PK Tech Girl and Exodus from Genesis [spoilers for 1.03, 1.07]

[Chi27]

Slowly but surely I'm filling in the gaps and since I got hooked on S3 and 4, I'm now basically working my way backwards through the earlier seasons.

The J&A in S3 & 4 are light years from their selves in S1 and most notably in this episode -- at least in my opinion.

In Exodus, on the surface, Aeryn can barely tolerate John. According to her training, he's a "lesser lifeform" and what could he "possibly do for her" (or something like that). Ok, Aeryn, keeping telling yourself that. LOL. Skipping forward not too far into the future you have Aeryn who is definitely attracted to him to the point that they do the deed. In that instance, it was all about sex for her (your mileage may vary), but then comes her denial phase where she fights what she knows is there in S2. The biggest change in S3 is where she knows she loves him and freely admits it.

John on the other hand -- my god I can't believe how naive he is here. He's such a sweet guy, not that I don't love my John in the later seasons who has become rough around the edges. But let's face it, he's been around the block a few times -- or a few solar systems. Being hunted first by Crais, then Scorpy and the Scarrans will change anybody's outlook on life. LOL. He didn't even own a pulse pistol for christ's sake. :D It was priceless seeing him leap up on that ledge when he came across the bugs in Exodus.

John would never have been able to kill Aeryn if she went into the end stage of heat delirium. He just doesn't have it in him. He would rather hold out hope and search for a cure than do that.

In PK Tech Girl, I was prepared to dislike Gilina. But she's not a character that you can hate. She's really kind of naive (like John) and sweet. Definitely not tough like Aeryn. Speaking of Aeryn, at first she wasn't cutting Gilina any slack.

I got a kick out of the fact that Gilina wasted no time finding out if John had the...ahem...right parts. ;) If I was in her shoes, I would've pulled the same stunt. ;) But it gets better than that -- we get to see jealous Aeryn after she finds John and Gilina together kissing. Guess the green eyed monster came out and bit her on the butt after all and so early in the season. <g> She even admits that she found him "interesting". So what does that mean -- that from the moment she meant him wanted to jump him. <g> Also, take note how John wasted no time leaving Gilina and going after her when he saw how pissed she was. Umm...there was much to that than just the fact that he and Aeryn are shipmates and he wanted to smooth things over. If that was the case, I think Aeryn would've survived. By going after her in the way he did was a reaction to her obvious jealousy of Gilina and spoke volumes (to me at least) that it would always be about Aeryn whether he consciously knew it or not.

That kiss between him and Gilina was definitely hot. Talk about tonsil hockey! No wonder Gilina fell in love with him. To bad for her (but not us) that their time apart until they meet again, has brought J&A much closer.


Thanks for reading my rambling review. :D

[Doc Holiday]

aaah Gilina my love. I truyl love my PK Tech Girl:cool:

[The Keeper]

I was able to get through watching PK Tech Girl for the sole reason that I had already watched a few of Season 3 episodes before I had watched the whole of season 1 and 2.

Also I had seen the actor who played Gilina on Home and Away, and I really didnt like her character on there either, so its all good. :D

[Doc Holiday]

The Keeper,

You're making me angry. I don't think your gonna like me when I'm angry. LOL Gilina is cool to me. She is sexy cause she is an engineer or Tech Girl.

[The Keeper]

Originally posted by Doc Holiday
The Keeper,

You're making me angry. I don't think your gonna like me when I'm angry. LOL Gilina is cool to me. She is sexy cause she is an engineer or Tech Girl.

Lol. My bad.:D

[Jeff O'Connor]

I liked her too. :kitty:

[Doc Holiday]

It is ok Keeper but do not let it ever happen again. LOL

[JrMissToughChick]

Gillina Rocked!! too bad she's dead :( but John and Aeryn are together :)

[The Keeper]

Originally posted by Doc Holiday
It is ok Keeper but do not let it ever happen again. LOL

Hmm I can't promise you anything. lol. :D

[Doc Holiday]

Keeper I will forgive you if you allow me to use your Johnny Depp Once Upon a Time In Mexico avatar. Please!!

[so-much-4-sanity]

I just watched PK Tech girl this morning and I like that it gave some relationship history to John that Aeryn can identify with; similar to Larraq in reverse (I mean how different is Gillina from Aeryn and how different is Larraq from John). One thing I love about the Season 1 relationship between John and Aeryn is all the possibility. Of course your heart is just wrenching in the angst of Season 3 & 4 but all the possibility undergerding Season 1 is fun to watch in retrospect.

However, I don't like Gillina, I find her boring and without complexity, besides I don't like how quickly she fell in love with John (this goes back to the boring w/o complexity statement). Lust, yes, love, no. :D

I agree though, that there was already more to their relationship than meets the eye. I think it's fair to say that John found Aeryn intersting as well. It's not too long after this that we have The Flax (one of my personal fav moments of S1) and A Human Reaction...

When John and Gillina meet up again in Nerve and more to the point in Hidden Memory, I don't like how John treats her, but I do like to see how much John has changed in such a short while.

[Chi27]

Originally posted by so-much-4-sanity
However, I don't like Gillina, I find her boring and without complexity, besides I don't like how quickly she fell in love with John (this goes back to the boring w/o complexity statement). Lust, yes, love, no. :D

<snip>

When John and Gillina meet up again in Nerve and more to the point in Hidden Memory, I don't like how John treats her, but I do like to see how much John has changed in such a short while.

I didn't find Gilina boring. It's evident in Hidden Memory that she's quite talented and clever. Like Aeryn her talents were being wasted on the gammak base. She and Aeryn obviously came totally different backgrounds. I'd venture a guess in that she wasn't born on a command carrier like Aeryn, which explains her lack of inhabitions about expressing her emotions to John. The only thing about Gilina that's "disturbing" is that emotionally and physically, she seems more human than us, though she isn't human.

As for John's treatment of her in Hidden Memory, it was evident that in that relatively short time since they had first met that he was truly in love with Aeryn. I think he toyed with the idea that there could've been something between him and Gilina, but it's so obvious that it was all about Aeryn in Hidden Memory. Yes, he was a little cold towards Gilina, but it showed that his feelings lie elsewhere and that finding a cure for Aeryn consumed his thoughts.

[Darth Buddha]

I agree with you about Gilina's skills, Chi27.

John is O.K. with the new tech as time rolls on, but better with theory. Just as he is O.K. as a warrier, but Aeryn probably still has the edge on him (though if he can pull any skills from Harvey, when Harvey is being nice, I'd have to reverse that).

As to the change in John... I often think that the biggest change isn't the experiences... it might be Harvey. Without the chip, Harvey is in John's neural tissue only....

Could their personalities be bleeding together at the edges? Given enough time, if he doesn't find a way to ditch them, will he eventually become a seamless mixture of he two? John's traits dominant, but a lot of Scorpy there.

Makes one wonder, since Aeryn seemed to fall in love with him AFTER Harvey was there... would she have felt that way about just Johnny?

[Dangermousie]

That is such an interesting theory.

I think there was attraction between them before the chip got instaled. And I got the feeling that Aeryn fell for him sometimes in S1, before Harvey was there (in S2 it wasn't Harvey either. The Chip is quite malevolent and very different from Harvey, IMO).

Harvey doesn't change Crichton's personality, I think. In fact, he takes on aspects of Crichton's personality instead. In some ways, it's John talking to himself (not just literally, but it's a very creative expression of that).

[Nicola]

Originally posted by Darth Buddha
As to the change in John... I often think that the biggest change isn't the experiences... it might be Harvey. Without the chip, Harvey is in John's neural tissue only....

Could their personalities be bleeding together at the edges? Given enough time, if he doesn't find a way to ditch them, will he eventually become a seamless mixture of he two? John's traits dominant, but a lot of Scorpy there.

I am not convinced that John is taking on aspects of Scorpius' personality, but it is very clear that Harvey is taking on aspects of Johns.

One of John's major handicaps when he arrived in the UT's is that he was completely uninformed about the various customs, races, political machinations and basic realities of this new universe. He managed to muddle through with the help of Aeryn and the others, but his ignorance was eventually going to get him killed.

Harvey manages to supply information and perspective for John (and prevent him from getting dead) but he does not supply emotional context. He even says so in "Into the Lions Den" when they are discussing wormholes and Scarrans:

"I share his intellect, but not his passions nor his fears. Yes. My assessment would be more objective than his."

Makes one wonder, since Aeryn seemed to fall in love with him AFTER Harvey was there... would she have felt that way about just Johnny?

I don't know, I think Aeryn was falling in love with him (although she didn't know it) as early as PK Tech Girl "In the beginning, I found you interesting." And early season two in "The Way We Weren't" she acknowledges that she now recognises her feelings as 'love'. The love she was talking about was between her and Velorek, but she didn't know what to call it until she felt it again, and John was able to put a name to it.

John did have the Scorpy chip by that time, but he was unaware of it, and it wasn't strong enough to change his personality or control him.

[Darth Buddha]

Even without Scorpy's passions, Harvey has personality. Consider: (SPOILER SPACE)










Harvey thinks only revenge can save Crichton when he is comatose and near death.

Harvey II (Talyn Harvey) is so vengeful as to try to get John killed by Aeryn when Ancient/Jack purges him.

Some this is values, some of it IS emotion. Harvey has both. He's no longer Scorpy, and is becoming more and more John over time. But that too could be him fuzing with John. He's learning all John's OTHER memories, experiencing all John's life far longer than the neural chip. John learns more and more of Scorpy's life, experiences, and so on from the chip. Eventually, isn't it possible that they will converge?

[Nicola]

Originally posted by Darth Buddha
Even without Scorpy's passions, Harvey has personality. Consider: (SPOILER SPACE)










Harvey thinks only revenge can save Crichton when he is comatose and near death.

Yes, but if there was one time that Harvey could have merged with Crichton and taken control that was the time. And he not only did not do it, but he could not stop Crichton from turning him into a 'toon (twice) and dropping a 1000 ton weight on him.

Harvey II (Talyn Harvey) is so vengeful as to try to get John killed by Aeryn when Ancient/Jack purges him.

But that took all of Harvey resources. He was dying and the effort probably killed him.

I never said that revenge was not what motivated Harvey (I or II), just not Scorpius' revenge. As long as Harvey feels like he is tolerated (maybe even valuable) in Crichton's mind, he doesn't actually have the need to feel vengence.

Some this is values, some of it IS emotion. Harvey has both. He's no longer Scorpy, and is becoming more and more John over time. But that too could be him fuzing with John. He's learning all John's OTHER memories, experiencing all John's life far longer than the neural chip. John learns more and more of Scorpy's life, experiences, and so on from the chip. Eventually, isn't it possible that they will converge?

It is possible, but I don't think so. I concede that Harvey is becoming more and more like John, but that also means he is adopting some of John's values.

One of those values is the value of the individual.

Harvey is willing to learn from John and one of the things he learns, is to value himself as an independent being. Harvey would no more allow himself to merge with John, than John would allow Harvey to merge with him.

Having said that... I now realise that Kemper and Co are evil, and that is probably exactly where they are going to take Harvey and John.

Damn it.

[so-much-4-sanity]

Originally posted by Darth Buddha
As to the change in John... I often think that the biggest change isn't the experiences... it might be Harvey. Without the chip, Harvey is in John's neural tissue only....

Could their personalities be bleeding together at the edges? Given enough time, if he doesn't find a way to ditch them, will he eventually become a seamless mixture of he two? John's traits dominant, but a lot of Scorpy there.

Makes one wonder, since Aeryn seemed to fall in love with him AFTER Harvey was there... would she have felt that way about just Johnny?

It's an interesting though to ponder, however, I'm reticent to accept it. There was attraction (you couldn't call it love) before the chip, leading up to Aeryn and Chricton sleeping together in A Human Reaction. Also, John's steps towards violence began in ABL, which is before Nerve and HM. Also, the diagnotian in SOD explained the neuro bleed occuring (linking the personalities together) as a result of time that the chip was in place.

[ralfschumacher]

Just wanted to say that 'PK Tech girl' is one of my fav ep's of the season and I really like the character of Gillina. I thought she was very interesting and her tech skills helped a lot.

[Surrender Monkey]

aaah Gilina my love. I truyl love my PK Tech Girl:cool:

:bowdown:

[Taibsear]

The development of Crichton throughout the series really strikes me here when Aeryn, D'Argo and John are going onto the Zelbinian. D'Argo has his blade, Areyn has here big o' gun. What does John carry a flashlight. Still naive in the UT. :no:

In Premier, John’s attraction to Aeryn made sense to me. Here he is in this bizarre nightmare of a situation and suddenly there’s a pretty girl. Of course then she kicks his butt, but she also sides with him by doing little things like showing him that she’s got the fork, sticking up for him to Crais, and telling him to choose his alliances carefully.
quote from elsewhere

This makes alot of sense. He may have been attracted to her in the beginning. But after she kicked his butt he had to reassess the situation. He wouldn't of equated Aeryn's reactions as liking him. So he put her over into the crewmate category. Doesn't mean that he might not think of her in that way, it just puts her into an area of off limits. This way he does not get himself hurt.
The attraction to Gilina is partially that they clicked. She is the first person to really appreciate that he can help. That he is not just useless. They have a common ground to start from, an unusual common ground of hard science (this is not something that John would expect). Then they are in the life and death dilemma. Stress increases adrenalin, thus creating hightend sensitivity. Close working quarters, stress, physical attraction, intellectual common ground = kissing. In the long run, after we get to know John's character, Gilina would not have worked out. He needs a strong woman. Someone who can standby his side as Aeryn did the final shows of season 4.

As for Aeryn's admission to being interested in John was a shock for him. He hides it like most guys would. But the seed is planted. He is like oh? oh! ok she likes me. Awkward situation for both of them so time to get out of here asap. At this point Aeryn is still too much peacekeeper for any type of relationship to start.

I can understand why Aeryn acts as she does. She has come out of a peacekeeper life that was 24/7 for her. It is all she knows, and was what she believed she truly wanted. Now she has been ripped from that life and thrown into something that is the complete polar opposite. No matter what she may feel about the others on Moya she will keep that hidden. Only showing what she feels is safe to express or is in line in what they believe she is. The doubt and contradiction inside must be hard to deal with. Change comes slowly, we hold onto vestiges of old lives tightly. It must have been very hard for her to admit anything to John (scene in the hallway). It is like if she says it, she has released it from inside herself, now it is no longer hers alone and it is not up to her to act. The ball is now in John's court. But she is still hurt about seeing John and Gilina. I don't believe she understands the feelings she is having. That is why she acts out as she does. Throws up her defenses of tough peacekeeper chick. I don't believe she understands why she even said anything to John. It just came out..maybe because it was too close to the surface at that moment. She is emotionally delicate already because she has just found out about her unit being demoted.

At the end of the show when John is saying his goodbye. He knows it is for the best that she goes back to her old life. It was very honest of him to say that he didn't want her to go, but couldn't ask her to stay. The sadness that lies in this parting for John is the end of the possibility. He doesn't know if it would work out, there was something between them that is all he knows. But somethings are not suppose to be or not suppose to be at that time. One or more of the party are truly not ready for it. This elliptical pattern plays out well between John and Aeryn thru the whole series arc.

Well that is my ramble on PK Tech girl. Let me know what y'all think.

Technical info to follow

I was asked about 2 scenes..

quote question Can you comment on the lighting choices on John's face during Aeryn's first interrogation of Gilina? It's a very odd light on his face, like the way you look if you shine a flashlight upwards underneath your chin, like a kid playing ghosts and monsters. Also, when John looks at Gilina's hurt eye, and then they talk—his face is mostly in shadow the entire time even during his dialog. That seems an usual choice to basically hide the hero's face while he's talking! Any ideas or thoughts on these two choices?


These are my best idea's on the lighting without talking to the director or lighting technician.

The scene that is playing out..Aeryn is interrogating Gilina. Aeryn is in full peacekeeper mode. Very hard and military. From John's reactions he disagrees with this tactic. Aeryn is, more or less, the bad guy in the scene. John the good guy.

When the the camera cuts from Aeryn to John, during there conversation, the lighting of each actor changes. Even though they are just a foot or so apart. Aeryn is lit from the right. The light is diffused. The side of her face that would be in shadow has reflective light bouncing back onto it. Thus no real strong shadows. Now if she was the "bad" guy in the scene don't you think the lighting would be stronger on her? Showing sharper shadows and extreme highlights. That would be in line with the actors dialogue. What really is going on here is that she is lit in direct contrast to her behavior. John is the "good" guy, but his lighting is from the bottom and strong, giving the sense (as you most astutely said) of playing monsters. This is also in direct contrast from his dialogue in the scene.

So each time the cut changes from one character to the other our brain recognizes that the action is not the same as the visual. This grabs our attention. In a scene your attention is grabbed in this way because what is going on in the scene is important. Something is happening that you need to be aware of to help you later.

I believe that they used the lighting in this way to contrast each of the character actions and dialogue. Giving a mental queue to pay attention something interesting is happening here. The contradictory psychology of the lighting works subconsciously.

The other scene I really can't figure it out. The shadow is from her. Just a slight turn and he would not of been in shadow. Maybe we were suppose to be concentrating on her and her reaction to what John is saying. If he was not in shadow we would watch him because he is talking.

Thanks
Please ask questions

[xwayne]

I think pk tech girl was what the show lacked during most of its run: A truly feminine character. I loved pk tech girl and rooted for her to get together with Chriton. It was sad when they killed her off. I hate to say it, but Aeryn seemed like the bad guy to me in the pk tech girl episodes--pk tech girl was just so, um, pure or something!

[clint999]

That is such an interesting theory.

I think there was attraction between them before the chip got instaled. And I got the feeling that Aeryn fell for him sometimes in S1, before Harvey was there (in S2 it wasn't Harvey either. The Chip is quite malevolent and very different from Harvey, IMO).

Harvey doesn't change Crichton's personality, I think. In fact, he takes on aspects of Crichton's personality instead. In some ways, it's John talking to himself (not just literally, but it's a very creative expression of that).

[Nicola]

I liked Gilina, she provide a brilliant foil for Aeyrn, throwing into high relief the loneliness and isolation that Aeryn felt.

However, quite honestly a steady diet of Gilina would have been boring. Mostly because she was a weak woman - and my heartfelt feeling is that there is a surfeit of weak woman in TV and movies.

Aeryn, as hostile and flawed and dark as she was, was a heck of a lot more 'real' than Gilina.