TNMC
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Greetings Scapers!
This week's episode marks the beginning of a new chapter for our heroes, the post-Zhaan era. How they survive and interact without her calming voice of reason is still left to be seen. Also, will Jool ever fit in?
Season III, Episode V
"...Different Destinations"
Original Air Date: 4.13.01
Director: Peter Andrikidis Writer: Steve Worland
The set-up: John, Aeryn, D'Argo, Jool and Stark are visiting an ancient monastery, still grieving from the loss of Zhaan, while Chi and Ryg are with Moya helping with repairs. The monastery is something of an oddity, as a memorial it's built around a tear in the fabric of space-time, and by way of a special visor, an observer can actually see back in time, to when a cease-fire was brokered between some Jacacean nurses and an invading group of savages called Veneks. In an attempt to improve Stark's mood, John offers him a glance through the visor. It turns out to be a bad move, because Stark's luminous interaction with the visor somehow throws them back in time to the moment of the Venek attack. So the crew must figure out how to return, and not frell up the timeline in the process.
Well, this is obviously a filler story, but I think Farscape could do with a few more of these stand-alones. 75% of Star Trek episodes tend to be stand-alones, and it's at least that much for X-Files as well. What I like about Farscape so much, is that like Babylon 5, it's almost always an ongoing saga. But maybe too much so. Ever since the end of season I, starting with the introduction of Scorpius in Nerve/Hidden Memory, Farscape has probably been at most, 20% filler. And while that's certainly preferable to the Star Trek formula, the pace can be a little unrelenting. Every now and then, you'd think the crew would get the chance to relax, even if it's just a little.
Having said that, this episode was pretty entertaining, if not a little contrived. I'm still not sold on the method of time travel involved. A time tear that stays in essentially the same place, cycle after cycle? And how the frell did that ever get discovered anyhow? Oh well, minor points I suppose. Aside from that however, I'm at a point in my life, having studied cosmology and time paradoxes, that it's just hard for me to enjoy any time-travel story, unless it's Back to the Future, which is a comedy. They all make the same mistakes. This episode, for instance, switches back and forth between the "Grandfather Paradox" view (if you kill your grandfather, do you cease to exist?) of the universe, and the "Multiverse" view (if you change the past, a new branch of the timeline is born, leaving the primal version intact, sans you) several times, as if they could coexist. And that's not even bringing up the fact that Chiana, Rygel, Pilot and Moya experienced the passage of time while the others were in the past. Assuming you buy the single timeline theory (which they were at that point), the crew about Moya would not have ever known John & Co. left. Again, these are minor gripes I suppose -- necessary for this little thing we call storytelling...
So was it any good besides the logical loopholes? Yeah, for the most part. Most Scapers will probably put this one in the same category as The Locket -- a solid episode, but certainly not the one you'd show your friends if you were trying to get them into the show. The big positive would have the be writing. I lost count of all the fantastic quotes from this one, but here are some highlights:
--When trying to not alter the timeline, in battle:
John: "Try not to kill anyone!"
D'Argo: I'm not going to kill anyone... hold on -- I might kill this guy."
Pilot: "The planet... it's gone!"
Jool: "It can't be gone! I was just there two arns ago. I got shot. I drank piss."
--Trying to locate the tear, D'Argo throws Jool right into a wall:
D'Argo: "Well that was obviously wrong."
--Stark, describing how the future he sees has changed for the worse:
Stark: "Death! So many dead! Thousands! Millions! Billions! Trill..."
D'Argo: "Yes, yes, very many. We get the idea."
And I would be remiss if I left out the highlight of the whole episode -- Cowboy Harvey. Of course, I'm talking about the Scorpy-clone in John's head lounging around in red cowboy boots (with 'andy' written on them no less, a nod to TS) playing the harmonica. Pure Genius. Also, the whole thing kind of reminded me of my favorite scene in Starship Troopers where they had to defend a fort from an army that could not be defeated. Granted, it was not as gory, but the action was pretty decent.
This episode could have been thoroughly mediocre, but where it gains points is its fantastic twist ending, which I won't give away. Suffice it to say, Crichton screws up yet again, and his descent into depression and guilt is not helped any by the events in this story. This season so far has put a definite strain on John and Aeryn's relationship, as she continues to doubt him. And speaking of Aeryn, we are finally seeing some of her potential to "be more." As much as she might resist, she is becoming less soldierly with time, and more compassionate. The old Aeryn would not grieve the death of a soldier in battle. The new Aeryn does. She's continuing to grow, and Claudia Black my well be the best actor on the show right now. But the "Season of Death" marches on, and who knows what toll it will have on Crichton.
John: "I'm in a hell of a slump here...every decision I make is wrong..."
Scorpy-clone: "Then do better."
Episode Rating: 6 out of 10
- your resident Farscape guru, Ultra Magnus
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