Having crash landed on Wix, the team set about their mission, but surprises are never far away, leading to a savage showdown.

If you’re looking at that episode title and you’ve been following the show so far, you’re probably wondering if that’s a deliberate reference. The answer is yes, although being Vagrant Queen, the show isn’t merely content to sneak in an homage in its title, preferring to have some dialogue address the reference explicitly and head on, in its own inimitable way.

It’s quite a flashback-heavy episode as well, as we get some proper back story fleshed out on exactly who Isaac is, how he managed to end up in ‘Another Galaxy, Not Yours’, and what’s waiting for him that he is actually quite keen to get back to. It’s not really an original story in and of itself (in fact it fairly much apes another famous genre show from some years ago) but it’s told with warmth and humour and it greases the plot wheels that need to fall into place later.

It turns out, you see, that the mission to rescue Elida’s mother isn’t quite as straightforward as Hath may have initially made it out to be. And that’s just the first of a number of uncomfortable revelations that Elida and the gang have to face up to over the course of the episode. Having firmly established that Amae has eyes for Elida last time out, here it’s touching just how quickly and fiercely the ditzy mechanic leaps to the defence of her new friend – there’s even a little emotional tug of war at one point between her and Isaac as to who gets to be the one that’s ‘there’ for their mutual bestie, and one senses that territoriality won’t be gone any time soon.

It being Vagrant Queen, there’s also a ton of cheap FX and these might be some of the worst offenders in the series to date, whether it’s the bizarre CGI creatures, the effect of spooky lights in ancient temple walls clearly being achieved with cheap neon light strips, or the now ubiquitous slow-motion action freeze frame which probably cuts down a lot on the FX budget. It doesn’t really matter though, because this isn’t and hasn’t ever been a show that’s taking itself seriously, and what matters is the interplay between its cast which remains as fantastic as ever.

But it ends on a genuinely sombre note which makes a change – no comical spaceship rattling to pieces as it plunges towards a planet’s surface here. Here we have a quiet moment between characters that feels very much like an ending of something. Whether the show will commit to this or simply wave it away with some more self-referential snark next time out remains to be seen, but for now this marks another fulfilling, if utterly bonkers instalment.

Verdict: Coasting by on charm and humour, it’s impossible not to enjoy the ride. 8/10

Greg D.Smith