Ideé Fixotica! The first in a line of between-season specials that establish a very ominous chain of precedents: important plot points nestled between Jane and Urvidian yelling at each other, and Levi's penchant for importing wildly dangerous flora to the station with a surprisingly wide area of effect.

One of my absolute favorite things about EOS 10's storytelling is the cleverly disguised bits of foreshadowing hidden within otherwise completely inane situations (well, inane on the station, comparatively). In any other show, I would be tempted to gloss over the Valentine's Day special, but Ideé Fixotica simply cannot be skipped if you still want to retain some level of narrative comprehension.

Nestled amongst Jane's impromptu trench warfare and Dr. Urvidian's horrific escapade with the chocolate—an image I am never burning out of my brain—is a vital piece of information that will play a significant role in episodes to come.

Ryan's implant.

Obviously, its true import won't be revealed for another season or two, but establishing it here, in an otherwise goofy one-off episode, sets up a long con for much later down the line. It also showcases a small sample of its functions, as Ryan is relatively unaffected by the plant. No word on if it remained that way after he took it back to his quarters, however…

On a similar note, this episode gives us a window into Levi's Illegal Plant Smuggling Service, the greatest catch-all plot point ever. Need any conflict on the station? Levi's just delivered another plant, I'm sure you can look there. Christmas? Demon tree. Valentine's Day? Love potion. There is nothing a contraband plant can't solve, and by solve, I mean create infinitely more problems.

Ideé Fixotica also displays Jane and Urvidian's burning hatred for each other and demonstrates exactly why Ryan can never get a minute's rest. When your CO and your Charge Nurse make it a point to rile each other up to the point that they deactivate the lab's containment field and then try to kill each other with varying degrees of efficacy, it's no wonder you take refuge with the relatively calm and dubiously friendly space terrorist living in your basement. Ryan is running a lab of barely restrained war criminals and his implant won't even let him take aspirin. What a miserable existence.

Also, my condolences to Ryan's sanity. Levi's plant escapades will only get worse.