Natural Election

[Chi27]

I watched this episode for the second time last night and the ending pissed me off more than it did the first time around.

Ok, so John was being a real d*** towards Aeryn when he tells her to come back when she "has her story straight." I really feel her pain and frustration when that tear rolls down her cheek. She tried so hard to put his fears to rest that there was no distinction between him and his now dead twin. It had to have been very hard for her to tell him that the baby may not have been his because of the 7 year time frame for a stasis pregnancy. But, it made no sense for him to reject her in that way. He talked about relationships being built on trust, but did she really do anything to destroy the trust they were building? Not to my thinking. If she had led him to believe that the baby was his without trusting him with the knowledge that there was still a possibility that it could be another man's child then I would say she doesn't trust him enough to be truthful.

What I don't understand is how Aeryn could still assume that it could've been a stasis pregnancy from as far back as 3 cycles/years prior to meeting John. You would think she would've seen a med tech at some point after meeting John in order to get a new contraceptive implant or something at which time, the med tech would've scanned her for a stasis pregnancy.

Then again, it's all conjecture that PKs use contraceptive implants. Though it would make sense to prevent a pregnancy in that way. But there may not be such a thing because why bother when and if the female gets "knocked up", the embryo goes into stasis without any repercussions to her regiment or herself. In fact, she wouldn't even know she's pregnant until a doctor detects it. If that's the case, then she and Talyn John truly were going without protection. He knew they were compatible from the "taste test" so there couldn't have been any doubt in his mind as to whether he could get her pregnant. So one has to assume that he didn't mind the idea of possible baby-making.

And if his actions in Natural Election were done simply because Scorpy was on board, then he should've found a way to let her in on it. This is probably the only time, I'd like to kick his butt... well that and when he was snorting that dren.

[Dangermousie]

I forgot: at the time of their talk, did he know that PK physiology is different from Human? If he didn't, then he'd assume she knew who the father was. But I don't remember, I saw this ep a long time ago.

In any case, I didn't mind his reaction. He has a point. Is he being a bit unfair? Maybe. But Aeryn has been equally unfair to him in the past. Considering their prior history, his reaction did not strike me as bad. In fact, I sympathized, and thought it was rather reasonable.

Aeryn and John are madly in love, but they are also dysfunctional, after all.

[Chi27]

He obviously didn't understand what happens in a PK pregnancy until Aeryn explained it. And yes, I think he assumed she would know who the daddy was, but after she explained it, I don't see why he should shut her out to that degree. It isn't like he didn't know about her previous lover...Velorek.

Yes, the right thing to do would've been for her to work through her grief and not run off as she did especially knowing she was pregnant, but he should also understand that she was still dealing with the loss of Talyn John. She came back and wanted to get them back on track again and he shuts her out. I don't think that's fair.

[Dangermousie]

Thanks for reminding me!

No, I don't think it's fair of John to do that, either. I just think it's understandable. Just as it wasn't fair of Aeryn to shut him out after Talyn-John's death but it was understandable.

His reaction is not "reasonable" in a sense that a well-balanced reasonable individual might not act that way. But it is "reasonable" for who he is, and the previous history between him and Aeryn.

I think the reason for his reaction is two-fold.

1. Considering how hurt he's been in the past, his reaction is, at least partially, a result of his unwillingness to be hurt again. He's fed up with it all. Understandably so. Aeryn withdrew from him, left without telling him about the baby, brought Scorpy on board, and won't tell him about her "summer vacation." And that's just the stuff I can think of, off the top of my head. Now, she had reasons for doing all of these, of course. E.g. she withdrew from him because she was hurting, not to make him suffer. But the hurt is still there.

2. Scorpy, as explained in Twice Shy. I am even willing to think that Scorpy might have been a majority of his reasoning. But as to why he did not want to let her know? See reason 1. And he did let her know, when he saw how hurt she was and that me might lose her forever.

That's why I like John (or Aeryn, or D'Argo, or Chiana, or....). They don't always do the right thing. They do emotional stuff, and stuff that hurts, and they are at the end of their tethers sometimes.

As to the episode itself? I loved the B plot (give me Crichton-Aeryn angst and I am a happy girl), but the A plot (the plant, right?) was severely boring.

[Chi27]

Originally posted by Dangermousie
That's why I like John (or Aeryn, or D'Argo, or Chiana, or....). They don't always do the right thing. They do emotional stuff, and stuff that hurts, and they are at the end of their tethers sometimes.

As to the episode itself? I loved the B plot (give me Crichton-Aeryn angst and I am a happy girl), but the A plot (the plant, right?) was severely boring.

Don't get me wrong, that's why I love them, too. They are definitely two flawed individuals just like all of us. I wouldn't have posed this question if it wasn't complicated -- like their relationship. This sort of stuff is what keeps us coming back. :D

And I so agree that the plant stuff was boring.

[Harveylives]

Originally posted by Chi27

She came back and wanted to get them back on track again and he shuts her out. I don't think that's fair.

There is no being fair in love. There's feelings. John was scared of being hurt again. It doesn't matter if he was hurt for good reasons. He was hurt, and he doesn't want to jump back into something that could result in the same thing. I think his reaction was realistic to the situation he was in.

[so-much-4-sanity]

I actually love that last scene between Aeryn and John and I actually like the choice that John makes. I think he's been very patient with Aeryn, throughout their entire relationship, and though she may be greiving the loss of TJohn you can't entirely blame John for his reaction to her leaving. Also, when she comes back she has secrets she won't share and Scorpy to boot.

However, I think the trust issue is that she didn't tell him she was pregnant when she left in DWTB. John's first reaction to the pregnancy was "Why didn't you trust me?" Also, John believes Rygel, Chiana and D'Argo found out not just about the baby, but about the father of the baby first.

When D'Argo tells him that either way he's going to get hurt, I think that's a truth and I think John is taking steps to protect himself from that - perhaps slightly on the passive agressive side -and I think that's understandable.

While I agree there is some justification to say that he is beginning to setup the situation to throw Scorpy off track, I still think there's a lot of honesty in what he says. Perhaps it's the catalyst that finally leads to the "Aeryn Solution".