Ok, What is up with the big drooling baby? Does it have some symbolic meaning in there? And that whole time thing what is that? The end sucks Aeon is now a house mom! Ummmm Gee no! Whats that about? That whole episode confuses me. HELP!

-- (Aeonfluxfan1@Aol.com), February 14, 2000

Answers

All right. First, the baby: I don't think it's symbolic of anything, but I think it's achieved the same freedom from time that the boy has. Some sort of semi-enlightened being. "This one remembers it's function, which all the rest have forgotten." It kills Aeon over and over until she smashes the vial and enters the magical world of the boy. I guess this symbolizes enlightenment or freedom from time or whatever.

-- Frostbite (mbkrooks@bellsouth.net), February 14, 2000.

I don't know i'm still kinda confused. Ithink that both the boy and the baby symbolize purityy. One unpolluted the baby "This one remembers it's function which all the rest have forgotten, the other changed by some unknown force maybe trevor.

-- (Aeonfluxfan1@Aol.com), February 15, 2000.

they cut me off so here is my continuance, the baby killing thing is trying to say that history will repeat itself untill we get it right. i think the vile symbolizes the "right choice". Maybe Aeon wasn't meant to be a spy although very good maybe she infact was supposed to be a house mom. I didn't really like the ending of this one.

-- (Aeonfluxfan1@Aol.com), February 15, 2000.

I've spent a loooooong time trying to figure out this episode, and every time I think I've got it there's something there to muck up my theory. The baby (i suspect) is the key. But I can't figure out the symbolism. What exactly is her "function", and why did Aeon have flash-backs of all the people she's hurt in other episodes while it watched her from the door way. Hmmmm.....

-- Matt (Zell164@aol.com), February 16, 2000.

I don't really know what the "function" is. and the end of all her past lives and stuff don't know for sure, but the boy could be giving her some kind of power that he "bequeaths" to her to see all her flaws. So he can persuade her to become his feaking mom. AHHH aeon can't be a house mom nooo!!

-- (Aeonfluxfan1@Aol.com), February 16, 2000.

I think the baby functions as a reset button, her time-distorting scream is the cause of Aeon experiencing multiple realities, and a way for the boy to manipulate her. I`d explain the rest, but it`d just be a rehashing of other people`s Chronophasia dissections... including my own :)

-- Paul D. Gilbreath (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), February 18, 2000.

i think that there are a couple of things to remember here: first, the vile that contains the "virus" was also once said to have been the key to human happiness. trevor specifically explains that before the dawn of civilization, humans felt more connected to the world around them b/c they naturally had this "virus" within them. you'll recall that aeon's mission was to retrieve the baby before being infected with the virus. second, the baby is a monster. most say that this isn't symbolic, but i think it is. was she infected? why did she develop this way? everyone is scared of the baby except the little boy. finally, the time element: aeon doesn't understand what is happening, and she's just trying to complete her mission, which may or may not be to save the baby... (?) every time she finds herself in an undesirable situation, she dies and is reborn (screaming) with gook (maybe placenta?) all around her and a terrible headache. she's on this table that rests in a circular room, with many hallways leading down different paths. i think that this room, which strongly resembles a cave way deep underneath the earth, may represent the beginning of life (like in the uterus?). at this point, she can be anyone or anything she chooses. in the climax, aeon takes the vile and smashes it against the wall, and POOF! she becomes the guardian of the little boy. i think it's also important to note that he has chosen aeon as his caretaker. so, to answer your question, i ask that you look at your own comment. you say: "the end sucks... aeon is now a house mom." when it comes time to cross the threshold from person to parent, we feel fear. we don't want to lose our identity; we don't want to become consumed by our children; we don't want to be ordinary, and above all, we don't want to be our parents. the baby, for me, is a monster because in this day and age babies are a sign of obstacles, especially for women. the boy is not a monster because he was there before the city was built. he saw the scientists work on the experiments that tried to re-capture the key to happiness, before the fall of humanity. their experiments made a simple baby into a monster. in the face of all this, the boy remains untouched. he is a product of simpler times. all in all, i think the episode is one big mind-fuck, where chung wants to challenge the way we see aeon. japhet asher, the one who wrote this story, moves aeon from one stereotype to another. ultimately, unlike what this note might suggest, i DON'T think this episode is a social commentary. rather, it's a silly little trick that asher and chung did to make us pissed off.

-- illy verdes (yyen@hotmail.com), March 13, 2000.

Hmmmm.... yes, I think breaking the vial was the "right choice" or at least the choice the boy wanted. Similar things have been done before in movies (like, say Groundhog Day) where the day repeats itself over and over until the character makes the right choice and the loop stops.

-- Frostbite (mbkrooks@bellsouth.net), March 13, 2000.

illy is it? hey yeah i loved your little thing going on there...i think your right about chung screwing with our minds!!!!!! Aeon is very confusing but that's why i love it so much it makes you think of so many crazy things!!!!

frostbite never would of made the connection to ground hogs day, i like how you and illy think that the vile sota broke the time loop aeon was in..because she makd the right choice. Although i think the right choice sucked it was the right choice never the less....damn!!! Aeon a house wife...ummm wonder if she married trevor.

-- (Aeonfluxfan1@Aol.com), March 14, 2000.

hey...! thanks for the response, aeonfluxfan. the length of my response made me feel like a bit of a dork. so glad you approved of at least the content. nice to know that there are aeon fans who love the weird-ass stories as much as i do. cheers.

-- illy (yyen@hotmail.com), March 15, 2000.

Wow, what an analysis! Illy, you raised a lot of good points that I never would've considered. Chronophasia was a great episode, I've seen it 6 or 7 times and continue to find new meaning in it. Although, it was actually Peter Gaffney who wrote this particular episode, and the only scripting he did before this was for "Married... With Children". Can you imagine, all this came from the mind of a SITCOM writer, and an especially moronic sitcom at that? But I digress... near the end when the boy "bequeaths" his knowledge to Aeon, what is he trying to tell her when he says "Composite things are like dreams, and should be regarded as such"? He says that last line right before she screams and breaks the vial, and I'm curious as to it's meaning.

-- Paul D. Gilbreath (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), March 24, 2000.

I'd have to watch this ep again to get everything clear, it's been a while, but i thought the lines "composite things are like dreams, and are to be regarded as such", and the lines naming objects like a dress, a tire and an icecream sunday, or whatever, and all the flashing wardrobes was the boy telling Fon that the physical reality we all know would be left behind, or more accurately, rendered null, and the ending where she is a mom was not real in the sense we think of, but only one manifestation of the infinite possibility of infinity itself, which was what the boy actually was. The ending could have been absolutely anything at all, and still have had the same meaning, but Chung or the writer wanted to shock us with this completely uncharacteristic vision of Fon. So the vial contained a virus that produced in man a mystical connection with the infinite, or God, or what ever you want to call it, that we lost at one time - perhaps in the garden of Eden when we gained self-awareness, ushering us into the halls of history(time)? This would also lend meaning to the drop that left the boy's forehead - the third eye region - and went to Fon's third eye, whereupon, in her awareness, she became one with all. This being very difficult to convey in any medium, the writer chose to try to confuse the viewer with Fon house frow circa 1984.

-- Stonce (neobe@kscable.com), March 24, 2000.

Another idea, to add to what others have said. This idea turns the episode into a commentary on the intake of foreign chemicals to induce ecstasy. In this theory, the boy is in Fon's mind, and represents the autonomous mystical ecstasy or enlightenment that she believes is right, as opposed to the man-made versions. The baby was the test subject, and although it supposedly gained some heightened awareness, it turned into a monster in the process. Wasn't Fon against Trevor's plan in this one? When she smashes the vial, it represents her viewpoint on this issue. She then has an autonomous experience of a transcendental nature, symbolised by the drop that fell into her third eye on her forehead. But she had to smash the vial first? hmmm... oh my garshk, it's a 'just say no' commercial from the Flux folks! If i'm forgetting a key plot device or something, please tell me.

-- Stonce (neobe@kscable.com), March 24, 2000.

I think it's important to remember that there WAS no virus. Trevor flat out told us that (and he must have been right because he took off the helmet and was fine). I haven't a clue what was in the "missing vial" though. I think maybe it was symbolic of the restraints of time and space. Once Aeon broke it, she broke the restraints.

-- Frostbite (mbkrooks@bellsouth.net), March 26, 2000.

Wait a minute. Wasn't that just ONE possible scenario, or did Trevor actually discover the virus before the whole screaming baby time-loop thing? I thought that last vial was the virus, at least part of the time.

-- Paul D. Gilbreath (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), March 27, 2000.

Many things contributed my Neobe were my thoughts, too, which I have contributed on another message on this board here. I also claim, that there was a virus - depending on the timeline. Remember, first Trevor sais, there is no virus. Later on, Trevor goes out to investigate the habit, but goes mad, Aeon states, that he has been infested. Then, on another discussion, Trevor calles the habitat a "Monican trap" while it bloes up. And then, when Aeon smashes the vial, the boy looks very pleased, and the whole "alternative Aeon" show starts. Well, if this is not influenced by the vial and its content, I do not know.

yours

Mr Noys

-- Mr Noyes (Mr_Noys@gmx.net), March 28, 2000.

Mr Noyes..i was just about to say the same thing, i agree...i think there was a virus in those viles...what else could it have been... Then i ask myself how did the men die all fossilzed like that? was that the virus or what...and trevor did in fact take off his mask and say he didn't know if the virus ever existed...then later becmes insane....... Now i start thinking didn't he say he didn't know what happend here? But it wasn't the virus that killed the men....oh wait didn't the baby kill the men....well if she did and she wasn't exposed to the virus like trevor said. What were these men working on that killed them. just a thought.. hope i didn't confuse people.

-- Lady Morgan (Aeonfluxfan1@Aol.com), March 30, 2000.

Okay, I'm thoroughly confused. I thought the vials were supposed to contain the antidote to the virus. I thought the smashing of the vial symbolized Aeon's choice to remain with the boy in his world - a world not constrained by time - the world of her virus-induced madness (if it is such). Am I completely wrong?

-- Stephen Fuller (stepfull@aol.com), April 08, 2000.

You know, they never make it quite clear what Aeon's mission is in this one. I thought she was supposed to bring back a sample of the virus along with the baby, so the Monicans can study it and develop an antidote (in case Trevor decided to bring them some "happiness"). Aeon's smashing the virus indicates that she doesn't care about her mission anymore, or the world for that matter; she's content with a life with the boy.

-- Paul D. Gilbreath (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), April 09, 2000.

Then again, if the vial were an antidote, Aeon would be destroying her one chance for escape. Either way it means pretty much the same thing.

-- Paul D. Gilbreath (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), April 09, 2000.

We know that the boy killed all the scientists, he said so himself. Maybe he tried the same thing on them as he did with Aeon, but they weren't smart enough to figure it out and wandered through the cave until they died for good. Perhaps they became food for the baby? I think the boy kept the baby around out of loneliness, and a sense of kinship. It had abilities similar to his own, having been infected with the virus. Here's a thought: what if Aeon is a member of the same omniscient race as the boy, only she doesn't know it? The boy was intent on having Aeon as a mother, or maybe a daughter, or maybe both. He says "to you I bequeath". Perhaps Aeon is the only one who can function on the same level as he does. We saw her die & reincarnate in every single short. And she does manipulate time at the very end, without the use of mind-expanding drugs (that didn't work too well in the first place, who would want to end up like the baby?). And only Aeon can see the boy. Trevor plays no part in their relationship, he may not even exist past the point where Aeon and the boy meet. Anyway, it's late and I'm rambling, but what do you think?

-- Paul D. Gilbreath (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), April 12, 2000.

I don't remember the boy ever saying he killed those men...i thought he said was the baby...or the virus...maybe both....cause remeber i think he said that he wasn't killed by the baby because he brought her things...like aeon..(i haven't seen the movie in awhile)...so it might of been the boy who brought her but it was the baby who wanted her....for what reason though...i think i remember aeon seeing the baby and it was like sending memories to her telepathically...was the baby trying to tell her something...perhaps she was infected with the virus and she gained that universal happiness...and maybe knowing how unique aeon is was trying to tell her something...heh i don't know... but then the baby dies didn't she? well with the baby out of the way, the boy is left with aeon...to bequeth his unknown powers...maybe the boy had this universal happiness within him....and he is the last of his kind...didn't trevor say that long ago we all had this virus within us? hummmmm (sorry i wrote so much...hehe)

-- Lady Morgan (Aeonfluxfan1@Aol.com), April 12, 2000.

What if the baby is the boys' Id, (Freud): the Id is the source of all our drives/instincts, it is the oldest and first original function of the personality, basic drives, needs, wishes. What if the Id in this case became distorted due to the virus, or lack of the virus? Happiness. I don't understand what is in the vial, but we don't have it, so, he sees us as this distorted, needy, voracious, Id baby. The boy could be the Ego, the Ego emerges because the needs, wishes, and demands of the Id require apppropriate exchanges with the outside world of reality, the Ego emerges out of the Id and acts as intermediary between the Id and the external world, it is the mediator between the Id and the Ego. The Id wants food, the Ego gets food. (right out of Freud), so the boy does not want to become this horrible baby, he picks Fon as his mom to avoid this, and who is the Superego? The future of the boy? The Superego is the internal representative of the values, ideals and moral standards of society. It strives for perfection. Does the boy chose Fon, to save himself from the 'warped baby' future? "I bequeath my inheritance," in other words, him, he is her inheritance? and maybe the Superego is Trevor? "We were never here, we were always here." Does that mean it can be' or it can not be? Choose, Fon. And her choice, to free the happiness virus, and change the future to a normal, happy boy. With the best mom a boy could want, a mom who loves him, is this Trevor, without his warpedness? Or maybe the boy is another individual? I like to think she became his mother, driving him to his baseball game, he's not a killer, finally, the needs of his Id are more pleasan

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), April 13, 2000.

....Are more pleasant. (cut off)

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), April 13, 2000.

This is not as way out as you might think, there is a very famous, considered by film buffs as a classic, sci-fi movie in the 50's, I can't remember the name, if I do I'll post it, in which Earth astronauts land on a planet on which there is only 1 remaining man, and his beautiful daughter. He shows the Earthmen a complex city of extreme advancement, built by the "Krill", they became so advanced they had a machine in which they put on over your head, and it can only be used by a person with a high IQ or it could kill you. It created things for them or something, and it created a more or less 'collective' Id of the Krill, which was an invisible, huge monster that killed off the race. It was also the only thing left on the planet other than the man, and his daughter, and his personality was created by the machine as the monster Id, which acted up when the earthmen had interest in his daughter. It became angry and tried to kill them, and because it was his unconscious he could not control it, ect.

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), April 13, 2000.

The movie you describe sounds vaguely like "Forbidden Planet", with Leslie Nielsen (Nielson?). I saw it years ago so I'm not positive, but it does sound like what I remember. Anyone?

-- John McDevitt (JuntMonkey@aol.com), April 13, 2000.

That's it. Thanks, am I real far off the story? Haven't seen it in years, but I love the Krell city, (Krill are shrimp, I think.)

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), April 13, 2000.

Interesting analysis, Barbara. Hard to follow, but interesting. Regarding Forbidden Planet, the plot is based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest", and it is considered a classic. A lot of sci-fi has borrowed from it, the movies Event Horizon and Sphere are two recent examples. Well I've given this episode entirely enough thought, now it's time to kick back, relax and enjoy the brain-melting L.A. heat. "Madness is the way!"

-- Paul D. Gilbreath (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), April 14, 2000.

Why, thank you. Actually, I have never heard of either of the two movies, but I think I will try and see them, I hope they are available on video. I have read only some of Shakespeare, the Tempest is not one, but I have it. Boy, I'll tell you, his sonnets are stunning, but then that's another web site, hot in L.A.? Cruel, unless you are rereading your little story..

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), April 14, 2000.

Oooh I'm sorry, hard to resist, by the way I still like your Utopia poem. Deep.

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), April 14, 2000.

I guess it's only fair to warn you that Sphere & Event Horizon BOTH SUCKED! Just wanted to spare you the pain of watching them...

-- Paul D. Gilbreath (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), April 16, 2000.

Although, if you wanted something similar (but good) you could check out Solaris, a very cool Russian sci-fi film from the 70's. The tape is widely available, you can probably find it under "foreign" at your local video store.

-- Paul D. Gilbreath (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), April 18, 2000.

no way i liked event horizon....

-- Lady Mogan (Aeonfluxfan1@Aol.com), April 19, 2000.

I kinda liked Event Horizen. It's a good old fashioned "abandoned in a scary place while we get picked off one by one" movie. Sphere wasn't too bad, but it was riddled with What The Hells, like where they all hold hands and wish the Power What Mortal Men Were Not Meant To Yield away. *snort* Behold, the (lack of) power of cheese.

-- Frostbite (mbkrooks@bellsouth.net), April 20, 2000.

Wow, I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. I agree with you on Sphere, though, it was truly unbelievable. One really funny scene is when Queen Latifah's getting stung to death by jellyfish, and she gives the most phoned-in performance I have ever heard, "Oh, I'm dying, have my agent call me on Monday". And the plot was more than stupid, it was incredibly derivative. Yeah, I've never seen a film where dreams kill people...

-- Paul D. Gilbreath (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), April 21, 2000.

Freddy Kuger......he gets you when you sleep....hahahaha

-- Lady Morgan (Aeonfluxfan1@Aol.com), April 21, 2000.

The boy wants Aeon because he is eternal wheather he started that way or not is not the point, the point is the boy is immortal and has always existed and therefore missed out on having a mother. The time frame of the episode is quite redundant because the idea is that all time takes place at the same time. All is non-linear not just the show. The baby's function is to exist. all the rest have died and therefore lost their function. Although the comments of the boy suggest that people do not have to die, we mearly forgot how to live. As himself and the baby are are evidence of. If we could remeber we would be like him. The breaking of the vial maybe a working virus that would free our the boy. To do as he wishes as he hasn't for all time. He existed forever and therefore alone. I beleive that the baby is what happens when we use technology to try to acheive evolution. He is a horrible monster growing but not ageing. Strong but not smart. He can't understand what he is capable of so only his rage can set off his control of time. My thoughs not oganized well.

NAdar

-- Nadar (Nadar@BigPoppaPump.zzn.com), August 08, 2000.