Brief synopsis:
When the life disc inside Chiana, representing her brother's life, stops functioning, the young Nebari tackles her grief by visiting a cemetery planet and joining a clan of aliens there who take part in an odd ritual called "Taking The Stone". The jump involved looks certain to kill whoever attempts it, and Crichton is determined to stop her. In the end, its down to Aeryn's insight to let Chiana work through her feelings and come to terms with her loss.

The Main Story:
Chiana seems dazed and confused, staggering around Moya, her heart pounding. She tries to talk to Crichton, but finds him too busy to deal with her problem. She heads to a maintenance bay, and uses a crude knife to cut herself open. She then uses her hand to pull out a disc from inside, and then seals the wound afterwards without a single painkiller. The disc inside blinks a few times, then stops completely. She then leaves Moya, stealing Aeryn's Prowler. When the crew discover her absence, and the disc, Zhaan recognises it, and tells them it is a life disc, representing the life of somebody close to the wearer, and that this one has stopped.

Realising his mistake, John goes to the royal cemetery planet below, accompanied by Aeryn and Rygel, to try and find Chiana. While Rygel stays to investigate the nearby graves, John and Aeryn find Chiana. The Nebari has changed drastically, with red hair, and new clothes, and is also attached to some kind of device. When Crichton and Aeryn order her down, she is not pleased. Not only did she have a great chance at beating the record, but she was not happy at Crichton being too busy to help her before. Chiana's new clan are all young, and she says she likes it there with the aliens of the planet, and both John and Aeryn are asked to leave as they are too old.

While Rygel takes new found possessions from graves aboard Moya, much to D'Argo and Zhaan's discomfort, Aeryn asks Chiana about the life disc, and discovers it was her brother, Nerri. After a talk, Chiana asks Aeryn to stay to see the cermony, "Taking The Stone" later in the day. Crichton and Aeryn both watch, and see a group of four jump, and get caught by what Aeryn recognises as a sonic net. An older guy, 22 cycles, takes the stone next, and is not so lucky, falling to his death. Chiana tells them she will be taking the stone later, despite what they just saw. John is determined to stop her, but Aeryn knows that they simply have to let this play out.

When Crichton confronts Chiana, it is clear that she is rebelling against them, and the more Crichton says, the more likely she is to stay. John can't answer the question "What's so important on Moya?". She has a point, why keep running? Crichton then bumps into Janixx, a member of the "Lost People", a group who go into hiding if they don't take the stone at 22 cycles. A part of the woman's skin is left for John to examine, which he transmits to Moya to try and finds answers - the lady looked very ill. Continuing his investigation, John meets Molnon, who tells him that Das, the jumper who died earlier, knew that the stone has the answers.

John plays a risky game with Molnon, eating drugs with the guy, a deadly game where 3 of the 4 parts of the plant will act as the drug, the other will bring death. This does allow Crichton to question Molnon more closely though, and finds Molnon is nearing 22 cycles. However, Molnon reveals that Chiana's arrival has allowed her to take the stone in place of him, allowing him to stay, so it seems he knows more than he lets on. Crichton wakes up later, and has to take a pill to bring himself round after the heavy effects of the drug. John then goes after Chiana, pretending to have come round to her way of thinking, and knocks her out with more drugs, to try and take her to Moya.

Aeryn points out the mistake he is making, and John stops, allowing Chiana to awaken and continue her attempt at taking the stone. He can't believe how insightful Aeryn has become at this stage. Back on Moya, Rygel's new found treasure starts to make funny noises, and eventually attacks him. At first he blames Zhaan and D'Argo, but the pair have no idea what he is talking about. Zhaan meanwhile analyses the samples from the planet, and discovers that the cause is radiation, amplified by the cliff chamber, meaning they can only live safely for 22 cycles.

Crichton goes to the chamber where the jump is about to take place, and tries to tell them about the radiation, which leads to a clan vote to decide whether or not to continue jumping. Sadly, the clan decide to continue jumping. Crichton gives up, and punches Molnon, knocking the man out. He then goes to find Chiana. Here he learns about Chiana's past, that she used to follow her brother Nerri everywhere as a kid, and felt she had no courage. This was her chance to prove herself and move on. She jumps, and makes it, her powerful voice starting the sonic net.

Afterwards, Crichton and Aeryn wait whilst Chiana buries the life disc on the royal cemetery planet. As Chiana gathers her thoughts, Rygel is spooked so much by the possessions he found, he realises they must be cursed and brings them back to the planet. John goes to find Chiana, apologising for his earlier attempts to stop her, and congratulating her on the jump. Reunited, the group head back to Moya.

Trivia Quiz:

References and continuity:

When Rygel discusses the burial grounds, he asks where the dead from Earth are laid to rest, and is shocked to find they are kept on "Earp". This was the name Aeryn gave Earth when telling Crais about Crichton in the very first episode, Premiere.

The pill Crichton takes to get rid of his headache could have looked familiar had Dream A Little Dream been shown as the season opener as planned. During the episode, Chiana takes several of the pills, and Rygel explains their usage - to cure headaches. He also points out that taking too many can send the user hyper, as Chiana discovers.

Funny or interesting quotes:

Crichton: "You are the pinup girl for frontal assault"

Crichton can't understand why Aeryn is so keen to leave Chiana alone given that the ex-Peacekeeper would normally go in with all guns firing..

Crichton "When did you get so insightful?" Aeryn: "I understand loss." Having been through it before, Aeryn knows what has to happen for Chiana to come to terms with the loss of her brother. Crichton: "Lately, do I seem a little crazy to you?" Aeryn: "What do you mean, lately?"

Could John be feeling the effects of the chip? As we later learn, Scorpius left something in Crichton's head, and already the effects might be showing. Aeryn puts it down to his usually unpredictable madness though.

Director:

The director of this episode was Rowan Woods who also directed:

New Aliens:

Alien Clan		A group of aliens live below the surface of the royal cemetery planet, and have some strange rituals that cover up the true reason for their problems - radiation.
Lost People		Upon failing to take the stone, members of the clan can leave the caves, and exist away from the stone after 22 cycles.

Farewell to:

Nerri		The life disc inside Chiana stops working...
Das		He takes the stone, and fails.

Guest Stars:

• Anthony Hayes as Molnon.
• Peter Scarf as Das.
• Michela Noonan as Vyna.
• Natasha Beaumontas Janixx.

Personal Opinion:

A very dark time for Chiana, but she comes through it well. This episode, and the previous one, Vitas Mortis have felt like quite a departure from the main story, returning to the solo episode style of the first season, after a run of episodes flowing together at the season 1 cliffhanger. It works well though, especially as many other parts of season 2 do return to the longer story arcs..

Whilst Rygel's adventure was quite seperate in this episode, it was quite enjoyable, and certainly it was fun to see Crichton and Aeryn putting their minds together to try and help Chiana. However, we later learn more about this story, and if you want to skip ahead a little, take a look at A Clockwork Nebari. Another interesting fact, if you happen to own a surround setup, this episode has some particularly good surround sound effects.

	Nice to open up a new storyline for Chiana.		6/10