Geekually Yoked

Scorpius, my friends. Scorpius.

If there is one thing that defines Farscape as much as John Crichton’s insanity, amazing Jim Henson creatures, and twisting sci-fi conventions, it is the masterful villain Scorpius. This despite the fact that he does not show up for nearly the entire first season. There is much to say about Scorpius and I’m sure there will be ample opportunity on this blog for such discussion. Suffice it to say at the moment I was impressed on this repeat viewing by the degree to which Scorpius is clearly designed as a do-over for what the writers were trying (if unsuccessfully) to achieve in the character of Crais. In Crais, we have an antagonist irrationally fixated on Crichton, willing to pursue him in defiance of all reason and who will be deterred by nothing. The problem is … that just wasn’t sustainable or compelling beyond a couple episodes. Crais was too unjustified in his motivation, for all that the writers tried to give compelling reason why he was so protective of his brother.

Enter Scorpius. Suddenly, we have Crichton’s other half. He is a scientist. Though the reasons remain yet to be seen why his is so obsessively focused on wormholes, right now it is enough merely to know that he is–at the very least for the military advantage they might allow. The latent wormhole knowledge the Ancients imparted to John will, first of all, give John a goal to work towards in getting home beyond aimlessly wandering around the galaxy. But it also gives Scorpius an active reason to unwaveringly hunt down this hapless human. We don’t know yet quite what makes Scorpius tick, but Wayne Pygrim plays his role with such conviction that we’re clear Scorpius has motivations for his actions beyond just, “Grrrr! EVILLLL!” This climactic 2-parter sets up the compelling John-Scorpius dynamic. Two scientists who will battle one another on an intellectual playing field. They are a proper match for one another. A good villain should indeed reflect something of the protagonist against whom he or she is at odds. For that reason, Scorpius will truly become one of the great sci-fi villains, not just for his own sake, but as a result of the compelling dynamic the writers will craft between Scorpius and John.

Beyond Scorpius, there is just too much going on in these episodes for me to possibly do them justice (also, I have about 45 minutes before I need to head off to catch a plane and probably won’t be able to update this blog for a week…)  Let me just highlight a couple things worth mentioning:

—Gilina: Not only is Gilina a wonderful character, and practically helpful to Crichton’s attempt to infiltrate Scorpius’s base. Bringing her back was a brilliant way for the writers to show in just a few brief seconds how much Crichton has changed in a dozen episodes. There was a time when Crichton was innocent, just looking for someone he could have a connection with in this strange, alien world. Now he is much darker. Not that he does not care for Gilina at all. He just has already been too broken, too damaged to be the John Crichton Gilina herself is pining for. It is sad to see a John Crichton now who’s first impulse upon seeing Gilina again is to pull out a gun. But, lets be honest, that Crichton is a lot more interesting to watch.

Also, it has to be said that for all that I am an unapologetic John and Aeryn shipper, I love the way the love triangle is so … not played out through the episode, despite Gilina’s best efforts. Gilina demands to know the state of John and Aeryn’s relationship, which neither will wholly deny but possibly just because they honestly can’t be bothered to worry about it in the middle of a dangerous rescue operation.  I especially love how Chiana reads the situation and is just blatantly willing to lie to Gilina about Crichton’s feeling because …. dang it, she has more important things to worry about at the moment!

—Stark and the Aurora Chair: Stark is another character who will provide us ample opportunity for discussion. Is he the most annoying person in all of Farscape, or is he perhaps a sign of the show’s brilliance? I’m not sure I have a firm opinion on that question here. But I will say this. Crichton is broken in this episode in a way we have not seen him broken yet before. It’s as if the whole season was building up to this moment when the last tenuous threads keeping Crichton’s sanity together would finally be cut as Crichton’s mind is fully, and irrevocably violated by Scorpius’s chair. But he is not wholly defeated … yet. Stark is Crichton’s reminder of There but for the grace of God. “My Side! Your Side! My Side! Your Side!” … Will Crichton remain on the side of the functionally sane, or will he descend into that state of abject madness?

Chiana: At this point, the writers are still playing Chiana as effectively another Rygel. Self-serving and a foil for the rest of the crew as they are coming to form more positive relationships with one another. I prefer Chiana more as the seasons go on, but I do appreciate seeing her usefulness here (just like it’s always nice to be reminded that Rygel has his uses). And to realize that when people believe in her, she is actually able to accomplish a lot … like successfully delivering Moya’s baby.

John and Aeryn: Part of why I enjoy the love story between John and Aeryn is that often it is played in the subtext, not in the text. Ben Browder and Claudia Black have stated repeatedly that long before the writers decided to bring that relationship to the forefront of the story, they were already committed to the romance in their performances. And for all that I appreciate how the emerging romance between John and Aeryn does not overpower everything else going on in these episodes, there are moments when it is clear what these two mean to each other. The handshake as John comes to say goodbye where their thumbs ever so slightly brush one another’s hands. And, as Aeryn bursts in to John’s cell: “That … is the Radiant Aeryn Sun!” Let us never forget that Aeryn is and always will be John’s defender.

But #1 moment goes to Aeryn’s encounter with Crais: “Everything I lost isn’t worth a damn and I don’t want to go back to your life!”

If I didn’t know better, I’d say she has learned that she can be more!

And thus we come to it. The point of no return for one John Crichton. But more on that in a moment.

A Human Reaction

This is the episode that made me fall in love with Farscape. Let me explain. I grew up on portal fantasy–most notably The Chronicles of Narnia. I have no shame in admitting that I was one of those kids who checked every closet looking for a door into another world (indeed, I have no shame in admitting I am one of those adults who still opens a closet looking for Narnia). It always bothered me a bit in the classic portal fantasies when the characters get that amazing opportunity to enter another world, and spend all their time trying to get home. The ingrates.

Farscape is clearly a portal fantasy in the most literal sense of the word–Crichton is brought through a wormhole to a wholly alien part of the universe. We’ve seen hints through the series through this point that Crichton is astounded by the “wonders he’s seen” (to coin a phrase from later season opening monologues). Yet he is still single-mindedly focused on going home. My first time through the series, Crichton’s innocence bugged me … As if he could just happily return to earth after all the things that he has encountered in his time on Moya. A Human Reaction is the death of Crichton’s innocence on a number of levels, not least of which, though, the death of Crichton’s (and the audience’s) hope for an uncomplicated return to earth.

The complexity begins before Crichton has even set foot on this would-be “earth.” Yes, admittedly, the farewells between Crichton and the rest of the crew do not prove to be that permanent … but they don’t realize that at the moment. Crichton is given time with each of his fellow crew members to mark just how far they have grown together. This motley band might not be a pseudo-family just yet, but Crichton (I’m sure to his surprise) must come to terms with the fact that it is not easy just to leave them behind. As much as he longs for earth, he will miss at least something about this new life that he has found.

Far more significantly, however, the events that transpire on the false earth see Crichton siding with Moya’s crew over his fellow humans. Obviously, the scenario is constructed to bring out the worst in humanity. But John doesn’t know that at the moment. I’ve mentioned before the Farscape reviews being written over at the AV Club. The reviewer there points to the events of Nerve/The Hidden Memory as the point from which Crichton’s sanity will never return. Don’t get me wrong. There is much physical and mental torture ahead for Crichton, particularly in that 2-parter. However, I think the real damage is done much earlier and much more subtly when John points a gun at a fellow human being and then runs off with Aeryn. That gets to questions of identity, purpose–forever complicating John’s dream of a simple return to earth.

Throughout the series, we’ll question how much of Crichton’s insanity is his own and how much is manufactured. There’s a strong case to be made that a natural break in his sanity occurs here, when he realizes the place he thought was home was a lie. On the one hand, that must be comforting … to know this nightmarish place he has come to is not in fact the home for which he has been longing. And yet he still must acknowledge the truth in the illusion. The fear and small-mindedness that exists in humanity. And that he sided with his new life against that version of humanity. It was a wise choice of the production crew to play the first 3/4 of the episode in such a subdued manner. It nicely highlights Chichton’s break in the end. Along with a preview of John’s second-season crazy hair!

There’s little left to chance in Farscape, and it’s no coincidence that immediately after this episode, Crichton starts wearing a gun. Is he afraid of the universe, or is he afraid of himself?

All in all, this for me is the episode that definitively changes John and changes the series. Indeed, it will be a few episodes yet before we realize the extent to which A Human Reaction sets the stage for John’s fate. This is the episode that promises us the viewers that Farscape will avoid the inherent problems of a show about a man looking for earth (either he must find it and end the show or spin dramatic wheels as he continues to search in vain) by declaring the return to earth will not be straightforward at all. This is a promise the show will keep and capitalize upon, as the tension in John will continue to play out between that yearning for home and normalcy will push against the new life he is forming aboard Moya, not least of which is his relationship with Aeryn.

Speaking of Aeryn … we get some definite progress on that front here. We see John and Aeryn as two people drawn together for strength when they have no other options. I suppose one could question wether that is the best foundation for a relationship, but we have several seasons left to ponder that question as well. For the moment, lets just give Farscape a slow clap for allowing its romantic leads a moment of sexual intimacy which in no way reduces the sexual tension between them but rather enhances it. Bravo. Also … small point. It’s easy to brush Aeryn off as unaffected by her night with John (“it’s fine John, it’s just not top priority right now). But, going back to my earlier question of when Aeryn refers to our male lead as “John” vs. “Crichton”, she does exclusively refer to him by first name for the rest of the episode. Sparks of intimacy perhaps?

And so we press on in the saga of Farscape, our hero slightly more broken. And yet John Crichton is never defeated.

Random Shout-outs:

–I have to applaud Justin Monjo for this episode. Monjo will pen some of the best character-driven episodes in the series. It has to be said he also has a fantastic grasp of the John-Aeryn dynamic (I believe he also wrote The Flax). Admittedly, he also wrote season 2’s Taking the Stone … but they can’t all be winners now, can they?

–I love the look of loss and pain on Aeryn’s face as John disappears through the wormhole. One could just watch the whole series for the nuances of Claudia Black’s facial expressions.

–Kent McCord always knocks it out of the park on his guest appearances throughout the series. We see him so rarely, but he and Ben Browder are able to capture the layers of a father and son who are just beginning to understand and respect one another after a difficult past. Even when McCord isn’t really playing Jack Crichton, but an alien impersonating him. He just brings this notion of all-American earnestness.

Alright people. This is it. The post wherein I endeavour to find something redeeming about Jeremiah Crichton. Admittedly, it probably is the worst episode of the series. If for no other reason than that it is just so darn … earnest. Earnest isn’t really what we come to Farscape looking for. That said, what we get from this mediocre offering is at least a few good interactions between John and D’Argo where we are reminded of two thing 1) just how despondent John has become over his alienation and likelihood of never seeing earth again and 2) these characters have become enough of a crew that when one goes missing the others will spend three months searching for them.

Then a bunch of indeterminately ethnic guest stars in terrible costumes started talking about the Masada and I couldn’t be bothered to finish my rewatch. Also, just never put Ben Browder in facial hair. It never ends well … not even on Dr Who.

Fortunately, Jeremiah Crichton is flanked by two much stronger offerings.

The Flax

If not the strongest episode in the series, The Flax at least continues the good season one work of building up our central characters. Particularly Rygel. Admittedly, PK Tech Girl introduced us to Rygel’s time at the hands of sadistic Captain Durka. But other than that, we have not seen much that has made him particularly … likeable. Not have we really seen what useful skills he brings to the crew. For much of the episode, the Flax plays on those assumptions we as the audience, as well as Zhaan, have of Rygel. So far he’s given us a low bar of expectations, and he has met it handily. We are pleasantly surprised, however, when we realize how cleverly Rygel hustled the pirates who attempted to steal Moya. Rygel has his uses. He may be obnoxious, self-involved, and irritating. But he is also very often the smartest person in the room–at least in terms of strategy and diplomacy. Let us not forget that it was Rygel who orchestrated the prisoners’ escape in the first place.

Of course, the episode is mostly an excuse to get Crichton and Aeryn alone together for an extended period of time (and, I suppose, an excuse to get D’Argo to interrupt them at a most inconvenient time as well). That alone makes the episode worthwhile for this avowed John and Aeryn shipper. It is worth noting that for all their bickering and misunderstanding at the start, the moment crisis occurs, they are even at this early stage perfectly in synch. Each knows what must be done, and they work as a perfect team, even when they realize the situation must end with one or both of their deaths.

That dynamic is actually a lot more interesting to me than the big moment of passion awkwardly interrupted by D’Argo (as awesome as that moment is). One of the things I love about the John and Aeryn relationship is that for the most part it avoids ever falling into a “will they?/won’t they?” trap. This I feel is the closest it comes to that — “Oh no, in a tense moment we kissed … must be some unacknowledged sexual tension that we can’t ever let happen again!” Going forward, I feel like Farscape is able to play with the central romance in far more interesting ways.

That brings us to…

Durka Returns

This is arguably the end of the beginning for Farscape. Beginning with the next episode (“A Human Reaction”) both John and the series as a whole will reach a point of no return.  This is arguably the last episode of Crichton’s innocence before all of the events transpire which have their start in that next instalment. Nowhere is Crichton more that innocent, well-meaning human than in his relationship here with Chiana. Crichton brings her food cubes. He argues on her behalf. He is justifiably disgusted by yet another bizarre alien race that would lock a young woman and try to strip her of her free will just for being perhaps a bit too rambunctious. (Side note: I’m not a big fan of the Nebari. I have very little of interest to say about them).

For all that the introduction of Chiana and her captors provide an opportunity to highlight Crichton’s innocence, we cannot overlook the fact that in this episode Crichton willfully takes a life for the first time. We saw him get to the point where he would be willing to kill Crais in “That Old Black Magic”, but now for the first time we have seen him kill. If the first season of Farscape is about the gradual loss of John’s innocence, John’s murder of Durka can’t be overlooked. Sure, it was justified and done to protect Moya and the crew. But still … it is a milestone.

Presumably, there is much more to be said about this episode. After all, it does introduce a major new character, open up the world of the Nebari, and give us some great Rygel-Aeryn interactions. I do imagine that Aeryn meeting one of the great legends of the Peacekeeper realm, only to discover that his a monster willing to kill her and threaten a pregnant leviathan, cannot help but have implications for her psychological state going forward. Also, Rygel’s vendetta against Durka is always compelling, if only because it is so rare that we actually see the little Dominar so emotional and out of control.

Beyond that, though, I have to admit this is not one of my favourite episodes. I always think of it as that one last episode you have to get through before the quality really picks up. I need to save my commentating strength for the next post where I will have …. thoughts … on A Human Reaction. This is where the fun begins, my friends.