Thursday, July 28, 2011

Classics: Farscape 2:17 - The Ugly Truth

Overall: 8.3

Personally, I'm fond of this one, and not just because Stark plays a key role.

Plot Synopsis:

The Farscape Wiki has a summary here.

The Skinny:

I like the way this episode plays with the unreliability of eye-witness testimony. We have five different people here with five different personal agendas -- and each character lies in a manner that fits. It makes sense, for example, that Aeryn would leave certain things out in order to protect Talyn. It makes sense that Zhaan would completely omit Stark's reaction to the revelation that Crais has contacted the Plokavians; after all, her goal is to protect Stark. And it makes sense that Stark would finger Crais. Yes -- as John observes, Stark does have a good reason to hate Peacekeepers. But I also think he's being entirely honest when he tells the Plokavians that his goal is to protect the others. His heroic choice at the very end would seem to suggest such an interpretation, at any rate.

The one big thing that holds this episode back in the ratings, I feel, is the fact that the writers reveal the true culprit at the very end. Although I really like the concept that Talyn acted on his own in order to protect his mommy, I think this episode would've earned a stronger mark if the truth remained entirely ambiguous. If the viewer were left to use the consistencies in the five accounts to piece together his or her own version of what happened, that might've been more fun.

Writing: 8.0

Even with the tell-all ending, this is an interesting story.

Acting: 8.5

There are no feature-level performances here, but the members of the cast do a nice job altering their deliveries to reflect the viewpoint of each witness.

Message: 8.5

If you're looking for absolute certainty in the world of law enforcement, you're likely to be sadly disappointed.

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