Alec discovers that a fellow transgenic with gills is being used as the centrepiece at a strip club, so he enlists Max's help to rescue her. Meanwhile, Logan has a shock when it seems he has fallen prey to Manticore's genetically engineered virus.

This episode isn't bad, but it could have been better. The main plot is simple: rescue mermaid girl after she has been picked up by White and take her back to the sea. The twist in the tale consists purely of a water-breathing boy (her mate) who helps in the rescue attempt, but beyond that it's all pretty straightforward as far as search and rescue missions go.

The other element here is Logan suddenly being laid low by some form of virus, which Max believes to be the genetic retrovirus she has been given that is passed by touch. The idea behind this is clearly to give Max some kind of a scare and make her consider her future with Logan, but it doesn't really work. The main crux of the matter is Max getting religion in an attempt to explain Logan suddenly being diagnosed with chicken pox after she asks for a miracle in the hospital chapel. This aspect is quickly forgotten entirely for some reason with Max not thinking too much of it about 10 minutes further on. The reoccurrence of chicken pox is never explained, unless there's more going on here than we currently realize.

The rescue itself is pretty good, with loads of stunt action and plenty of wire work to give those X-5s a bit of a boost. The downside is that it all goes, for want of a better word, swimmingly, leaving everything over too quickly and no real problems in the way of the rescue effort. It's all a little anticlimactic really.

On the positive side, the scenes in the strip club are good fun, especially when Max is forced to show Alec 'a good time' in her own inimitable style to fit in and try to help the mer-girl. This episode also uses most of the supporting characters better than usual as well, with some nice little moments for Normal, Cindy, Asha and Sketchy woven into the story. Good to see, even if the story itself isn't the strongest ever seen.

***

Would you like to go to the Dark Angel Season Two guide, head back to the main TV reviews page, read older reviews in the Reviews Archive or return to the front page?