Bad things happen to all kinds of people on Farscape and it's not always clear who most deserves a sympathetic hand. So Chiana drastically misjudges a situation.
Season Four, Episode Fourteen: Twice Shy
After sealing a deal with some traders, somewhere out in Tormented Space, Noranti (Melissa Jaffer) and Rygel (Jonathan Hardy) think they've done a pretty good day's work. But just as they're leaving, the traders produce a sex slave named Talikaa (Paula Arundell) and offer to sell her, too. Chiana (Gigi Edgley), understandably incensed at the the idea of a young woman being abused, insists on buying the girl's freedom.
That doesn't stop her from taking Talikaa back to her quarters and engaging in some aggressive flirtation. Talikaa's charming innocence turns Chiana on ("What is 'sexy'?" Chiana, "Sexy . . . is my favourite colour"). This may not be Chiana at her wisest but how could she have predicted Talikaa would turn out to be a giant spider monster?
This monster drains the most distinctive personality traits of its victims so John (Ben Browder) loses his optimism, Aeryn (Claudia Black) her stoicism, Rygel his greed, D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe) his anger, and, Chiana, amusingly, her sex drive.
A subplot in this episode involves Aeryn and Crichton arguing about his taking drugs to forget her. She has no tolerance or understanding for this, which is surprising because it's almost exactly what she herself does in season three when she tries to drink away her memories of the other Crichton. I'm surprised the episode doesn't make at least one reference to this, maybe because it was written by a first time writer for the series, David Peckinpah. Nephew of Sam, David Peckinpah passed away on April 23, 2006, fourteen years ago yesterday, by amazing coincidence.
But mainly I like this episode. Talikaa is good as both someone to show the crew how dangerous it is to assume things about other people based solely on their own experience and as an amoral villain--she has no sympathy when Crichton talks to her at the end. Or malice, either. Moya's crew are just food to her. An effective way of looking at things until, of course, it isn't.
. . .
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
Episode 5: Promises
Episode 6: Natural Election
Episode 7: John Quixote
Episode 8: I Shrink Therefore I Am
Episode 9: A Prefect Murder
Episode 10: Coup by Clam
Episode 11: Unrealised Reality
Episode 12: Kansas
Episode 13: Terra Firma
No comments:
Post a Comment