan is revealed to be every bit as dangerous as the alien enemy when she lets her violent past overcome her instinct to resolve every problem peacefully.
D'Argo and Sun do nothing in this episode except serve to prove that force alone will not solve the problem. While Crichton duels with Crais, Zhaan duels with her own demons. Crichton, Crais, and Zhaan are all neatly propelled to violence by forced reminders of their own pasts, most graphically Crais being driven to rage by the alien wizard's cruel visions of Crais's dead brother.
Crichton succumbs to the instinct for violence to no meaningful end, where when Zhaan gives in to the same impulse she is at least able to temporarily subdue the alien wizard at least long enough to disperse him and save the day.
This otherwise extremely dark episode is lightened only by Rigel's lighthearted B-plot that contributes nothing to the story but some much needed levity. Henson's seeming predilection for alien mucus gives us some momentary relief from the anger and rage that bleed from half the cast most of the episode.
Where Star Trek's crew defeated its death-eating wizard nemesis with laughter and merriment, Zhaan defeats evil by unleashing perhaps a greater evil within herself. The episode ends with an ominous promise that the Zhaan we know now is as possessed by malevolence figuratively as Crichton and Crais are literally for most of the episode.