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Farscape: Beware of Dog

Dad,

I'm not sure why I keep recording these things. Probably because I need some kind of hope out here. I got a weird one this time, although I swear the more critters I see, the more I'm convinced that Hollywood is controlled by aliens. I've dubbed this one 'the Tandoori Chicken'.

Of course Aeryn would be pissed hearing me call it that. She kinda grew attached to the thing. I was sad to see it go, since in the end it was surprisingly loyal. But I can't really get worked up about it right now. I have too many other things driving me up the wall.

It started with Rygel and Chiana... again. They came back with a creature, for a shipment of parasite infected supplies we had gotten from yet another sketchy space dealer. The parasite of course was supposed to be bad enough that it could theoretically wipe out the ship. So they brought E.T.'s bastard brother on board, it's called a Vorc and it is this parasite's only natural predator apparently. The thing weighed about fifty pounds maybe, and looked about as fierce as that Chihuahua mom tried to convince you get for her fiftieth.

What we didn't know was that the Vorc was actually two creatures. That's where the Tandoori chicken comes in. When the parasite was close, the Vorc would transform into this insect like thing, with these silly claw arms. But it was fast, and deadly. At first I thought it was the parasite, because D'Argo was attacked and the Tandoori Chicken was on top of him. So I shot at it, then Aeryn and I hunted it. Come to think of it we shoot at a lot of things. Anyway, we were wrong, but it was too late and we wounded it.

Yet even wounded it kept doing its thing. Eventually it rooted out the parasite, which had somehow cocooned Rygel and copied him. If it hadn't been for the Vorc's sacrifice we probably wouldn't have figured it out in time. Sparky is fine of course, I'm not entirely sure the slug can be killed. D'Argo will be too, although he had to spend quite a while in a suspension tank. You know, if one of our base's doctors saw how Zhaan heals, they would probably have a cow. Then they would immediately ask her a thousand questions. I have no idea how she does what she does, but I'm thankful she's here. She's saved our butts more times than I can remember.

I don't know if I can be saved, though. I feel like I'm slipping. I'm seeing Scorpius, like all the time. And he's talking to me, I'm even playing frelling chess with the guy. I don't know if he's a hallucination or what, but I can feel him, crawling inside my head. I can't shake him, and it's getting to me. Even Aeryn can't seem to break though this new wall I've erected around myself. I feel detached, isolated. I'm scared, Dad.

God, I wish you were here. Miss ya, love ya,
John

Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.

8 comments:

  1. So, to explain this review. I had a huge block on this one, and I had no idea how to write about it. There were parts of this episode that were awesome, of course mostly surrounding Aeryn and John. The rest was... uneven at best. So I thought it might be fun to hear about the events from John's perspective, in one of those taped recordings he makes throughout the series.

    Anyway, I hope this wasn't totally off base. The final reviews of Season 2 will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. The goal is to finish them as my writing season starts. As for the rest of the series? Well, I'm going to pick back up during hiatus, and also when I get a chance to review one periodically.

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  2. Loved the review. You sounded exactly like Crichton. :) Loved the photo that went with it, too.

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  3. Very interesting, J.D. I actually thought this was a surprisingly solid misadventure. I didn’t much remember this one, and when I first saw Gremlin Dobby (that's what I called him), I thought we were in for a rough one. But I found it fairly engaging throughout. I remembered that Dobby had an Evil Buddha form and was trying to help D’Argo, but totally forgot about the twist with the parasite doubling Rygel, so things were a mystery for me throughout. Plus, I enjoyed the interactions between Aeryn and the Vork, and was rather moved by where the story ended with those two.

    I definitely liked the runner with John having his very own Head Scorpy. It was a nice follow up to the previous episode and confirmed suspicions that John couldn't kill Scorpy because something was done to him. While I'm not crazy about Bat Guano Crazy Crichton, I do like this more muted form of Crichton losing his marbles. It's a lot more poignant and sympathetic. He knows things aren’t right, but he’s doing everything he can to hold on to who he is. (Chess and golf.) As he said, his mind is all he has left. I guess your review is a nice reflection of him trying to hold on to who he is, so thematically fitting. :)

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  4. Brilliant review! Definitely sounded like Crichton!

    I haven't seen this one, am only halfway through season 2 on my first watching of the series. I tried a few years ago but got bogged down with the first few episodes which didn't click with me so stopped. This time I soldiered through until I was hooked! :p To the point that I now have trouble "shipping" Vala and Daniel! :p

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  5. Where are the rest of the reviews? It's part of my viewing experience to read these. Will someone be doing them? :(

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  6. Teresa,

    Funny you should mention pick up the reviews again. Next Thursday (6/19) I'm going to start posting Farscape reviews on a (hopefully) weekly basis.

    Second season will be finished up, and I'll probably get through some of season 3 before the fall premieres.

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  7. Thanks JD. In England they're showing the complete series (s) daily which is brilliant for me. Looking forward to your future reviews.

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  8. Nice approach to the review on this one J.D.

    So we have confirmation that John is seeing hallucinations or Scorpius and struggling to keep his mind, and Aeryn is righty concerned. The struggle gets more real from here.

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