Friday, December 06, 2019

The Continuing Variety of Alien Life

The remaining members of Talyn's crew in Farscape season three return to Moya in an episode that also features a few unexpected guests. On a crowded Leviathan, it's especially hard to find a turncoat.

Season Three, Episode Eighteen: Fractures

And Aeryn (Claudia Black) now has to confront the other Crichton (Ben Browder). Mostly she does this with silence and brief courteous acknowledgements. I suppose this is understandable but it's a difficult situation to even imagine. The idea that Crichton might be jealous of his other self is brought up but his behaviour doesn't come off that way. He seems stunned mostly, which, again, is understandable.

The main plot of the episode focuses more on a fascinating motley of escaped Peacekeeper prisoners--a Scarran male (Nicholas McCay), a Hynerian woman named Orrhn (Alexandra Fowler), an Intersex Nebari named Hubero (Kate Beahan), and a member of a species called Boolite who can survive after his body has exploded. Moya's crew are obliged to clean up the body parts and reconstruct this strange sentient being.

Jool (Tammy MacIntosh) and Crais (Lani Tupu) are obliged to do the reconstruction. This is a strange context for Crais and it's easily his funniest part in the series as he's forced to politely follow Jool's condescending instructions and criticisms in his handling of raw brain matter and unidentifiable organs.

It would have been nice to see more of Hubero but Kate Beahan is beautiful and gives a good performance. Hubero and Chiana (Gigi Edgley) comparing notes about being outcast Nebari is nice.

Rygel (Jonathan Hardy) surprisingly enough has the lion's share of drama in this episode as his belief in his own majesty blinds him to the machinations of the attractive Orrhn. The poor little guy just never seems to stop falling from his grand height. Sometimes its funny watching him suffer indignities but by this point I just feel bad for him and his every pointed line in the climax was a satisfying little spark.

. . .

Farscape is available now on Amazon Prime.

This entry is part of a series I'm writing on Farscape for the show's 20th anniversary. My previous reviews can be found here (episodes are in the order intended by the show's creators rather than the broadcast order):

Season One:

Episode 1: Pilot
Episode 2: I, E.T.
Episode 3: Exodus from Genesis
Episode 4: Throne for a Loss
Episode 5: Back and Back and Back to the Future
Episode 6: Thank God It's Friday Again
Episode 7: PK Tech Girl
Episode 8: That Old Black Magic
Episode 9: DNA Mad Scientist
Episode 10: They've Got a Secret
Episode 11: Till the Blood Runs Clear
Episode 12: Rhapsody in Blue
Episode 13: The Flax
Episode 14: Jeremiah Crichton
Episode 15: Durka Returns
Episode 16: A Human Reaction
Episode 17: Through the Looking Glass
Episode 18: A Bug's Life
Episode 19: Nerve
Episode 20: The Hidden Memory
Episode 21: Bone to be Wild
Episode 22: Family Ties

Season Two:

Episode 1: Mind the Baby
Episode 2: Vitas Mortis
Episode 3: Taking the Stone
Episode 4: Crackers Don't Matter
Episode 5: Picture If You Will
Episode 6: The Way We Weren't
Episode 7: Home on the Remains
Episode 8: Dream a Little Dream
Episode 9: Out of Their Minds
Episode 10: My Three Crichtons
Episode 11: Look at the Princess, Part I: A Kiss is But a Kiss
Episode 12: Look at the Princess, Part II: I Do, I Think
Episode 13: Look at the Princess, Part III: The Maltese Crichton
Episode 14: Beware of Dog
Episode 15: Won't Get Fooled Again
Episode 16: The Locket
Episode 17: The Ugly Truth
Episode 18: A Clockwork Nebari
Episode 19: Liars, Guns, and Money, Part I: A Not So Simple Plan
Episode 20: Liars, Guns, and Money, Part II: With Friends Like These . . .
Episode 21: Liars, Guns, and Money, Part III: Plan B
Episode 22: Die Me, Dichotomy

Season Three:

Episode 1: Season of Death
Episode 2: Suns and Lovers
Episode 3: Self-Inflicted Wounds, Part I: Would'a, Could'a, Should'a
Episode 4: Self-Inflicted Wounds, Part II: Wait for the Wheel
Episode 5: . . . Different Destinations
Episode 6: Eat Me
Episode 7: Thanks for Sharing
Episode 8: Green Eyed Monster
Episode 9: Losing Time
Episode 10: Relativity
Episode 11: Incubator
Episode 12: Meltdown
Episode 13: Scratch 'n Sniff
Episode 14: Infinite Possibilities, Part I: Daedalus Demands
Episode 15: Infinite Possibilities, Part II: Icarus Abides
Episode 16: Revenging Angel
Episode 17: The Choice

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