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As this episode has yet to air, I will avoid giving away any significant spoilers or plot points. For now, I'll just give a simple synopsis and my general thoughts.
Episode 4.02, "What Was Lost, Part 1: Sacrifice"
Written by Justin Monjo
Directed by Rowan Woods
Air Date: 6.14.02
While it was a thoroughly amusing episode, "Crichton Kicks" wasn't exactly epic in feel or grand in scope. We simply learned how Crichton survived being stranded, how he met up with Chiana and Rygel again, and it introduced us to new alien babe Sikozu. By contrast, "Sacrifice" gives you the feeling that this is where season four really begins. In other words, Farscape kicks it back into high gear, and you don't wanna miss it.
First of all, this episode may frustrate a lot of people. Not only are many questions pertaining to the end of season three still unanswered, but even more are introduced, leaving us as perplexed as ever. As someone who can appreciate a good mystery, though, I'm diggin' it.
In a nutshell, Crichton, Chiana, Rygel and Sikozu find Jool and D'Argo on a seemingly dead planet, where Interions once thrived, and so apparently did Scarrans and Sebaceans -- all at the same time. But an event happened eons ago that made the planet uninhabitable, and no one knows what happened to the inhabitants.
So the planet is a giant archeological dig site, where radiation levels are only non-lethal for short windows of time. Jool and D'Argo have been here awhile it seems, but for how long is uncertain. Also uncertain is how they even met up in the first place. In fact, whatever happened to Moya at the very end of season three (being sucked into a wormhole) isn't explained either! Is this sloppy storytelling? Hell no. Haven't you learned anything yet? DK & co. is purposely giving us only tidbits of info a little at a time. It's an interesting technique. Jool does tell Crichton, however, that he should talk to Wrinkles about what happened. Ah, yes - Wrinkles, or Granny, or Noranti. Whatever.
Well, in regards to Moya, she doesn't tell him anything just yet. But she does give him a glimpse (via that magic dust again) into the planet's past -- he sees three probes fall from the sky in three different directions. It's these artifacts that are playing havoc with the planet's 'magnetics'. And the Interion dig leader has found two of the them. She claims that finding the third will allow her to reverse the damage. But Noranti warns Crichton that she will only destroy other worlds if she attains the technology. Crichton doesn't know who to believe, and honestly, isn't even sure if it's his problem. He just wants to get back to Moya. Unfortunately, some familiar Peacekeepers show up, and when they do... well, let's just say Scorpius will never, ever, be the same. Braca is also back, and in a position of authority I never suspected his character would attain. Grayza is also back, and apparently not quite Sebacean, or if she is, she has a unique ability that may very well explain her ascendance up the PK ranks.
There are so many things going on in this episode, it's almost too much. But in many ways, this is the episode many of us have been waiting for all along. I won't give it away, that's for sure, but let's just say a certain development that many a Scaper has been theorizing about since day one finally happens, and it will affect the course of Farscape forever. (if you read my convention coverage, you may be able to guess what I'm talking about - DK hinted at it)
I simply cannot wait for this to air, so I can actually talk about this episode in more detail. Because with "What Was Lost, part 1: Sacrifice", the next chapter of Farscape truly begins.
Episode Rating: 8.5 out of 10
-your resident Farscape guru, Ultra Magnus
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