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In
my opinion, this is the best episode of Farscape to date. Each
character is written and played to perfection and each storyline
is intriguing. Most of the season’s major story arcs are
completed as are a couple that have been running through most of
the series. Everything in this episode works: the performances,
the dialog, the music, the lighting, the special effects.
Everything.
Crais:
For three seasons, Crichton has hated and/or mistrusted the good
captain and Crais has returned the feelings. Now it’s Crais,
not John, who comes up with a plan to destroy Scorpius’s
wormhole research but first he must appear to betray Crichton
and everyone on Moya to the Peacekeepers. All he needs from
Crichton is a distraction and he gets one. While John is keeping
the Peacekeepers riveted to the PA system listening to him and
Scorpy joyriding through the wormhole, Crais is talking softly
to Talyn, explaining what must be done. And when Crais said,
“Talyn, StarBurst!” I got chills. Lani Tupu was outstanding
– I only hope these weren’t really his last moments
as Captain Bialar Crais.
Crichton:
He’s run out of options and realizes that the only way he can
stop Scorpius now is to destroy the Command Carrier because the
Command Carrier is the Peacekeeper wormhole project.
While he’s trying to figure out a way to do it, he learns that
Crais has betrayed him. His friends are in prison, his home is
under threat of destruction, the wormhole knowledge in his
subconscious is becoming clear to him and Scorpius holds all the
aces. Except he doesn’t. John is clearly astounded when he
learns what Crais has planned.
When
John confronts Crais and Aeryn I was reminded of the scene in Green
Eyed Monster when the other Crichton faced off against the
same two people. At the end of Talyn/John’s life, he seemed to
gain some respect for Crais, tasking him with protecting the
crew on Moya. At the end of Crais’s life, this remaining John
also has great respect for Crais, who has fulfilled the promise
he made to protect the crew.
Scorpius:
I almost feel sorry for Scorpius. If he lives through the
destruction he knows the one thing he’s lived most of his life
for – revenge against the Scarrans – is gone, probably
forever. There’s no way he’ll be able to reconstruct his
research project, not with Mele-on Grayza breathing down his
neck waving a Scarran truce. It would seem he has reason to hate
Crichton, maybe even transfer his obsession for revenge onto
him, but he doesn’t. He lets John know that he won’t go
after earth, won’t destroy John’s people. Maybe there was a
little humanity in his soul after all.
Rygel:
While everyone’s trying to decide whether or not to go along
with Crichton’s idea of destroying the ship, Rygel speaks up.
I think it was his voice that tipped the scale in John’s
direction. D'Argo, Chiana and Jool had been ready to bolt for
Moya but when Dominar Me-First realized that destroying the
wormhole project was necessary, they had to agree.
Pilot:
This is a puppet? Pilot conveys more emotion than a lot of
characters I’ve seen on prime time network TV. It was
heartbreaking to watch him, and by extension, Moya, say goodbye
to John. He and Moya had accepted that Talyn was going to die,
one way or another, from the time Crais shut him down. Now he
realizes that the entire crew is at risk. Later, as the Command
Carrier was blowing apart and Pilot was talking to Moya, his
sadness is very real. Kudos to Lani Tupu and the team of
puppeteers for a job well done.
Everyone
else had little to do, but each character added richness to the
story. I loved the scene in the holding cell when D'Argo and
Rygel spoke to Chiana and Jool of their previous imprisonment by
the Peacekeepers. Aeryn was so horrified watching her old friend
Henta as she fried and so sympathetic with the little girl who
was injured. And D'Argo’s ship? I want one of those! |
