Friday, November 22, 2019

Revenge is Dish Best Served in Two Dimensions

After an episode of epic drama, Farscape delivers a hard tonal shift into a partially animated, comedy episode. And it's fantastic. Few shows could hit two so disparate tones in succession so marvellously well.

Season Three, Episode Sixteen: Revenging Angel

Back on Moya, the other Crichton (Ben Browder) continues life blissfully unaware of his twin's fate. In fact, we see in this episode he's a bit jealous of the other Crichton, which is a funny position to be in. At least it's not hard for him to answer, "What's he got that I ain't got?"

D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe) and Crichton are still bickering as they were in "Scratch n' Sniff" but now it finally comes to a head when John gets hit in the head and goes into a coma. Much of the episode thereafter takes place in Crichto's mind. Throughout the episode, Harvey (Wayne Pygram) tries to induce Crichton to devote himself to revenge and Crichton retaliates by turning everything into very effective, genuinely amusing, Looney Tunes inspired cartoons.

And it's not just a random gimmick, it makes sense. Harvey is trying to get Crichton to see life as a bloody serious thing where the score always needs settling. Crichton relies on cartoons to make the violence and the conflict trivial and fleeting.

Sadly, not all the characters get animated counterparts but Aeryn (Claudia Black) makes an appearance in animated form. An amusing appearance, too, as Crichton imagines her in different sexy outfits, including a Jessica Rabbit get up, receiving from her an accusation of unoriginality for it.

The subplot about D'Argo getting his fighter ship working and Chiana (Gigi Edgley) having a rivalry with Jool (Tammy MacIntosh) is also pretty good. Jool continues to be grossed out and whingy in an amusing way but I felt for her when her attempt to bond with D'Argo backfires so dramatically.

. . .

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

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