At the bar, King weeps at the images of Pakistan burning on the TV behind the counter, even as his new best friend the owner comes around and holds him sympathetically. "That was my fault. I made that happen." I've heard about similar reactions to the credits of Sex and the City 2. "As for myself, and the men and women of the USS Colorado," Chaplin continues, "we love our country. We would gladly die for what it represents. But we do not recognize or obey a government that tries to murder its own. If the current United States executive or any other nation violates this perimeter, we have seventeen more nuclear missiles aboard and we will not hesitate to rain fiery hell down upon you. I give you my word. Test us, and we will all burn together. You've been warned." Okay, then. From behind the camera, Kendal recovers from his shock enough to order cut, and tells Chaplin, "Just crazy enough, sir." Or maybe even a little extra. Kendal looks a little terrified himself right now. Possibly because he's realizing that he just became, pretty much, by just about any standard definition, the second-in-command of a terrorist organization. And we all know the kind of luck those guys have.

Afterwards, Chaplin joins Kendal and Shepard on the station's roof as they lean over the railing, looking over the trees and contemplating their ship at rest in the harbor. Chaplin returns Kendal's photo of his wife, saying the repair crews found it. "She's not easy to lose, is she?" Kendal thanks him, and Chaplin muses, "What happened to the country I grew up in? We made it all a mess. We could do better. Right here. Start from scratch." Sure, go from being a terrorist mastermind to the head of a rogue state, why not? Kendal and Shepard look at Chaplin with some alarm, and Kendal reminds Chaplin that they've only been trying to stay alive long enough to clear their names and get home. "Maybe this is home now," Chaplin says. Which, oddly, doesn't seem to make either of his officers feel any better. But at least, judging by all the antennas and dishes surrounding them on the roof, they'll get great cable.

M. Giant is a Minneapolis-based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter , or just e-mail him at m.giant[at]gmail.com.