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Farscape: Fractures

And now, on Farscape…

It’s time to get the gang back together, but this won’t be a joyful reunion. Our crew is fractured and broken, so the question is: how can Humpty Dumpty be put back together again?

This is the episode that I was really looking forward to, the first time around. Reunion time, yay! Having two Crichtons and separate adventures for them was fun for awhile, but it was going to be great to have everyone back together. Yeah, right, it was really not fun, instead. I wonder what it would have been like if John and Aeryn had come back together and Green Shirt John was the odd man out? It would have been unbearable for him, I’m sure, and he would’ve probably had to go somewhere else on his own. However, Aeryn comes back alone, but is now encased in a thick layer of impenetrable armor that will make things very difficult for the John on Moya.

Before the big reunion, there is a misdirect. Instead of Talyn docking on Moya, it turns out to be another pod full of escapees from the Peacekeepers. I’m not really fond of this B plot; the female Hynerian looks ridiculous and the crew seem to bond with these characters too quickly. Having said that, I can see how their addition to this story is a good thing. Without some of the comic relief that they bring, this episode would be unrelentingly painful and awkward. I did enjoy the Boolite, and there are some thoughtful issues raised here with the androgen Nebari and the peaceful Scarran, so it isn’t really a waste of time.

When Talyn finally arrives, John is so anxious and hopeful. I’m worried for the poor guy; he has no clue what pain is coming his way. Crais really redeems himself this episode, I’m starting to like him. He gently tells John that the other John is dead and looks at him with such compassion. Awww. Then, Aeryn walks toward John, says a curt hello and keeps on walking. Watching John’s face fall as she goes past him is just heartrending. It just keeps getting worse. Aeryn will not talk to him, or even look at him for a long time, after that. John tries to talk to her, but she acts like he isn’t even there. D’Argo tries to comfort our poor astronaut, while John covers his eyes as he weeps. That scene just kills me.

John goes through the other guy’s stuff and finds Stark’s mask, and he watches a recording while Aeryn lurks just out of sight. It’s sad to watch the dying Other John give our now One and Only John advice about how to handle Aeryn. It is good advice, though. Aeryn listens in silence, and then she walks away. She is done; she can’t care about anyone but herself anymore, it just hurts too much. I want to yell at the screen that John is right there, Aeryn, can’t you see? You don’t have to be alone. It’s tragic, but I can understand how Aeryn might be feeling so many different emotions that she knows she can’t handle, so it’s better to just shut them all off. It’s still very hard to watch, though.

In the end we get a Crichton that is determined to go and stop Scorpius from using wormhole technology to make war on the universe. John wants to know who will stand with him and join the mission. Most of the crew thinks that he is crazy, but it is a surprise when Aeryn goes to stand beside him. Is that a glimmer of hope that she will warm up to John again, or is she doing that because Dead John would have wanted her to? Maybe she just thinks, “Hey, sounds like a deadly mission, I’ve got nothing more to lose, so why not?” Once something is shattered, like a heart for instance, the pieces may not ever fit the same way again. I had my heart broken badly once, so I know that it does take a while to find the courage to love someone again.

Space Oddities:

That was a funny scene during the firefight when the Boolite, Jool, and Crais are all screaming. Lani Tupu thought his scream might have been out of character, but I disagree. Crais often screams like a girl.

Orrhn was totally unbelievable to me. It looked like they had just put Rygel in drag.

Tammy MacIntosh had a minor eye injury, so she couldn’t wear Jool’s contacts for the final scene — hence the eye-patch. She will wear it for a couple of episodes.

It’s sad that Aeryn briefly forgot that she was not talking to her John while they were working together. You could see her mentally reminding herself that the man in front of her was not the John she loves, and he didn’t share in their epic adventures.

Aeryn’s Hair Report:  A long braid down her back. It’s as tightly wound as she is.

Quotes:

John: “Which one, green or black?”
D’Argo: “This is not the time.”
John: "D’Argo, green or black?”
D’Argo: “Well, the black, of course. Far be it from me to say, but I’ve always thought the color of that green shirt doesn’t suit the shape of your body.”

Jool: “Aeryn’s fine, I’m sure the other you has taken extra good care of her. I mean… all I meant was, I’m sure that he did everything that you would have done, if you had been there with Aeryn, all this time.” That was pretty funny and I love how they all turn to stare at her.

Hubero: “When they finally find us, they’ll be angry at you for hiding me.”
Chiana: “They get angry at me, a lot.”

D’Argo: “Oh my friend, I don’t know what to say, I don’t have any advice; it’s difficult, isn’t it? You are jealous of the other you, aren’t you?”
John: “He died — the other guy, the copy.”
D’Argo: “Now, Aeryn thinks that you’re the copy.”

This is such an impossible situation and is going to remain an awkward one for a quite awhile. D’Argo is being very supportive, which is nice to see, and this mess will sort itself out someday, hopefully. In the meantime, we get to bring the action to Scorpius’s Command Carrier, and that is a very good thing.

Four out of five broken hearts.

Mallena loves her DVR, her Pug, almost anything in the sci-fi, fantasy, and supernatural genres, and her family.  Well, maybe not in that exact order.

2 comments:

  1. A solid episode that could have been done a whole lot better without the rather pointless and distracting filler story. Or at the very least the writers could have found a rather more interesting B story than the rather unlikely offering we did end up with.

    But obviously it was the John/Aeryn/John storyline that drove the episode to a rather fascinating conclusion. I can quite understand Aeryn's need to go back her former self as a possible Peacekeeper because that is the only thing she has left now that she has sampled love for just a few microts only to find how heart-breaking it can be when it fails.

    I am really pleased that Claudia Black is being asked to go through so many different emotions over the least season and a half. It must have been quite challenging as an actress to be mentally stretched in order to make the character sympathetic and real for her audience.

    Equal compliments go to Ben Browder, especially this episode where we see him almost in tears at losing Aeryn's love after she returned to Moya. For the majority of the show up to this point, Ben always played the tough, no-nonsense guy who kept his personal emotions mostly in check. But because S3 has been such a revelation in terms of storylines and the maturity of its lead characters, Ben has been able to stretch his acting talents to match those demands.

    If I had one wish about the show as a whole, and that would be Rygel. I still can't take him seriously because we all know he's a puppet/muppet, which takes some of the credibility away from the show.

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  2. Tend to agree thata better B plot was needed, but the John and Aeryn reunion was where this episode shone. So much was said without words, superb acting again from Claudia amd Ben.

    When Aeryn doesn't react happily to John's excited greeting, and walks by with a kurt "Hello John" you can feel his heart drop, then his very real tears when she wont speak with him whiost repairing the pod, poor guy has an impossible path ahead.

    Thank goodness for the message in Stark's mask to explain the situation to John, Crais wouldnt tell John anything and Rygel was distracted, John's own words could be trusted.

    Although I do wonder if Aeryn had seen the message on the mask before, you see her put the mask down on the console when Crais sets course for the Moya rendezvous. But at the end of Icarus Abides the mask was with Rygel.

    In their final scissors, paper rock both John's play scissors, severing their ties yet still proving they are the same man. Now we just need Aeryn to come to the same conclusion.

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