TNMC
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Greetings Scapers!
After a one week hiatus, Farscape has returned, and in grand fashion. I think it must be a universal law that every science fiction series must make a "Rashomon" episode, where the nature of perception and truth are put into question. This was first pioneered by Akira Kurosawa in 1950 in, what else, Rashomon, a tale of a heinous crime as recalled from four different points of view. Farscape, never to be outdone, gives us five.
The Ugly Truth - Original Air Date - 09.08.00
Crais has called upon Moya's crew to help him disarm Talyn, as he is becoming too aggressive for his own good. (Brief recap: Talyn is Moya's offspring, also a living ship, but altered by the PeaceKeepers to destroy) The crew is naturally wary of Crais and any secondary motives he may have going on. Crais has contacted the Plokavians, a race of weapons traders, to replace Talyn's main cannon. He wants the crew's help, but the negotiation goes very badly and the Plokavian ship and crew are destroyed by Talyn's weapon.
Crichton, Zhaan, Aeryn, D'Argo and Stark are put on trial after Crais flees and they are captured by a second Plokavian vessel. One by one, they testify, but their stories are not in agreement, which puts them all in danger of execution. We, like the Plokavians, have no idea what really happened, and that's what makes it fun.
The direction in this episode is by Tony Tilse, and it is dead-on. It took two viewings for me to even realize it, but there are very subtle visual differences in each character's recollection of events. Zhaan, for instance, is very attentive to facial expressions and interpersonal relations, while Stark sees everything from far away, maybe since he is not a fully accepted member of the group.
While, by its very nature, a Rashomon story can be repetitive (like maybe the Star Trek and X-Files forays into this sub-genre), Farscape keeps it relatively fresh. Each recounting of events is more focused and detailed than the last, until we finally learn what really happened. And it has potentially dire consequences for one of Moya's crew...
Episode Rating: 8 out of 10
Highlights:
- Some really digusting looking Plokavians
- Some really beautiful deep space images. One shot of Moya, in particular, reminded me of the famous closing shot in Empire Strikes Back, when the caravan of spaceships is passing by (inexplicably close, mind you) to a neighboring galaxy. Hey, it doesn't have to be totally accurate...
- Hints of a deeper relationship between Stark and Zhaan
Crichton Earth References:
Not any worth mentioning really. This week's ep was particularly serious, with little humor.
Next week's episode looks pretty action packed, although I couldn't quite tell what was going on. From the schedule of episodes I have from about a month ago, it should be the season finale, but they didn't actually say so. So we'll just have to wait and see.
Questions, comments? drop a line to your resident farscape guru, ultra magnus.
What do you think? Talk about it on the Forums
