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"Whoops." - John Crichton
Episode 4.11, "Unrealized Reality"
Written by David Kemper
Directed by Andrew Prowse
Air Date: 8.23.02
Spoiler Warning -- Don't read this unless you've already seen the episode or don't mind major spoilers.
Every so often, an episode defines the course of a television series. If you had to be brutally concise, Farscape's list might look something like this -- "Premiere" - Crichton is shot through a wormhole and ends up on the other side of the galaxy. "A Human Reaction" - a race called the Ancients gives him the knowledge necessary to master wormhole technology, although he doesn't realize it until he meets Scorpius in "Nerve" and "The Hidden Memory". "Cracker's Don't Matter" - the first hints of Crichton's impending madness from Scorpius' neural chip. "Die Me, Dichotomy" - Scorpius extracts the chip from Crichton's head, believing he finally possesses the elusive wormhole technology. "Eat Me" and "Thanks For Sharing" - Crichton is 'twinned', and the crew splits up - each with an 'equal and original' Crichton. "Icarus Abides" - one Crichton gives up his life to keep the wormhole technology away from the Scarrans. "Wolf In Sheep's Clothing" - the remaining Crichton destroys Scorpius' command carrier, wormhole research, and career. And now there is another episode to add to that list - the instant classic, "Unrealized Reality".
As the episode opens, John is floating EVA-style outside Moya. He's positioned himself right in front of a wormhole he's been observing. Like clockwork, it appears before him, but unlike the other times he's been there, it reaches out for him, and just like that, he's gone. It happens so fast that Aeryn can do nothing from inside the ship but watch.
The next thing Crichton knows, he's on an iceberg adrift in a seemingly infinite black ocean. But he's not alone. A 'man' is there - an extradimensional being taking on human form, business suit and all but no eyes. The man initially keeps repeating the word "time" over and over, until finally John responds with "is relative." Einstein, as John calls him, informs him that this meeting has been arranged for a purpose - John is there to perish, and he is there to effect that outcome. John's successful travels through wormholes so far, and his repeated observation of them up close has caught the attention of Einstein's people, who are a race from another realm. But wormholes connect the two realms, and 'aggression perforation of one would allow unacceptable incursion of material' from one to the other. The Ancients, as it turns out, were modified inhabitants of Einstein's realm sent to catalogue, report and influence wormhole knowledge in ours. The ancients disappeared, however, and Einstein's people decided to investigate. So we finally find out what happened to Moya at the end of season three - she was nabbed by these aliens and examined as part of their investigation.
Essentially, Crichton still has no real idea just how powerful and dangerous his knowledge actually is. Einstein asks him if he's afraid of his knowledge, and John says he isn't. Einstein then explains to him in detail the link between space and time, and how improper use of wormholes can adversely affect both, and have disastrous repercussions, not the least of which are 'unrealized realities' - realities that vary from just slightly different from the original version to dramatically so. These are caused by 'unskilled wanderings' where the traveler might arrive at a point in space before they actually left. The danger does not lie so much in casually traversing a wormhole, but in the ability to actually navigate them. To illustrate just how disastrous some of these unrealized realities can be, Einstein gives Crichton some glimpses - one where the crew has been overrun by Sheyangs, one where Crichton is a Peacekeeper captain, and most chillingly, one where humans have been conquered by Scarrans, among others.
Once Einstein realizes, though, that Crichton was entrusted with the knowledge by the Ancients, he decides to let him live. Not only that, he wants John to become the protector of that knowledge in our realm. But here's the catch - Crichton must get back to Moya on his own, and without propulsion. Einstein tells him that he can do it himself by focusing on spacetime signatures of wormhole entrance and exit points, which he has the unique ability to recognize. But even if he accidentally gets back to the ship before he left, he can still protect the timeline. By fixing the first thing that goes wrong, the elasticity of time should correct itself. Events that match closely enough to course have a way of restructuring themselves, which is exactly what Harvey told John over a season ago in "Different Destinations". The realization that Harvey knew all along blows John's mind. (and what does this say, if anything, about Scorpius' knowledge on the subject?)
Crichton is finally shown one final unrealized reality, where things have gone psychotically wrong. Moya is under PK attack, and all the crew have swapped identities. D'Argo is a 2 foot Hynerian, and Chiana looks a hell of a lot like Aeryn, etc. Just then, Crais and Co. board Moya and kill all of the crew, except Crichton who was apparently a PK spy. This unrealized reality almost becomes permanent as Einstein's ability to maintain the artificial construct realm is weakening, and is almost unable to retrieve Crichton. Having seen how bad things can go, Crichton volunteers to remain there and die, as he is now finally afraid of the damage he can do. "Fear", Einstein responds, "is the correct answer."
It is now time for Crichton to go back, and Einstein disappears. Standing alone on the surface of the ocean, he then looks down and sees the mouth of the wormhole beneath him. As mentally prepared as he can be (he tells himself to 'feel the force'), he enters the wormhole. Feeling a familiar signature, John reaches out for it, and exits the wormhole system. He opens his eyes, and sees a grayish moon. He spins around to see a familiar planet before him -- Earth.
"Whoops."
Now from John's perspective, this was a wrong turn, but at the same time it was the rightest turn of all. He's finally home.
Of course, the immediate problem is that he's free floating in orbit with no method of getting to the surface. Not to mention that going to Earth will change everything forever.
And this is where the wild speculation comes into play. We have four torturously long months to hypothesize what will happen next, and where Farscape is actually going now as a series. It certainly seems that Earth will finally be brought into the mix, but really, who knows?
With this entire episode devoted to the delicate nature of time, it's nearly a certainty that time will be a factor in the coming episodes. What if, for instance, Crichton traveled back in time to the moment right after he disappeared three years ago? What if the entire series is one giant time-causality paradox? (i.e. Crichton in the premiere episode was shot through that wormhole because of this Crichton going back to Earth from the future) That would be pretty amazing. That could mean that in the next episode, John will be picked up by the space shuttle that was in orbit when he disappeared. But the possibilities are endless. He could have traveled to Earth's past or future. And what if he did travel to the past and creates an unrealized reality? What if he gets back to Moya and a character that had previously died were magically still alive? What if he were forced to kill Zhaan or Crais in order to restore the timeline? Also, DK rarely slips something in that isn't relevant. When John said, "So going forward is okay, but it's going backwards that screws the pooch", my first thought was that at some point, John will travel to the future. But maybe he already did - what if the past three seasons of Farscape have been the future? Arg! So many possibilities and questions. The only thing that is for certain is that this has been the episode we've been waiting for - the one that gives the show its new direction for the remainder of season four, and perhaps season five as well.
So what else can I possibly say? This was quite possibly the best episode of Farscape ever. Everyone has their personal favorite episodes, but this one is simply superior on almost every level. It tied together three and a half seasons of the series in under an hour. I mean, the way Kemper incorporated a random quote from Harvey over a season ago in a stand alone episode to such great effect here literally amazes me. It's increasingly apparent just how well this has all been planned out from day one. Simply amazing.
Wow.
Episode Rating: 10 out of 10
- Rafael "Ultra Magnus" Pujals
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