Season 1, Episode 12: “Rhapsody in Blue”
*** out of *****
“When the darkness rises up from inside, that is normal. It is when you reach down to pull it up! …that the noxious warning sounds.”
A Delvian sect who fled to the Uncharted Territories after a Peacekeeper-assisted coup on Delvia draws Moya to their temple and steals Zhaan’s peace-mojo. We’re treated to more of Zhaan’s background, including a revelation about the crime that got her imprisoned in the first place.
This is one of the few times in the series (and possibly the ONLY time–I don’t entirely remember anymore) that we see other Delvians. Apparently the make-up team had their hands more than full getting all of them ready for shooting each day, and it was deemed just too much trouble to have more than one Delvian in an episode at a time[1].
I like this episode, and yet I don’t really enjoy watching it. It begins as a welcome look into Delvian culture, and the sinister undercurrent of something creepy going on with mind-screwing aliens holds my interest. Yet once Tahleen makes her move on Zhaan and the crew gets telepathically distracted[2], it does get a little slower. I think perhaps if it were more focused on Zhaan during this time rather than Crichton, it might have been better, because most of the time we’re just watching Crichton talk to his non-existent wife. I liked that John helps Zhaan get somewhat back to where she was by showing her his vision of her during unity, but aside from that (and John’s frustration with Aeryn toward the start at her not finding anything incredible), this episode needed less John, more Zhaan. That rhymes, folks, and you KNOW it rhymes[3]!
There is one line I particularly hate in this episode, though. When Zhaan blocks Tahleen’s attack on Crichton, she says, “I am now a pa’u of the Tenth Level, able to protect.” It’s just a really clunky line. I know they’ve established that pa’u levels exist and are rated by number, but said in that way, it just feels a bit too much like Virginia Hey is playing Dungeons & Dragons. Quick! Roll a save vs. flawed writing!
Last line:
“Hardly wasted. They were the best cycles of my life.”
Other Comments:
Developing a common Farscape occurrence, John gets mind-frelled again. But then, so does almost everybody in this episode.
——
[1] Which is a shame, as Delvians are one of the most visually intriguing races in Farscape.
[2] Aeryn’s particular mental distraction seems…kind of stupid. Her weapon falls apart and she immediately freaks out? I wonder if Claudia Black argued with any of the writers about this.
[3] Well, maybe it doesn’t.