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Farscape: Jeremiah Crichton

After Moya’s pregnancy accidentally forces her to Starburst, Crichton is stranded on a nearby planet for three months, believing his shipmates abandoned him. When D’Argo and Rygel finally arrive to rescue him, Rygel is mistaken for a local deity who is expected to rise up and lead the people to the light.

I remembered really not liking this episode and was wondering if I’d be surprised to discover it wasn’t all that bad. Nope. This is a flat-out terrible episode that’s like a bizarre cross between Dances with Wolves and Return of the Jedi, with Rygel in the C3PO role. All the beats with the local populace have been done and done better in other stories, and I found myself getting rather bored with the whole thing. I could not have cared less about the chief, his daughter, her suitor, or his priestess mother, and couldn’t wait for the boys to figure out how to extract themselves, resolve the mystery of the negative power vortex, and just go home already.

I will give Rygel credit for seeming genuinely appalled by what his ancestors had done to the natives and by what the priests had done to maintain their power. He honestly wanted to set things to rights, even before he realized that the populace intended to kill him for being a false god. So good on ya, Your Eminence.

Other Thoughts

On top of the crappy story, this episode also had a number of really bad effects shots. Particularly some of the shots with Rygel walking or falling out of his hover chair.

Crichton’s “native” beard was god awful. It looked ridiculously fake and I found it distracting at times. How was I supposed to appreciate his fine, shirtless, giant crab-fishing physique, when he had that ludicrous pelt on his face?

I was rather shocked by Crichton’s pissy tantrum at the beginning. I can understand him reaching a “fed up” point, but he was really nasty to everyone. His treatment of Aeryn, in particular, seemed overly harsh. Still, I felt really bad for him when he thought the crew abandoned him. Fortunately, D’Argo was able to set him straight pretty quickly. You know. After the three-month absence.

I was happy to see that Aeryn and D’Argo were unwilling to give up the search for Crichton, even after a quarter cycle. Particularly Aeryn. She and Crichton have forged quite a deep connection, even though they haven’t taken things beyond “heat of the moment” making out and coy flirtation.

I assume the title is a reference to the biblical Jeremiah who, according to Wikipedia, “God appointed […] to confront Judah and Jerusalem for the worship of idols and other violations of the covenant described in Deuteronomy.” Otherwise, it really doesn’t make much sense.

Quotes

Zhaan: “The only reason this search still drags on is because of the guilt in your own hearts.”
D’Argo: “My hearts are private places. Stay out them.”

Aeryn: “You were a lot more agreeable as a peace-loving priest.”
Zhaan: “As I assume you were as a Peacekeeper pilot.”

D’Argo (to Crichton): “You smell like dren. You look like dren.”

D’Argo: “Do you really think we abandoned you, when we spent the last quarter of a cycle searching for you?”

Crichton: “You came back. To look for me.”
Rygel: “A lapse of sound judgment I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”
Crichton: “Yep. You just might. The rest of your life.”

Zhaan: “What we need to do is isolate the most highly developed organisms.”
Aeryn: “Well, that rules out the three we’re looking for.”

Rygel: “I have not risen. I am not a deity. I am but a worthy being like yourselves. But I am your sovereign.”
Crichton (to D’Argo): “The slug who would be king.”

Final Analysis: A tedious episode that I hope to never watch again.

Jess Lynde is a highly engaged television viewer. Probably a bit too engaged.

7 comments:

  1. Dan and I are rewatching Farscape while Jess is reviewing it. I only saw the series once, when it originally aired, but it's a favorite of Dan's and he's seen it several times. He refuses to watch "Jeremiah Crichton." For the sake of completion, though, we decided to watch it this time with the commentary on. And I highly recommend it -- it's very funny. I've never heard producers and cast trash something they created quite like this. They're very aware of how terrible this episode is.

    Jess, "Jeremiah" isn't a Biblical reference, or if it is, it's unintentional. This episode was intended as a takeoff of a Robert Redford movie called Jeremiah Johnson.

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  2. I as about to point out that movie reference, but Billie beat me to it. :)

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  3. Thanks for the update, Billie and Patryk. I have never heard of this movie, so the reference was (obviously) completely lost on me. If the movie is as bad as this episode, I really have no interest in seeing it. :)

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  4. I didn't think this one was that bad! It was by no means one of the best episodes but was better that "back and back and back to the future" and "thank god its friday again".

    On the other hand, Crichtons beard was unforgivable!

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  5. As an Australian, I was suprised by the completely patriotic feeling this show gives me whenever they shoot out in the forestry. It's so rare to see my country in a show that isn't explicitly Australian. In terms of the episode, I'm watching this show for the first time and I havent seen an episode I dislike yet.

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  6. Sam Smith, I liked your comment. I'm stuck in the middle of the nice but boring suburbs of the U.S. of A, so I also really like it when a show like Farscape gives me some beautiful scenery to look at. I also love productions filmed in Wales, New Zealand, and the English countryside. So gorgeous. I watched The Durrell's in Corfu and loved the Grecian views there, too.

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  7. Crichtin's beard is a crime and the story relatively dull, but there are two other episodes which i found much harder to get through - will point them out on the relevant review.

    Im glad D'Argo and Aeryn didnt give up the search, show that both have come to value having Crichton around. Zahn's willingness to stop the search, isnt endearing her to me.

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