The discovery of a mysterious alien artifact sets off a search for the lost legacy of an ancient Taelon scout.

All That Scheming Makes Them Cranky

Zo'or: What you do to -- or with or about -- the incompetents is, plainly speaking, a waste of all our times.

Sandoval: If it is a Taelon artifact, it's really not up your alley, Praeger.    Related Links Earth: Final Conflict Roddenberry Productions Tribune Entertainment Praeger: Up your alley, friend!

Renee: Welcome to Peru, Mr. Sandoval. Jonathan asked me to-- Sandoval: "Liaise." Yes, I know, Ms. Palmer. That's what you do best.

Written by George Geiger
Directed by James Head

Diego Fuentes - Enrique Gonsalves
Ramona Milano - Vera Rizzori
Shawn Lawrence - Carl Praeger

South America. A small raft comes ashore on the Peruvian coast, carrying a man who looks toward the jungle, smiles and then makes his way inland. He's carrying a small electronic device, which he checks and then pockets, seemingly satisfied.

The adage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" only applies when a person knows the difference between friend and foe. Unfortunately, for Liam Kincaid, this line is becoming increasingly blurred.

He is beset on all sides by people with their own agendas and motivations. Between the Taelons, with their various plans for the human race, and Jonathan Doors' unflinchingly anti-Taelon stance, Liam is left with almost no one to trust. Now, with Renee Palmer apparently loyal to Doors above all else, Liam may now find himself even more isolated in his struggle.

That struggle is also growing increasingly complicated. On the Taelon side, it seems that Ma'el may have been more than a simple "scout." Given Da'an and Zo'or's belief that Ma'el hid his ship from his fellow Taelons, he may have been more rebel than simple explorer. His belief in the potential for Human-Taelon partnership is clearly a minority view among the Commonality -- of the living aliens we've met so far, only Da'an seems to share this view.

On the other hand, Doors' refusal to accept the idea that humans and Taelons must learn to coexist clouds his belief that Ma'el was "the one good Taelon." His alliance with Zo'or is simply a matter of convenience -- siding with the aliens buys Doors time to develop and exploit the Taelon technology he controls. With Renee Plamer running the show, Doors is also able to keep his hands relatively clean and ensure that his credibility remains intact.

Speaking of credibility, Earth: Final Conflict is one of those rare programs that force viewers to pay attention to the obvious non-verbal cues the characters divulge.

Some of the most important communication comes in the form of the Telling Glance, the Meaningful Silence, and the Tortured Facial Expression. Every betrayal, frustration or hidden agenda is therefore exquisitely telegraphed before the dialogue has a chance to catch up. Von Flores (Sandoval) is a master of this form of acting and Leni Parker (Da'an) comes in a close second. I'd love to play poker with these people.

Finally, it is interesting to note that this show's heroes survive their adventures with relatively little blood on their hands. For example, had Renee shot Enrique Gonsalves when she had the opportunity, she would have shut down both Liam and Sandoval's searches for the source of the Taelon artifact, thus fulfilling her mission with a minimum of complication.

However, this is clearly not how our heroes act, and so Enrique lived -- for a little while, at least. Gonsalves' death was accidental, freeing Liam (and Renee) from any direct culpability. Despite the outcome, Liam is able to walk away from the conflict with his conscience relatively intact.

How will Renee's actions in this episode affect her future cooperation with Liam?

What secrets does Ma'el's ship hold?

What is the real power and purpose of the Taelon artifact?

How much does Zo'or really trust Jonathan Doors? How much does he suspect about Doors' continued ties to the Resistance?