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[ M I S S I O N . D I R E C T I V E ]

[ S E C O N D . S E A S O N ]

[E P I S O D E . S E V E N]
THIS EPISODE BEGINS INSIDE THE MOUTHS OF ÆON AND TREVOR, THEIR LIPS AND TONGUES ENTANGLED IN A FRENCH KISS. A CLOSER LOOK SHOWS US THAT TREVOR'S TONGUE IS ACTUALLY TRANSPORTING A MINIATURE DOCUMENT INTO A SECRET COMPARTMENT LOCATED INSIDE ONE OF ÆON'S TEETH. WHILE KISSING, ÆON SPOTS A YELLOW TANK-LIKE VEHICLE SPEEDING ALONG SIDE OF THE TRAIN. FROM A WIDER SHOT, YOU SEE THAT ALL THIS IS OCCURING WHILE ÆON IS ON A LOW-FLYING PLANE AND TREVOR IS ON A MOVING TRAIN. NEXT THE PLANE RISES ABOVE THE CLOUDS WHILE ÆON STUDIES THE DOCUMENT TREVOR HID IN HER TOOTH. HER TARGET IS A MAN RIDING ON THE PLANE. ÆON SCALES THE SIDE OF THE PLANE TO GET A BETTER LOOK AT HER TARGET. ÆON ATTEMPTS A BACK-FLIP ONTO THE BACK OF THE PLANE, BUT DOES NOT SUCCEED AND FALLS TOWARD THE GROUND WITHOUT ACCOMPLISHING HER MISSION. ÆON CONTEMPLATES SHOOTING HERSELF IN THE HEAD, AS OPPOSED TO CRASHING INTO THE ROCKY GROUND, BUT OPTS NOT TO WHEN SHE SPOTS THE SAME YELLOW TANK PARKED AT THE EDGE OF A CLIFF. ÆON PEERS THROUGH BINOCULARS ONLY TO SEE THAT THE DRIVERS ARE HAULING SOMETHING UP THE SIDE OF THE CLIFF WITH GREAT EFFORT. WITH ONLY MOMENTS TO LIVE, ÆON DESPERATELY FIRES HER GRAPPLING HOOK INTO A BRIDGE HOPING THAT SHE'LL CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THE OBJECT BEING HAULED UP THE SIDE OF THE CLIFF. UNFORTUNATELY, THE ROPE FROM HER GRAPPLING HOOK CATCHES AROUND HER NECK, KILLING HER. NEITHER ÆON NOR THE AUDIENCE GET TO SEE FULLY WHAT THE TWO MEN WERE PULLING UP. "ÆON'S MISSION, IT TURNS OUT, NEVER REALLY MATTERED," SAYS CHUNG ABOUT THIS EPISODE. "IN THE END, SHE FINDS A REASON TO HANG ONTO LIFE - ANYTHING TO GIVE SOME POINT TO HER DOOMED EXISTENCE."

[E P I S O D E . E I G H T]
ÆON IS GUNNED DOWN BY AN UNKNOWN ASSASIN. AS THE LIES DYING, SHE CAN SEE A MONITOR - WHICH KEEPS SHORT-CIRCUITING - REPLAYING THE EVENTS THAT LED TO HER DEATH. THE LAST THING ÆON VIEWS IS THE FACE OF HER MURDERER - TREVOR GOODCHILD. CHUNG COMMENTS: "ÆON'S PREOCCUPATION WITH HER SELF-IMAGE LEADS HER DEEPER INTO A STATE OF INTROSPECTION AND OFF THE COURSE OF HER INTENDED GOAL. EXCEPT FOR THE CLIMACTIC SHOT OF TREVOR AT THE END, ÆON IS THE ONLY PERSON ON SCREEN THROUGHOUT THIS FOUR-MINUTE EPISODE."

[E P I S O D E . N I N E]
SEVERAL SCENES WERE CUT FROM THIS STORYBOARD OF ALIEN MOTHERLY LOVE. ÆON ENTERS HER APARTMENT AND OPENS THE REFRIGERATOR ONLY TO FIND THE JAR INSIDE EMPTY. SHE HEARS A STRANGE SLURPING SOUND COMING FROM A CABINET. SHE INVESTIGATES, ONLY TO DISCOVER A CREEPY, BONDAGE-GARBED MAN EATING HER SUPPLY OF EGGS. DISGUSTED, ÆON CLOSES THE CABINET AND EXITS HER APARTMENT. OUTSIDE IS A SET OF GYMNASTIC BARS WHICH SHE GRACEFULLY TUMBLES THROUGH WITH EASE. LATER, WE SEE ÆON ENTERING A SPACE SHIP THROUGH A HIDDEN HATCH TO STEAL MORE EGGS FROM A LARGE INCUBATOR. AFTER FILLING HER BAG WITH EGGS, ÆON CAN'T RESIST THE URGE TO CRACK ONE OPEN. "PLOP," SHE SAYS AS THE EGG HITS THE GROUND. SHE SCOOPS THE EGG'S EMBRYO ONTO A MICROSCOPE SLIDE AND WE SEE A LONG-LIMBED, BIG-EYED ALIEN LIFEFORM. BY MANIPULATING A MINIATURE ROBOT, OUR SADISTIC AGENT TORTURES AND THEN KILLS THE HELPLESS CREATURE. SHE THEN SNEAKS OUT OF THE INCUBATOR ROOM, ONLY TO ENCOUNTER AN ADULT ALIEN. THE ALIEN IS OBVIOUSLY DISTRESSED. HOPING TO EXIT WITHOUT A FIGHT, ÆON SQUEEZES ONE OF THE EGGS, THREATENING THE ALIEN WITH THE DEATH OF ITS OFFSPRING. ÆON FLEES. THE ADULT ALIEN PULLS A LEVER CAUSING A MAZE OF BARS (JUST LIKE IN THE BEGINNING) TO BLOCK ÆON'S WAY. SEEING HOW EASILY ÆON MANEUVERS THROUGH THE BARS, THE ALIEN CHASES HER, CATCHES AND THEN KILLS HER WITH A LOUD SQUISH. "THIS STORY WAS INSPIRED BY A VIEWING OF STAR TREK VI, WHERE ALIENS ARE USED AS A METAPHOR FOR FOREIGNERS. THE POLITICALLY CORRECT STAR TREK PEOPLE WOULD NEVER DEPICT DEMEANING ATTITUDES ON EXISTING RACES, SO THEY PROJECT THEIR XENOPHOBIA ON CONVENIENT - AND VERY UGLY - IMAGINARY ONES."

[E P I S O D E . T E N]
THIS EPISODE REVOLVES AROUND ÆON'S CONTINUOUS RUNNING IN AND OUT OF AN ELEVATOR TO TRY AND OPEN A SERIES OF STORAGE LOCKERS, MEANWHILE SHOOTING A MYSTERIOUS DESCENDING WIRE. THROUGHOUT, ÆON SUBDUES HER CAPTIVE, TREVOR GOODCHILD, WHO IS HANDCUFFED INSIDE THE ELEVATOR. ÆON'S ALLY, AGENT RU-486, TAKES CARNAL ADVANTAGE OF THE VULNERABLE CHAINED HOSTAGE IN A SCENE THAT'S PRETTY TITILLATING. (ORIGINALLY, ACCORDING TO CHUNG, THE SCENE WAS MORE INTENSE). ÆON IS THEN BETRAYED BY RU-486 AND KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS INSIDE THE ELEVATOR. RU-486 PICKS UP THE ACTION WHERE ÆON LEFT OFF. MEANWHILE, A STRANGE MAN SHOOTS TREVOR. RU-486 LOCATES THE CORRECT STORAGE LOCKER WHICH CONTAINS A LARGE, ORANGE PLUG. NOT UNDERSTANDING ITS IMPORTANCE OR PURPOSE, RU-486 ABANDONS IT AND CHASES AFTER THE MAN WHO KILLED TREVOR. THE MAN IS SEEN STANDING ON A PLATFORM WHICH IS BEING LIFTED BY THE DESCENDING WIRE. THE PLATFORM LIFTS AND PULLS UP AN ORANGE PLUG - LIKE THE ONE FROM THE LOCKER - CAUSING THE ISLAND ON WHICH ALL THE ACTION TOOK PLACE TO SINK, AND LEAVING RU-486 STRANDED ON A SINGLE COLUMN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN. "THIS EPISODE BEGAN AS A FORMAL EXPERIMENT IN WRITING A STORY THAT WOULD FIT A PREDETERMINED STRUCTURE, LIKE FOLLOWING THE RIGOROUS RULES OF CLASSICAL MUSIC. IT IS COMPOSED OF A CYCLE OF TWENTY SHOTS, EACH ONE TWO SECONDS LONG, REPEATED SIX TIMES. WITHIN THAT FRAMEWORK, A SERIES OF VARIATIONS OF CHARACTER INTERACTIONS ARE PLAYED OUT WHICH CULMINATE IN CATHARSIS AND COMPLETE RESOLUTION OF ALL THE INTERWOVEN PLOT THREADS."

[E P I S O D E . E L E V E N]
DURING A HEROIC RAID AGAINST AN ARMY OF BREENS, ÆON IS CORNERED AT POINT-BLANK RANGE BY A MASKED BREEN SOLDIER. THE SOLDIER REFRAINS FROM KILLING ÆON ON THE SPOT AND LINGERS OVER HER, ALLOWING ÆON'S COMRADE TO SNEAK UP FROM BEHIND. AEON'S RESCUE SEEMS IMMINENT. AMAZINGLY, THIS ACTION MOVIE CLICHE IS REVERSED WHEN THE BREEN NOT ONLY SHOOTS THE MAN BEHIND HIM, BUT AEON AS WELL. THE BREEN REMOVES HIS MASK TO REVEAL THE CHISELED FEATURES OF OUR NEW HERO, VARSH LOCKNEY. VARSH SETS OUT AGAINST HIS ENEMIES, WASTING HORDES OF PEOPLE MUCH THE SAME WAY AS AEON HAD SLAUGHTERED BREENS EARLIER. HE ENTERS THE MONICAN COMPOUND WHERE HE IS CHALLENGED BY A PONYTAILED SWORDSMAN. VARSH COCKILY SHOOTS AT THE SWORDSMAN WHO SKILLFULLY DEFLECTS THE BULLET AND RUNS VARSH THROUGH. THE TABLES TURN AGAIN TO FOLLOW THE VIOLENT HEROICS OF THE SWORDSMAN, ROMEO SVENGALI, AGAINST AIRBORNE INVADERS. BUT ROMEO IS SOON KILLED BY RED-HEADED SPITFIRE DONNA MATRIX. DONNA BEATS IMPOSSIBLE ODDS TO RESCUE HER CAPTURED LOVER IN THE MONICAN COMPOUND. TOGETHER THEY RACE TO FREEDOM UNDER A HAIL OF BULLETS, NOT NOTICING THE SMALL PUDDLE OF OIL IN THEIR PATH... "GARRETT SHELDREW OF COLOSSAL PICTURES STORYBOARDED AND ANIMATED MOST OF THIS EPISODE, AND IT HAS A VERY NATURALISTIC FEELING IN THE DRAWING AND ANIMATION," SAYS CHUNG. "GARRETT'S PARTICIPATION IN AEON FLUX HAS CONTINUALLY CHALLENGED ME AND THE ANIMATION STAFF TO KEEP THE DRAWING AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL."

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