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4X01 - Crichton Kicks

To Elack's Pilot:
J: Yo, your Ladyship
A rather clever little pun on John's part.

John has nicknamed one of the DRD 1812 and has even painted it red, white, and blue. He has also taught it to play the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsy. The 1812 Overture is the highlight of the "Pops Goes the 4th" concert presented each year on July 4th (American Independence Day) by the Boston Pops Orchestra. It ends with a huge fireworks display and real cannons firing in time with the music. The later scene where Sikozu's ship crash-lands is highly reminiscent of this.
J: Faster, faster, allegro, allegro
Allegro means "quickly" in musical notation.

J: I've almost cracked "Wormholes for Dummies"
Another fine product from the "for Dummies" series, buy this title and "Leviathan's for Dummies" and save 10 credits.

To DRD-1812:
J: Go fetch!
I get the distinct feeling throughout this episode that John really misses having a dog.

Sk: This is a dying ship; there shouldn't be anyone aboard a dying ship.
J: Absolutely correct, Tinkerbell
Tinkerbell is a character in "Peter Pan," a book by JM Barrie, later a play, then an animated Disney movie, and a couple of other films since. Tinkerbell is a fairy, a friend of Peter's.

Questioning Sikozu
J: Who, what, when, where, why, and how?
Ah, John knows the questions essential to good journalism.

Sk: You alphabet, in order
J: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, LMNOP, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z. Now I've sung my A, B, Cs ...
He's really holding on to his sanity by a thin thread. The "ABC Song" helps American kids learn their alphabet.

The Grudeks are on their way and Sikozu and John are contemplating escape plans
Sk: Can she starburst?
J: No, dying ship remember, no starburst...muerta, dead, toast
John really screwed up here by using the Spanish word for dead, "muerta", first. From this point on Sikozu uses the word "muerta" exclusively when speaking with John of death. Toast is used as slang to mean dead or just in really big trouble.

Sk: Make sentences, nouns, verbs...
J: Once upon a time, I was happy here, a little on the lonely side, but that's okay because at least Winona only had to start cooking fires -- you know fire, whoosh, fire -- module's out of fuel so it's not going anywhere, so I'm working like a mofo and everything's finally coming together on these crates until you smashed through, pissing me off just a little!"

• "Once upon a time..." the perfect beginning to any fairy tale.
• "Mofo" is a shortened version of a pretty offensive American slang phrase, "mother-f***er".
• To "piss off" someone is to make them very angry.

Sk: I was given 1/2 a cycle to become an expert on their [leviathan's] functions, their habits
J: So you can cut them up into sushi?
Sushi is a type of Japanese cuisine where slices of raw fish are served with rice and seaweed made up into neat little packages.

Sikozu is explaining that she was hired to by the Grudeks who harvest Leviathan tissue
J: So, you Jacques Cousteau your way upstream to where they die?
Jacques Cousteau was a famous French diver, perhaps the most famous underwater explorer in the world. Also, I think John's a little confused about why certain fish swim upstream. Salmon are the most famous fish who swim upstream; they do so to spawn. However, sometimes the salmon use all their energy to get upstream so only have enough energy left to spawn before dropping dead.

Harvey & John are on the beach in John's mind
J: Hey, you don't like the Baywatch thing, head inland.
Is there anyone who isn't at least passing familiar with Baywatch? From what I've heard that show is aired in more countries than any other show on tv, and it's possibly the most popular American tv show in Europe. Sheesh, and they say Americans have no taste.

Harvey: Satisfy yourself John Crichton...sno-cone?
J: Oh yeah, cherry.
A sno-cone is shaved ice with flavored syrup.

The Grudek's have rammed into Elack
Elack's Pilot: I recommend you save yourselves...we are old...perhaps in passing we can serve some purpose for others.
J: She's Mother Teresa of the Uncharted Territories
Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun renowned for her selfless acts of charity.

John decides a show of force is the only way to confront the Grudeks and say something to Sikozu in a "foreign" language
J: You didn't get that one did you...'cause it's Klingon! A show of force is the only thing that Klingons understand.
I just about fell off my sofa laughing at this line. As soon as these Grudek guys showed up, I said to myself, these guys are Klingons! I was actually feeling a bit disappointed with Kemper & Co over how Klingon-y these guys were until John made that Klingon crack.

Sk: whispering Make them think you are dead!
J: Okay, Sputnik.
Sputnik was the first man-made satellite to orbit the earth. Launched into space in 1957, by the USSR, it looked like a round ball with spikes sticking out from its surface...in fact, a bit like Sikozu's head in this scene.

J: You see this? (hold up Winona) Itty, bitty doggy ain't gonna like this.
The "hound" rushes by
J: Holy...nice puppy

To Sikozu
J: Sputnik... we don't work together, we die. That's all the need-to-know I need to know.
Highly secret military stuff is often given out on a "need-to-know" basis. Only those who absolutely must know in order to do their jobs or successfully complete a mission, are told.

To Chiana about Sikozu
J: You have to cut her some slack, she just got her hand ripped off.
To cut someone slack is an expression which means to go easy on someone, to not be too critical, to be patient with them.

J: Ryg, you go fetch her hand
R: Why me?
J: Severed heads, severed hands...It's a motif
A motif is a recurrent thematic element, a dominant theme or central idea. This is most likely a reference to the severed Hynerian heads decorating Crais's cabin aboard his command carrier in Family Ties or to Durka's severed head Rygel brings back to Moya in "Liars, Guns, and Money, Part 3".

About the "hound"
J: We've got to find a way to screw the pooch
This is an expression which originated among test pilots. A pilot who "screwed the pooch" was one who makes a mistake, whether during a test flight or at any other time. It seems that John is making a play on words. Thanks to site fans who wrote in with the source of this phrase.

J: You guys go find Slaughterhouse 5
"Slaughterhouse Five" is an novel by Kurt Vonnegut.

1812 is painting over the electrostatic membrane
J: It's beautiful, you're Picasso. All right, go hide. It's gonna be ugly, it's dinnertime.
John bleats like a goat and the hound shows up
J: Come see the tasty human goat. What's the matter, ain't hungry? Red rover, red rover send Cujo right over.
Okay, there quite a bit here:

• Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a Spanish Cubist painter and sculptor.
• The bleating and John calling himself a "tasty human goat" refers to his being the live bait. I've heard of lion hunters in the past tying a goat out on a stake as a lure for the lions. It's pretty unfair practice if you ask me.
• Also, in the movie Jurassic Park a goat is staked out to lure the T-rex to the viewing area. Eventually the T-rex does show up, creating quite a problem for the visitors who are stuck in the park when the power goes down.
• Red Rover is a kids game I played when I was in grade school. It involves two teams who line up opposite one another holding hands. One team at a time takes turns sending someone running over to try to break through the other line.
• Cujo is novel by Stephen King about a rabid St. Bernard that terrorizes a family. It was also made into a movie.

John tries to lure the hound
J: Damn you, (slaps his butt) this is Grade A, prime American beef!
Hmmmm ...... oops, sorry I got lost in thought there.

John catches Sikozu making a deal with the Grudeks
J: We're going to be really, really quiet so the Pirates of the Caribbean don't hear us, okay?
The Pirates of the Caribbean is a ride at Disneyland featuring hairy, scruffy-looking pirates.

To Sikozu
J: You can either help or we can truss you up like a Christmas turkey and throw you in the bilge.
The bilge on a ship is the bottom section where dirty water collects.