Sour Candy
Episode 5 of Intergalactic Season 1 begins with Verona and Emma tending to Ash’s deadly spider bite. She’s been out cold for two days, but now the group make it to a planet called Skov. The temperature outside is -10 degrees and they intend to head out and seek help. Given this is Candy’s home planet, she wants a family reunion. Tula is not so sure that’s a good idea and convinces her to snort another line and forget about her troubles. Candy does no such though though, and eventually heads out with the others to this very Earth-looking world. She greets her Mother Phoebe, although Tula’s rude welcoming breaks up this happy reunion for now. Drew and Genevieve meanwhile, have problems. After hooking up together on the ship, Genevieve’s hair malfunctions and a lock short circuits on the ground. When Tula finds out, she tells her daughter to get it fixed. Phoebe overhears this and guides her in the direction of a bio-mechanic who could fix it back up again. When they leave, Phoebe breaks the news that their family has been torn apart by what’s happened in town. Candy’s family were caught stealing supplies and subsequently killed by the Commonworld soldiers. There’s a really nice moment here where Candy is allowed to shine, with some reflective regret on what’s happened to her family and her life. Meanwhile, Emma slips out of town with Ash and bundles her in the back of a van. She uses the antidote for the spider bite and prepares to meet with her contacts. Echo and Verona notice them leave though and hurry outside in hot pursuit, shooting blindly at the car until they crash. They interpret this scene as Emma and Ash being kidnapped; conveniently both men in the front seats are killed allowing this lie to play out to maximum effect. Meanwhile, Genevieve is fixed up by the bio-mechanic but learns a horrible truth. It turns out she has a chastity chip installed, which is a nasty bit of tech that keeps her on a short leash. This is exactly what Emma told her before, which Genevieve now understands. Anyway, Emma heads back to Candy’s house, where she learns the ARC are hiding out at a bunker not far from the university on Skov. While she formulates a plan, Ash heads outside with her phone. She sends a message back to the Commonworld, letting them know her location. This is picked up back on Earth, as Dr Lee and Rebecca both notice the ping come through. Back on Skov, the group make a big decision and decide against following Tula. They’re going to stay on Skov for the time being. This allows Emma to stand up and reveal exactly why the authorities are after her. Strange shimmers burst through, as Emma manages to find New Aurum in the house. Whatever has happened to her, she’s turned into a makeshift beacon of sorts. If she can be picked up by the ARC, this could allow them to find New Aurum and stop the Commonworld’s tyrannical rule. Unfortunately this plan immediately goes awry when black ops for the Commonwrold show up on the planet and surround the house. With our fugitives hiding inside, Candy tries to save her Mother by pointing out Emma’s location. When she’s taken out the house, the guards shoot Phoebe in the head. Candy is distraught and tries in vain to wake her Mother up. The others, however, work together to take out all the guards. Thanks to Drew’s molotov cocktail and a barrage of bullets from the others, they thwart the threat. Tula grabs Candy and they all take off back to the Hemlock. Only, Ash is still in the house. Yann steps out the shadows and reveals himself to his daughter. Ash refuses to believe her life has been a lie and runs away, unwilling to listen to him. Now the others know she called in support, and Verona delivers a swift right hook when Ash tries to apologize. As the camera pans down the ship though, it turns out one of the black ops guards is actually aboard.
The Episode Review
Intergalactic returns with a surprisingly good episode, one that allows Candy time to shine. Seeing her home planet and all the issues that have befallen her at the hands of the Commonworld is a nice touch and a very welcome one too. It’s the perfect example of show don’t tell, rather than the thinly sliced pockets of exposition we’ve been given. This is a small glimmer of hope though, in what’s otherwise been a really disappointing sci-fi series. It’s a shame too because there’s so many interesting ideas but none have been given the time to cook and expand in a meaningful way. This episode at least allows for a better examination of what’s happened to these characters, and the slow pace definitely suits the tone and mood here better. However, every planet looks like Earth with different weather conditions and fails to really stand out as somewhere interesting and alien. If you’ve made it this far then you’ll undoubtedly be seeing this through to the end, and episode 5 at least gives the impression of a few saving graces here. Hopefully this episode is the lifeline needed to save what’s otherwise been a slowly sinking ship.
