And to take a break from the book plugging for a few moments, let’s do another Farscape rewatch! (Well, I’ll do it. You read it.)
Season 1, Episode 21: “Bone to Be Wild”
**** out of *****
“Distress call. Directed at us?”
“How stupid is THAT?”
Crichton, D’Argo and Zhaan investigate a distress call on a shockingly verdant asteroid, Scorpius gets himself a command carrier, Aeryn bonds with Moya’s baby, and Crais has a bad day.
With three separate plotlines going, this episode straddles the line between self-contained sci-fi tale and ongoing character development. The bit on the asteroid with M’lee and Br’nee has the feel of earlier episodes in the season, and this is not a bad thing.[1] First it gives us the twist about M’lee being dangerous, which is a little predictable: Right from the start, something seems…off about her. But that predictability lulls us (and John) into complacency in order to better trick us later by doing a double-switch and making Br’nee the bad guy after all.
The other two plotlines are less about plot and more about relationships (though those relationships of course do affect the plot). Scorpius’s ruthless intelligence is further developed as he seizes the opportunity to avail himself of Crais’s command carrier, and Crais is broken down just a little more in a way that gets him to the place he’ll need to be in for the next episode. Meanwhile, Aeryn and the baby get the viewer to the place THEY need to be in the next episode. Black does a great job portraying Aeryn’s bonding with the baby, and all she’s really doing is acting against a set! When Pilot tells her Moya wants Aeryn to name him, she tears up.
I remember that this episode kept surprising me with regard to Crais’s continuing to be not dead. I’d thought he was killed in the chair in the previous episode. (I was actually disappointed on first watching to find out that he wasn’t.) Then later, when Braca comes in at the end and talks to Crais and Crais is unresponsive, I again thought he was dead for a few moments.
Speaking of which, it’s Braca! And he gets lines this time!
Stark is curiously absent from this episode. He escaped with John last episode, now, nothing. Apparently the writers just plain forgot about him at first [2].
This is also the episode we learn that Zhaan is actually a sentient plant (though there’d been hints throughout the season), which is a nice touch. She can also apparently turn invisible when surrounded by plants [3], but she’ll never do this again. Even being a plant, I’m not really sure that Zhaan’s justifiable in her taking offense at John’s “stinking plants” comment, since none of the plants on the asteroid that all M’Lee’s people died for were sentient.
Last line:
“As a matter of honor, sometimes we must be willing to give of ourselves.”
Other Comments:
Br’nee is played by Marton Csokas, who also plays Celeborn in The Fellowship of the Ring. This amuses me.
Scorpius’s growly-voice when Crais attacks him took me by surprise the first time, and added another layer to the usually refined character.
There apparently were plans to bring M’lee back, but they never got around to it.
——
[1] In fact, I understand this subplot had originally been intended for earlier in the season.
[2] When he comes back, they give him a, “Hey, thanks for letting me borrow that transport pod!” throwaway line.
[3] Watching that the first time made me go, “Errr…whah?”
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