“Farscape,” the space show that does not fear the muppets, airs Fridays at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Sci-Fi.
Tonight, the pentultimate episode of season three is finally cablecast to the Americans.
TV Guide says:
TV Guide says:
Conclusion. To counter Scorpius's threat to annihilate Earth, Crichton conspires with his shipmates to destroy the Peacekeeper Command Carrier and all the wormhole data aboard. But a comrade alerts Scorpius to the scheme.
“Gaspode” writes:
Into the Lion's Den, Part II: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing Written by Rockne O'Bannon, Directed by Rowan Woods
The premise: With Scorpius threatening to destroy Earth if things don't start picking up results-wise, Crichton has to move ahead with his plan to destroy Scorpy's command carrier and the wormhole project with it. Crais betrays the others in return for access to the damaged Talyn, and two characters make the supreme sacrifice to save the others.
The big picture: If Crichton wipes out the Peacekeeper wormhole project, the Skarrens could gain a tactical advantage in controlling the universe. And here's a question to chew on: what happens if a Leviathan decides to starburst within a relatively confined space?
Comments: How did the show still have enough money in its budget to pull this off at the end of the season? Series creator Rockne O'Bannon pulls out all the stops, in a rollercoaster ride of an episode that doesn't slow down until the closing credits. There are so many little gems here, from Crichton's touching farewell to Pilot (a testament to star Ben Browder, sharing the scene with a giant muppet!), to Crais' larger-than-life tirade against Scorpius, to the final confrontation between Crichton and Scorpy. Director Rowan Woods creates some unforgettable images, including a stunning shot of Scorpius ascending a flooded staircase as the command carrier self-destructs around him. The climax will take your breath away, and no, I'm not about to spoil it here. Suffice to say that things won't be the same after this episode. Browder turns in one of his better performances, as does Lani Tupu as Crais. Credit should also go to Danny Adcock, better known as Co-Kura, the creepy little alien obsessed with wormhole technology. There's a wonderful moment when Adcock's character realizes that his precious technology can actually be used as a weapon, and the only person besides Crichton who holds that information is…himself.
Favorite dialogue: Crichton to Scorpius seconds before the big bang: 'I suggest you hang on to something.'
The Blake's 7 connection?: The pyro-filled destruction of the command carrier versus the Liberator's destruction- both in a third season cliffhanger, no less!
Final verdict: One of the best episodes in Farscape's three-year history. This will be one that future episodes are measured against. 9/10.
“Shipscat” contributes:
We left off in the first part of this two-parter with Scorpius slamming John’s head into the table, and threatening Earth. This is exactly where we begin again, with Ben Browder once again proving how appealing he looks with blood on his face. Instead of Scorpius being grateful to John for not getting dead and thus saving Scorpius’s life as well, he tightens the screws and threatens to get his revenge on Earth if John doesn’t give him the wormhole technology immediately.
This leads John to come up with an alternate plan. He explains to Aeryn, in a conversation she could only have understood a couple of sentences of- comparing Scorpius to Capt. Queeg in a Mutiny on the Bounty reference- that they need to stop Scorpius rather than depending on Commandant Cleavage to do it. John’s decision is to destroy the command carrier.
I have a feeling they saved all their pennies for this ep. The special effects were incredible, almost wasted on the small screen. Once again, as he did in Relativity, Rockne does a wonderful job with providing us with clues to what Aeryn’s past was like. There’s also a lot for Crais to do in this ep. There is a wonderful and tense scene between John, Aeryn, and Crais, in which John is very suspicious of Crais and his motives. During the entire scene, John watches Aeryn, not Crias, to decide whether to believe what Crais is telling him. It’s just a lovely small bit to show how much he trusts and relies on her.
Big Spoilers here:
Crichton wins, if you can call it that, and finally manages to defeat his old nemesis, The collapse of the Command Carrier is breathtaking, chaos taking place while John watches Scorpy calmly through some sort of partition. Scorpius and John have come as close to an understanding as they ever could in these two eps- John has seen his back story,, which we saw in Incubator, and knows the reasons for his desire for revenge. He has questioned whether the Peacekeepers or the Scarrens are the greater evil. He and Scorpy have suffered and worked on the wormhole tech and in the end, he still came to the same decision, and found Scorius wanting. I wonder whether Scorpy will ever think about the fact that his extreme ruthlessness has cost him the prize- he might have been able to persuade John to help if he had not hounded him relentlessly for the past two seasons. Probably not. Scorpius tells him that he will be responsible for them all being over run by the Scarrens, and John answers him with my favorite line- “One evil at a time. That’s the best I can do.”
“The Lupe” chimes:
Crichton's finally managed to come up with a way to stop Scorpius permanently - he's going to blow up the command carrier. This doesn't sit too good with Aeran, who reminds him that there are 50,000 men, women, and children on board. They've got to find a way to destroy it, and save as many people on board as they can. In the end, it all comes down to Crais, who completely redeems himself, and finally lives up to all the expectations I've been hoping for since the end of Season 2. Series creator O'Bannon wrote it, and its his best yet, finally wrapping up a lot of those plot threads he began way back in the premier episode.
Unfortunately there's not a lot for everyone else to do this ep. It's primarily Crichton-Scorp-Aeran-Crais. Everyone else ends up locked in the brig for most of the episode. That's about the only downside I can think of. The rest of it is amazing. Especially the final confrontation between between Chricton and Scorpius-as Chricton hands him the ultimate fuck you and Scorpius' world comes literally tumbling down around his ears (kind of the reverse from last season)-and the meeting of the minds they finally come to.
This show has muppets!
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