|
From
Dave Elsey: In season 4, [the Scarrans] are the best they have
ever been, and you will understand how we artistically painted
ourselves into a beautiful corner as season 4 plays
out.
4.22 Bad
Timing
Thanks to Bazza for this great
spoiler!
John Crichton (Ben Browder) risks
the future of Earth to demolish the wormhole in the acclaimed
science-fiction series' riveting finale. Jarring plot twists
and powerhouse action abound as the Moya crew tries to keep
the Scarrans from using the wormhole---an interstellar
shortcut---to invade terra firma, which is rich in a flora
valuable to the aliens. Although Crichton concocts a way to
collapse the wormhole, he doubts he can pull it off, an
insecurity the Scarran-hating Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) tries to
exploit to forge an alliance with his nemesis. And Crichton
has more on his mind...namely, what the future holds for his
relationship with Aeryn (Claudia Black). (VCR Plus+
4100315)
Guest Star: Kent
McCord
Writer: David
Kemper
From Bandicoot: Writing
to give you a brief synopsis of Bad Timing, though Todie or
someone has probably already sent you a review [click here for
toadie's review]
Anyway.
The start was a good touch. "Previously, on Farscape".
followed by an
onslaught of images from at the very least 30 different
episodes, probably half the
series (maybe one from each episode, dont think it lasted long enough
though*. "And now, FINALLY, on Farscape..."
It's
realised that the Scarans are going to enslave Earth to obtain
the flower that
Chricton nukes on Katraski.
He has
2 options. Destroy the wormhole or agree to let the
peacekeepers protect Earth, starting
a mass-war and subjecting Earth to any alien interaction.
So he
decides to destroy the wormhole, but its very precise. Pilot
is the only
person who can do it (Who is already exhausted after an
Extended Starburst (3-in-1). So
the DETACH (!!) Pilot from Moya and take him through. Stark will
look after Moya, but cannot keep up with the control systems, so Chiana uses
her foresight to help, and she loses her sight. apperantly for good
this time. The Scarens turn up, shoot moya a few times (Stark takes most
of the brunt in looking after moya), and enter the wormhole, they pass
Chricton, Pilot and Ayren comming the other way, as the self-destructing
wormhole is following them out. The Scaren fighter flies right
into the shockwave. boom. (Before hand, they call Jack from the moon, and
John says goodbye)
John
and Ayren in a boat. Very romantic. Ayren tells John that the
scarens probing
resulted in her baby leaving statis. Its Johns. John proposes
to Ayren. She says yes.
A
fighter appears out of nowhere. It's a race I don't recognise.
John and Ayren
are vaporised. literaly (like, crumble - powder. dust. Imagine
Claudia in the
chimney at the end of interview with the vampire).
To Be
Continued.......
But of
course. thats not the case. thats it. the end. Chiana is
blind. Earth is
cut off, ayren and John are dead.
From the BBC:
Synopsis
Safely back on Moya, the crew is horrified to discover that
Scorpius has made contact with Captain Braca's Command
Carrier. In response they strand both him and Sikozu, who
pleads for him, in deep space, knowing they'll be picked up by
Braca once Moya has Starbursted away.
In return, Braca reveals to Crichton the details of a
transmission intercepted from the Scarran base, indicating
that the Scarrans intend to invade Earth via a wormhole. Their
interest in Earth is due to an innocent remark by Crichton,
revealing to Emperor Staleek that a flower essential to
Scarran brain development grows there.
Crichton feverishly studies his wormhole equations to find
a way to collapse the wormhole, finally solving the problem
theoretically. However, his primitive human reflexes prevent
him from piloting his Module accurately enough for the
split-second timing that will be required.
Only Pilot is capable of flying a ship into the wormhole at
just the right millisecond to cause it to collapse behind
them, but Moya is more afraid than ever of wormhole travel. It
looks like there’s no hope of saving Earth – until Pilot
confesses that he could detach himself from Moya and steer a
Transport Pod on the desired course.
Though the operation could prove fatal, Moya and Pilot
volunteer, and D’Argo and Noranti begin cutting Pilot free.
With the Scarran attack ship fast approaching, Pilot,
Crichton, and Aeryn, who refuses to be separated from Crichton
in case he doesn't make it back, make the perilous journey
through the wormhole to Earth. There, Crichton takes a moment
to say goodbye to his father – knowing full well it’s for the
last time.
As the Scarrans enter from one side of the wormhole, Pilot
plunges in, causing it to collapse around him. The wormhole
route back to Earth forever sealed, Moya recuperates in the
nutrient rich seas of Qujaga. Out in a makeshift rowboat,
Crichton proposes marriage to Aeryn, who gratefully accepts -
after revealing that her child's pregnancy has been activated
and that the baby is his.
The two embrace in happiness, but as D’Argo, Chiana and
Rygel watch in horror a craft sweeps over, and blasts the two
into tiny shards.
To be continued... ?
Review
There are two things that must be said about Bad Timing.
Firstly, for a show finale that didn't even know it was a show
finale, it was excellent - a worthy end to a wonderful series.
Secondly, how could they do that to us, the evil frelling
drannits! How could they leave us this way?
Tense, emotional, and conclusive, Bad Timing had everything
a finale needs, including a sense of finality. The Scarrans
were defeated, John said a proper goodbye to his father, and
Pilot, wonderfully, got a little of the attention he's been so
lacking this season. That's without even mentioning the scene
even the hardest hearted of us has waited so long to see -
John and Aeryn, no complications intruding, kissing and making
up for evermore.
You could even believe that Kemper et al had actually meant
this to be the end of the show. Whether through cunning
planning or through good post-production, it seemed to tie up
most loose ends, and paid due homage to events earlier in
Farscape. Only a few stray threads left an irritating sense of
incompleteness. Stark was woefully underused, and now we may
be deprived forever of the battle of the bonkers between him
and Noranti. Nor learn if Sikozu and Scorpuis’ relationship
really has a future.
Yes, sad though the end is, we could have gone away
relatively happy and content with the closure we’d had. That
is, up until those last two horrifying minutes. No
compromise right to the end - how could we not have loved this
programme? Trivia
Final Flashback: Although filming on this episode
was virtually complete when Farscape was cancelled by the US
Sci-Fi Channel, the editing wasn't. So Bad Timing's
unhappy position as the last Farscape is reflected in the
quick-fire flashback of everything that's happened so far, and
the doleful voiceover from Ben Browder, "And now, finally on
Farscape".
Although the circumstances surrounding Farscape's
cancellation are bad, there has been worse. Twentieth Century
Fox's sci-fi show Alien Nation ended abruptly, with a
cliffhanger ending, when the show was cancelled between
seasons.
To Be Continued...? The decision to end the episode
with a To Be Continued message was also taken by the
production crew after the cancellation news. It's a mark
of their determination that somehow the Farscape story
will be continued. After long thought, the BBC
decided to leave the message on out of respect for the
intentions of Farscape's producers.
Interviewed by Cult, Henson's [title] Juliet Blake told us
that the company is looking into continuing Farscape in movie
and in anime form. So there is hope yet.
Also determined to keep the show going is the Save Farscape
campaign. Watch an interview
with some of the people involved with the campaign to see what
they, and you, think can be done to bring Farscape back.
Full circle: Possibly as another homage to
Farscape's short but very sweet history, Crichton reprises his
message to Earth, as heard on every credit sequence.
There's a few differences - he states the time he got shot
through the wormhole as four years rather than five, but
basically it's the same. Could this, perhaps, have been
the season five title sequence voiceover in embryo?
First and last words: Cast out of the airlock,
Sikozu's parting words to Crichton are "weak species."
So, her opinion of him hasn't really changed since they met in
Crichton
Kicks. That's what she said to him then, too.
Don't Banik: Stark's back, and as mad as ever.
Still, his experience of controlling Talyn, back in Meltdown
seems to have come in handy.
Walking on the Moon: John picks his father's landing
site on the moon to leave his last message. The site,
Serenity Ocean, has never been the actual location of a manned
lunar mission.
Quiet Exit: Uniquely, and in keeping with the sad
occasion of this last Farscape episode, there is no music on
the closing credits.
The John Crichton guide to pop
culture.
I couldn't Kailish: John dubs Sikozu "Goldilocks" -
an obvious one, and "Miss Brittanica" - perhaps feeling that
her close hugging space suit gives her a resemblance to
Britain's female emblem, as seen on the fifty-pence
coin. Commenting on her relationship with Scorpius, his
advice is to dial 1-800 Counselling - probably an option not
available in tormented space.
And all who sail in her: The command carrier is
referred to as the Queen Mary by John,
after the famous ocean liner. The ship was one
of the biggest and most powerful vessels for many years - so
much so that while serving as a troop carrier during the
Second World War, she crashed through a British cruiser and
ripped it in half - sustaining only very minor damage herself.
Cracking the code: John says all he needs is a
Rosetta Stone to decode wormholes, he says. The Rosetta
Stone, kept in the British Museum, is a huge piece of basalt
engraved with greek, demotic Egyptian and hieroglyphics.
Its discovery in 1799 allowed the decipering of ancient
Egyptian texts for the first time.
Evil egg hunt: Harvery pops up in his most ludicrous
costume yet - this time as the Easter Bunny. Not such a
popular tradition in the UK, the Easter Bunny is an American
staple, hiding chocolate for kiddies to find.
It's the final countdown: Once again, John counts to
the wormhole's appearance in Italian.
----------------
Now safely back on Moya, Crichton
learns of the Scarrans’ intention to invade Earth. He
feverishly analyzes his wormhole data and comes up with a way
to collapse the wormhole to Earth – but the method is not one
that he can implement alone. Meanwhile, Braca demands Scorpius
be released from Moya and returned safely to his Command
Carrier – and Aeryn has a few surprises of her own, including
the identity of her baby’s father.
The Scarrans plan to invade
Earth. Moya's crew have been betrayed by Scorpius.
4.21 We're So
Screwed, Part 3: La Bomba
Writer: Mark
Saraceni
Director: Rowan Woods
After thwarting Crichton's escape
plan, Scorpius denies that he's a Scarran spy, and demands
Crichton's help to destroy a cavern of vital Scarran flora –
claiming it will also provide them with a better means of
escape. And while Rygel and Noranti fight an evil Stark,
Sikozu must reveal her true colors if they are all to
survive.
 From the BBC:
Review
Going out, literally, with a blast, the conclusion to this
three parter ties up a string-factory worth of loose ends, yet
never seems contrived. In an even smarter trick, the
clouded motivations which have powered season four are
suddenly made crystal clear.
What made this more admirable still was the chance the
peripheral characters were given to shine. On most shows
they'd be one-note ciphers, but here we saw the feelings,
desires and dreams pushing them on.
Grayza's fall from grace, played with fine skill by Rebecca
Riggs, was one stand-out moment. As her cool, polished
outer shell finally cracked, it was abruptly clear that she
had been acting ethically all along. Yes, she was
manipulative and plotting, but she was also prepared to die
for her beliefs.
Better still was Braca's moment of glory. His way
could be seen as the coward's way, but by following his own
star he saved his men, and did so with a kind of honour.
Elsewhere, we finally had the enigmas of Sikozu and
Scorpius explained - both revealing their true motives.
Although not quite as stunning as the Grayza and Braca scenes,
it was a real relief to finally learn just what was going on
with the pair. It was also nice, if very creepy, to see them
get together at last.
Amongst too many other good things to mention - Stark's
return, the beautiful CGI, John's powerful fatalism - only one
thing didn't quite work. For a major plot point, the
explanation of the Crystherium's significance was very rushed
and unclear.
That one tiny quibble apart, this was a wonderful episode,
and would make a fitting finale to season four. But, even
better than that, there's still another episode to
go. Synopsis
After Scorpius sabotages Crichton's escape plan, Staleek
places Moya's crew under "protective" guard. Once alone,
Scorpius reveals he’s only pretending to be a Scarran spy,
claiming his real agenda is the destruction of the Scarrans,
using wormhole technology as the means.
As Crichton won't give up his wormhole knowledge, Scorpius
has had to formulate a different plan to halt the Scarran
invasion. He explains that the plant Crystherium Utilia
promotes Scarran brain development, and so is essential to the
existence of the Scarran Ruling Caste.
The Scarran base at Katratzi is the only known source in
this sector of the galaxy, and destroying it would put a halt
to Scarran advancement for many cycles.
Crichton has no interest in helping Scorpius with his
plans, and seeks to accept Commandant Grayza's earlier offer
of protection and escape aboard her Command Carrier, but is
prevented by hundreds of weapons trained on the Carrier. Then,
when the Scarrans disarm Crichton's nuclear bomb and break the
stalemate, Crichton has no option but to follow Scorpius’
plan.
Crichton, Aeryn, D’Argo, Chiana, Scorpius and Sikozu enter
the Rabrokator, a drilling elevator, while Rygel and Noranti
go in search of Stark. Once down in the Crystherium cavern,
Crichton and the crew are unable to destroy the flowers, and
are trapped by Scarran guards. They are saved when Sikozu
reveals her true position as a genetically modified member of
the Kalish underground, able to emit radiation lethal to
Scarrans.
Meanwhile, Grayza is preparing to fire upon Katratzi in a
last, fatal, gesture of honour, but is prevented by Braca, who
relieves her of command in order to save his crew.
The crew members pile back into the lift, and drill their
way to the surface, but are pinned down by enemy fire. Seeing
only one way out, Crichton bows to Scorpius' plan and drops
his rearmed nuclear bomb down the shaft, back into the cavern.
The resulting explosion causes enough carnage for them all to
escape.
Back on board Moya, the crew, now including Stark once
again, celebrate, but Crichton feels less upbeat, berating
himself for the lives he took.
Trivia
Radiation and Roll: The title is a pun on La Bamba -
the title of a spanish tinged rock 'n' roll hit from Ricky
Valance and a 1987 movie about his life.
Starking about: Stark actor Paul Goddard is given an
on-screen credit this week, now his character's reappearance
isn't a secret anymore. A theatrically trained actor, Goddard
has had parts in movies including The Matrix and The Mighty
Morphin' Power Rangers movie.
Say my name: Two mysteries are cleared up this
episode. Firstly, D'Argo's ship Lo'la turns out to be an
Eradicator. Secondly, and more importantly, Captain Braca's
first name is revealed to be Nikalou.
Scorpius so far: So, it seems that Scorpius is a
half-Sebacean, half-Scarran Commandant in disgrace, but with
friends on the inside still, pretending to be a Scarran spy
pretending to be an asylum seeking Peacekeeper criminal. What
a tangled web he weaves.
The John Crichton guide to pop
culture.
NY Peacekeeper D: Harvey seems to be picking out a US cop
series from John's head to argue in this week - complete with
interview room, bad coffee and mention of doughnuts.
Holy Scarrans, Robin: John casually refers to the
Chrystherium cavern as the Bat Cave - the nerve centre of
Gotham City caped crusader Batman. The original Bat Cave set,
made for the 1960s series, was destroyed when the show was
cancelled. Sadly, this meant that although another network was
interested in picking it up, the show became to expensive to
rescue.
Bard Timing: "If it were done when 'tis done, then
'twere well/It were done quickly:" quotes John from
Shakespeare's Macbeth, just before agreeing to Scorpius' plan.
In the play, the lines are spoken by Macbeth as he argues
himself round to killing his king and relative Duncan. An act
that didn't really turn out all that well for him, as John
probably realises.
So, who's Huggy Bear?: Forced into an uneasy
pairing, John refers to Scorpius and himself as Cadaver and
Hutch, harking back to 1970s cop show Starsky and Hutch. That
would give him the David Soul role.
Say it with neutrons: John writes "Hi there!" on the
side of his bomb, following an old military tradition of
putting messages on armaments. Usually they say things like
"Die sucker" though.
Going underground: "Mind the gap," says John as he
exits the Rabrokator, parroting the well known London
Underground platform announcement.
Scorpius is revealed as a Scarran spy, but he may be a
double agent. It becomes vitally important for Crichton to
uncover the truth when he finds himself strapped to a bomb
 Dean O'Gorman will be playing a
Kalish (Sikozu's race) resistance soldier named Zukash in eps
20 and 21. Mr. O'Gorman played Iolaus in "Young Hercules" and
Young Iolaus in "Hercules." He also guested in episodes of
"Xena."
4.20 We're So
Screwed, Part 2: Hot to Katratzi
Writer: Carleton
Eastlake
Director: Carl Zwicki
From the BBC:
Review
Making up for the slightly underwhelming kick-off of this
three parter, Hot to Katratzi was hot in every way - sexy,
swaggering, tense and glowing with nuclear energy.
After dizzying the viewer with the most action-packed
teaser in TV history, Hot to Katratzi was full of the same
bravado and crazy confidence as its leading man. It was a lot
of fun, especially when Crichton was on screen playfully
needling his mortal enemies, threatening to explode and
flirting outrageously with Aeryn.
In stark contrast with John's happy-go-lucky sensuality was
Scorpius' dark, lecherous threat - Wayne Pygram's portrayal of
the half-breed reaching new heights as he welcomed torture
with lewd innuendo and a savage curl of his lips. This time
Farscape, forcing us into an uncomfortable position, puts us
on Scorpy's side. Whereas we'd normally laugh to see Scorpy
minced and mangled, now we find ourselves really deeply
worried about his fate.
While Crichton was back in control, and wanted to let
everyone know it, neither he nor we bargained on the surprises
awaiting him. Yes, it's Farscape, so nothing's ever going to
go to plan, but Stark's arrival was still a real shock. Though
not as much of one as Sikozu's personal revelations.
Finally, though nothing bad Scorpius does should ever be
unexpected, his double, or possibly triple or quadruple cross
caught me as off guard as it did John and Aeryn. Ending a
programme this way should be banned for health reasons - the
human body isn't meant to take a cliffhanger this tense.
Synopsis The crew travels to
Katratzi, a secret Scarran base, to stop the Scarrans from
extracting wormhole information from Scorpius. They arrive
during critical peace negotiations between Commandant Grayza
and the Scarran Emperor, Staleek.
Crichton wears a nuclear bomb, rigged to explode should he
come to any harm. He claims to have come to the base to sell
wormhole knowledge to the highest bidder, hoping this will buy
time for him to devise a plan to either rescue Scorpius – or
kill him before he breaks.
The base itself is home to both Kalish technicians and
Charrid soldiers working for the Scarrans. There is a
historical antipathy between them, and Moya's crew pits them
against each other, trying to create a confrontation as
diversion for them to spirit Scorpius out of Scarran hands.
The Scarrans, meanwhile, begin working out a way to disable
Crichton's bomb.
Ahkna, the Scarran War Minister, continues her torture of
Scorpius, and brings in an unexpected ally to assist – the
Banik, Stark. Ahkna believes that by extracting Scorpius’s
secrets she will increase her standing in the Scarran Empire.
However, neither Crichton nor Ahkna are truly aware of the
extent of Scorpius’ duplicity. Crichton soon learns the hard
way; when his rescue attempt is just about to succeed,
Scorpius sabotages it, revealing himself to be a Scarran
spy. Trivia
The real me: A lot of personal secrets come out -
Sikozu is a bionoid, Stark is still alive and bent on revenge,
and Scorpius is... a Scarran spy? If we can believe even
that, of course.
Floral food: Oddly, the favourite food of Scarrans
isn't live rats or still-beating hearts, but a flower,
Chrystherium Utilea. What's actually used in the show is
the Bird-of-Paradise flower, a South African plant with spiky
red blooms.
The John Crichton guide to pop
culture.
The dark side: Katratzi looks awfully like a certain
Death Star.
How Crichton learned to love the bomb: John's
possession of a thermonuclear device leads to many references
to Earth's nuclear history. He names it Fat Man after
the bomb dropped on Nagasaki at the end of World War II, a
bomb which many believe was unnecessary. He calls
himself Johnny Radiation - probably a reference to kid's
cartoon Jimmy Neutron.
Having put everyone in a position of mutually assured
destruction if anyone attacks, he says "Welcome to my cold
war," and after facing down War Minister Akhna, he
retorts "Get ready to kiss your ass goodbye, Castro." It's a
reference to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when Kennedy
forced the removal of nuclear missiles from Cuba by
threatening to use his own nukes.
Scarran blues: "It'll be John Lee Hooker time." says
John. John Lee Hooker was one of the most famous US blue
musicians, with a career spanning over four deacades.
John may mean that they'll all be feeling blue if his bomb
goes up, or it may be a reference to Hooker's 1961 hit Boom
Boom.
Captain America: "I can leap whole galaxies
with a single bound. I can scorch planets with a wave of
my hand," Crichton tells Staleek, Akhna and Grayza. He's
either imagining himself as a superhero, or remembering the
classic Playstation advertising campaign "I've commanded
armies."
As to why he's there, he announces it's "Because I am an
American." And as such, he wants capitalism. No
doubt utterly confusing the aliens, he compares his offer
of wormhole knowledge for money to a supermarket
style "blue light special in aisle three," and offers that
favourite catalogue free gift of "a set of steak knives"
along with the knowledge.
Robo-ho: John refers to the Aeryn bionoid as a
fembot - probably a reference to the sexy female
robots who attempt to seduce Austin Powers in the first
Powers film, International Man of Mystery. (1997)
A fatal exception has occured in your wormhole:
Assured by the Staleek that his safety will be guaranteed,
John points out that "Bill Gates can't even guarantee
Windows," referring to the well-known tendency of Microsoft
products to crash.
Oooh, Smithers: "Feel the love, Mr Burns," says John
when Braca saves Scorpius. He's comparing Braca to
Smithers from The Simpsons, a slimy yes-man who sucks up to
his boss relentlessly.
Crichton and the crew travel to Katratzi, a Scarran base
where Scorpius is being tortured. The planet is the home of
two unfriendly alien races, who may hold the key to Scorpius's
rescue.
Moya's crew travels to Katratzi, a Scarran base where
Scorpius is being tortured for wormhole information. The base
is home to both Kalish and Charrid forces – underlings for the
Scarrans. The crew plans to incite a confrontation between
these two contingents, hoping this diversion will allow them
to free Scorpius, and prevent wormhole knowledge from falling
into Scarran hands
4.19 We're So
Screwed, Part 1: Fetal Attraction
Writer: David
Peckinpah
Director: Geoff Bennett
 From the BBC:
Review
As Moya heads further and further
into the danger of the Scarran territories, so this season
keeps turning up the tension. Almost too much, in fact. While
this episode nervewracking plotting was top-knotch, after two
solid episodes of nailbiting edginess tension fatigue begins
to set in.
Where it excelled was in the
chances it gave the more peripheral characters to take centre
stage. Melissa Jaffer was again wonderful as the scatty,
scheming, crazy-like-a-fox Noranti, her scenes with Rygel a
particular joy to watch.
Even better was the glimpse we
saw of Sikozu's fellow Kailish, a race of bureaucratic
jobsworths. Once again Farscape has established an entire,
utterly convincing alien culture in just a few key scenes -
anyone who's ever had to deal with a government agency will
have recognised their type.
John posing as a sex-crazed
Sebacean separatist was another good moment, but somehow, for
such a crucial episode, Fetal Attraction was rather
underpowered. The frankly horrifying threat to Aeryn was
strangely less upsetting than last week, and the mortal threat
to Rygel never felt serious. Disturbing revelations about the
motivations and abilities of the characters abounded, but
their sheer quantity undermined their individual
impact.
Only with Harvey’s return in the
final minutes did the episode suddenly leap into overdrive,
leaving us craving more. Still, as the first part of a
three-parter, there’s bound to be much plot thickening to
come. Synopsis
Moya's crew arrives at a Scarran Border Station, where the
freighter holding Aeryn is docked for inspection. Scorpius
masquerades as a Scarran Captain with Crichton, Rygel, and
Chiana as spies working for him. Sikozu discovers that Aeryn's
ship is due to leave for Katratzi, a Scarran base, in barely
half an arn - insufficient time to stage a rescue.
To keep the freighter at the station, Rygel feigns symptoms
of the deadly disease known as Hynerian dermaphollica, forcing
Trayso, the Kalish medical officer, to impose a lockdown. When
Trayso starts to doubt the authenticity of the disease,
Noranti poses as a medical expert and gives Rygel the real
thing. As she races to concoct a cure for it, innocent
bystanders succumb to the ravages of the deadly disease.
On board the freighter, Aeryn is kept under sedation by the
sadistic nurse, Vreena. Crichton manages to infiltrate the
freighter by pretending to want sex with Vreena, but is thrown
out before he can rescue Aeryn.
Sikozu plans to cut the power on the station so that a
rescue can be mounted. Meanwhile, Jenek captures Noranti and
brings her in to examine Aeryn, concerned that she may succumb
to dermaphollica.
As the rescue plan gets underway, Jenek decides to secure
the safety of Aeryn's foetus by transplanting it into Chiana,
who is immune because she's a Nebari. Noranti tries to stall,
but the operation is about to go ahead when the lights go out
and Crichton bursts in.
Aeryn is rescued, and all escape back to Moya, bar
Scorpius, who is captured by the Scarrans. The crew would be
happy to leave him behind, but for Harvey, who reappears in
Crichton's head and convinces him he must return for the
half-breed.
Trivia
Pre-watershed worries: The three-parter
starting with Fetal Attraction originally had the overall
title We're So Screwed - a title chosen after the cancellation
decision. Sadly, this wasn't quite within BBC guidelines
for transmissions at 6.45pm, so we Brits just get the
individual episode titles.
Bunnies beware: Fetal Attraction is a pun on the
title of 1987 movie Fatal Attraction, starring Glen Close as
an obsessive woman determined to ruin the life of the man who
dumped her. Its most famous scene concerns the boiling
of a family pet rabbit.
Welcome back: Shane Briant, who plays officious
desk-jockey Trayso previously played the very different role
of mad scientist Kaarvok in Eat
Me.
Dulcet tones: Claudia Black's breathy voice is heard
announcing "previously on Farscape." Amongst Claudia's
many talents is music - in her younger life she was something
of a jazz singer.
Triplicate tribe: Sikozu's people, the Kailish, are
seen here in their natural environment - as bureaucratic
jobsworths administrating the Scarran Empire.
Back and back and back to the past: References to
other episodes include John dressing up as a Peacekeeper, as
in Nerve,
and a mention of Diagnosians, previously seen in Die
Me Dichotomy and Season
of Death.
1812's big brother: Scarran DRD's, fittingly, are
the hard-nuts of the robot world - big, bulky and heavily
armed.
Tongue spotting: D'Argo's tongue saves the day once
more, dropping a Charrid soldier in the nick of time.
Spooks: Scorpius has accurate identification codes
for a member of the Scarran Ministry of Dissimulation - the
Scarran spy corps. Now, how did he come by such a thing?
Rygel's got the lergy: We learn that Hynerian
dermaphollica is a highly contagious, non-species specific
illness that causes vomiting, sloughing of skin, and sudden
death in Kailish and Sebaceans.
The John Crichton guide to pop
culture.
Snurch and display: John describes the security
clearance beacons as window-stickers - comparing them to a
valid tax disc or parking permit.
Harvey has risen from his grave: John's mental
conversation with the returned Harvey takes place in a classic
Hammer-horror style vampire's crypt, with Harvey even
describing himself as Nosferatu - a famous film
bloodsucker.
Moya's crew track Aeryn to a Scarran border station, where
they attempt to free her from imprisonment. However, Aeryn's
captor, the cunning Jenek, is a force to be reckoned
with.
The Moya crew visits a Scarran border station
to uncover Aeryn's whereabouts and mounts a rescue
operation.
The crew docks at a Scarran Border Station in an attempt to
rescue Aeryn from her captors.
Crichton and Moya's crew try to infiltrate a Scarran border
station to rescue Aeryn from captivity
4.18 Prayer
Writer: Justin
Monjo
Director: Peter Andrikidis
From the
BBC:  Review
Easily Farscape at its saddest, Prayer pushed our heroes
further than ever before in forty-five minutes of the tensest,
scariest and most affecting science fiction television ever
seen.
From Aeryn’s desperate appeal to a god she doesn’t believe
in, to John’s appalled horror at the destructive consequences
of his trip to alternate-Moya, the episode hits the viewer
with one finely honed shock after another.
Prayer made good on the promise of Unrealized Reality -
turning that episode’s mixed-up freaks into real people you
cared about and didn’t want to see get hurt. This could so
easily have gone badly wrong, ending up no more than an
exercise in oddness, but brilliant performances by Raelee Hill
as Sikozu/Stark and Claudia Black as Aeryn/Chiana avoided
that, and then some. Seeing Scorpius show his true colours at
last was also a joy.
Saddest, and scariest, of all was Aeryn’s horrifying
captivity. By turns tortured and drugged, slowly having all
her defences stripped away until she betrays the person most
dear to her in the universe, yet she still never gives up,
never breaks down.
In a brilliantly cruel and clever twist, the writers
tricked us, the fans, by giving us the answer we’ve all
clamoured for - who is the father of Aeryn’s child? Yes,
they’ve given it to us alright, but in a way that makes us
wish we’d never asked.
Synopsis
Aeryn is being held captive aboard a Scarran freighter
captained by Jenek, a ruthless and ambitious Scarran of the
Ruling Order. Along with a traitorous Sebacean nurse, Vreena,
Jenek questions Aeryn, using powerful drugs and Scarran heat
torture.
After discovering that Aeryn is pregnant, they want to know
the identity of the father. Aeryn is able to resist only by
recounting stories of her time away from Moya – apparently
spent with other lovers.
Meanwhile, having made a deal with Scorpius, Crichton
travels back to the mixed-up version of Moya that he visited
in Unrealized Reality. Crichton believes that Sikozu/Stark on
this alternate-Moya knows the location of the secret Scarran
base called Katratzi.
Back on normal Moya, a Command Carrier appears in the
distance. The crew decide, with much argument, to hold their
ground and try to disguise themselves, although some think
that they should starburst immediately.
Through the wormhole, Crichton finds the alternate Moya and
her crew, but he and Scorpius cannot extract the information
they need from Sikozu/Stark unless she is crossing someone
over to the next life.
On the Scarran freighter, Aeryn meets Morrock, a pregnant
woman who has been imprisoned there for cycles. The Scarrans
have been impregnating her over and over again, hoping to
harness and enhance the unique traits of her species in her
offspring. Jenek kills Morrock's unborn child while Aeryn
watches in horror.
Morrock assures Aeryn that hoping for rescue is futile, but
Aeryn is determined to protect her unborn child. At first she
withstands the Scarrans' relentless drugging and torture.
Finally, though, she confesses that her only true love is John
Crichton – the father of her unborn child.
On alternate-Moya, Scorpius cold-bloodedly kills one of
Sikozu/Stark's crewmates, but discovers she can only cross
over those she loves - forcing John into a decision to kill
alternate–Moya's Aeryn/Chiana. It works, and they return to
normal Moya in time to escape the Command Carrier.
On the Scarran freighter, Aeryn gives a final display of
her tenacity by forcing Morrock to admit she is a Scarran spy
and killing her. She is then thrown into a cell to await
arrival at Katratzi, where surgeons are awaiting to remove her
unborn child.
Speech so
evil: The voiceover this
week is in the chilling tones of Wayne Pygram, aka
Scorpius.
Unrevealed realities:
References to other episodes include Unrealized Reality, of
course, and Aeryn-centred story The Way We Weren't. We also
get to find out a little about what Aeryn was doing
immediately before her return in Promises.
Putting it about: There's
a sly reference to season one episode PK Tech Girl when Aeryn
says that her sexual behaviour gave her the nickname "PK tralk
girl".
Destructive deities:
According to Aeryn, it's said the Sebaceans once had a deity -
Jan'ke'brue. Omnipotent, but not good, this goddess destroyed
the six worlds of her worshippers, just because she
could.
Fruits of success: What
Scarrans want is palaces and virgins, apparently.
The John Crichton guide to pop
culture.
The
DC Territories: John describes the mixed-up Moya he saw as
"Bizzaro Moya". A reference to Superman comics, the Bizarro
world is a malevolent, back-to-front version of the real
world.
Bloody Scarrans: "Nosferatu" says John to
Scorpius, as the haggard hybrid offers him a blood oath.
Nosferatu was a 1922 film about a hideous, tight-skinned
vampire, made by F.W. Murnau. Silent but terrifying, the film
was nearly destroyed by the widow of Bram Stoker, writer of
Dracula, because of copyright infringement.
Shakespeare Scorpius: Rather ludicrously, John
refers to himself and Scorpius as a "regular Romeo and
Juliet." He's really talking about the end of the play, where
the lovers lie dead together. Surely he doesn't see Scorpius
that way?
Drinking hombre: Apparently John's drunk enough
mezcal in the past to make his head spin. It's a sort of
tequila which comes with a worm at the bottom of the bottle -
the gimmick is that the worm has eaten mescalin cactus, a
hallucinogenic.
Anything could happen in the next half hour:
John explains the unrealised realities as a space where any
possibility could occur, even a world where "the Cubs are
winning the World Series." By the Cubs he means the Chicago
Cubs, who haven't won the World Series since 1945.
David Kemper: "eps 418-422 will
just about twist you up, down, and inside out. Some of the
best acting I have personally ever been around is delivered as
the season draws to a close.
Aeryn resists the Scarrans'
interrogation, and John's search for her leads him into an
unrealized reality.
Crichton and Scorpius travel through a wormhole to try and
locate the Scarran base where Aeryn is being held hostage.
Crichton and Scorpius travel through a wormhole to a
mixed-up version of Moya in search of Aeryn.
4.17 A Constellation of Doubt
Writer: David
Kemper
Director: Andrew Prowse
David Kemper:
"...will leave you as mystified by what we eat and drink
behind the scenes as did the cartoon ep.
A Constellation Of Doubt: It seems that the Scarrans
have taken Aeryn to their secret base, Katratzi. Moya's data
banks have no record of it, but Crichton's sure he's heard the
word before.
A tabloid TV show attempts to expose Crichton's
alien comrades as menaces to Earth in a tense episode
peppered with riotous satire.
Looking for clues to Aeryn's disappearance, Crichton
spends the trip back to the Uncharted Territories watching
Alien Visitation. The sensationalistic program juxtaposes
offbeat footage of Moya's crew shot by Crichton's nephew
with obnoxious sound bites from spiritual, military and
scientific talking heads. After screening it, Rygel
concludes that Earth “is full of superstitious, xenophobic
morons.” Crichton hates the show too, but it may be his only
lead in the search for Aeryn.
Scorpius traps Crichton and the others on a Scarran base
and reveals his true agenda.
DK Wrote this episode He compares this to the
animated episode. its his what the frell episode. this episode
was shot over 7 months. Karls speculation that this is the
time travel. I think this episode places all those part
together in earlier episodes.
 From the
BBC:
Good reception:
Either the Alien Visitation broadcast that Pilot
intercepted took a short-cut through a wormhole somewhere
along the way, or he's got one hell of an ariel. Radio
and TV broadcasts travel at the speed of light, and it seemed
that Moya and co. are a bit further away from Earth than a few
light-months. Still, at least that means John's got
something other to watch than his American Football
video.
Grand old man: The
reassuringly authoritative presenter of Alien Visitation, R.
Wilson Munroe is played by Nick Tate. He's an old hand at this
sci-fi game, having played Alan Carter in Space 1999, as well
as numerous smaller roles on Star Trek. He also guest-starred
in US drama Party of Five - on which a younger Ben Browder had
a recurring role before Farscape.
Tongue spotting:
Bobby insists on getting a tongue lashing, despite D'Argo's
reluctance. We learn that D'Argo's tongue carries
adaptive venom that will only knock out his victims.
Taken: (Ex) Sheriff Robert
Shumacher of Orlando, seen in Kansas
reappears, with his account of meeting the aliens in
1985. He believes that the aliens implanted a chip in
his head, and are broadcasting instructions to everyone to eat
fatty foods. To block out the transmissions, he wears a
foil-lined baseball cap.
All shook up: One
psychologist sees John's emotional state as being due to post
traumatic stress syndrome - a condition that people can
develop after a shocking event or long period of stress,
such as war or disaster. She may be right - he has
been through a lot.
Saturday Night Luxan:
D'Argo was a guest on the ever-popular David Letterman talk
show during his stay on Earth, where, he thought, the crowd
laughed with him.
The John Crichton guide to pop
culture.
Hollywood hokum: D'Argo's
seen a lot of Earth films where the evil aliens are beaten by
the good humans. Sadly for us, he doesn't think they're
very realistic. Hmm... would one of them have been
Independence Day, perhaps?
Long Trek home: Bobby
describes Crichton as the only human to really have boldly
gone where no man has gone before, in a little nod to Star
Trek.
Glittering rewards: "Bet
this sumbitch wins an Emmy," grumbles John about the presenter
of Alien Visitation. Prestigious media awards, Emmys are
given out by the US Academy of Television Arts and
Sciences.
Wipe that smile: John
claims there is an utter lack of toilet paper in space.
If it's true, that's just too much information.
Eat it up, yum: Rygel is
shown in junk-food paradise. Surrounding him are burgers,
ketchup, waffles, marshmallows, crisps, pretzels, licorice
allsorts, popcorn, and cakes, and he grips a big
lollipop. Sugar, it turns out, is considered a poison on
Hynerian worlds, and is hard to obtain. Other Earth
things he appreciates are telephone gambling, and sex
lines - 1-900 slut girl seems to be a favourite of his.
Nebari Prime 90210: Chiana
seems quite innocent to one human commentator. "After
all, you get more juice on Dawson's Creek," he says, referring
a teen relationship soap where everyone has gone out with
everyone else.
Sikozu checks her contacts for
any clue as to the location of Katratzi, where Aeryn has been
taken, but without success. Meanwhile, John watches a
documentary on the aliens' visit to Earth, intercepted by
Pilot.
The documentary consists of
talking heads and video footage of the aliens, shot by John's
nephew Bobby. Psychologists, sociologists, priests and
others all give their opinion of the aliens' characters, and
whether they present a threat.
While some commentators are
positive about the aliens, there is much in the broadcast
which disturbs John. The documentary contains strong
reactions to Aeryn's revelation that Earth could easily be
taken over by hostile aliens, and horror at D'Argo's
tongue. Chiana is dismissed as deeply troubled, and John
as suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.
There is also speculation about
whether Aeryn and John are having a relationship in the
programme, and some commentators make xenophobic comments
about human-alien hybrids.
The rest of Moya's crew try to
stop him watching the programme, but with no luck. As the
documentary unfurls, John becomes more and more depressed at
Earth's unreadiness for contact with aliens.
Racking his brain, he realises he
has heard the name Katratzi before. He asks Chiana where they
heard it, saying she was there at the time, but she has no
idea.
On the documentary, the presenter
welcomes the Sheriff that Moya's crew ran into in 1986 (in
Kansas). Now half-mad, the Sheriff does clearly have evidence
of the aliens' earlier visit - evidence that the presenter
takes as proof that there has been a cover-up.
Sikozu comes to John's room, and
is nearly shot by him when she will not admit that she knows
anything about Katratzi. Suddenly an image on the TV screen
makes John realise why he remembers the word - Stark/Sikozu
said it in one of the unrealised realities John visited via
the wormhole.
Storming to Pilot, John asks him
to set a course to the wormhole leading to Earth. Pilot and
D'Argo agree to do so. John then visits Scorpius, and tells
him he will swap the wormhole knowledge for his
help.
Review
It reportedly took longer to make A Constellation of Doubt
than any other episode. Not a moment of that time was wasted.
This tour-de-force by David Kemper uses the inspired device
of framing the episode within a documentary about the visit of
Moya's crew to Earth. We get the fun of seeing a brilliantly
observed, utterly realistic recreation of American documentary
TV, complete with self-important talking heads and
gravitas-heavy presenter. Then there's the incongruous glory
of seeing John, Chiana, et al watching themselves on a
widescreen TV while sitting in the bowels of Moya.
Excellent, emotion laden performances, particularly from
Ben Browder and Raelee Hill, heighten the tension. John
Crichton's decline into deep, unpredictable despair by Aeryn's
loss, and the clear inability of Earth to accept alien contact
is particularly affecting. Sikozu's snippy desperation when
pleading against his accusations of treachery brought her
character fully to life as well.
Better even than this, though, was the documentary itself.
Showing our aliens from many different viewpoints, but
ultimately giving a warped view of them as an inevitable
threat, it subtly and uncompromisingly aligns the viewer
against humanity. We know what the aliens are like -
what humanity says, as presented on the documentary, is so
wrong that we have no choice but to put our sympathies with
the opposing side.
Rounding off a ten out of ten perfect episode is John's
final realisation of where he must go if he is to rescue
Aeryn. Once again a Farscape set up pays off in an
unexpectedly elegant and thoroughly wonderful way.
4.16 Bringing Home the Beacon
Writer: Carleton
Eastlake
Director: Rowan Woods
David Kemper:
..."will leave you stunned"
The women of Moya stumble upon a secret meeting that will
change the future of the Uncharted Territories.
On a trip to a planet in the badlands, Aeryn witnesses the
arrival of Grayza and her henchmen. It soon becomes apparent
that she has a secret meeting with a Scarran.
Female members of the Moya crew observe a
secret meeting that will have a drastic impact on the future
of the Uncharted Territories.
 From the BBC:
Very punny: The title follows the long-established
Farscape tradition of using puns on well known phrases - here
a little change to the term bringing home the bacon.
Nepotism can be fun:
Francesca Bueller, the wife of star Ben Browder, plays Ahknar,
the Scarran commander. She's previously been seen as
M'Lee in Bone to be Wild, ro-NA in Look at the Princess, and
Raxil in Scratch 'n' Sniff.
Murderous massage:
Pressing on the mela nerve can paralyse Nebaris from the neck
down apparently. Must make a nice back rub a bit of a
risk on Nebari Prime.
Transfigure me beautiful:
Chiana's pretty clear what she wants from a genetic
transformation - big loomas. She and Noranti look
little different after the change though - surely Braca would
recognise them instantly?
Below the belt: Ahknar
makes a reference to Commandant Grayza's man-controlling
heppel oil glands as an underhand method of getting
ahead. Grayza just thinks she's a bit too squeamish
though.
Decisive weapons: There's
also a reference to the events of Infinite Possibilities part
two. As Ahknar suggests, the wormhole weapon that
destroyed a Scarran dreadnaught was operated by someone else -
Crichton.
Takes me back: "Ah, the
mother tongue" muses Scorpius, on hearing Scarran spoken
aloud. After the treatment we saw him get in Incubator,
it's surprising he's so pleased about it.
Make do and mend: Plenty
of Moya sets are redressed to act as the dead leviathan
locations in this episode. We see a derelict Pilot's
den, and overgrown atmospheric scrubber room.
Easy install: Adding new
hardware to Moya is a piece of cake - you just plug, and Pilot
plays.
Porky pies: Grayza seems
to have been lying about the Peacekeeper Command
Carrier. There's no sign of it, and surely the Scarran
Dreadnaught would have done something about it if it were
there.
The women on Moya head down to a
trading station on a derelict Leviathan to buy a sensor
distorter for Moya. While it's being customised, they have
four arns to kill.
Wandering through the station,
Aeryn and Sikozu are shocked to see Grayza and Braca, with a
squad of Peacekeeper commandos. As they hide, another ship
arrives - carrying a Scarran delegation.
They follow the two groups to a
clandestine meeting, at which it becomes clear that Grayza is
prepared to strike a deal with the Scarrans in return for
peace - and her own advancement. The price is the handing over
of the Luxan territories to the Scarrans. As Grayza signs a
treaty, Aeryn prepares to assassinate her. Before she can, the
Scarrans turns on the Peacekeepers, killing the commandos and
taking Grayza and Braca prisoner.
Meanwhile, Noranti and Chiana
have hidden themselves from the Peacekeepers by having full
genetic modifications - changing their species and DNA. They
meet up with Aeryn and Sikozu, who are attempting to reach
Grayza to kill her. If they do not, the Scarrans will learn
that the Peacekeepers don’t control wormhole technology from
her - the only thing preventing them from an all-out
attack.
Chiana returns to the transport
pod, and the rest of the group defeat the guards around
Grayza. They are forced to rescue her and Braca by Graza's
threats of a patrolling Peacekeeper Command Carrier. Aeryn
holds off the Scarrans while the others escape. On the way to
the pod, Grayza tricks Sikozu, and she and Braca make a break
for it.
Aeryn returns to the pod in the
nick of time, and the four women return to Moya. Pilot
immediately starbursts as a Scarran Dreadnaught is in pursuit,
but they travel only a short distance and the Dreadnaught
remains on their tail. The ship and the girls are checked for
a homing beacon.
John and Aeryn decide to leave
together so that the others are safe, but when John asks if
the baby will be all right, Aeryn doesn't understand. John
realises she is the beacon, and shoots her, to reveal a
bionoid replica.
The sensor distorter is installed
and fools the Dreadnaught. Moya's crew realise that the Grayza
that escaped was also a replica, and the real one is in
Scarran custody. D'Argo assures John that they will search for
Aeryn, and find her.
4.15 Mental as
Anything:
David
Kemper: ..." will leave you stunned"
D'Argo faces the Peacekeeper (Blair Venn) who
killed his wife and then pinned the crime on him when he,
Crichton and Rygel accompany Scorpius to an advanced training
camp where students learn mental discipline.
 From the BBC: D'Argo, Rygel,
Scorpius and John visit a mental arts training camp to obtain
information from the leader, Katoya. One of the other trainees
turns out to be Macton, the Peacekeeper who killed D'Argo's
wife Lo'lann, his sister, and framed him for the crime. He
accuses D'Argo of beating Lo'lann to death. D'Argo vows to
kill him.
Scopius loses a mental duel with Katoya. Outside, John runs
into Macton, who claims that D'Argo killed Lo'lann in a fit of
blackout-causing hyper-rage. Whilst Rygel takes on a Charrid
in the arena, John asks D'Argo whether these blackouts happen.
A flashback shows him raging at Lo'lann, and he admits they
do. John decides to leave when he is prevented from helping
Rygel.
D'Argo does badly in the arena because he is unable to
control his rage at Macton. A flashback shows him pleading
with Lo'lann to tell him if he ever hurts her. Meanwhile, John
wakes up in a tiny cell over a pit of burning coals - remedial
training. Katoya tells him he can come out when he can catch a
key - but each one falls into the coals. Scorpius appears, and
tells John that he is undergoing anti-Scarran training -
training Scorpius himself has undergone.
After meeting Macton once more, D'Argo begins to wonder if
he did really hurt Lo'lann. He asks Katoya to help him find
out. Using the arena, he relives a burst of hyper-rage, and
realises that he did hurt Lo'lann, but she hid it from him.
Suddenly, Katoya disappears from the arena, Macton taking his
place.
Macton shows D'Argo his version of events, in which the
Luxan beat Lo’lann until she killed herself. Driven to
hyper-rage, D'Argo becomes helpless, but manages to use the
training Katoya gave him to regain control. He forces Macton
to show the truth - that he killed his own sister, then beat
the corpse to frame D'Argo.
John finally wrests a key from the bed of coals and
escapes. On the way back to Moya, Scorpius tells him that the
creature they encountered on Earth may have revealed its
location to Grayza.
BBC Review: In a season that’s been pretty much
all about John, it’s nice to get an episode that concentrates
on another character. Mental as Anything gives D’Argo a moment
in the spotlight, but even a heartfelt performance by Simcoe
as the big guy fails to raise this tale of warrior discipline
and in-law rivalry out of mediocrity.
This story has a lot in common with Mark Saraceni's other
Farscape credit, A Prefect Murder. Both feature flashbacks,
and a central truth approached from multiple angles.
Sadly, Mental as Anything suffers from a lack of the
imagination and mystery that graced A Prefect Murder, leaving
us with a slow plod to a strangely uninteresting conclusion.
D’Argo’s a nice guy - watching him go through this emotional
wringer ought to have been a lot harder than it was.
Despite some nice set design, Katyoa’s alien dojo was
horribly derivative of a thousand cheap martial arts films,
without any of Farscape’s usual irreverent sense of homage to
lighten the atmosphere.
Katoya himself was a cardboard cut-out sensei, having more
in common with Mr Miyagi from The Karate Kid than the series’
usual colourful, believable aliens.
Still, we did get to see that Farscape rarity - a loose end
tied up. And D’Argo got to keep his dignity. Just for once he
didn’t say, "I will not be taken prisoner again," immediately
before being clapped in chains.
From Entertainment Weekly:
D'Argo meets the man who murdered his wife and framed him
for it. They don't sit for tea.
Scorpius takes Crichton, D'Argo
and Rygel into an advanced training camp where students learn
mental discipline. D'Argo is confronted with the arrival of
Macton (Blair Venn), the Peacekeeper who murdered his wife,
Lo'Laan (Rachel Gordon), then framed him for the crime. When
Scorpius forces Crichton into torturous anti-Scarran training,
D'Argo must face the demons from his past ... alone
4.14 Twice
Shy:
David
Kemper: "Edge of your seat"
David Kemper: ..." will
leave you stunned"
From Entertainment Weekly:
Crichton and the crew free a sex slave and then watch her
become master of their ship. (Not in a kinky way, but in a
I'm-gonna-slowly-kill-everyone-here-and-there's-
nothing-you-can-do-about-it way.)
A fiend that feeds on
personalities takes a big bite out of Moya's crew
When the crew rescues a girl from
slavery, they learn that no good deed ever goes
unpunished.
Chiana (Gigi Edgely) rescues a slave girl
(Paula Arundell) from a trade ship, but as her Moya crewmates
begin to disappear, Chiana becomes suspicious of her new
friend.
Chiana purchases Talikaa (Paula
Arundell), an abused slave girl from a passing trading ship.
When the crew starts acting strangely and Talikaa disappears,
they realize she may not be as innocent as she
seemed
4.13 Terra
Firma:
David Kemper: "Eps 412
and 413 will surprise the dren out of you. They are clever and
sparkling. Yay, Ricky, Justin, Rowan and Peter.
Crichton comes home and
introduces Earth to his new friends — unaware of a new enemy
in his midst.
Crichton and his comrades
encounter Earth dignitaries eager to introduce the aliens to
the public. while Crichton's efforts to readjust to terra
firma are complicated by a rift with Aeryn and a hidden menace
aboard Moya. Jack: Kent McCord
The crew returns to Moya - in
orbit around modern-day Earth - to find Jack and a contingent
of Earth dignitaries waiting for them. The aliens are
introduced to an amazed and aprehensive public, but soon find
life in the public eye difficult. As Crichton tries to
readjust to life on Earth, his relationships become strained,
especially with Aeryn. Meanwhile, a monstrous assassin is sent
by Grayza to hunt for Crichton.
Contact has been established
between Earth and the aliens from Moya, but Crichton refuses
to share alien technology with only one nation, even if that
nation is his own.
Click
Here to read Toadie's review of Terra Firma
4.12
Kansas:
David Kemper: "Great episode" Eps 412 and 413 will surprise the dren out
of you. They are
clever and sparkling. Yay, Ricky, Justin, Rowan and
Peter.
This episode begins a cycle of
stories returning Crichton (Ben Browder) to Earth, along with
his cosmic cohorts. This first story involves time as well as
space displacement, though the mod fashions don't quite match
the time line in question.
The crew of Moya arrive at Earth
in the year 1985, where Crichton has somehow altered the
timeline and caused his father to be on the doomed Challenger
mission. The crew tries to lie low in Crichton's hometown,
while Crichton tries to restore the timeline and keep his
younger self out of danger.
Crichton tries to prevent his
father's untimely demise in a thrilling tale that kicks off
the last run of episodes of the series' fourth and final
season.
Crichton (Ben Browder) was last seen drifting in
space, just above Earth. Here, D'Argo (Anthony
Simcoe)---joined by Aeryn (Claudia Black), Chiana (Gigi
Edgley), Noranti (Melissa Jaffer) and Rygel---navigates the
wormhole to retrieve Crichton. The group soon realizes they've
arrived on Earth circa 1986, where Crichton learns history has
changed when Jack Crichton (Kent McCord) accepts command of
the doomed Challenger mission. And while Crichton tries to
keep his dad grounded, the aliens are discovered by a nosy
neighbor. (VCR Plus+ 8804869)
Season Four continues as the Moya
crew finally gets to Earth, 1985. Unfortunately, Crichton
discovers that he has somehow disastrously changed the course
of time - his father Jack is now slated to fly the doomed
Challenger mission. Lying low in Crichton's hometown, the
"aliens" use the timely Halloween celebrations to remain
(almost) anonymous, while Crichton tries to revert the
timeline - in the process putting his younger self in mortal
danger.
Click
Here to read Toadie's review of Kansas
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It looks like Aeryn is going to be
wearing some new clothes in future eps, according to Claudia
Black. Click on the image at left to see one of here new
outfits.