TNMC
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Greetings Scapers!
When last we left Crichton, he was checking out the images taken from countless cultures and species by Neeyala's positioning device. One image was actually familiar to him -- a picture of Larry, Moe and Curly -- that's right, the Three Stooges. Just like Farscape to sum up all of humanity with a joke. Before the realization could even sink in, however, he was attacked by the wormhole serpent, and once again, fighting for his life.
Season III, Episode IV
Self Inflicted Wounds, Part II, "Wait for the Wheel"
Original Air Date: 4.6.01
Director: Tony Tilse
Writer: David Kemper
Naturally, John escapes, but the incident leads to a revelation. One of Neeyala's crew is found dead (mauled by the serpent), and they quickly figure out that Moya has been sabotaged. The damage that had presumably been caused by being in the wormhole was in fact being caused by the aliens all along, who had been able to run amok while invisible, thanks to their phase-shift generator.
Of course, this changes everything. If they can fix Moya in time, then they may not have to abandon her and Pilot after all. Time, however, is short as they have less than an arn until the phase generator is fully-charged, at which point the two ships will become forced apart. The one that is properly aligned will fly down the corridor of the wormhole to safety; the other will be thrust directly out into normal space from within the wall and be disintegrated instantly. So in that amount of time, they must locate and kill the remaining saboteurs, reconnect the severed synapses in Moya's neural clusters, survive the escalating attacks of the wormhole serpent and somehow wake up Pilot. And of course, Neeyala's not going to just sit back and let her ship get destroyed, either.
This episode was pretty solid, once again. It had a little of everything. Lots of action, and some pretty good character development. It became obvious during an exchange with John that D'Argo is still suffering from the whole Chiana/Jothee ordeal. "I did my best...my best..., and it still wasn't good enough." He's obviously torn with his feelings about Chiana - he empathizes with her, but that doesn't mean he can forgive her. And then there's Jool, who showed some potential in terms of usefulness. Much like Chiana when she first came on board, she seems to relate to John best. She even saves his life (unintentionally) with that wicked scream of hers. Say what you will about Jool, but her, uh, assets do command some attention. Oh, and how can I forget, this week's episode featured a line that has already become an instant-classic amongst the fans.
Jool: "The things I've seen aboard this ship are dispicable!"
John: (grabbing his ass) "Welcome to the Federation Starship SS Buttcrack."
I'm not even sure if it makes sense, but I know it's funny. We also saw some cool Scorpy-clone/John interaction this episode. It seems as if John's not quite in the clear yet. Scorpy's demanding to be heard, and won't just sit back in the dumpster anymore.
But if you actually saw the episode, you're probably thinking, "So when the
frell is he gonna talk about the BIG news?" Okay, okay. I predicted it back
in January when the producers promised me a major character would die. They
threw us a hell of curveball by making us think it was Aeryn Sun for six
weeks, but most of us knew better. One member has died as a result of the
season II finale, but it's not Aeryn, it's Zhaan.
Zhaan went out in the best way possible -- the noble sacrifice. Somebody had to actually turn the phase generator on once it became fully charged, in effect, committing suicide by staying on the doomed alien ship. It was a compelling moment, as everyone knew someone had to die, and Zhaan wouldn't take no for an answer since she was dying anyway. It was a very sad moment for everybody. Zhaan was in many ways a mother to the crew, or at least the emotional anchor that kept things from going nutty. How they will get along without her calming voice of reason is left to be seen.
I have to admit, Zhaan was probably my least favorite character because she really never had a lot to do, plus all that "thank the goddess" dren got a little annoying sometimes. But immediately afterwards, I watched the premiere episode when John is an alien amongst fugitives, and seeing Zhaan in that context reminded me of how cool her character used to be, and that made me sad.
There's been complaining amongst a small faction of fans saying Farscape has already faked us out twice, so what's to stop Zhaan from coming back? Well, several things. And here they are: the Stark "dispersal" was not a fake out. He wasn't even a major character yet. And they specifically pointed out that he'd probably be able to survive such an execution. As for Aeryn drowing in freezing waters?...Okay, that was a fake-out, or red herring, or whatever. But this feels permanent. It was Zhaan's time to go, and she welcomed it. Not only that, but we saw her body disintegrated, and her spirit fly away. I wouldn't be surprised to see her do a recurring Obi-Wan deal, or at least speak to Stark somehow, but I'd bet the farm that Zhaan as we knew her is gone for good.
As Rygel put it so well, "Good-bye, you beautiful blue bitch."
So aside from Zhaan, everybody escapes and is well. Mostly everybody anyway. John's got some issues to reconcile. The last scene could very well be an omninous hint of things to come for John, and his increasing feelings of guilt about Zhaan's death. The Scorpy-clone asks him, "Why is it the gentle ones who must always pay for everyone else's ambition?"
To this, John has no answer, except to attack Scorpy with a swift elbow to the face.
Episode Rating: 8 out of 10
What's your opinion about Zhaan's passing? If you've watched Farscape from day one, you're probably a little upset. Think she'll be back in any capacity? Let your theories be heard on the boards. For all of Zhaan's shortcomings, the wonderful actress Virginia Hey will be sorely missed.
- your resident Farscape guru, Ultra Magnus
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