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"We can't go as males." - Rygel
"Well, I ain't going as Maid Marian. And look at that. That is not a slimming color. Black is a slimming color. Maybe - maybe if it was black. But uh-uh." - Crichton
"I wear that color all the all the time!" - Rygel
Episode 4.10, "Coup By Clam"
Written by Emily Skopov
Directed by Ian Watson
Air Date: 8.16.02
"Coup By Clam" is not an easy episode to review. It's certainly Farscape-lite, perhaps a little bit reminiscent of last season's controversial "Scratch n' Sniff." (i.e. some people will love it, others will hate it) If you don't expect anything too serious or too important to the overall story arc, and most importantly, leave all remnants of good taste at the door, you just might laugh pretty hard at this one.
The plot is a little flimsy - Moya is being driven mad by all the 'electrostatic impulses' in Tormented Space, and is in need of a special kind of filter. They find a planet where mechanics can fix her, but since this planet is inhabited by misogynist hypochondriacs, they need a clean bill of health first. So a doctor is sent aboard to check out the crew to make sure they don't have 'space madness.' Naturally, they're all fine until the good doctor actually poisons them all with alien mollusks and demands ridiculous amounts of currency for their cures, or else they'll die agonizing deaths.
This entire set-up, and the overly-convoluted machinations that develop, are basically just excuses for some low-brow humor. There are different types of mollusks, differentiated by color. If the flesh of a given mollusk was shared, bacteria that infested it instantly links those who ate it. So we get three pairs - D'Argo becomes linked with Noranti, Crichton with Sikozu, and Aeryn with Rygel. (Chiana wisely did not partake) So if Rygel farts, for example, so does Aeryn. If Noranti almost climaxes, so does D'Argo. (don't ask, let's leave that one alone) Anyway, you get the idea.
D'Argo, Crichton and Aeryn travel down to the planet with the doctor at gunpoint to make sure he cures them before it's too late. He tells them that he needs additional clams to cure them, but not to fear because they're on the way. Unfortunately, there's an assassination attempt made on the doctor by a member of an underground women's rights movement. Turns out they have all the killer clams, and have been using them on various males in power, whose symptoms are indistinguishable from space madness. Since the doctor was privy to this information, the girls decided to take him out. Remember when I said this was convoluted? In any case, decidedly inconvenient timing for our heroes.
With the doctor incapacitated, and without the necessary mollusks to cure them all, they need a new plan. So Sikozu and Rygel come down to the planet, and the girls go down to the rebels' lair (a seedy nightclub, naturally) to buy what they need. That would be too easy, though, so they're inexplicably beaten and tied up by the upstarts. Once again, this necessitates a new plan. John and Rygel will now have to infiltrate the club... as women. Our resident 24 reviewer Tim Ritenour observed it must be written somewhere that at some point in a sci fi series, one or more of the male protagonists must dress in drag. Well, you can't argue with the results here. Crichton and Rygel are simply hysterical as chicks. While Crichton has to deflect numerous advances, Rygel manages to steal the necessary clams. The two completely fail at saving the two girls, however, and they would have died (and nearly did) if it weren't for the intervention of Scorpius. That's right, once again, he proves vital to the crew's success. Back up on Moya, he figures he can slow the worsening health of the crew by ingesting the mollusks himself. Now how this works exactly is never made clear. Essentially, you just need to accept that Scorpius is bad ass and can do it. Once linked with him, the girls are able to regain consciousness and escape on their own.
This episode had some great laughs, and some pretty good character development. The crew in general still knows very little about Sikozu, who it turns out only eats a few times per cycle, albeit very large meals. We learned that Rygel still has one hell of a sadistic streak, which was bad news for the doctor. And we witnessed D'Argo and Noranti spending some quality time together. (for the cure to work, physical contact must be maintained for several arns, much to D'Argo's dismay) None of the actual plot really had anything to do with anything, though, so I can't quite call it a great episode, but it was an entertaining one. And after last week's painful misfire, I'll gladly take it.
Episode Rating: 7 out of 10
- Rafael "Ultra Magnus" Pujals
Other Notes --
Despite an alarming marketing campaign for this week's episode, season four has not been cut short.
SCI FI started airing a commercial late last week declaring the upcoming "Unrealized Reality" (4.11) the season finale. This is 100% not true. I put in a call to Lana Kim, the publicity coordinator at USA Networks and SCI FI's Media Relations department, and it is most definitely not the season finale. They are simply calling it that because it will be the final new episode of the year, and the final eleven episodes of season four will begin airing in early January 2003.
So be sure to tune in this Friday, August 23rd, because you just know DK's gonna leave us with a doozy of an ending for the four month break.
MINOR SPOILER FOR 4.11
"Unrealized Reality"- written by David Kemper Believing that Crichton's wormhole knowledge threatens the universe, and inter-dimensional being plans to execute Crichton.
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