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Farscape: Meltdown

And now, on Farscape…

It’s happy hour for John and Aeryn, even though there is not a bar in sight. Disaster is imminent; certain death looms, but our love-struck duo seem to be having a very good time.

When I first started searching the internet for reviews of my favorite shows, which was years ago, I was stunned to find out that most reviewers didn’t like this episode. They were mostly men, so maybe that had something to do with it. I’m sorry, but I’m a girl and I like sweet and funny romantic episodes. Come on, how often do we get to see John and Aeryn act this way? Almost never, that’s how often.

We find our intrepid crew aboard Talyn being lured into a sun by an alien called Mu-Quillus. It’s his job to destroy Leviathans for a race of shipbuilders. What do they pay him with, I wonder? Is there a store on his sun? Anyways, Talyn is being drawn in; so the crew faces annihilation if he can’t be stopped.

I liked how Aeryn was so giddy and funny. She actually got to use facial expressions that were not all serious and gloomy, like she usually does. John is always funny, but he also got to loosen up a little more. The mist that Talyn was oozing everywhere was making everyone go a little crazy. Rygel could only think about food, Crais became more paranoid, and John and Aeryn were… how do I put this delicately… horny. Stark got more intense; he desperately wanted to help an alien named Sierjna.

Now, Stark is a multi-faceted character; he can be sweet, cowardly, brave, selfish, unassuming, or egotistical… depending on his mood, apparently. I liked him in this one; he wanted to help Sierjna cross over and he was willing to go to great lengths to do so. Stark knew right away what she was, but Sierjna didn’t seem to be the brightest bulb in the box. I did like their interactions, though; it was nice to see Stark connect with someone. It was also nice to have more scenes with John and Stark… my side, your side… they have a lot of history together.

In the end, Mu-Quillus just wanted Talyn to go away. He wasn’t used to the Leviathans fighting back, so he deserved everything that he got. As a shipper, I got everything I wanted from this episode: great dialog and jokes, lots of up close and personal character interaction, and a plot that made it all come together.

Space Oddities:

There is a cold open which is pretty intriguing. It implies that Crais let Xhalax go instead of killing her, and that John is suspicious of him. They filmed the scene in an interesting way, with Crais looking at the camera for the last bit.

I really liked the dance John did when he was describing to Crais what “other things” adrenaline does to the human body. So perfect.

John also kept calling Crais things like “Dad” and “Captain” to annoy him.

I’ve seen criticism of the part where Stark is floating in the rudimentary pilot’s den that Talyn made. He did kind of look like a hot air balloon, but I enjoyed it.

According to Cool Farscape Facts from the Starburst edition DVDs: Talyn’s pilot den was really Moya’s, just with the puppet removed. I own the DVDs, by the way, so I remember a good deal of those facts. The DVDs were a lot more expensive to get back in the day than the blu-rays that were issued for the 15th anniversary. I have those too; I’m obsessed… sorry, not sorry.

The John and Aeryn Relationship Weather Report: Hot and steamy; oh so hot… and steamy.

Cosmic Quotes:

John: “God-like aliens… man, do I hate god-like aliens. I’ll trade a critter for a god-like alien any day.”

Aeryn: “We’re gonna… we’re gonna die… die, die, die, die, die, die, die… if we don’t get the conduits fixed.”
John: “Yeah right, focus… eyes on the task… remember the mist, the mist is not your friend.”
Aeryn: “Right, bad mist.”
John: “Naughty mist.”

Aeryn: “Stark, are you still there?”
Stark: “You’re so like Zhaan in so many ways.”
Aeryn: “If you say so… I’m going to manually prime the main cannon…”
Stark: “Would Zhaan approve of this violence?”
Aeryn: “She’s speaking through me now. It is her wish.”

Jayne Cobb: “I’ll be in my bunk.” Sorry, wrong show.

I was delighted with this episode from the first time I saw it; so that’s just the way it is. Are there silly parts and plot holes? Maybe, but for a show that can be so serious sometimes, and so tragic other times, this is just one that I always look forward to during a re-watch. Anyone else like this one? I’d appreciate any comments and would like to know your thoughts.

Five out of five God-like Aliens.

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

5 comments:

  1. This review is adorable. I remember really enjoying this episode. But I'm a girl, too. :)

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  2. This episode is such a guilty pleasure. The cheesy soft-core porn soundtrack playing in the background of every John/Aeryn scene? Golden! And the part where Aeryn takes John shirt sleeve in her teeth cracks me up every time. Love this episode!

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  3. Poodlerat is right about that music, I thought it was an interesting choice, to say the least. Also, I resisted the temptation to gush too much over all the touchy feely scenes, but it was pretty enjoyable to have J&A not be able to keep their hands off each other.

    Thanks, Billie. Adorable is what I was going for. :)

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  4. I love this episode, I'm so glad I'm not the only one! It's so sweet, and we needed a more cheerful hour :)

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  5. Concur with your review Mallena and the other comments entirely.

    The shipper in me loved all the hands on scenes, and even more so the end conversation when the gas is gone and Aeryn and John decide to christen Talyn's control room.

    We get to see Aeryn be playful with John and in his heightened paranoid state this closeness further angers Crais. We are also reminded how Stark can be a help and a liablity.

    Im normally not a fan of the sillier episodes, but this one is a guilty pleasure. Ben Browder can put his hands all over me any time.

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