Overall: 7.0
Flammable pee? Yep, that's pretty Farscape. Once again, though, we have to suffer through an annoyingly bizarre guest performance.
Plot Synopsis:
Farscape World has the blow-by-blow here.
The Skinny:
The positives: It's nice to see Aeryn begin to grow as a person. What I particularly enjoy is the rapport she is building with Pilot. In a later (feature) episode, we and they are going to learn some critical backstory that will end up shattering this nascent trust, so what we are seeing now is actually a smart bit of long-range planning on the writers' part.
The other thing I like about this episode is Crichton's willingness to judge. He sees the Sykarans working like slaves in the fields during the day only to party like drugged out hippies during the night and doesn't accept that this is okay. He sees that Sykaran civilization is crumbling and urges the Sykarans to fight back against Peacekeeper oppression and manipulation.
Also positive is Zhaan's statement that happiness is something we work for, not something we luck into. Too many people in our society behave as if the opposite is true -- either that or they expect the government gravy train to hand happiness to them on a silver platter.
Oh, and by the way, as I obliquely mentioned above, Rygel saves the day with his flammable pee. Seriously! For reals! In the climax, Rygel throws down tannot root and pees fire to demonstrate to the Sykarans that they are unwittingly helping the Peacekeepers to fuel their weapons. LOL! As I said in my review of the pilot episode, Farscape has this thing about bodily functions. I choose to believe that this is a wonderfully cracktastic feature of the series rather than a flaw.
The negatives: Angie Milliken. Some folks might think that Milliken's performance is interesting and appropriately alien, but to me, she crosses the line and becomes annoying. Sorry.
I also believe that Luxan hyper-rage is too much like pon farr to be a compelling concept -- and it also suffers from the same logical problems. How can a society really function, after all, if its males periodically descend into uncontrollable hormone-induced psychoses?
Writing: 7.5
Another old story idea (Captain Kirk was challenging dysfunctional alien societies way back in the late 60's), but the character development we see - particularly with Aeryn - is rather nice.
Acting: 6.0
See my above comments in re: Milliken.
Message: 7.5
As we've said time and time again on this blog, evil must be opposed in all its forms. It's encouraging that the writers seem to recognize this even though they haven't quite mastered the art of delivering a solid message in a manner that really sticks with you.
Highlights:
Aeryn: She gives me a woody. (Crichton stares.) A woody. A human saying. I've heard you say it often. When you don't trust someone or they make you nervous, they give you --
John: Willies. She gives you the willies. (ROTFL!)
John: Zhaan, this city. It looks like it used to be a working city.
Zhaan: Now apparently nothing works.
John: Yeah but it used to. This city is falling apart around them and they - they just don't seem to care.
Zhaan: Material comfort is not the only measure of a society, John.
John: Look progress is going backwards on this planet and nobody on this planet gives a damn. (Here, we see that Crichton is unwilling to accept that Sykaran society is functional. That's good.)
Aeryn: Look, all this analysis dren comes really naturally to you. It just doesn't to me.
Pilot: On the contrary. I too have difficulty with complex sciences.
Aeryn: Yeah. Right.
Pilot: When a Pilot is bonded to a Leviathan - as I am bonded to Moya - it is as a navigator. A monitor of all the living ships' functions. The analysis of scientific data is not something I know or easily understand.
Aeryn: Yeah, but you're good at it.
Pilot: I study every chance I can. Moya was born with a very complete bank of scientific data. (He sighs.) I only comprehend a fraction I'm afraid.
Aeryn: Do the others know about this?
Pilot: I have told no one. I prefer they didn't know.
Aeryn: But you've told me.
Pilot: I feel I can trust you. (Aww. I love this little relationship they've got going here. Too bad a later episode is going to ruin it.)
John: Aeryn, not today, okay? I have been out in the sun all day long picking up magic turnips. I got - I got a worm in my gut crawling around down in places where the sun don't shine and I'm sick of it, okay? So, for the moment would you just shut up and help?
Aeryn: Help? What do you think I've been doing up there in the ship -- playing games with Rygel?
John: Look, I know it's sooo difficult up there in the ship-
Aeryn: Difficult? I had to stop him from blowing himself up into bits. I had to figure out what was causing the problem and I had to fix it!
John: Yes. I know, and we're all grateful that you did the Madame Curie thing -
Aeryn: What? Who?
John: Madame Curie. She's a - she's a scientist.
Aeryn: Scientist.
John: Yes.
Aeryn: What I had to do up there was like a field strategy exercise. Only the enemy wasn't trying to kill me. The enemy was a puzzle and there were lots of different pieces and independently, separately, they didn't - they didn't make any sense. And I had to think it through really hard. And I had to work out. Try different combinations of putting things together. And then finally I worked out what had happened and I worked out what I had to do. (John laughs.) What?
John: This is great. You're trading in your pulse rifle for the junior chemistry kit. (Heh.)
D'Argo: Perhaps I'm never destined to be happy.
Zhaan: But you were. For five glorious days.
D'Argo: But it wasn't real.
Zhaan: There are no guarantees D'Argo. We take each breath as if it is our last. And hope that the air is sweet.
D'Argo: I was going to - approach you. At the next celebration.
Zhaan: And I would have accepted.
D'Argo: When I was a boy, I dreamed of two very different lives.
Zhaan: Only two? I wanted hundreds.
D'Argo: Two were enough. I would be a magnificent warrior. Merciless in battle - fearless. The kind they write shintok sonnets about.
Zhaan: That is a healthy dream.
D'Argo: I also wanted a simple life. Family. Children. A frotash garden that I planted with my own hands. I thought I'd found that.
Zhaan: Those kinds of dreams cannot be found, brave Luxan. You have to build them. And I promise you, your hands are still strong, and there is plenty of time. (Pretty nice.)
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