(Sorry this one took a bit to get to. I’ve been busy with A Memory in the Black stuff this week. But more on that soon…)
Season 1, Episode 10: “They’ve Got A Secret”
**1/2 out of *****
“Oh, man. I bet that thing’s gonna grow.”
While searching for Peacekeeper devices on Moya, D’Argo accidentally knocks something loose that winds up getting him blown out into space and Moya pregnant. Also, we learn Luxans can survive in vacuum for up to a quarter of an arn, though it apparently makes them a little loopy in revealing and expositionary ways.
This episode is a little slow. It lays a lot of good foundation for future episodes, but it’s not all that fantastic on its own merits. If only I knew at the time how much Farscape likes to develop characters and plots in dynamic fashion, I might have been more excited upon my original watching. As it was, I remember not finding it all that interesting that first time because I still didn’t much care about D’Argo. We do get a lot more backstory for him[1], which reveals a great portion of his current agenda and motivation, but at the time I was a bit unmoved. I know, I know, I’m a heartless monster.
As for the mystery of what’s going on with Moya, it doesn’t seem to have too much traction until toward the end when it really gets going and we get close to figuring out what’s going on. That said, the bit where Crichton runs into the whole section of DRDs just staring at him in the black is creepy in its own little way. I was thinking it was evocative of The Birds–and a minute later John hung a lantern on it with his own mention of Hitchcock, so I’m guessing that was intentional.
Nonetheless, it must be said that the concept of a SHIP getting freaking PREGNANT is really far out there on the edge of things we’d ever really seen in a TV show before. It’s weird, it’s cool, it’s Farscape.
Last line:
“D’Argo, no matter what happens to us, I will never tell anyone about your son.”
Other Comments:
This episode also shows us that after her experience in the last episode, Aeryn seems to have retained a partial understanding of how Pilot controls Moya.
Hi, Talyn!
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[1] Lo’loan, Jothee, and Makton are introduced, in absentia. Seeing D’Argo play with Rygel, thinking he’s Jothee, is both amusing and touching. And just a tad disturbing somehow.
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