And now, on Farscape...
We have come to the best season of this show in my humble opinion. There are so many wonderful episodes, in fact; it’s going to be hard to find enough adjectives to express how great they are. This season opener is also wonderful and season four is off to a very good start.
Crichton is sporting a truly hideous beard as we see him talking to a different Pilot, who has obviously seen better days. She is over 350 years old, and so is her Leviathan. It’s odd to see John this way, alone and in a different setting, dressed in rags, but still dancing as fast as he can. Even though things are very different from what we are used to seeing, this quickly becomes an exciting episode.
I love how John’s DRD — named 1812 — plays his famous overture just at the right climatic moments. It isn’t long before my favorite newcomer arrives on the scene. Sikozu Shanti Sugaysi Shanu has gorgeous red-corkscrew hair, lovely green eyes, perfect diction, and a brain that can’t tolerate translator microbes, so John must keep talking (in a hilarious way, of course) while Sikozu stares at him with rapt attention. I love Sikozu so much, and the way that she speaks is a feast for the ears. I’ve always liked listening to people with interesting voices, especially ones with such precise and sharp enunciation. She can make even the word “fumigate” sound exciting. Sikozu is not always the nicest person in the room, but I just enjoy the way that she always speaks her mind in such a remarkable (if sometimes rude) way.
It isn’t long before trouble finds our new little crew. Some bad guys that John dubs “The Pirates of the Caribbean” bust in looking to harvest dying Leviathans’ neural cluster tissue. There are so many great scenes that I almost can’t believe this all happened in a single episode. We see a scary CGI hound try to eat Crichton, but it rips off Sikozu’s hand, instead. To make the party merrier, Rygel and Chiana decide to locate John and join in the mayhem. They seem a little worse for wear, but it’s still a nice reunion.
The best part is during the rope and pulley fiasco. John goes downward with the rope, Pip goes up, (seeing with her new slow vision ability) the bad guys shoot, Chiana grabs Sikozu’s bad hand and pulls her off the platform. John goes back up and 1812 starts playing his overture instead of firing — while bad guys shoot at the rope. John hits his intended target, things blow up and sparks fly, the rope breaks, John grabs and misses, Chiana and Sikozu hit the catwalk, John yells for Rygel as he falls, Rygel hovers over and doesn’t do anything, and John falls into the goop of the neural cluster while 1812 comes to his big finish. I must have re-watched that scene at least five times the first time I watched this. That was hysterical and so well filmed, directed, and acted — it was awesome.
The new old Pilot and her Leviathan agree that they must help John and his friends find Moya. They will leave the sacred space, even if they may never return, and repay their debt to John for saving them from the bad guys. “No dream is guaranteed,” Pilot says. “We learn to accept.”
Space Oddities:
There are some lovely beach scenes in John’s Mind Palace. He spars with Harvey for a while, but it is Aeryn to whom he really wants to speak. She is very pregnant and gives John a hard time, telling him that the baby is hers. At the end, John decides to stop visiting Aeryn because these visits are just making him sad. Aww.
We don’t really know much about this Pilot and her Leviathan, whose name is Elack. It’s funny the way that Pilot keeps dosing off. The extras say that this Pilot was made from the inner works of our old Pilot, while Moya got a new Pilot made for her.
Chiana doesn’t seem to be doing very well. She is quite upset that her new ability means that her eyes are failing her gradually, and I think she is a little unsettled to find out that she couldn’t get along ‘on the outside’ without John Crichton anymore.
I really like 1812 the DRD, and the relationship that John has with him. I keep telling you — Ben Browder could act like he was best friends with a lamp and it would be totally believable.
I loved how the bad guys spoke backwards. The main guy said, “Expecting you, I have been.” Didn't Yoda say that in a movie, sometime?
Cosmic Quotes:
John: “Maybe it's not mine at all.”
Aeryn: “You just won't let that rest, will you?”
John: “Nah. Maybe it's got a little pony tail and a teeny, tiny goatee.”
Aeryn: “Maybe.”
John: “Maybe there's half a metal face on it.”
Aeryn: “Maybe.”
John: “Maybe it's a royal pain in the ass, eats all the time and farts a lot.”
Aeryn: “Then we'll know it's yours.”
Sikozu: “Sarcasm – the hallmark of the sub-educated.”
Chiana: “The only hallmark you’re gonna be is a small, small smudge on the wall after I shoot you.”
John: “Red Rover, Red Rover, send Cujo right over.”
Rygel: “Wormholes. Aeryn. Earth. Aeryn. Scorpius. Aeryn. I'm out of fingers. Want me to keep counting on hers?”
Chiana: “Welcome to the Universe.”
Sikozu: “No, that’s not fair, that’s not right… I will not have my reputation tainted by a negative report.”
Rygel: “When a woman — whether she's your wife, your lover, or a slave you've purchased to be your wife or lover — leaves you repeatedly, take the hint.”
John: “Alright, here’s the thing, you might not want to come with us. We are not the best traveling companions.”
Sikozu: “I will get my life back, I will not end up like you.” Good luck, sister.
Such a remarkable episode; it was filled with so many memorable scenes. This was like a mini movie — I can’t count how many times I’ve watched another hour of television, only to have it seem like a waste, because nothing happened. That was definitely not the case here. Kudos to all involved. Rygel was so wise again here, and it is going to be fun to see how Sikozu fits in with our band of exiles. I know that she makes a more exciting addition than Jool did. No offense to Jool… she has her moments.
Five out of five elocution lessons. (Note to self: find out where they teach those lessons.)
Mallena loves Sikozu Shanti...Whatever.
At the beginning of the episode, John is going crazy. He's pratically alone on a dying Leviathan. Aeryn is gone and she is pregnant. All he can do is obsess over wormhole calculations (very Beautiful Mind before the fact)and teach one DRD to play the 1812 Overture. He makes me think of Robinson Crusoe for some reason.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite parts of the episode were the fantasy talks with Aeryn on the beach. "That's a Crichton kick." Even then, it's not just a happy fantasy. He's paranoid - Is the baby D'Argo's?, Stark's?, Rygel's? He keeps coming back to "WHy did she leave?" And then, as you said, the last visit is so sad, when he says he won't come anymore. The words from Rygel and Pilot have influenced him. “No dream is guaranteed,” Pilot says. “We learn to accept.”
I thought the funniest part was his plan to take care of the space hound. John is the proverbial sacrificial lamb (or goat), and he acts like a goat. "Ma-a-a-." Trotting across Elack's hallway.
The detail on old Elack was fantastic. Everything, all the walls, were rheumy, drippy, mottled - congested.
Is 1812 the last DRD on the ship? I think so.
We see the beacon announcement proclaiming the bounty on their heads again.
Not an instant fan of Sikozu - though her species abilities are interesting. Changing her center of gravity and re-attaching limbs.
Chiana is angry and upset about her eyes and the lengthening periods of blindness, but she'll use the ability for John.
John: “Alright, here’s the thing, you might not want to come with us. We are not the best traveling companions.” This is not the John Crichton of earlier seasons. Much less optimistic/more fatalistic.
i quite liked this episode, but not for the invasion of the Grudeks on the old Leviathan, or for the side story of John's beach dream with Aeryn, but the growing maturity and development of Chiana along with new arrival Sikozu, and her CoG shifting abilities.
ReplyDeleteI never warmed to Jool, but Sikozu I find far more interesting, not least because she is not to be trusted. Plus she as a great English accent - more commonly known here in England as received Pronunciation. My former girlfriend had such an accent, and I loved hearing her talk and talk and talk.
As for the main storyline regarding the Grudeks - didn't work for me. in fact i am getting a little tired of nearly every other episode having to involve some new alien species landing on Moya (or whatever) and attacking Crighton and the guys, with the usual predictable ending.
Hope things pick up next episode
There seems to be a lot of hate for this episode elsewhere on the net, some blame it for the show being cancelled.
ReplyDeleteThere were some errors i.e if Elack couldn't control the doors why could he when the dog needed to be trapped? And how did Crichton know where to meet the Moya crew, a flashback to explain a meet up plan would have been simple to do or for Rygel and Chiana to have say they g kit a message.
I didnt mind Crichton's behavior as you could totally understand how he got to this poimt, being stranded on a dying ship, having lost Aeryn and solving equations without a ship that can allow him to get home. Glad the beard went early though.
I like Sikozu much better than Jools, and despite the absurdity of her learning english from John's rantings in a few moments like that she isnt a character you have completely figured out in ine episode. And Ralee is very much an Aussie just does a good received english accent.
I love John's interaction with this Pilot and 1812, it is true Ben Browder can act opposite anything and make the relationship seem genuine, he is such a giving actor.
First time i watched this one i missed the bit where Chiana implies being raped after using her visions to cheat whilst gambling temporarily blinded her, jt explains why she was not quite herself andmore flighty than usual. She very much needs Crichton to resume his big brother role now.
I mostly liked the episode, pacing was good as was character progression even if the plot wasnt super strong. No matter how low Crichton feels and how much innocence he has lost, he still puts himself on the line to protect Elack and Piolt and they see there is still a good man inside by offering to fly him to D'Argo et all even if it means giving upthe chnace to die in the sacred place.