Synopsis: An amazingly sweet and sad episode. No alien mythology, but a wonderful exploration of the relationship between Mel and Cole. Drama, action, lots of romance, comedy, heart-shaped hot tubs ... Too bad about the sad ending...

Posing as the "newlywed" Hausers, Mel and Cole visit a "Marital Bliss" retreat for bringing romance and sexuality into a marriage. They’re on the trail of a telepathically paired set of deadly Orsian twins, the Valik sisters, Cedra and Vedra. (Love the way the two of them constantly squabble in this messed up cross between sisters and an old married couple). Posing as marrieds sure brings problems when Mel and Cole have to pretend they’re sexually intimate. Meanwhile, the paired convicts have figured out a way to scramble Cole’s attempts to Track them. The explanations about the hotel being built over lodestone [which interferes with Cole’s ability to sense the Orsians] and it being remodeled filled in the logic gaps of the storyline fairly effectively.

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Note the playful, tongue-in-cheek way Cole and Mel go through all the cliched double-entendres and innuendoes in the first few minutes of the opening of this episode. Cole, as usual, gets different sayings a little mixed up...

In a snowy landscape, Mel’s silver SUV drives up to the front entrance of the over 150-year old Heritage Lodestone Inn and comes to a stop.

Mel, brightly but too quickly: "I don’t know!"

Cole, thinking, then suddenly getting it: "Ooooh!" He smiles and nods. "Ahhh."

Mel, nervously: "Are you sure we’re doing the right thing, Cole?"

Cole, amused: "Are you getting cold hands?"

Mel: "The expression is ‘cold feet’."

Cole: "Don’t worry." He pats her arm and gently smiles encouragement at her as he opens the car door. "Everything will be okay." He gets out of the car, turning with a big teasing grin before closing the door, "Darling!"

Mel, rolling her eyes, saying sarcastically to herself: "Where have I heard that before!?"

She joins Cole at the back of the SUV where he’s unloading their luggage from the open hatch.

Mel: "You do know what to do, right?"

Cole: "Thought you’d be able to show me."

Mel: "What, like, I’m the one with all the experience?"

Cole starts to answer her but someone walks by so instead he brightly says: "Come on, honey. Our heart-shaped bath tub is getting cold." Then softer and more urgently, "So am I!"

Mel closes the SUV’s hatch and they hurry to the entrance, Mel pushing him from behind with a hand on his upper arm. There’s a ‘Just Married’ sign in the SUV’s rear window.

Mel, as they enter the Inn’s lobby: "I’ve heard about these seminars and they can get pretty wild. I think we should think this through."

Cole: "Well, we can’t go back now. We’ve come so far."

Mel, anxiously stopping him by Dr Janet Sullivan’s ‘Better Sex’ tripod-mounted seminar sign: "Listen ... there’s something ... you should know about me ... I ... I’m ... not that good..."

Cole, distracted by the sign: "Really?"

Mel: "In front of a group! It’s the group that makes me nervous!"

Cole, with a small and nervous yet bemused smile of his own: "Well, this isn’t easy for me, either, Mel." He turns away and heads for the main desk. "My first time!"

Mel follows him and rings the desk bell. Once. Cole begins ringing it repeatedly.

Desk Clerk, coming over: "Can I ... help you?"

Cole, with a smile: "Yes. We’ve just ... ah ... tied our rope."

Mel: "Knot."

Cole: "Huh? Oh."

[He thinks she means his hat and he hastily removes it!].

Mel, ignoring him: "We have a reservation. We’re here for the Seminar."

Desk Clerk: "Your name?"

Cole, looking through another brochure: "Cole."

Mel: "Hauser." She glances up at him and takes his arm. "Mr. and Mrs. ... Cole Hauser."

They both smile.

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In the next scene they’re being escorted to their room, chatty Alex the Bellhop telling them about some of the Inn’s history and informing them that they’re currently building a "state of the arts gym in the basement."

Cole seems fascinated by a bathrobe-clad couple making out in the hall and stops to stare, so Mel has to hurry him along.

Alex the Bellhop, noting: "Guess they’re going to give the mattresses a bit of a workout tonight ... And here we are ... The Huntsman Suite ... Teddy Roosevelt slept here."

Mel, dryly: "How American."

Cole: "Did he use the mattresses as a workout?"

Alex the Bellhop, diplomatically: "Eh, pretty big guy."

Cole: "Oh."

Mel, whispering to Cole: "Are you getting anything?"

Cole, low: "No. The indicators I’m getting are confusing ... Must be interference of some kind."

After settling them into Suite 201 and explaining to Mel that the Huntsman Suite got its name because it was once decorated with animal heads on the walls and bearskin rugs on the floors, Alex the Bellhop asks Cole: "Do you do any hunting, Mr. Hauser?"

Cole: "Occasionally."

Alex the Bellhop: "Me, too. Deer mostly. Yourself?"

Cole: "My prey tends to be more exotic."

Mel nods her approval at his clever answer.

Then Cole slaps Alex’s extended hand instead of giving him the expected tip.

Cole, to Mel: "That’s a male bonding ritual that Nestov taught me. It now means that I’m ... down with him!"

Mel, amused: "Yeah, you sure are!"

Cole starts busying himself reconfiguring the television.

Mel: "Listen, Cole ... Are you sure we’re doing the right thing? I mean, what would two fugitives be doing at a ... sexual bliss seminar!?"

Cole: "I’m not sure ... but this is where Nestov heard they’d be."

Mel: "And you have no idea about the bodies they acquired on the train?"

Cole: "Well, you know Nestov. He’s not very good with details."

Mel: "So we just have to pick them out of the crowd ... Piece of cake."

Cole: "No, thank you."

Mel: "No, what I meant was ... easy job."

Cole, disagreeing: "It’s not going to be easy at all, Mel! If I can’t sense the presence of the Valik sisters ... then it means they’ve found a way to mask their energies ... And if they discover me before I discover them ... they’ll have the strategic advantage."

Mel: "Cole, I don’t think the management would appreciate what you’re doing with the television."

Cole, continuing with his thoughts: "On Orsus, Cedra and Vedra Valik were assassins. They murdered dozens ... They were very efficient at their job."

He turns on the television.

Mel, looking at the vertical on-screen lines: "And because these Orsians are telepathic, if you can intercept their thought waves you can pinpoint their locations. Right?"

Cole, pleased: "You’re getting very good at this, Mel. You’re learning a lot about Migar cultures."

Mel: "A girl has to have a hobby ... What did you rig that thing up to this time?"

Cole, showing her: "It’s a translator. If I can home in on their frequencies, I can read their thought waves."

Just then there’s a knock at the door and, while Cole hurriedly puts things away, Mel goes to answer it.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Mrs. Hauser?"

Mel, with a bright smile: "Yeah."

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Hi!" She giggles "Congratulations, newlyweds! I - I’m so happy for you!"

Mel, thanking her with a smile: "Oh!" Calling back over her shoulder, "Honey! We have company!"

Cole, with a bemused yet puzzled look on his face, calling back: "I’ll be right there ... honey!"

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Well, I - I - I thought I’d just come down and personally welcome you ... Here ... Why don’t you just take one of my brochures." She hands her one. "I brought it for you. Look through it ... I think you’ll find some of our seminars ... ah ... shall we say ... stimulating!?" She giggles.

Mel, not knowing what to say to that: "Ah!"

In the room, Cole checks that his modified hearing gizmo is in place in his ear, listens a moment to see if he can pick up on the Valik sisters yet, then huffs on his wedding band, polishing it on his sweater as he goes to join Mel.

Mel: "Ah! ... Dr. Janet ... This is my husband ... Cole."

Cole greets her with a nod and a smile.

Dr. Janet Sullivan, clearly excited: "I’m going to show you both how to fill every one of your nights together with endless passion!"

Mel looks decidedly uneasy; Cole seems both dubious and amused.

Mel, turning to Cole, trying to be flirty: "Oh ... ah ... That sounds hot ... Right, baby?"

Cole, just as awkward: "That’s how you like it ... Hot ... Right, baby?"

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Yes! And it’s up to you to keep it hot! So, let’s get started, okay?"

She takes Mel by the hand and leads her away to their first seminar while Cole hangs the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door and follows.

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The seminar itself was too absurd for belief but it was very amusing and a good set-up for the characters to do their thing. The growing attraction between Mel and Cole here starts becoming very clear.

A couple is passionately kissing on the loveseat in front of an audience.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Now, the key to sexual bliss is to try to keep things fresh, like you’re newlyweds. Don’t be afraid to try different things. Such as dressing up like a pirate or maybe a flight attendant." She indicates the kissing couple. "There’s nothing more beautiful than two lovers truly in love ... Nothing more beautiful in the universe."

In the audience, Mel wryly looks sidelong at the smiling Cole.

Dr. Janet Sullivan, clapping her hands: "Come on! Show your love for this beautiful couple!"

The audience applauds as the couple rises and they return to their seats. Mel is looking uncomfortable while Cole seems to becoming more and more interested in what’s going on.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Maybe some of you would like to have a cigarette after that little display! You two know how to keep it fresh and I like that! I want to see more of..."

While she’s speaking, Rahne, her husband, sneaks up behind her and covers her eyes with his hands.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Oh!" She laughs as she removes his hands. "Speaking of fresh! My third husband, Rahne."

He hugs her from behind.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "We make love every day!"

Rahne: "Rahne or shine."

They both giggle.

Cole looks curiously over at the increasingly more uncomfortable Mel.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "That’s a bad boy! Come here!"

They kiss to audience applause.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Demonstrating affection is going to be your key to a happy love life ... Never be afraid to show your love ... wherever..."

Laughing, she and Rahne engage in a few mild pelvic thrusts.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "And whenever! No inhibitions allowed! Let’s try it, shall we? With, um, the Hausers! ... Who have come all the way from…?"

Mel, interjecting before Cole has a chance to say ‘Cirron’: "Chicago, Illinois."

[Because she adds the state, one may assume that this seminar is taking place in a different one].

Dr. Janet Sullivan, taking Mel’s arm: "Come on, foxy lady!"

Rahne, clapping: "Let’s welcome them!"

The audience claps as she leads Mel to the loveseat while Rahne steers Cole.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Your turn to be here on the loveseat." She pats the cushions and the two of them sit down. "Go ahead, you two! It’s okay! ... Show us some affection!" She claps her hands encouragingly. "Come on!"

The audience applauds and now Mel is looking extremely uncomfortable, even a bit frightened.

Dr. Janet Sullivan, encouraging: "Come on! You can do it!"

Mel looks at Cole as if to ask, ‘now what?’ Cole smiles and leans over to her and Mel prepares herself for a kiss, but it doesn’t happen. Instead, he begins to tenderly and affectionately stroke her throat. The way she looks at him as he does, and the way they gently smile at each other, is very sweet and touching.

Dr. Janet Sullivan, puzzled by this display: "Oh!"

Rahne and everyone else are also puzzled.

Man in Audience (Chuck/Cedra), derisively: "Oh, come on! My grandmother’s hotter than that!"

In reaction to the general laughter, Cole becomes awkward and stops with the throat stroking.

Dr. Janet Sullivan, nodding: "We need practice, don’t we, Mr. Hauser?"

Man in Audience (Chuck/Cedra): "Make him kiss the head!"

There’s agreement and applause from the rest of the audience.

Dr. Janet Sullivan, to Rahne: "They want the head, honey."

Rahne, showing Cole a sculpted head: "Mr. Hauser ... What we do with the head is ... we measure the galvanic responses of your kisses."

Mel looks as if she doesn’t know what to make of that remark while Cole just grins.

Rahne: "So we put some juice into this baby, okay? Like this..."

He playfully waggles his eyebrows at his wife, then kisses the head.

Dr. Janet Sullivan, noting the meter readout: "Whew! Yes! ... There’s my bad boy! Look at that!"

Mel looks at Cole as if to ask, ‘What the…?’

Dr. Janet Sullivan, approvingly: "Right off the scale! He can go all night long!" The audience claps its approval. "Now! Most important, this experiment ... although it seems silly ... helps you to lose your inhibitions for showing your affection in public." To Cole, "So, you can do it! Give it a try!"

Rahne spray-cleans the head’s mouth with disinfectant and wipes it off with a paper towel.

Rahne, handing the head to a grinning Cole: "Here you are. Don’t worry. It’s sterile. Unlike me."

Watching Mel’s reaction, Cole teasingly gives the head a smooch. Love the look he then gives her as he finally sets himself to the task ... like ‘you're next’; the playful way he waggles his eyebrows at her before he sends the meter soaring into the red zone and sets the machine to smoking. He was clearly enjoying himself and really getting off on learning about Human sexuality.

Dr. Janet Sullivan, astonished: "Oh, my! Oh! ... Baby, look! Oh, bravo!"

The audience is wildly applauding. Rahne looks puzzled. Mel looks tolerantly amused.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Whoa! Bravo, Mr. Hauser!"

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This session of the seminar over, everyone exits the room into the hall, the other participants congratulating Cole on his ‘performance’. Arms around each other, Mel becomes all touchy-feely with him to stay in character.

Mel, amused: "Well! At least one of us works well in a group! And while you were having fun, were you able to locate the sisters?"

Cole: "No. I haven’t picked up on their frequency yet. Did you notice that the Doctor and her husband are wearing identical jewelry?"

Mel: "Cole, everyone here is wearing identical jewelry."

Cole: "I know. But not like theirs ... I know they’re not the same as the Orsian telepathic collars you’ve seen in the past, but maybe they’ve adapted them."

Mel: "Good point."

Cole: "Besides, they’re not like any other Humans I’ve met ... I’m going to check them out."

Mel: "What can I do?"

Rahne, coming over to them: "Ah! Mel! There you are! ... Husbands get a break now. You get to meet up with your better half at the reception later. Ladies only time, okay?"

Mel: "Great!"

Rahne, hustling her along: "Come, come, come."

Cole, waving: "Bye ... honey."

Mel is dragged off to Rahne’s Women Only Seminar, leaving Cole free to check out Janet and Rahne Sullivan’s hotel room. (Suite 204). After snooping through books, creams, lotions and Dr. Janet’s laptop, he determines that his two biggest suspects are exactly who they claim to be and not his quarry. But then Janet Sullivan catches him in the hall just as he’s leaving the room.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Mr. Hauser?"

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Cut to Rahne’s Women Only Seminar with Kate Phillips (who is really Vedra, one half of the Valik sisters), awkwardly telling all that her ‘Chuck’ is a "seething mass of testosterone" and it overwhelms her. She says that if there are any problems between them in the bedroom, then she knows that the fault is hers.

Rahne thanks her for sharing.

[Note: Here Rahne calls her ‘Erika’ when he thanks her, the one and only time in this episode that she’s called by any name other than Vedra. In "Remember When," however, her Human name is given as Kate Phillips].

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Cut back to Cole and Dr. Janet Sullivan speaking in the hall outside of her room. She naturally wants to know why he was in there. Cole is very awkward here, trying to come up with an excuse.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Okay ... But that ... still doesn’t explain what you were doing in my room."

Cole: "Uhhh ... I wanted to talk to you about something personal ... It’s ... It’s okay..."

He tries to walk away but she stops him by taking his arm.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Oh ... Something that calls for ... complete privacy, Mr. Hauser?"

Cole: "I didn’t know how to say it in front of the other people."

Dr. Janet Sullivan, now very curious and again stopping him from walking away: "Oh, it’s all right, Mr. Hauser. You can talk to me."

Cole: "I don’t know what to say."

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Whisper it to me. I’m a professional ... I promise not to tell a soul ... Come on."

Cole moves closer to her and starts whispering in her ear.

Don’t know what he may have told her, but she gets this ‘HUH!?!’ look on her face!...

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Meanwhile, a very uncomfortable Mel is forced into ‘sharing’ at the Women Only Seminar, neither Rahne or the audience accepting her excuse that she’s "finding it really helpful just listening."

Mel, nervously fiddling with a throw pillow in her lap: "It’s just he’s so obsessed with his work, you know? I mean, sometimes it’s like I’m not even in the room ... and then there’s the other times I look at him and I think ... You don’t need me."

Rahne: "But is he a good lover, Mel?"

Mel, rolling her eyes: "Who knows?" Then she catches herself. "I mean ... Yes." She sighs. "Who am I kidding? This is not going to work! I mean, there’s just too much difference between us ... too many ... cultural ... differences."

Kate/Vedra, piping up from the audience: "Why did you marry him, then?"

Mel, wryly: "He had this ... immigration problem..."

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The next scene is at the reception where Kate starts becoming pseudo-friendly with Mel, who naturally doesn’t realize that she’s Vedra. Mel notices that they’re being eyed by a horny pervert by the name of Ed Spaulding.

[Note: His name isn’t given in the episode, but it’s listed as being such in the guest cast].

Mel: "Don’t look now, but I think we’re being watched."

Kate/Vedra, turning to look: "Ugh! Please!" She turns away in disgust, then points out her ‘other half’. "Oh! That’s my Chuck over there! Isn’t he great!?"

Mel, seeing two men side by side and thinking it’s the tall and handsome guy rather than the short and tubby one: "Yeah!" The short and tubby one then smiles and waves at them. "Oh! ... Yeah."

Kate/Vedra: "I can’t tell you how great it feels to be in love with someone so ... sweet and dedicated to our relationship ... So! Where is your ball and chain, anyway?"

Mel: "Oh! He had a headache."

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One really likes the subtle way the oblique threat against Mel in this next scene, and Cole’s feeling of danger and uncertainty, eventually led up to their kiss, as if he had to reveal his feelings for her just in case one of them didn’t survive. Here they both finally express their commitment to "the team," and to each other, which is finally some real progress in their relationship.

Cole arrives at the Reception Room, hovering at the entrance and looking around, then starts to shy away as Dr. Janet Sullivan rushes up to him.

Dr. Janet Sullivan, taking his arm: "No, no, no, no, no! Mr. Hauser, come in! Join the party! Look at this place!" She firmly leads him into the room, explaining "This is the perfect evening for you to start expressing yourself, learning what it’s about!"

Then espying her husband, she excuses herself to go talk with him about the next day’s seminars, leaving Cole to scout around the room’s periphery, scanning the people and trying to get a fix on who the Valik sisters are.

Suddenly Cole can hear the sister’s telepathic thought communications in his modified hearing gizmo.

Worried, Cole anxiously searches the room to locate Mel, quickly spotting her.

Mel, smiling and stroking his arm and shoulder: "Well! If it isn’t my favorite wallflower."

Kate/Vedra, cheerfully: "Glad you could make it! How’s the headache?"

Cole, it taking a beat for him to realize what Mel had probably said to cover his absence: "It ain’t ... Could I steal her away for a moment?"

He leads her onto the dance floor, still nervously looking around.

Mel, little above a whisper: "So? Is it Janet and Rahne?"

Cole, equally low-voiced as they dance a few turns: "No. The Valik sisters are definitely in this room. Unfortunately, they know that I’m Tracking them."

They look at each other in concernation, then he leads her out of the room into the main hall, anxiously looking around.

Cole: "We should leave. I can Collect them some other time on my own terms."

He tries to head her for their room.

Mel, protesting: "You may not get another chance later! And even if you do, what about all the problems they could cause between then and now!?!"

Cole, trying to get her to see reason: "This hotel is built over lodestone, which means there’s too much magnetic activity for me to sense the Valik sisters’ presence." He becomes plaintive. "If I can’t sense who they are, I can’t protect you."

[Cole is determined to keep her safe and he’s likely remembering the close call she had with Tevv ("The Plague") and the three close calls she more recently had with Suudor in London ("Fever of the Hunt, Part II")].

Mel, stubbornly: "If I’m the reason you want to pull out, Cole ... Forget about it! A few months ago we became a team! ... Remember!?"

Cole: "I remember ... but I –"

Mel, on a roll: "You needed my help and I gave it to you! And I didn’t always understand ... why or how ... But I gave it to you! And now that things get hairy ... you want to call the whole thing off ... It’s not going to happen ... It’s not what teamwork ... is about ... Do you understand what I’m saying?"

Cole stares at her, awed by her bravery, determination and loyalty: "Yes, Mel." He steps in closer and gently strokes the base of her throat. "Thank you," he softly says.

Mel, smiling and just as soft: "It’s okay." Differences smoothed over and positions made clear, she then adds, "So, we go back in there and ... hunt them down."

Arm in arm they head back into the Reception Room where Janet Sullivan immediately accosts them.

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "There you are, Mr. Hauser! I’ve been looking all over the place for you! I thought we might continue the little chat we were having."

Cole, unsettled: "Uhhh ... Well, um ... I..."

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Let’s dance!"

Mel: "Well, we were just ... going to have a drink at the bar..."

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Right after our dance! I promise I’ll get him back in time for bed."

She leads him off to the dance floor before they can offer more excuses.

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Mel goes to the bar and orders herself a double gin and tonic, and once again Kate/Vedra hooks up with her. She was very convincing as a Human woman when the two of them started dissing about their men, and it was funny later when she couldn’t seem to drop her attitude and complaints even when she and her sister were alone.

Kate/Vedra: "Everything all right?"

Mel: "Everything’s fine. No problems."

Kate/Vedra: "Okay! I’m not buying that!"

Mel: "Why?"

Kate/Vedra, nodding knowingly: "You had a fight with Mr. Wonderful."

Mel looks over to Cole on the dance floor a moment, then shrugs: "Just ... something with his job came up."

Kate/Vedra: "You know, what is it with men and their work? Why can’t they just keep it at the office?"

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Meanwhile on the dance floor...

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "You know, Mr. Hauser, this isn’t just a job ... Of course it’s the only job in the world where you can still get a little nookie at the home office without worrying about anybody suing you."

Cole, puzzled: "Mel’s unhappy because she’s not getting any of this nookie?"

[Did he perhaps tell her that he’s having a difficult time expressing to Mel how he feels about her? Or that he’s unsure of how to make her happy? He couldn’t have admitted to being a virgin ... Or could he?].

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "You tell me."

Dr. Janet Sullivan: "Okay, Mr. Hauser ... You know, you might be the strangest man I’ve ever met!"

Cole shrugs to himself.

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Kate/Vedra is pseudo female bonding with Mel.

Kate/Vedra, schmoozing: "You know, I really wish I knew what makes them so dense. Must be some kind of biological imperative to it ... I don’t know ... It’s just that everywhere I’ve been they’re all the same ... Hmm ... Except for my Chuck."

Mel again looks over to Cole on the dance floor, now slow dancing with Dr. Janet.

Mel: "Sometimes Cole and I are so far apart ... Light years."

Kate/Vedra: "I know what that’s like ... Don’t let it get you down. After a couple of years, you’re so in sync you’re starting and finishing each other’s sentences."

Mel: "How long have you and Chuck been together?"

Kate/Vedra: "Ahh! ... Feels like forever..."

They both turn to watch Cole dancing with Janet Sullivan for a few moments as the pace of the music picks up and Dr. Janet tells him, "That’s it, Mr. Hauser! Spontaneity is the key!"

Ed Spaulding then appears again, leering at the two of them.

Kate/Vedra: "Do you believe the nerve of that guy? His wife is here and he’s flirting with you!"

Mel: "Actually ... I think he’s flirting with you."

Kate/Vedra turns her head to look at him and Ed Spaulding pantomimes a ‘you’ and ‘you’ and ‘me’, trying to proposition the two of them for a threesome.

Mel: "Thanks ... See you in the morning."

Kate/Vedra: "You can count on it."

As soon as she leaves, Ed Spaulding approaches Mel, who holds up a warning hand before he can say a word: "Don’t ... even ... think about it!"

When he backs off, Mel notices that Kate/Vedra had left her purse behind. She checks the dance floor again. Then, seeing that Cole is still occupied, hurries out of the room to catch up to the other woman and return it.

———————————————————————

While Cole and Janet Sullivan continue to dance, he starts receiving the Valik sister’s thought transmissions in his hearing gizmo...

Worried, Cole looks around for Mel, but doesn’t see her anywhere. Abandoning Janet Sullivan on the dance floor in the middle of a twirl, he goes looking for Mel, Janet chasing after him and calling his name.

Cole literally bumps into Mel just as she’s returning to the Reception Room, unsuccessful at finding Kate/Vedra. He grasps her by her shoulders and spins her around, putting her between him and Janet Sullivan.

And there they are, finally in each other’s arms, their lips but an inch apart. So he kisses her. For real, while Dr. Janet pulls up short, not about to interfere.

They draw apart, gawking at each other in astonishment, both looking completely stunned.

Reluctantly, Cole turns away to go in pursuit of Cedra.

Weak-kneed, Mel staggers and drops Kate/Vedra’s purse, feeling the color rising to her face. As she kneels down and gathers up the contents of the spilled purse, she finds Kate/Vedra’s swipe-pass and decides on her own to check out the woman’s hotel room.

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Cedra arrives at the empty section of the hotel with three cases and sets up a laptop, seemingly unaware that the Tracker is already there, observing ‘him’ from up on the scaffolding.

———————————————————————

Mel is investigating Suite 310. Knocking first and not getting an answer, she uses Kate/Vedra’s swipe-pass and cautiously enters, twice calling out "Hello?"

Putting Kate/Vedra’s purse on the bed, she then notices an odd pink and magenta item glowing in a suitcase.

———————————————————————

In a hallway of the hotel, the forever-horny Ed Spaulding approaches Kate/Vedra.

Ed: "I can read your mind ... You know what goes on in these seminars."

Kate/Vedra: "What are you talking about?"

Ed, leering and circling her: "Oh, this whole thing is just a ... thinly disguised convention for people like us ... For people who like to experiment ... For people who know that ... variety is the true spice of any love life ... For people who like to play..."

Kate/Vedra: "Okay. Who let you out of the zoo?"

Ed, stroking her hair: "Come on now, honey ... Don’t be like that..."

Kate/Vedra, getting angry: "Oh! You wanna play!"

Ed: "Oh, you bet I do, babe."

Kate/Vedra, abruptly seizing him by the throat and ramming him into a wall: "See, we’re playing now, babe!" She starts lifting him up the wall. "You know, I’ve encountered a lot of different lifeforms in my time ... But you! You are one of the most disgusting, pathetic, useless creatures I’ve ever come across!"

She throws him to the opposite wall where his head smashes the glass of the emergency firehose box and he falls to the floor, bloody and dazed.

Kate/Vedra, seizing him again: "Love you, babe!"

She then snaps his neck and looks very satisfied about having done that.

———————————————————————

———————————————————————

Back in the hotel’s renovation area, Cole isn’t really concentrating on his task and ends up dinking around too long. He quietly drops down from the scaffolding and zips around behind Cedra.

Cedra, suddenly aware of the Tracker’s presence: "Oh, ah, Mr. Hauser! You gave me a bit of a start." ‘He’ nervously chuckles as ‘he’ shuts the laptop. "What, ah ... What are you doing here?"

Cole: "I could ask you the same question."

Cedra: "Well, I just ... ah ... wanted a quiet place ... I have a little work to do..."

Cole: "So do I."

Cedra quickly turns with a stun-type gun, but not quick enough. Cole easily overpowers ‘him’, knocking the weapon away and slugging ‘him’. He’s just about to Collect ’him’ when Vedra arrives to blast him from behind with her own stun-type gun and Cole collapses.

Vedra rushes over in a rage and starts to strangle him.

Cedra, warning her off: "Vedra! Vedra! We have work to do!"

———————————————————————

The Orsians have hung Cole up by his arms in chains. As he blearily comes to, Cedra is busy adjusting a vest-like contraption on him. It has a box with two cables and a drainage tube positioned at the center of his chest.

Cedra: "Sorry you came ... Tracker? ... Zin said ... You might be ... listening to our thoughts..." ‘He’ plucks the modified hearing gizmo from Cole’s left ear and holds it up. "He was right, wasn’t he?" ‘He’ laughs.

Vedra, impatiently: "Hurry up, Cedra. Let’s just get this done."

Cedra, preparing a hypodermic: "One more probe, sister ... One more little probe ... Ha, ha! ... This one might sting a smidge..."

‘He’ gleefully laughs again and injects the helpless Cole in his neck. Cole’s eyes nearly cross and he abruptly passes out as Cedra chortles, "Sweet dreams, Tracker!"

———————————————————————

Searching for Cole, a worried Mel tries the Reception Room but there are very few people there. Janet and Rahne Sullivan are out on the dance floor with other partners.

Dr. Janet Sullivan, noticing her: "Mel! Oh ... You should be in bed with that wonderful husband of yours."

Rahne: "Not necessarily sleeping, of course."

Mel: "Actually ... I was just ... looking for him."

Rahne: "Well, I can’t possibly imagine he’d be hiding from someone as lovely as you."

Mel: "Well, he’s probably back in our room."

———————————————————————

In the hotel’s renovation area the Valik sisters turn on the power. The box on Cole’s chest starts to glow and he begins spastically jerking in his chains as the power revs.

Cedra: "Did you calibrate the Actuator?"

Vedra: "I just checked it."

Cedra: "Well, I’ll just ... double check it to be sure."

Vedra, taking umbrage: "What? You don’t trust me?"

Cedra: "Well, you were a little late for the Tracker."

Vedra, snide: "Oh, well, I’m sorry! I didn’t know that you still needed a babysitter!"

Cedra: "I don’t!"

Vedra: "What makes you so sure about that?"

Cedra, exasperated: "What is the matter, Vedra!?"

Cedra derisively mocks her to ‘himself’ and then pushes a button, saying: "Bye, bye, Tracker!"

Cole goes rigid and begins vibrating as a luminous lavender-blue heavy liquid starts to drain out of his chest through the drainage tube to spill out into a collection jar.

———————————————————————

Mel, who’s becoming increasingly anxious in her search for Cole, finally checks to see if he’s back at their room. As soon as she enters she hears the Valik sister’s thoughts coming through the rigged-up television.

Mel goes racing out to save him, ducking behind a china cabinet as she sees Cedra and Vedra exiting the hotel’s closed off section. As soon as they’re gone she goes into action.

Finding the door locked, she wraps her right hand in a strip of cloth and breaks the door’s glass panel to open it, finding Cole unconscious and hanging where the Valik sisters have left him. Frantic, she hastily pulls the vest-like contraption off of him and is horrified to see the bright red blood stain on his T-shirt.

Mel: "What did those bastards do to you, Cole?!"

It’s obvious that Mel really cares about him. Watching her react to finding him strung up like that, sobbing his name over and over again as she tries to bring him around, was heartbreaking. And it was very uplifting when Cole finally roused enough from his stupor to respond to her, pleading for "power."

Then, rather like jump-starting a car battery, Mel is able to bring him back by feeding him electricity from an on-site generator.

———————————————————————

Mel and Cole are hurrying from the hotel in pursuit of the Valik sisters.

Mel, as they come out the door and she’s helping him to the car: "... And they had pictures of the Watchfire!"

Cole, staggering: "They were after me! It was a trap!"

Mel: "Do you think that Nestov set you up?"

Cole, reeling into a tree and leaning against it for support: "No! Zin knew I’d be monitoring the networks to get the information on the Valik sisters ... knew I’d ... I’d use it to catch them!"

[It’s very clear by now that Zin and company are well aware of Daggon’s connection with Mel and the Watchfire].

Mel: "But why here?"

Cole: "Lodestone! Made it almost impossible to detect them ... Mel, I need to get back to the Watchfire!"

He pushes himself off the tree and staggers to the car, nearly collapsing against the front fender.

Mel, supporting him: "Cole, you need to regain your strength!"

Cole, berating himself: "I let my guard down ... I let myself get distracted..."

Mel, caressing his face: "No." She starts to button his jacket. "What do they want with the Watchfire?"

Cole: "Jailbreak, Mel! ... Jail ... break! They ... they have my ... my energy signature ... They’ll use it to access containment vessel ... free lifeforces inside!"

[The luminous lavender-blue stuff they drained out of Cole is probably his energy signature].

Mel, helping him maneuver to the car door: "Well, what good does that do!? I thought lifeforces need Human bodies to survive!"

Cole, half climbing, half crawling into the car: "They do! ... Zin must have found a way to ... transport them ... to use them to reintroduce them ... into the Human population!"

Mel, horrified: "Then the whole thing starts all over again!?"

Cole: "Yes!"

———————————————————————

The Valik sisters are entering the empty Watchfire.

Vedra: "Did you disarm the silent alarm?"

Cedra: "It’s all taken care of."

Vedra: "Do you have the Collector?"

Cedra: "You had the Collector!"

Vedra, yelling: "You had the Collector in your hand!" They glare at each other. "You know, you don’t like it when I question you, when I second guess everything that you do!"

Cedra, bewildered: "What has gotten into you, anyway?"

Vedra, pouty: "Oh, forget about it, okay? ... Nothing I have to say is important, anyway..."

Cedra: "I think the Human female hormones are adversely affecting your thought processes, Vedra."

Vedra, snide: "And what has the testosterone done to you?"

Cedra, using a scanning device around the Watchfire: "Well, whatever it’s doing, I’m not going to allow it to jeopardize our mission and neither should you ... Can we get going?"

Vedra, snide: "Fine." She walks past ‘him’.

Cedra silently mocks the word ‘fine’ behind her back as they head upstairs.

———————————————————————

Mel and Cole are driving back to Chicago, Mel at the wheel.

Mel: "How are you feeling?"

Cole: "Better by the minute ... It was a nice place there ... Watch out!"

Mel, swerving back into her own lane: "Sorry."

[She was paying more attention to Cole than she was to her driving].

Cole, just noticing her right hand wrapped in a cloth rag: "You hurt your hand."

Mel: "Looks worse than it is."

Cole: "I’m glad you were the one who found me when I came to this world ... I’ve never said it before ... but I don’t think anyone on this planet could’ve made a better partner ... You should keep your eyes on the road ... I wouldn’t want us to die here ... We get along so well."

———————————————————————

The Valik sisters are now in the War Room

Vedra: "So this is the Tracker’s base of operations..." She smirks. "Well, I’m not very impressed."

Cedra, looking around: "It’s amazing he was able to cause so much damage with such a primitive setup." ‘He’ puts down their cases and starts scanning the room. "Wait ... Wait..." ‘He’ finds and uncovers the containment vessel, chuckling in triumph. "Well, well, well."

———————————————————————

Mel and Cole have gotten caught in a traffic jam.

Mel: "Oh, no!"

Cole, as if rousing from a trance: "Why are we slowing down?"

Mel: "The traffic’s jammed up! ... What are all these people doing here at this time of night!?"

Cole: "Mel, I have to get back to the bar."

Mel: "Well, it’s ... Maybe it’s an accident or something..." She sighs. "Cole, where do we go from here?"

[She means in terms of their relationship].

Cole: "This is far enough."

[He means in distance to the Watchfire].

Mel: "What?"

Cole: "My strength has returned. I can get there faster on my own ... Give me your hand."

He removes the cloth from Mel’s bruised hand (which she injured breaking the glass to get to him) and heals it under a glow of golden light energy, then is gone, heading back to the Watchfire at hyperspeed.

———————————————————————

Cole enters the Watchfire, then kneels down to sense the floor. He’s aware that there’s an alien aura near him.

Cedra, stepping out from the window table area behind him with energy-gun drawn: "Has anyone ever told you how really annoying you are?"

Cedra fires, missing as Cole goes into zip speed, spinning then diving over and behind the bar. Quickly climbing atop the bar, Cedra looks for him but he’s no longer there.

Cedra, nervously yet cautiously making ‘his’ way down the length of the bar, searching: "Good trick ... In just a few minutes, Tracker ... all of the lifeforms you’ve been Collecting are going to be ours, buddy-boy ... And all of your efforts ... on this stinking little hunk of rock ... will be for nothing! ... You ... you should’ve gone home when you had the chance, pal!"

Cedra also sends a telepathic message to Vedra, who’s in the War Room downloading the lifeforces from out of the containment vessel.

Cole vaults out from behind a pillar and sends a blast of red energy sliding over the surface of the bar, knocking Cedra to the floor. Cedra scrambles up and tries to flee but Cole is now in full predator mode, springing to the top of the bench seats, pulling out his Collector and going for ‘him’ with a bounding leap.

In the War Room, Vedra is frantically working to complete the downloading.

Vedra, mumbling to herself: "Oh, come on! All I need is a few more seconds!"

Cole, opening the door: "I’m afraid I would have to agree with you on that."

[Note: This is exactly what he said to Jagar in exactly the same tone of voice in "Fever of the Hunt, Part II"].

He zips over and Collects her, then hastily aborts the download before it can be completed.

[Two more bodies to dispose of! And now it’s clear why Haag was going to bring Daggon to Zin in "Fever of the Hunt, Part II": his energy signature is needed to free all the lifeforces he’s imprisoned].

———————————————————————

In the tag, Cole describes the Cirronian mating ritual to Mel as this intense fusion of two energy beings becoming one. For a moment Mel focuses on his hands as he explains it and it’s so clear that he’s now thinking of her, the way he speaks so softly as his voice slightly breaks, the tenderness and power in what he says bringing a look yearning into his face. So sadly sweet. Meltdown time again!

Mel: "So? What did you think?"

Cole: "It was interesting learning about Human sexual stimulation."

Mel: "Ah, yes ... It was ... interesting ... Are there any ... any similarities ... to those kinds of things on Cirron?"

Cole: "‘Those kinds of things’? Oh." He chuckles as he realizes what she means. "Oh, no. Our mating rituals are very different, Mel ... We don’t have the same physical..." He indicates her breasts and body with his eyes. "… Signatures you Humans have to distinguish male from female."

Mel: "Signatures. Never quite heard them referred to as that ... Wait a second ... If you don’t have them, then how can you distinguish a member of the opposite sex?"

Cole: "Well, our beings are divided into different energy polarities."

Mel: "Like positive and negative?"

Cole: "It’s ... not quite that simple. Each of us is a mixture of charges ... Like you have different features, we have distinct levels of polarities that ... tend to attract each other."

Mel, flirty: "Opposites attract."

Cole, awkward: "Yes."

Mel: "And that’s it?"

Cole: "What do you mean?"

Mel: "Well, I mean ... like, you don’t have any dating ... or romance ... or rejection ... or falling in love ... or ... those awful college hang-ups where he takes you to dinner and pays with a two-for-one coupon?"

Cole: "I think our mating rituals are a lot simpler, Mel. When two Cirronians come together in a mating union it’s ... it’s an unbelievably blissful experience ... Our polarities meld together for that ... brief moment ... and in that moment ... we are a complete charged mass of ... brilliant energy." He stares at Mel with both awkward confusion and hopeless longing.

[From what he said it seems as if Cirronians don’t have emotions the way Humans do ... If so, it must be confusing to Cole as he must be feeling a lot of these strange (to him) feelings for the first time].

Mel, just remembering: "I have something for you..."

She hands him a good-sized cardboard carton that he sets down on the bar.

Mel: "Aren’t you going to open it?"

He does, and is amused to find it’s the galvanic head he kissed in the seminar.

Mel: "Cole ... Thank you ... for a lovely weekend ... Except for that moment when you ... You know ... It was lovely."

Mel: "I know..."

She understands and goes along with it, tears welling in her eyes with a ‘I will be brave but I’m so lost here and about to cry’ look as he strokes her throat a moment before going upstairs.

———————————————————————

Cole retreats to his War Room, obviously at odds with his feelings for Mel and with himself. The troubled look on his face at the end when he picks up the galvanic head (then turns it to face the wall) leads one to believe that there are powerful stirrings within that oh-so-fine Human male body and that he’s finding more and more pleasant feelings associated with it. The episode closes with Cole staring at his computer screen, looking very unhappy with his choice and indicating there will be plenty of tension in the relationship still to come.

************************

Blooper - Vedra seems to have left a dead body lying in the hall. Or someplace within the hotel. In the real world this would result in a murder investigation (she’d broken the guy’s neck!) and suspicion would quickly be directed on the two couples who disappeared. The investigating officers would be very interested in the fact that one of those couples had registered under an assumed name and, in fact, under false pretenses. It should also arouse their suspicions that the other couple had apparently disappeared off the face of the Earth (assuming that Cole really hid the dead bodies this time). Also, someone may well have seen the Valik sister’s car parked near the Watchfire. In real life, these circumstances would have made things very uncomfortable for Cole and Mel for a long time. Not to mention the hotel being pretty annoyed with what Cole did to their TV...