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While
Crais and John are completing a course in comparative anatomy,
Talyn gets swallowed by a Budong. What follows is a very
emotional episode that’s less about their escape than it is
about their relationships. Ben Browder did a fantastic job in
writing his first Farscape episode, and I certainly hope it
won’t be his last.
Talyn:
Our baby Leviathan seems to be in the middle of a couple of
growth phases at the same time. He’s not only going through a
Leviathan-sized case of the terrible twos (or whatever the
equivalent is in Leviathan years), he’s also giving a very
convincing demonstration of adolescent angst. In other words,
he’s being a brat. He wants Aeryn and he’ll do what it takes
to persuade her to accept his neural transponder. In a
combination of xenophobia and jealousy over Aeryn, he locks
Crichton outside just when the warheads are about to explode. He
hasn’t lost all reason, however, because when Aeryn shows him
what real need is, he relents and opens the door. I think Talyn
grew up emotionally a bit this week.
John:
Even though Talyn’s the culprit, John believes that it’s
Crais who’s harassing him by stealing Winona, using the DRDs
to keep him awake, and giving him cold showers (is this
symbolic?). Talyn tricks John into going to Crais’s quarters
and looking at a Peacekeeper data chip showing Aeryn and Crais
together. John loves Aeryn, but he drives her away in a fit of
jealousy, thinking she and Crais have been “recreating”.
Fortunately, they got everything straightened out in the end. I
think Green-Eyed Monster has one of the best final scenes so
far: Aeryn actually comes to John to express her feelings! And
did you notice the pause before the closing music began?
Crais:
I kept wondering why he seemed so panicked over their situation.
After all, this guy was a Peacekeeper captain, he shouldn’t
freak out like that. But in one of Farscape’s great twists, it
turned out that he’s been having a terrible time trying to
control Talyn. In fact, it’s the other way around. Due to
cybernetic bleed back, Talyn is controlling him. I got chills
when he was begging John to kill him. That man can scream! At
the end, I’m glad he gave Aeryn Talyn’s little home movie. A
cycle or so ago he would have kept it and to Hezmana with John.
Aeryn:
Poor Aeryn is caught in the middle of these three jealous and
possessive males. In order to get them out of the Budong, she
gives in to Crais and Talyn and accepts the neural transponder.
Of course, she has no idea why John is having such a fit about
it. It turns out that she has a natural ability for working with
Talyn. She removed the transponder but she didn’t destroy it
so there’s always the chance of reconnecting in the future. It
was great that she was able to use a bit of psychology to coerce
him into letting John back inside. She finally opens up to John
and it was wonderful to see what she’s really been thinking
about him and their relationship. But what’s she going to do
when she meets up with the other Crichton?
Rygel:
Once again Rygel saves everyone’s’ bacon. Well, if
vomiting all over Stark and giving him an idea is saving the
day, then Rygel is a hero. He was really hilarious this week,
being the sarcastic little know-it-all
Stark:
I like this guy more every week. I could almost see the wheels
turning in his head as he examined Rygel’s vomit. Ew. It was a
pretty good plan he came up with even if it was vomit induced. |
