TNMC
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Greetings Scapers!
It's certainly been a long and tedious six weeks. But now our patience has finally paid off. With Friday's new episode, thus begins Sci Fi's annual "summer of sci fi", and a whole summer's worth of new Farscape. (not to mention other goodies like Lexx, Outer Limits, and Invisible Man -- but I digress) So picking up right where the superb Eat Me left off, we have two Crichtons and badly injured Talyn & Crais on our hands.
"Thanks for Sharing"
Season III, Episode VII
Directed by Ian Barry
Written by Clayvon C. Harris
With Talyn on the verge of death, and his attackers still unknown, Moya and crew have taken both ships into the upper atmosphere of the planet Kanvia. Chromextin, the substance Talyn needs to recover, can be found on the surface, and Chiana, D'Argo and Rygel have gone to buy some. Back on Moya, both Crichtons are still arguing with little success over who the 'real' Crichton is. Jool, who apparently has a knowledge of medicine (scientific, not holistic like Zhaan), is tending to Crais, and trying to revive him. Meanwhile, Stark is doing his best to help Talyn, but is limited in what he can do.
Things become complicated, however, and a simple transaction goes bad when D'Argo beats up a thug who tries to get a little too cozy with Chiana. Problem is, said thug was the planet's security director, and son to the sovereign. After this, Rygel & Co. are told they have one arn to leave and that no deal will be reached. By now, Crais has woken up, and told the others than Talyn was in fact attacked by a Peacekeeper Retrieval Squad, who will stop at nothing to get the gunship back. Suspecting the PK's are still in the area, they don't dare break orbit until Talyn can starburst to safety. In other words, they find themselves in familiar territory -- screwed.
One of the Crichtons must go down and re-open negotiations. To tell them apart, one begins to wear a green shirt, while the other stays in his black gear. So Crichton (black) goes down and assures the sovereign, Rinic Pralanoth, that they mean the planet no harm, and simply want to leave as soon as possible. To actually earn their trust though, Crichton must endure a deadly lie-detector test -- a big ass lobster-thing than can sense brain waves, or something. Once he does, though, the sovereign accedes to sell him the Chromextin, which does not bode well with the security director, Rinic Tolven, whose exact motives are still unclear.
What follows is a well-crafted episode, with some excellent writing and characterization. Jool is finally becoming a useful member of the crew, healing both Crais and an injured Crichton later on. Crais is now a full-fledged ally. Quite the change from season one, when he was initially the "insane military commander" than John spoke of in the opening voice-over. Given the change, it's clear to see one need for updating that narration. John still doesn't really trust him, but they have no choice. Crais also clues Aeryn in to some secrets about her past, which could lead to some great drama in future episodes.
Everything else is great here as well. Production values are as good as ever, with some really nice shots of Moya and Talyn in the planet's dense atmosphere. Another real treat for me was watching the two Crichtons bicker back and forth -- a situation that could have become tiresome down the line, but a truly great solution was employed to avoid this. Minor spoilers next paragraph:
Needless to say, in the end they procure just enough Chromextin for Talyn to escape. As it happens, however, Moya's crew is split in half, with Crichton (black), Aeryn, Rygel and Stark hitching a ride with Talyn & Crais, and only Crichton (green), Jool, Chiana and D'Argo staying behind with Moya & Pilot. Personally, I didn't see this coming, but it's pure genius. Splitting up the cast lends itself to endless possibilities, and in the near term at least, double the adventures. Plus, we still have two Crichtons, and delay the inevitable (in my opinion) death of one of them. I was wondering what direction Farscape was going to take this season, and once again, the writers have not disappointed. I can't wait.
And like all great Farscape eps, tons of great lines and humor. A sampling:
Crichton (to Tolven): "Who's your daddy? C'mon -- who's your daddy? D'Argo, tell him who his daddy is."
D'Argo: "I'm your daddy."
Crais (about living on Talyn): "Unfortunately, you two will have to share accomodations."
Rygel: "Unacceptable!"
Stark: "There'll be my side, your side! My side, your side!"
Rygel: (sighs)..."don't start..."
Next week is a can't miss (like any aren't) of Farscape. "Green-Eyed Monster", is written by Crichton himself, Ben Browder. Have any thoughts? Voice 'em! Just head on over to our message boards. Til then -
- your resident Farscape guru, Ultra Magnus
