Season 2, Episode 11: “Look at the Princess, Part I”
****1/2 out of *****

“After we’re married, and I mean RIGHT after, they turn us into statues.”
“That. Is. Fascinating!”
“Excellent. D’Argo discovers science.”

This is Farscape’s first three-part episode, which I expect likely surprised some people at the end of part 2. (Did anyone really do three-parters then?) Crichton finds himself at the center of some royal political intrigue when it’s discovered that his funny human genes are the only ones on the whole planet compatible with the colony’s princess. Soon it’s either marry her and live out his life there, or get handed over to Scorpius’s Brain Vivisection Emporium.

This is a great episode, and a great series of episodes. Caught as the planet is between the Peacekeepers and the Scarren Empire[1] the episode is primarily filled with political intrigue. It’s intriguing to watch the maneuvering all around Crichton as he tries to just figure a way through it all, torn between freedom, safety, and death. There’s not much action in this episode, but the political maneuvering keeps things tense. Scorpius is menacing even when he’s just talking calmly to D’Argo in a bar [2]. Rygel gets to play quite competently in his element (politics, I mean, not water). It’s clear he’s used to such arenas (and quite happy to be in them again, even for just a while). Someone put Rygel into Game of Thrones, hmm?

Meanwhile, Aeryn gets all cranky and complicated and frustrated because she doesn’t know how to–or is afraid to–show her feelings. It sets her on a trajectory that will lead to her soon running off with a male model.

D’Argo gets a fair bit to do too [3], and much more than one would have expected in the early part of the first season. He’s John’s sounding board, especially since Aeryn’s all riled up. In counseling John, especially after he’s just found out about the statue, D’Argo’s advice grows more philosophical than we usually see from him. It’s a nice new side to the character, and there’s a bit of subtext in that when D’Argo’s talking about all the positive things of settling down in a stable place and raising a family, there’s likely a huge part of him wishing he were in Crichton’s place. Also that scene has a great end to “cut the treacle” a little: “If I do this, you’re going to have to be my best man.” “Ah…I’m with Chiana now, John.”

Of course, it ends with John’s face being melty-warped (seems like that’d be hard to recover from), and a “to be continued…”

 Last line:
“Here’s your wedding present, from Prince Clavor.”

Other Comments:
The bit in the bar where Aeryn kisses Rygel is possibly one of the funniest scenes in Farscape.

The pyramid shape of royal palace is evocative of a goa’uld Ha’tac ship from Stargate. ‘Cept pointier.

If the Scarrens are trying to get the prince into office so they can gain influence, but the prince won’t actually begin ruling for at least 80 years, they’re playing quite the long game. Or maybe we’re just not supposed to think of that.

——
[1] Scarrens as a race were briefly mentioned before, but this is the first time we see one, and the first time we hear of the Scarren Empire being a major force.

[2] Is this one of the few scenes he has with D’Argo in the whole series?

[3] Including Chiana…

Season 2, Episode 9: “Out of Their Minds”

1. The actors. They’re excellent at portraying their fellows in both body language and tone of voice. Claudia Black manages an American accent, Jonathan Hardy’s voice coming out in non-cranky fashion is a curious novelty, and Anthony Simcoe does such a great Chiana-in-D’Argo that I can’t help but wonder if he’d been doing impressions of her on the set already.
2. It goes where most body-switching eps don’t in terms of how the characters deal with the fact of being in new bodies that they might have previously admired.[3] Plus with the characters being aliens it adds another element to it. Yeah, so it might be bathroom humor, but the bit with John, mortified, telling Rygel how to urinate (and Rygel’s utter enthusiasm for the process) is priceless. Too bad he didn’t warn him about zippers.

Source

Season 2, Episode 8: “Dream A Little Dream”
** out of *****

“I thought we might even pull this off. But you and me, not lying? Are you mad?”

Dream A Little Dream is actually the original first episode of the second season [1], re-tooled now as a flashback that shows what everyone on Moya went through between Family Ties and Mind the Baby.

While searching the last planet Crichton, Aeryn, and D’Argo might have escaped to after destroying Scorpius’s Gammak base–a planet that’s 90% lawyers–Zhaan is framed for the horrible, unthinkable, savage crime of jaywalking. Well, okay, so first she’s framed for jaywalking, THEN framed for murder. So I guess the latter is really more the issue.

It’s an interesting idea that a lawyer on this planet who puts on a defense he even suspects as being false he suffers the same fate as his client. I’m not sure how a 90% lawyer society could actually function, but, as often is the case with stories like this, it’s really meant more as a satirical tool rather than a model of a real society. Creative license.

While the concept of Chiana and Rygel having to win a trial without lying is a fun idea, in execution the episode isn’t terribly interesting to watch after you know what happens. And since it’s a flashback in the first place, and we already know that nothing of consequence really goes on, it’s not so interesting to watch the first time, either, as I recall. The whole “light of truth” bit seems far too hokey to actually work without more political backing.

One thing the episode does accomplish is to show us a bit more of the group’s emotional states as they dealt with the loss of their friends. Zhaan is taking it especially hard due to the fact that she’s both trying to cope herself and trying to aid the others in working through their own loss. The stress of it all is fraying Zhaan’s sanity. She’s going to pieces and hallucinating her lost comrades. It’s some insight into why she was re-entering the Seek in Mind the Baby. It’s just a shame the episode that brought this insight wasn’t a little better.

Last line:
“Thank you for your compassion.”
“Thank you for yours.”

Other Comments:
Zhaan hallucinates Crichton so accurately he even makes a pop-culture reference that she probably couldn’t have come up with herself.

——
[1] Named “Re: Union”

Season 2, Episode 7: “Home on the Remains”
*** out of *****
“If I had anything at all in my stomach right now, I’d throw up.”

Moya’s out of food; or at least everyone on her is. They’re starving to the point of eating dentics. To make things worse, Zhaan’s launching out spores like a dandelion going to seed as part of her species’ automatic means to attract food. Not only are people allergic, but it’s causing Moya problems [1], and if Zhaan doesn’t get food soon she’ll go berserk and die. So that’s all swell, too.

Long story short, they need food fast, and just happen to be sailing by a dead creature the size of a small moon where Chiana knows some people. She’s got a plan, so we know that’s just going to go just great. [2]

It’s a decent, middling episode. There’s a great shot toward the beginning showing the scale of the budong that zooms in alllll the way down to individual people. Budongs is BIG. The plot on the budong is stronger than the plot on Moya with Zhaan, Aeryn and Pilot, but without the latter, the former would lose urgency. It’s a bit coincidental that Chiana’s contact/friend gets killed right as they arrive. The keeva isn’t the best creature this show has created. It looks like a something spawned from a threesome between a gorilla, a wolf, and a morlock…as portrayed by a guy in a suit. Then again, it’s not the worst creature this show has created, either.

This is a rough one for Chiana as she faces a place she once escaped. It genuinely sucks when Chiana’s friend gets killed. She just loses everybody, doesn’t she? When D’Argo kisses her, it seems to genuinely surprise her, perhaps not so much by the kiss as by it being part of his insistence that she’s safe. That’s really not something she’s used to, is it?

Last line:
“Whoa.”

Other Comments:
Zhaan spews out a LOT of spores if it’s going to damage Moya permanently.

Rygel bites John. John bites back.

——
[1] Given how allergic everyone seems to be, why does this ATTRACT people?

[2] Sorry, Chiana, but we had a plan that worked last episode, and I’m pretty sure you guys only get to have one of those per season…

Yes, I’m still doing my Farscape rewatch! I’ve just been distracted with my novels and day job recently. (And, okay, also I got a PS3 to replace an old blu-ray player and have been a tad sucked into The Last of Us…) But on we go!

Season 2, Episode 5: “The Way We Weren’t”
****1/2  out of *****

“Oh, it’s perfectly fine to cut off one of his arms, then, is it Zhaan?!”

A recording is found that reveals Aeryn to not only have been aboard Moya before but to have taken part in the execution of her first pilot. It’s angst, regret, and anger all around, and a really fantastic character episode. As usual, Claudia Black does a fantastic job, and Pilot himself is as real and alive as any of the non-puppet characters.

This is another episode that contributed to my never, ever trusting Crais. Yes, Aeryn killed a pilot under orders, but Crais is the one who gave those orders—with apparent malice and zero remorse. He was an “insane military commander” even before his brother was killed. Yes, his brother’s death screwed him up, but we see here that ruthlessness lurked in him even during his regular duties. Am I judging Crais more harshly than Aeryn? I suppose that’s open to debate.

This episode also gives a deeper understanding of Pilot; how desperate he was to be bonded to a leviathan and the guilt he’s been hiding since that bonding. His anger at Aeryn is at least partially transferred self-loathing for his part in the first pilot’s death and the torture Moya underwent so she would accept him[1]. He’d never mentioned the pain, and likely accepted it previously as penance for his own crimes.

It’s interesting that, in the entire course of the series, no one ever brings up the question of whether or not Pilot has an actual name, or if he’d even like one. It would have been nice if someone had asked him, and this would have been one of the best opportunities for it.

Last line:
“And you say you think you love this man?”

Other Comments:
Pilot says he’ll have less control for a while. I don’t remember if that ever had any actual effect.

I felt bad for Pilot being wrapped up in the cargo bay like that.
——
[1] “Chop off an arm and all he can muster is a few snotty remarks…”