Moya finally returns in an episode of Farscape that tests the years of trust and loyalty that have accrued among her crew. But this ship is home, a fact sweetly underlined when D'Argo tells Pilot that Moya looks beautiful and Pilot conveys Moya's gratitude to the Luxan.
Season Four, Episode Five: Promises
The first person Crichton (Ben Browder) sees in the hanger is the long lost Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black). A damper is put on their reunion when she collapses from heat delirium. Apparently she'd gotten out of bed just long enough to make Crichton promise not to kill Scorpius (Wayne Pygram).
It's not hard to see where the episode got its title. Aeryn promised Scorpius he wouldn't be hurt, Crichton promises Aeryn not to hurt him. And so the ties of affection prevent the human from going all out in acting on that affection in the natural way; taking revenge on the man who tried to kill Aeryn.
Except Scorpius, as a prelude to finally extracting Harvey (Wayne Pygram), points out it was the neural clone, not Scorpius himself, who'd tried to kill Aeryn. The reasoning here feels a bit fragile and the events of several season two episodes in particular seem to argue against the thought that Scorpius was really so benign. But, then again, it's not as though the crew of Moya are saints themselves.
The episode ends with Aeryn seemingly happy to rejoin the crew but with Crichton calling her on not being forthright about her pregnancy. So much for mutual trust and promises.
It turns out Aeryn had been far indeed from a saint in her time away from Moya and some enemies she'd made working as an assassin show up looking for vengeance. It's a really neat stand-off plot as D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe) and Crichton go aboard to try to negotiate for a cure to Aeryn's illness. Aeryn, meanwhile, is doing some cute Scorpius cosplay in a coolant suit.
She even gets to play Harvey in one scene and Claudia Black shows she can do a pretty dead-on Wayne Pygram impression.
This is also the episode where Pilot (Lani Tupu) decides it's time the crew elect a captain. Considering promises turn out not to be a reliable system of coordination among the group, maybe reverting to a hierarchical structure isn't such a bad idea. Though Crichton has usually acted as de facto captain anyway. It's not unlike the way pirate ships used to work in which the captain usually hadn't any real power except during a battle in which his commands were expected to be obeyed.
. . .
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
Episode 18: Fractures
Episode 19: I-Yensch, You-Yensch
Episode 20: Into the Lion's Den, Part I: Lambs to the Slaughter
Episode 21: Into the Lion's Den, Part II: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Episode 22: A Dog with Two Bones
Season Four
Episode 1: Crichton Kicks
Episode 2: What was Lost, Part I: Sacrifice
Episode 3: What was Lost, Part II: Resurrection
Episode 4: Lava's a Many Splendoured Thing
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