TNMC
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When Rock is the man behind the script, you can usually expect a pretty tight story, and once again, he delivers. While the plot of the four escaped prisoners is fairly inconsequential, the real story here is John Crichton, and the realizations he must make.
The whole time they've been apart, John's been unable to stop thinking about Aeryn. But now that he knows his counterpart was able to unlock the wormhole knowledge in his head, he knows that Scorpius cannot be far behind, and that something must be done now. He also has little choice but to redirect his energies as the Aeryn situation is one that only time can fix, assuming that it anything can. So it's quite amazing to witness the transformation that John goes through in this episode alone - from a man longing for his true love, to a man who's heart has been completely shattered, to a man that is now on a mission, for the greater good of all.
Waiting four months for these last four episodes of season III will surely be torturous, as the Scorpius storyline may very well come to an end. At this point, it can only go one way or the other - John stops him (i.e., kills him) or Scorpius succeeds, in which case the entire galaxy might be frelled.
Of course, I'm not sure which is the better option. Let's say Scorpius does succeed, then will Earth be brought into the fray? I'm not sure the series should go in that direction. The show would become dramatically different, and I don't know if it'd be for the better. But what if John succeeds, and kills Scorpius? By doing so, he will more than likely acquire the wormhole equations himself, and then what? I don't honestly think that this will happen, but here's a scary thought - John would be basically in the same position as his counterpart aboard Talyn was - able to go home and protect Earth from any threat. If the writers were so inclined, Farscape could end in the next four episodes.
But would that be a bad thing, necessarily? My gut reaction is "of course!" but when you really think about it, the last thing any of us want is Farscape continuing on, season after season, wandering aimlessly. (think X-Files...) I hate to say it, but unless the writers have something really cool up their sleeves, it almost seems that Farscape is nearing its logical end. After all, it's not Star Trek, where the series could continue indefinitely. These people just want to go home, and it seems like soon enough, Crichton will have the ability to get them there. But then again, O'Bannon and Kemper have said many times that they'd like to do a Farscape movie, so all my theorizing here is pretty much pointless. At this point, I guess it's time to accept that only they really know what's in store for our heroes.
So let's review the entire summer, which makes up the bulk of the season. The theme was certainly the separation of the Moya and Talyn crews, 10 episodes all told, bookended by the fantastic Thanks for Sharing and the even better Fractures. As for those 10 in between, we had six take place with Talyn's crew (Green-Eyed Monster, Relativity, Meltdown, Daedalus Demands, Icarus Abides and The Choice). Of those, Meltdown and The Choice were the only forgettable ones, as the rest were great. On the Moya side, we had only four, Losing Time, Incubator, Scratch n' Sniff, and Revenging Angel, of which none were truly great. (Revenging Angel was certainly hilarious, but lacking in the great drama department.) It certainly doesn't surprise me that the writers gave Talyn's crew the better episodes, as we were meant to think of Talyn John as the real John. Yeah, it was a sucker play. Sure, they're both "equal and original", but it's human nature to side with the one who's getting more airtime. (not to mention, all the action...)
All in all, a solid summer. Even Scratch n' Sniff, easily the worst of the summer, had it's funny moments. I've heard people criticize 'scape this season saying that it's forgotten how to be fun, and it's just too darn serious all the time. Well, folks - that's just called the evolution of a quality series. Yes, part of me did prefer the more care-free, funny episodes of past seasons like the classic Cracker's Don't Matter, or the truly great Won't Get Fooled Again, but at some point, the show has to actually go somewhere. That's Farscape's greatest strength - not a weakness. Yes, the tone has changed. Third season Farscape is a much darker show, but I wouldn't have it any other way. The real beauty is that Farscape has given us both.
Episode Rating: 9 out of 10
Okay, then. Take advantage of the hiatus, and catch up on all the episodes you may have missed. Til then -
- your resident Farscape guru, Ultra Magnus
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