And now, on Farscape…
John tries to escape the skeevy clutches of Grayza while the rest of the gang plot their escape from Arnessk.
John had just jumped from that very high cliff and is once again playing in the water with his favorite Black Lagoon creature, Oo-Nii. I loved the scenes in the watery cavern where Crichton gets dunked repeatedly. That must have been lots of fun to film. I hope the water was warm. Anyhow, after being dunked by the creature and D’Argo several times, John has to go back to Grayza while everyone else sets the escape plan in motion.
We get insight from Sikozu about how Grayza is controlling her men. She has a gland implanted that secretes an oil that targets erogenous zones. For the privilege of having control over others, she is going to die cycles before her time. Now that’s dedication to her job.
The magnetics are dropping and color is fading from everything. It’s going to get lethally hot, very soon. Our crew needs to get off the planet as soon as they can, so they need a large distraction. Elack and Pilot know that their lifespans are almost at the end, so they agree to crash into the marauders so that John and company have a chance to escape.
We also get a not so fun scene of Scorpius being shot and thrown into a grave. Poor Scorpy is not quite dead and he gives Sikozu a code word that will save her life. Scorpy doesn’t want to be buried; I can see why not. Oh well, the bad guys start shoveling. At this point in the show, Scorpius is not really that much of a bad guy anymore, so I didn’t like seeing him treated like that.
The scene between the girls is fun as they argue amongst themselves about who is betraying whom, but soon unite to escape together. In the meantime, John and Grayza have more cringe-inducing scenes with John tied up. John is not a slacker, though, he soon figures out that he can fake being in her thrall by sniffing that special bug juice and he convinces Grazya that it’s her turn to get tied up. Ha, good one John. It’s going to be embarrassing to have her guards untie her and it’s not long before she is threatening Braca about keeping his mouth shut on the matter.
Elack is diving too soon as Pilot starts to fall asleep, but they manage to pull up just in time. Poor Pilot, she is so old and tired and Elack must be too, but they are determined to help save John and his friends. It’s really quite sweet. There are a lot of great action scenes with Grayza’s people chasing them and Rygel trying to help Pilot aboard Elack, with danger around every corner. D’Argo is getting everyone aboard Lo’la and then Elack completes his final mission. They seemed to have left Granny behind somehow, but it doesn’t matter because damage to Lo’la means that they don’t fly very far without having to land on the planet again.
They do find the third probe and after vanquishing their enemies, they get their happy ending. Jool and D’Argo have a moment to say goodbye and it’s kind of sweet.
Space Oddities:
I like it when Chiana says that she isn’t bothered by the magnetics bleaching everyone of color because she never had much color anyway. She probably won’t like being fried to a crisp, though.
When Elack is headed toward the planet and Rygel is yelling that it’s too soon, I always have flashbacks to Poltergeist. It’s that part where Zelda Rubinstein’s character is yelling at the dad who is trying to pull his family back in from the other side too fast and she is yelling – “Steven! Not yet!!”
Granny has another great scene as she throws John’s gun Wynona over the cliff so that Crichton will go after it. That poor guy spends most of this two-parter either in bed with Grayza or in the water with the creature. I’m not sure what’s worse.
Granny reveals her real name – it’s Utu-Noranti Pralatong. Jool is not going to be on the show while she hangs out with her newly discovered friends on Arnessk. The actress, Tammy Macintosh, had another role lined up.
Cosmic Quotes:
D’Argo: “What is with the stench?”
John: “I’m sorry.”
Sikozu: “Maybe that is the reason.”
John: “Maybe that’s the reason, what?”
Sikozu: “It cannot be.”
D’Argo: “You know her, she starts sentences then she doesn’t finish them… it’s very annoying.”
D'Argo: “John, you have to see her one more time.”
John: “Screw you!”
D'Argo: “Well to use one of your expressions - you're gonna have to take one for the team.”
John: “Technically, I've taken two!”
D'Argo: “Now it's time for the triple.”
Jool: “You may not have been Vella's intellectual equal...”
D'Argo: “Well I am now. She's a rock.”
I like this episode because the scenery is so beautiful, the acting is great, there is fun action, and all the characters are featured. These last two episodes just have an epic feel, and it’s nice to have most of the gang all together in a place that isn’t Moya. Not that Moya isn’t wonderful, and I miss our Pilot, but being on a planet for so long was a unique adventure.
Four out of five ocean breezes.
Mallena loves Farscape.
A better episode than its predecessor, but again not for the missing 3 probes and all that mystical faff. Grayza's sexual web on the drugged Crighton was a hoot rather than being sadistic compared to the psychological torture Scorpius played on John.
ReplyDeleteThat said I was a little disappointed with Grayza in that all she seems to offer in terms of threatening behaviour is her body and her "scent". Other than that along with a few glares she seems to be nothing more than a one trick pony.
I wasn't all that sad to see the end of Jool at the end of the episode. I know the actress had another show lined up and had to leave, but quite frankly she added nothing here other than as a placement for cheap humour at her expense.
Great scene regarding Scorpius ending up being buried alive; although I suspect we won't see the end of him!
Overall, haven't been too impressed with S4 thus far. There is no story arc to speak of, but more familiar episodic plots that are done and dusted within an episode or two at most.
This episode is beautifully shot, reminds me how the Sydney Harbour foreshore shines beautifully, especially when the colour retuns at the end.
ReplyDeleteGrayza remains both disappointing as a villian and embarrassing as a concept. We are never really given decent explanation of her motives, why she felt the need to prove to Crichton that she was not in league with Scorpius to a prisoner? Her one trick is chemical assisted seduction and/or humiliation.
It is actually sad that D'Argo expected John to take another one (which was at least another 2) for the team. Although John finally uses the snail thing to dull the memory of fact he is being repeatedly raped by this awful woman and gain control, he looks repulsed at his loss of free will.
I normally love the way our hereos joke in intense situations, but just because John is male doesnt make rape less vile. Grayza comments her methods are preferable to Scorpius' but im not sure, Scorpius attacks the mind but Grayza violates the body and has psychological impact of being forced to act against your will. Its never mentioned again that i can recall but im sure he'd have some horrid nightmares.
Whilst necessary it was so sad that John didnt know the plan and couldnt say farewell to Elack and Pilot, their sacrifice was huge.
Found it amusing that no one seemed to worry that they had left Noranti behind on their first attempt to leave.
Happy to farewell Jool and get our crew back onto Moya and back on mission to find Aeryn, at the end of this episode John is the only one with a clear mission.
Crichton kicks had its moments, but What Was Lost has no immediate pay-off other than they needed to give Tammy Macintosh an out. It a way to creat further obstacle for John in not being able to look for Aeryn and the same feeling for the viewers.
Season 4 in much more uneven than season 3, waiting for the highs to return.