Saturday, January 18, 2020

Escape from Arnessk

Matters at mysterious ruins come to a weird and violent pass on Farscape. Crichton wrestles with Grayza's seduction (and Grayza herself) while everyone else tries to figure out how to escape the Peacekeepers and the planet's dangerous radiation.

Season Four, Episode Three: What was Lost, Part II: Resurrection

Jool (Tammy MacIntosh) points out increased radiation could be seen by the apparent muting of all colour. To which Chiana (Gigi Edgley) retorts that she never had much colour to begin with.

What a trio. Chiana, Jool, and Sikozu (Raelee Hill). All three really shine in this episode with some funny moments and tense moments particularly a couple featuring a code word passed to Sikozu by Scorpius (Wayne Pygram). Meanwhile, I must say D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe) does not come off very well.

He'd overheard Jool agreeing with her comrade that Luxans were a lesser species. As he and Jool are about to part for the last time because Jool's decided to remain on the planet, D'Argo takes a moment to brag about how the woman Jool'd been talking to was definitely dumber than him now because she'd been turned to stone. Maybe stone lady has it coming for being an unabashed racist but D'Argo still sounds like kind of an asshole, particularly in the middle of Jool trying to apologise to him--"I'm trying to apologise," she even directly tells him. The whole moment is awkward, made moreso when they kiss. Which I'd actually really like--sometimes life is awkward--though the accompanying triumphant score clashes with that tone.

Since some point in season three, there's been a change in how Anthony Simcoe played D'Argo. Maybe to differentiate him from Worf, he starts adopting a more casual, oddly human attitude reminiscent of his antics in "Won't Be Fooled Again." It never feels quite natural to me, always coming off like false notes.

Especially compared to Crichton (Ben Browder), the anachronistic unhinged human who gets better every time I watch the show. It's lovely how he's able to outsmart Grayza (Rebecca Riggs) and ties her down, backing away while she continues to exhibit a smug sense of dominance.

The finale is a nice series of suspenseful moments as Rygel (Jonathan Hardy) plummets to the ground in a dying Leviathon before Crichton, Chiana, and Jool are compelled to make an ancient artefact work on short notice. This caps a very solid two-parter.

. . .

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

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