Farscape Rewatch: “The Hidden Memory” (spoilers)

Season 1, Episode 20: “The Hidden Memory”
**** out of *****
“Your oath means nothing to me, you made sure of that. You destroyed EVERYTHING. I lost EVERYTHING because of you! Do you know what I learned while I was away from you? Everything I lost isn’t worth a damn. And I don’t want to go back to your past.”
“I—ORDER you!”
“You ORDER me?! You will never order me again!”

And now part two of two! Or part two of four. Or part two of the rest of the entire series. Or something. Aeryn gets better, John gets rescued, Crais gets brain-frelled, and Jilina gets…dead. Oh! And Moya has a baby or something.

I like this episode, but for some reason I’m having trouble thinking of what to say about it beyond a series of notes on particular moments. So I’m just going to go with that! (I hope to return to a more coherent commentary in the next episode.)

It’s quite delightful to see Jilina get Crais into an utterly screwed situation that winds up with him in the Aurora Chair, and even more delightful to see Scorpius calmly maneuver him into it[1]. Later, when Aeryn lives Crais in the Aurora Chair screaming, I really thought she’d killed him. And as you might guess from the chosen quote, the moment she confronts him right before is one of my favorite moments in Farscape, and one reason I think Claudia Black is possibly the best actress in sci-fi TV.

This might be one of the few times we see Zhaan firing a weapon. And D’Argo blew a guy’s arm off! On screen! Ah, cable.

I wonder, is Chiana being selfless when she’s trying to help Moya give birth, or is she just worried that she’ll be killed if it shoots its way out? And speaking of the baby, this is the first time we find out that he’s not a normal leviathan.

A side note about Stark: This episode is one of the reasons that I don’t believe (at this point) that he’s actually crazy[2]. He’s hyper-stressed, he’s on edge, but he’s rational, compassionate, and calm when he lets his crazy façade down. His comforting Crichton after the chair has utterly frazzled the latter is very touching[3].

Last line:
“Kiss me.”

Other Comments:
Maybe I’m being a little harsh, but I would’ve rated this episode 4.5 stars, but for one single shot that really irritates me for no rational reason. When Jilina steps out with a gun right after Scorpius catches John before he’s about to escape, it’s done in kind of a slow-mo thing that’s…just really looks off to me. Yeah, I’m a jerk. I was disappointed that she died, though.

Stark mentions that he was keeping from Scorpy the memory of a place he saw when he was a boy. After watching the series, I believe that now refers to Katratzi, though I don’t figure the writers had that in mind just yet.

——
[1] “Do what you know in your hearts is the right thing. Put Crais in the chair.”

[2] Yet.

[3] “You’re not crazy, are you, Stark?” “No. But if they think I am, they don’t bother me so much.”