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The Ugly Truth
Teleplay by Harry Werksman Junior & Gabrielle Stanton
Directed by Tony Tilse
PLOT
Talyn destroys an alien ship. Crichton and the others are put on trial for the crime. Each of them gets called to the Diary Room to recount their version of events.
REVIEW
Again, it all finished in the 39th minute and again the padding began with this storyline of D'Argo's son. It became obvious very quickly that we were going to have to hear every character's account of the events on Talyn, an idea which did seem tedious.
In practice it worked much better than advertised. The stories all varied amusingly, not just with straight lies but also via more subtle twists of emphasis. In D'Argo's version, for instance, he was the leader of the group and tended to stay to the foreground. This was not necessarily the case for the other versions of the event.
The set design, was easily the most striking aspect of what must surely have been an otherwise low budget episode. The interrogation chair above the water was simple and yet very effective. While the 'flying hubcap' was cheap, you did become convinced that there was a sheer drop around it.
When a series doesn't successfully make the audience care about a character, it sometimes tries to show you that you should by having another character care profoundly. This may explain Zhaan's rather sudden and rather deep sorrow at Stark's fate. Although that could just be Zhaan finally getting to do something and milking the scene for all she could.
DID YOU NOTICE?
The first difference between people's accounts of what happened is with Crichton's speech after suggesting they "skip the meet and greet".
In the teaser, Crichton asks Crais: "Why did you call us?" In the next version, he asks: "Why did you phone us?" That's the sort of thing Crichton might say and might remember saying, but this second view as Aeryn's who wouldn't know what a phone was.
Crichton goes to some trouble to find out what Aeryn's told the aliens so that the crew can tell the same story. No one does.
Once again, Moya's hiding in the Uncharted Territories means nothing as Crais and Talyn find her easily enough. Presumably this was Leviathan ship calling another Leviathan. Or maybe they've got their own interstellar intranet. Even if it were Talyn that made the contact, why couldn't Moya use the same system to phone him back later?
What was the point of Moya trying to find Talyn when she then caved in at the slightest request from Chiana not to do so?
The Big Brother voice that called each contestant into the interrogation sounded a lot like Jonathan Hardy, the voice of Rygel.
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Mind the Baby
Vitas Mortis
Taking the Stone
Crackers don't Matter
The Way We Weren't
Picture if you Will
Home on the Remains
Dream a Little Dream
Out of Their Minds
Look at the Princess Part 1
Look at the Princess Part 2
Look at the Princess Part 3
My Three Crichtons
Beware of Dog
Won't Be Fooled Again
The Locket
The Ugly Truth
A Clockwork Nebari
Liars, Guns and Money Part 1
Liars, Guns and Money Part 2
Liars, Guns and Money Part 3
Die Me Dichotomy
To Season One
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