Lamia, Girl Of Destiny

Episode 14 and the Stone of Destiny 💎

Welcome back, friends, to X Blogger! In this week’s episode, we dig back into the mystery of F-01 and the beginning of the second act of the series’ story arc begins. It’s packed with action, laced with mystery and intrigue, and a bit of fisticuffs. 

Before I begin, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge some of the support I’ve received over the past few months. This blog has a very high open rate, which means you are all reading these highly detailed reviews. I can’t tell you how gratifying it is to know that you are out there following along! It means the world to me. 

Does that say November 16th?!? Yes. Yes it does.

I’d also like to give a shoutout to Suzy, my first monthly supporter on buymeacoffee.com! Her membership goes directly to supporting this blog and the other future X Bomber related projects I have in store, so thank you very much. From here on, I’ll be posting my reviews a whole week early for her to read. If you enjoy what I do, why not join her in support? If that’s not where you’re at, here’s some other ways you can support and get some nice fan art for yourself as well! 

• Subscribe here, on YouTube, or on social media

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Now, on with the show!

If you liked last week’s episode, but feel as if it should’ve only lasted about 2 minutes, you’re in for a treat. This opening scene basically quickly recaps the beats of episode 13’s linking material, only without the New Year’s angle. 

As X Bomber sails through space, we get an almost idyllic glimpse at what down time on the ship is like for the young guys. They all share a room and Hercules is peacefully plucking at his guitar while Lee chomps at an apple.¹ Although this is 2999, aboard the most advanced spacecraft ever designed by man, people still have to hang dry their laundry. 

But all is not well with these spacefaring dorm dwellers. Lee can tell that Shiro’s window gazing is not contemplative, but ruminative… ruminative in the I-just-killed-my-mentor kind of way. 

One of the things I love about this show, as opposed to the marionette shows in the same genre, is the ceilings. It just feels more like a complete world although some of the later Anderson shows found clever ways to top off the shot. 

Giving voice to these feelings, Lee is backed up by Hercules, who’s sensitive to Shiro’s malaise. 

Lee is also eating oranges. They may be deep in uncharted space, but they are well stocked with fresh fruit.² Note also the Star Fleet issue sack, baseball mitt, and familiar dartboard.

Shiro barks at Hercules for playing the guitar (although he isn’t making eye contact) and at Lee for having his laundry lying around. 

I don’t know about you, but I feel like Lee’s laundry may have shrunk in the wash. 

Lee bridles at Shiro’s combative attitude but Hercules tries to calm them both. “Ease off will ya! He’s not feeling like much of a hero.”

Toy airplanes and cars? In. Tumble dryers? Out. 

“Talking about me?” Shiro growls, waving his fist around. 

Charmingly, Hercules has signed his own guitar. You can just about make out that it says “Bongo” which was this character’s name instead of “Barry” in the original language version. 

Hercules, never one to back down from a fight (and apparently not one to hold his arm too steady while pointing at someone) reminds Shiro that they were all close to Captain Carter. Cutting through BS like a machete through oranges, he says they were all as hurt by the loss as Shiro. 

But Shiro, with more than a little self pity, can’t forget that he was the one who pulled the trigger at the fateful moment. A decision that will haunt him for life. 

“The man you killed was an officer with the Alliance.”

Lee soothingly reminds Shiro of the offscreen words of Dr. Benn– that the real Captain Carter died on Pluto Base. Not strictly true since Carter seemed to come back to himself at the end, but it is helpful to remember that his downfall and subsequent mental illness was all the result of an unprovoked attack by the enemy. 

Shiro acknowledges the brainwashing at play but still slips into another flashback. If you can’t stand flashbacks, this might not be the show for you. 

“He died in the pain of his own betrayal.” 

Shiro knows that Carter was lucid and remembered all of the atrocities he committed on behalf of the enemy. 

Among Hercules’ decorations are a rock band that resembles Bow Wow (the group that recorded the Japanese score and theme tune) and a picture of Thunderbird 2!

Is that condiments? Living with Lee must be messy. 

The show’s Eastern philosophy kicks into high gear a bit. Hercules insists that Carter could not have lived with the shame and that he was true to himself in death. Lee agrees with Hercules’ assessment that Shiro helped their beloved mentor die with honor. 

Honor? Maybe. But the loss of Carter is a massive blow to the Earth Defense Force and no doubt this matter of personal honor cost many lives over the course of the series. 

After these reassuring words, Lee inserts a flippant and seemingly insensitive comment that if Carter had been serious, he would have easily killed Shiro instead. Shiro charges forward in a rage. 

“You have a big mouth, Lee!” he shouts.

“Yeah,” Lee giggles. 

There is an awkward and tense silence. Then they all burst out laughing. Not with their specially sculpted laughing faces from episode 5, but a perfectly natural laughter of camaraderie and relief. Despite the trauma, they are all still brothers. But what happens this week may challenge that relationship again. 

Meanwhile, back with the villains, Makara taunts Orion with the notion that he should be pleased that his rival Carter is dead. Indeed, Orion is jubilant. “He was no warrior,” he sneers, arguing that Shiro’s victory was the lynch pin confirming it. 

Makara, who knows that Orion has been defeated by Shiro times without number, sighs and admits she’s stuck with her sniveling subordinate. But what is their next move? 

Makara’s mission, she reiterates, is to find F-01 before time runs out. The deadline in question is the year 3000, a calendar year recognized intergalactically and mentioned previously as having great bearing on the F-01. 

As Makara calls red alert and orders a constant watch on X Bomber, Orion’s troops report to him that the sailing ship the Skull has been spotted in the upper quadrant. 

Although Orion wants to attack the Skull, Makara orders him to wait until both enemies are in the same place at the same time. Orion cringingly follows her order. 

Makara’s logic isn’t perfectly clear to me. To accomplish their goal, wouldn’t the destruction of one of the two craft be sufficient? If not, surely they would be in a stronger position battling the two enemies one at a time rather than both at once. 

Even more revealing is the massive tactical advantage Makara has– she has greater long range scanning capacity than either the Skull or X Bomber. This means her intel should always be superior as well as her firepower (at least in quantity if not quality) and thus her victories should be a lot more frequent. Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she has additional sensor stations out here in deep space than she would near a planet like Earth. 

X Bomber picks up the Skull, not realizing that the Alliance is near at hand. Benn immediately orders hailing frequencies opened as the entire crew gathers around. This time they get an answer. 

“X Bomber, X Bomber…” says a gentle voice that sounds a lot like Garrick Hagon.³ “If one of you wears the special token…”

Hmm. I wonder what this “special token” could be? Hmm. 

“What special token?” Benn asks while comically turning to look at the only possible object the special token could be.

“…have that person transfered to our ship,” the soft voice concludes. 

It’s difficult to tell if the voice is gentle or a bit creepy. It’s definitely alien and Dr. Benn isn’t in the mood to take chances with the life of one of his crew. He refuses to cooperate without more information. 

“We can’t explain it right now,” the voice continues sounding like my parents serenely deflecting difficult questions, “we want the person to be transferred there will be no danger.”

Spoiler alert: there will be danger. 

Lamia, of course, is gung ho to charge in headlong. Benn refuses to take the risk. The Skull’s frequency goes dead. 

When her attempt to persuade the Doctor is met with firm refusal, Lamia zips out of there like Lee running for the snack cabinet. Benn sends Shiro after her and orders her to stay close by. 

It’s not like she’s a flight risk or anything. 

With the adolescent love interests left unchaperoned to themselves, Hercules, Lee, PPA, and Benn speculate about the Skull’s reticence to provide any information at all. Lee reckons that they might not be sure they can trust X Bomber, despite the many key moments where X Bomber defended them. “They’re probably wary of the Imperial Alliance,” Benn says, no doubt remembering the Alliance’s expertise in holographic trickery. 

Lamia shows Shiro the trick she can do with her jewel. 

In sickbay, or else a lab of some kind, Lamia reveals that the pendant she always wears (found with her on Mars in her infancy) is resistant to laser fire. 

Shiro is unsure what to make of this. Lamia feels sure it’s the aforementioned special token. 

Is this stone the key to the mystery of F-01 or was it an ill advised impulse purchase on the Home Shopping Network? 

Then Lamia makes the big ask– will Shiro take her to the Skull? This is an important moment. She’s asking Shiro to go against Dr. Benn, who is not only in command but also a surrogate father figure for Shiro, whose own father has been AWOL for some time. 

Of course, Shiro’s initial impulse is to avoid breaking the rules. But in one of Liza Ross’ finest performances, Lamia acknowledges that Dr. Benn is worried about her safety before earnestly explaining her certainty and faith in the Skull. “I know once we’re on board our quest will be over. We will not have to risk death anymore out here in deep space.”

And just like that, Shiro accepts. Despite the vocal performance, there isn’t much time dedicated to this crucial story beat. It says a lot about the depth of Shiro’s feelings for Lamia that he’s willing to trust her on this. 

So! You’re sneaking off X Bomber to disobey orders and liaise with some aliens. What craft are you taking? One of the Dai-X fighters– perhaps the one that you have the most flight time and experience in? Or if that would draw too much attention on the bridge, how about one of those small shuttles like the one flown by Lamia in episode 5 when we first met the Skull? 

Nope! None of those options. Shiro takes something called a Space Chopper. Think of it as a motorcycle and sidecar in space. Yes I know it’s daft just go with me on this. 

Check out how tiny it is next to X Bomber. 

PPA, being the sort of guy who would tattle, immediately announces the departure and Benn assumes Lamia has given Shiro “the slip.”

Lee calls them on the radio as Hercules thunders that “his heart’s ruling his head.” Perhaps he doth protest too much?

Benn couldn’t be more startled when Shiro answers the call and announces that he’s at the wheel and they’re going to pay a call on the Skull. The older man loses his cool a bit and calls Shiro an idiot as he orders him back. Hercules grumbles about his friend playing the hero again, although why he thinks Shiro’s actions are heroic under the circumstances isn’t clear. 

Cue the lonely music!

Shiro insists that the Skull is no danger to them, yet Benn insists that Shiro’s actions will bring danger to everyone– especially Lamia. 

I know it’s just a puppet, but I love how the lighting and puppetry performance unite to show Shiro is wrestling with this decision. 

But he flies on anyway.

Hercules is so mad about it, he threatens to blast Shiro. Fortunately, Dr. Benn quashes this silly suggestion. This crew (and especially Hercules) really do not want to take any risks where Lamia is concerned.

Lamia, to be fair, has actually been behaving with top notch decorum. She’s been repeatedly thanking Shiro for his actions on her behalf and now she begs the Doctor to forgive Shiro since he’s only disobeying for her sake. She’s pretty much unimpeachable except for the fact that she’s breaking all the rules. Oh well. 

As Hercules rages from behind his guns, Dr. Benn orders the crew to keep up and leave a 100 milliton gap between them. 

Now, I’m not an expert in space travel, but something tells me the giant X Bomber could easily overtake the little space chopper. I suspect, for all his objections and outrage, that Dr. Benn has some reason for wanting to see what happens next if Lamia reaches the Skull, the same way the Imperial Alliance also seem to be keeping their distance at this critical moment. 

Ignorant of any external machinations, Lamia again apologizes to Shiro. He takes her mind off it by suggesting she try to reach the Skull. 

Uh oh. You seeing what I see?

While they try to make a connection, the termoids have detected the launch of a shuttle from X Bomber, headed in the general direction of the Skull. 

“There’s no hurry, Orion.” Really? You sure about that?

Orion is alarmed, but Makara is calm. She expected this. “Once we’re sure where the F-01 is, then we will take her and the Skull!”⁴ In light of what’s about to occur, this could be the worst strategic error in the long history of strategic errors. 

Swoosh!

While Makara rolls her Rs and plots diabolical things, Lamia gets the Skull on the phone. The same mysterious voice tells them to maintain their current course and stay off the radio since the channel could be monitored. ⁵

I love the details on Shiro’s spacesuit. There are some identifiable model kit pieces and I believe the nozzle that connects his helmet to his chest is a toothpaste cap or similar object. 

In a rare moment of quiet, the two just ride along for a moment. Lamia begins to reflect on her childhood– specifically the part about her being found in a space bassinet on Mars. “I feel that I must have been carried there to avoid some kind of revolt on another planet.” In case you forgot, the guy who found her and raised her is Shiro’s father, making them sort of like adopted siblings. 

Shiro ignores Lamia’s massive leap of intuition and makes one for himself. “You think it was the Skull that took you there?” Lamia does think that– or rather, feels that. 

The intimacy of the moment gives Shiro a chance to share his feelings. “If the Skull takes you from us, I’ll miss you. Greatly.” It’s an awkward youthful confession. Lamia seems oblivious and unsure of what he means. “What?” she demures. “Nothing, I was dreaming,” he covers. “You really are funny sometimes,” she says sweetly. 

I’m sure none of us can relate to the feeling of trying to express admiration to a crush who never seems to understand the way we feel and definitely not me because that never happened to me and I don’t know why anyone would suggest that and– HEY WHAT’S THAT A SPACE PIRATE SHIP?!?

Yes, right on cue, they have reached the Skull. Good thing too, we almost had some mushy emotions to deal with!

The tragedy of Orion is founded on the bedrock of the fact that he’s usually right. Despite his pomp and cowardice, he frequently has a better grasp of the situation than his immediate superior. 

Termoids report the shuttle is on final approach to the Skull and the flustered Orion reasons that if Lamia boards “then we will lose her forever.” He has a point– that possibility definitely does seem to exist. Whether because of his counsel or because she’s decided the time is right, Makara orders an attack on the Skull. 

Away they go!

“Here we come, F-01!”

The Skull was constructed using a modified hull from a Space Battleship Yamato model kit.

The art department has done a grand job with this set. Even though it’s just gray, they’ve really added a lot of detail and depth with the weathering. 

Shiro and Lamia fly up to the formidable looking ship. This is the first time we get a good look at it up close. The deathly figurehead and sleek prow are quite chilling to behold. We can also see a bit more of its weaponry including an anti-aircraft gun on the deck (similar to the one last manned by Hercules on X Bomber) and two large front-facing cannons. 

Shiro seems a bit uncertain about this mysterious ship. Could it be that something nefarious is afoot? But Lamia seems as if she’s finally come home or arrived at a relative’s house after a long journey. A voice greets them: 

“Welcome to the Skull.” Nice entrance and what a costume. I’m especially fond of the big samurai sword and helmet. Good to know Shiro isn’t the only one worried about the dangers of concussion. 

Shiro is befuddled but not threatened by the new guy. Amusingly, he asks Lamia who he is, as if she would know. But this time her instinct isn’t providing an immediate answer. 

In the same voice heard on the radio, he introduces himself as Halley and he’s the Captain of the Skull. Wasting no time explaining why he’s been playing cat and mouse with the X Bomber for so long, he asks to see the token. 

Do you like it? It was 30% off at TK Maxx. 

In a truly unexpected twist, Halley pulls a gun from nowhere and levels it at Lamia’s chest. What is happening?

Shiro warns Lamia to look out! 

If Shiro was faster, he would have prevented what’s about to happen but he was too busy talking. “Quiet young man,” Halley says. Then pulls the trigger. 

This effect was no doubt animated by hand.

Concentric circles radiate from the beam. Light glows intensely and then burns into a searing pool of energy. The soundtrack fills with a ringing noise and Shiro yells. 

Shiro is forced to turn away, but Lamia gazes on for far too long before finally closing her eyes and turning away. Remember this moment because we’ll return to it often. 

The puppets were constructed in such a way that they can raise and lower their arms using internal cable mechanisms, but in this shot a wire can be seen giving Halley extra strength as he lowers the strange gun. 

Halley ceases fire but the glow and the din continue for an agonizing moment. 

I believe that’s a model motorcycle engine part on the side of the helmet. 

Things die down and there is stillness. Shiro recovers and his first thought is for Lamia. 

But she says she’s fine. “Some welcome,” Shiro snaps to Halley, “you could use a lesson in manners. Why’d you do that?”

Halley says the true token is made from a special stone and he had to be certain that he had the correct one. No mention is made of what would’ve happened if Lamia was just a rando with a piece of costume jewelry and delusions of grandeur. 

“Your body has absorbed energy from it,” Halley says to Shiro’s confusion. 

Again, Halley refuses to explain further unless they come aboard. He’s either VERY security conscious or just damn evasive. 

Lamia is invited aboard and she insists that it’s alright. Shiro (not explicitly invited to join) is concerned. 

“You go now.” A pivotal moment of letting go for Shiro.

Shiro warns Halley not to hurt her then makes the surrender. He’s prepared to let Lamia follow her heart, but he insists that she “return to us.” He’s a brave guy. 

Lamia, almost hypnotically, agrees to come back. 

The Imperial forces are closing in! Orion and his squad launch all fighters and prepare to go head-to-Skull. 

Here come these guys again!

Puppets have difficulty putting on spacesuits, so cutting away and then cutting back to Lamia lowering her hands as if she just completed putting on her helmet is a really nice technique. 

This space motorbike sidecar has an airlock. It looks really darn uncomfortable to change in though. 

Lamia is suited up and ready to go, unaware that the Imperial Alliance is close by. Shiro spots them first, just before they open fire. 

What happened to my crew? Didn’t they see these guys on sensors?

I’ve seen a lot of discourse recently about the presence of smoke in TV shows in places like space or underwater. Would the physics of smoke work without an atmosphere? I don’t care. It looks cool and I like smoke billowing out of miniature spaceship cannons. Next!

Halley tries to get Lamia safely aboard as laser fire whips between them, but he’s too late. 

“Hurry up!”

Almost there!

Really weird goof here where Lamia isn’t wearing her helmet for this one shot. Not exactly sure how that might have happened. Perhaps the entire sequence was filmed without a helmet then refilmed later and this shot was left out, or perhaps the reverse scenario. ⁶

There is a flash…

…and Lamia goes spinning out into the void!

Halley sends Shiro after the falling woman as the Skull gets pulverized by the Imperial assault. 

A very spectacular shot featuring the space chopper racing away from the sparking Skull as an Imperial Fighter swoops through the foreground. 

Halley puts the turret gun to good use and destroys a few enemy fighters before uttering the immortal line: “Lamia! You must not die.” Genius!

You can see here that the laser bolts are added in post production as usual, probably by cel animation. However, you can also tell that someone on set fired a projectile across the scene to create a streak of smoke and that the visual effect was placed to cover it and make it appear as if the smoke was coming from the blast. The ingenuity and the detail never fails to blow me away!

Not dead yet, Lamia has traveled amazingly far from where she fell. Shiro is hot on her trail though. 

On first viewing, I assumed Lamia was injured or killed but she appears later to be basically unharmed. Then I presumed her pendant protected her, but a frame-by-frame analysis shows that she is hit in the neck and chest.

Then she appears to get a glancing blow and falls out of shot. This is an odd choice given that she doesn’t seem to be really hurt later, but it certainly heightens the drama. 

Shiro is very distressed by the danger his crush is in.

Is she OK? This space fall sequence is terrifying to imagine. 

In defense of the termoids, they usually don’t have to worry about anything other than shoot at stuff. 

Aboard the flagship, Orion is having some personnel difficulties. The termoids seem to keep forgetting that they are supposed to catch Lamia and not blast her into oblivion. Good help is hard to find. 

Shiro says “faster” as he fires on the baddies here but it really sounds like an obscenity to me– which would also work in context. 

The tiny space chopper and it’s front-mounted twin cannons appear to be able inflict just as much damage as a much bigger Dai-X craft. 

In the heat of battle, Shiro has lost track of Lamia. 

A very effective sequence of shots shows Shiro’s sidecar being blown away… He’s lucky to have survived!

“Where are you?” It’s great to see the characters in so much physical distress– it really adds a sense of danger and drama as you can’t help but feel that several puppets must have been damaged during the filming of these stunts. 

As his space chopper turns into a barbecue, a charred Shiro yells out for Lamia– are their spacesuit comms out of range? 

Lamia can’t hear Shiro’s calls and her situation is about to get even worse. 

This fighter extends a long grabber…

And snatches her out of the sky! Help, Shiro!

Got her! Mission accomplished. Returning to base. The end. The Alliance wins. 

As Orion basks in the glow of a warm victory (let’s face it, he’s worked hard for this), he orders his troops to finish off the Skull and “that space shuttle.” But the salty insubordinate wants to know if that’s part of Makara’s orders! Bloody cheeky. Orion rightfully puts the termoid back in his place and the flunky comically salutes, but once again it’s the lower ranking Alliance member in the right. If Orion returned to base now, he could have secured Lamia and the story would be over. As it is, she has a hope of escape. 

A hope named Shiro. All fires extinguished now and the chopper is still in working order. 

As the heroic knight-errant spots the captive lady in distress, two additional fighters move to intercept him. 

“Get out of my way!” Shiro bellows as he roasts the bad guys. It’s one of Shiro’s most bad-ass moments and one of the all-time greatest line deliveries by voice actor Jay Benedict. 

That speck moving through the fireball is the craft that created the explosion. 

Closing in:

Lamia warns Shiro off, I guess because she wants him out of danger. He ignores this. 

Don’t you just hate it when this happens?

Good thing this tiny ship has such powerful weapons!

Shiro shoots the grabbing arm further up the shaft… (crash zoom)

…which flings Lamia back into free space! Great scream from Liza Ross here. 

“I’m coming!”

This shot is particularly nausea-inducing because it’s handheld and spinning. It really gives the sense that the model figure is falling helpless through infinite space. 

Puppeteers obviously having fun twirling her around.

Thankfully, the space walk is just about over. 

“Hold on!”

Together again!

Orion is pretty upset about this development, which must amuse his foot soldiers. 

Lamia is OK, despite being shot earlier. But the Imperial Alliance has another trick up their sleeve.

What’s better than one sinister grabby thing? TWO SINISTER GRABBY THINGS!

Shiro keeps calm under pressure as Lamia warns him about the oncoming threat. 

It looks like their luck may finally be running out. The fighter moves in for the grab…

…then is suddenly blown away.

The fighter is hit! Normally wires are almost invisible in Star Fleet, but this time you can spot the ones holding up the model chopper. 

Another fighter taken out! What’s going on?

YEEHAW! John Lee is here in LegTrax (sometimes called Legstar) for a chance to play the hero himself. It’s a great and timely entrance! 

Lee. John Lee. Space hero. 

Shiro and Lamia make for X Bomber as Lee finishes off the remaining fighters. 

Orion paces back and forth muttering to himself. Not only is he unaware that the situation has changed, he’s also upset that it’s taking so long to capture “two helpless earthlings.” Hardly an accurate description. 

As he reacts to the shocking news that X Bomber is closing in on them, the heroic Star Fleet theme kicks in. 

The boys on the bridge are itching to teach those bad guys a lesson. Kirara pumps his fists in excitement. 

Lamia and Shiro are coming home after their harrowing and weird journey. They’re almost out of the woods if they can just manage to dock!

Fighters in hot pursuit…

And Lee in pursuit of the fighters. 

Hercules provides covering fire for the incoming chopper. 

And they’re back! Phew!

PPA reports the docking. Benn orders him to take the pair of them to sickbay, while Hercules is assigned to ready laser blast. 

X Bomber dives into the fray. 

Heaven help the termoid who falls into the wrathful hand of space pilot John Lee. 

Ouch. That must’ve hurt. 

As Lee congratulates himself on his good shooting, the Doctor orders him to get back to the ship and clear the area for a blast. So much for his chances of becoming a flying ace. 

Ready for a laser blast?

In case you forgot, the laser blast requires X Bomber to change to swan configuration.

This way, giant guns (the size of Braincom which is  just below them) can flick into place.

Then the Imperial Alliance is decimated. 

Face off!

No contest.

Orion’s cruiser is hit, but he miraculously survives to retreat once again. Business as usual for the unfortunate Captain.

Rather strangely, Orion is allowed to escape because the Doctor orders Hercules to hold fire. Usually this is because X Bomber needs to conserve power to escape a black hole or a hostile planet, but in this case Benn blames Lee for being in the way. It feels like a weak excuse. Lee has been better than anyone at staying out of harm’s way.

Everyone back on board! But are they all safe?

Uh oh. Someone isn’t. 

Outside sickbay, a camera move reveals Shiro is waiting outside so it must be Lamia who’s in surgery. But that doesn’t mean that Shiro isn’t in for a world of hurt. 

Hercules towers over his smaller friend, then grabs him by the collar. 

POW! 

Hercules slugs Shiro in the side of the head (which must’ve hurt the slugger as much as the sluggee because of the helmet) and the blow hurls him violently against the wall. 

In freeze frame, you can see the puppet doesn’t really complete the motion, but because of the skillful direction, camera work, sound, and editing, the illusion is sold beautifully. I wish certain other puppet productions would take note of how to convincingly create this kind of action. 

Shiro slumps to the ground. Hercules orders him to stand up and face him. 

I’m glad this guy’s on our side. 

“If anything’s happened to Lamia, pal, you’ll have me to contend with,” Hercules booms. It’s ironic that these two are fighting right in the shadow of the operating room where Lamia, who would never want them to fight under any circumstances, is lying powerless to stop them. 

Wonder why Hercules is SO concerned about Lamia? Hmm.

Shiro’s worried about her too. 

While waiting, Hercules makes rude gestures in the vicinity of his crotch. Oops.  

Lee expresses concern for Shiro and Hercules snaps at him. Apparently, endangering Lamia is such a heinous crime that Shiro is unworthy of any sympathy at all. Hmm. 

The conversation is interrupted by Kirara emerging from sickbay carrying a prone Lamia away to her room. Benn says she is safe. I’m sure that the chest/neck wound and the blast of light that hit her pendant had no lasting effects. Right?

Shiro apologizes to Dr. Benn. No reprimand is issued yet. Lee is just assigned to take Shiro to sickbay. 

Hercules has a change of heart and takes care of Shiro himself. “Why you looking at me like that?,” Hercules chuckles gently at Shiro’s stiff reaction, “I won’t hit you again, pal.” Lee tells him to lay off and it’s clear they’re all friends again. 

Because the puppets are rod controlled from below, and there’s often no floor to ground them, they sometimes appear to vary a bit in height. Hercules is always taller than Lee, but here he is positively gargantuan in comparison. 

Lamia rests peacefully after her ordeal. 

She has a hazy vision of Halley but when she opens her eyes…

…it’s Shiro standing by her bedside. 

Their roles of hero and damsel in distress cast aside for the time being, the two share a quiet moment together. Lamia asks about the freshly plastered bruise on his face and Shiro plays it off as no big deal. She apologizes yet again for bringing him into this spot and he tells her not to worry. 

Hey you. Yes you. I don’t like your face. 

Make like a tree and get outta here!

“This just isn’t my day.”

Kirara brusquely informs Shiro that visiting hours are over by chucking him out into the hallway. Nice. On that note, the episode comes to a close. 

Shiro’s had a rough few days. First, he had to kill his mentor. Now he’s been forced to choose between his duty to his commanding officer and his friendship to a woman he cares for, only to get introduced to Halley, a possible rival for her affection. Then he gets blasted, burnt, punched, and finally mauled by an alien monster. Not his day, his week, his month, or even his year. 

On the other hand, this is a great episode for Hercules. His jealousy of Shiro’s leading man qualities are a bit meta (in-universe they all technically should be the same rank but Shiro flies the head of the robot and is the only one who gets to wear a helmet with his name on it) and there is a great triangle forming thanks to his barely concealed feelings for Lamia. 

Lee gets to have his moment in the sun as the heroic pilot and the other characters are all well represented. But it’s Lamia’s story that is center stage. Her connection to the mysterious ship grows deeper and stranger. Even though you’ve probably guessed what F-01 IS by now, the full implications of that are going to unfold in very exciting ways. Stay tuned for episode 15!

1. I can’t resist pointing out that in episode 11, Lee was shown sleeping in a top bunk. Here, he’s sitting on a bottom bunk which seems to indicate that Shiro and Hercules each have one bed but the extra bed is Lee’s property– or else it’s just a communal bench for sitting on.

2. Like soup and noodles, oranges are a part of traditional Japanese New Year celebrations. They crown Kagami mochi rice cakes and symbolize the family torch being passed on through the generations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kagami_mochi

3. Doctor Who fans will know that Garrick also appeared in an episode of that series called The Mutants where he (spoilers) eventually turns into an angelic, butterfly-like being. There’s some echoes of that performance in his work here. https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Ky

4. Note that Makara refers to F-01 as a ‘she' and not an ‘it’.

5. Since we’re in space and there’s no atmosphere to carry sound waves, all communication is via radio, presumably including the conversation Shiro and Lamia have between themselves (barring a hard wired connection we just can’t see).

6. Halley, as you can see, does not wear a helmet. Minor spoiler alert, no one on the deck of the Skull ever does. Mostly these folks are not from Earth, so it’s possible their species isn’t human or it’s possible there is some advanced invisible tech protecting them from the elements.