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selenakWiki summary: On a commerce planet, Crichton finds himself lured into an alternate reality controlled by Maldis, a being who feeds off negative energy. He is pitted against Crais in a fight to the death, leaving Zhaan to tap into her old darkness to try to help him.
This one strikes me as another entry in "Early Farscape wants to make clear it's not Star Trek" stakes, i.e. it takes the "two enemies find themselves in a situation where they share a common foe" scenario and lets no bonding ensue. Mind you, this also makes it clear why Crais wouldn't have worked as a long term antagonist. Not because he doesn't care John had no intention to kill his brother; a main antagonist doesn't have to be fair or particularly moral (see also Scorpius). But he should be smart and formidable. Successfully teaming up with Crichton against Maldis, < i>then stab him in the back would have been the smart thing to do to accomplish Crais' goals, not least even if he had killed Crichton, he had no way to prevent Maldis sucking him dry. Killing loyal to him Teeg, who'll be replaced by not-loyal-to-him Braca? Also anything but smart, leaving morals aside. It's especially startling in a rewatch, not just because we know what's coming in general but because later Crais is smarter than that. Otoh, you could argue Crais will always have a suicidal streak when he passionately hates someone. Ahem.
This said, the insight into Crais' background the episode provides is certainly crucial: both the fact he was drafted together with his brother as a child, and while superficially having drunk the Peacekeeper Kool-Aid hasn't really internalized it, which means he does have memories of a life outside the Peacekeepers, and the fact that he's made being responsible for his brother - who here finally gains a face, hello and goodbye, Tauvo Crais! - into a life goal beyond sibling affection. (Hence the guilt.) You can make a case that later season Crais being way more stable and rational is definitely connected to him being responsible for a younger being in need of guidance and affection again.
The other character the episode provides more insight for is Zhaan. I have to admit, the first time I saw it, I thought Liko the Shaman was Maldis in yet another disguise attempting to seduce Zhaan to the Dark Side and was surprised when Liko died in the end instead of transforming into Maldis. I still think "hurt this multi-headed bird/ hurt Rygel" as exercises to get Zhaan into spiritual shape to fight Maldis if it isn't your goal to leave her a Sith does not make much sense, not least because I watched Once upon a Time in between, and this is certainly the Rumpelstilskin method of teaching (ask Regina). Anyway, Zhaan has hinted at her past before, but never as clearly as here, where she doesn't just call her past self a "savage" but for a while believes she'd be worse than Maldis. Shades of Galadriel refusing the Ring there, and given the sheer influence LotR the book has among genre writing geeks, I suspect Richard Manning, who wrote the script, might have been indeed going for Zhaan/Galadriel (without a kingdom) (but with questionable co-responsibility for the big elf feud of millennia past). That Zhaan talks to John at the end - not to D'Argo, with whom up to this point she'd been closer - makes sense if you consider D'Argo is a warrior (and btw, has by now definitely bonded with Aeryn in this regard) - and John is the one still defining himself as a civilian at this point, the one who has shown kindness and compassion throughout the show so far.
I suppose I should say something about Maldis, but: eh. In the "your hate makes me stronger evil McEvil" category, Palpatine from Star Wars will always rule, in the "game playing seemingly all powerful entity whisks some of our regulars away to act out scenarios of his choice", there's good old Q from TNG.
Lastly: Rygel saying the Hynerian rites (sort of) for seemingly dead Crichton and then proceeding to steal his boots is so very Rygel, and John upon waking up (and knowing exactly what happened despite Rygel's transparant lie) kissing him (for the first, but not the last time) reminds me again that John/Rygel is my Farscape OTP. (I'm only half kidding about this.) (Because I do adore their scenes together.) I mean, Rygel ends up the only regular other than Aeryn getting smooched by Crichton repeatedly, and he does bear his child for a while...
Oh, and trivia note: I think this is the first time we hear about John losing his virginity to "Karen Shaw". Now I'm 100% sure the writers at this point had no clue about whom they'd let Karen Shaw end up being, but it's one of my favourite s4 ret cons.
The Other Days
This one strikes me as another entry in "Early Farscape wants to make clear it's not Star Trek" stakes, i.e. it takes the "two enemies find themselves in a situation where they share a common foe" scenario and lets no bonding ensue. Mind you, this also makes it clear why Crais wouldn't have worked as a long term antagonist. Not because he doesn't care John had no intention to kill his brother; a main antagonist doesn't have to be fair or particularly moral (see also Scorpius). But he should be smart and formidable. Successfully teaming up with Crichton against Maldis, < i>then stab him in the back would have been the smart thing to do to accomplish Crais' goals, not least even if he had killed Crichton, he had no way to prevent Maldis sucking him dry. Killing loyal to him Teeg, who'll be replaced by not-loyal-to-him Braca? Also anything but smart, leaving morals aside. It's especially startling in a rewatch, not just because we know what's coming in general but because later Crais is smarter than that. Otoh, you could argue Crais will always have a suicidal streak when he passionately hates someone. Ahem.
This said, the insight into Crais' background the episode provides is certainly crucial: both the fact he was drafted together with his brother as a child, and while superficially having drunk the Peacekeeper Kool-Aid hasn't really internalized it, which means he does have memories of a life outside the Peacekeepers, and the fact that he's made being responsible for his brother - who here finally gains a face, hello and goodbye, Tauvo Crais! - into a life goal beyond sibling affection. (Hence the guilt.) You can make a case that later season Crais being way more stable and rational is definitely connected to him being responsible for a younger being in need of guidance and affection again.
The other character the episode provides more insight for is Zhaan. I have to admit, the first time I saw it, I thought Liko the Shaman was Maldis in yet another disguise attempting to seduce Zhaan to the Dark Side and was surprised when Liko died in the end instead of transforming into Maldis. I still think "hurt this multi-headed bird/ hurt Rygel" as exercises to get Zhaan into spiritual shape to fight Maldis if it isn't your goal to leave her a Sith does not make much sense, not least because I watched Once upon a Time in between, and this is certainly the Rumpelstilskin method of teaching (ask Regina). Anyway, Zhaan has hinted at her past before, but never as clearly as here, where she doesn't just call her past self a "savage" but for a while believes she'd be worse than Maldis. Shades of Galadriel refusing the Ring there, and given the sheer influence LotR the book has among genre writing geeks, I suspect Richard Manning, who wrote the script, might have been indeed going for Zhaan/Galadriel (without a kingdom) (but with questionable co-responsibility for the big elf feud of millennia past). That Zhaan talks to John at the end - not to D'Argo, with whom up to this point she'd been closer - makes sense if you consider D'Argo is a warrior (and btw, has by now definitely bonded with Aeryn in this regard) - and John is the one still defining himself as a civilian at this point, the one who has shown kindness and compassion throughout the show so far.
I suppose I should say something about Maldis, but: eh. In the "your hate makes me stronger evil McEvil" category, Palpatine from Star Wars will always rule, in the "game playing seemingly all powerful entity whisks some of our regulars away to act out scenarios of his choice", there's good old Q from TNG.
Lastly: Rygel saying the Hynerian rites (sort of) for seemingly dead Crichton and then proceeding to steal his boots is so very Rygel, and John upon waking up (and knowing exactly what happened despite Rygel's transparant lie) kissing him (for the first, but not the last time) reminds me again that John/Rygel is my Farscape OTP. (I'm only half kidding about this.) (Because I do adore their scenes together.) I mean, Rygel ends up the only regular other than Aeryn getting smooched by Crichton repeatedly, and he does bear his child for a while...
Oh, and trivia note: I think this is the first time we hear about John losing his virginity to "Karen Shaw". Now I'm 100% sure the writers at this point had no clue about whom they'd let Karen Shaw end up being, but it's one of my favourite s4 ret cons.
The Other Days
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Date: 2020-05-03 05:47 am (UTC)I hadn't realized that, but aww. That's great.
("Talyn -- Starburst -- " //SOB)
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Date: 2020-05-03 06:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-03 10:42 am (UTC)We're still looking at a fairly innocent John Crichton in this episode--he marvels at the "critters" he sees, and thinks he can reason with Crais. %-} On the other hand he's not helpless, as he can handle himself in a fight. However...
... I suspect the main reason for this episode was to give us Crais's backstory, and also to show us how very insane our "insane military commander" is.
I agree there wasn't much point to Liko's training, especially as Zhaan defeated Maldis by immobilizing him and making him corporeal so Crichton could punch him into next week. She didn't torture or kill him, which is what Liko appeared to be leading up to in his "training".
The last scene between Zhaan and Crichton--I wonder if the writers had originally intended to create a plot thread involving Zhaan's "savage" side?
And finally, Rygel. Rygel with a cold and stealing Crichton's boots. This rewatch is making me more and more a fan of Rygel. What would we do without him? :D
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Date: 2020-05-03 11:55 am (UTC)The last scene between Zhaan and Crichton--I wonder if the writers had originally intended to create a plot thread involving Zhaan's "savage" side?
You know, I think that's quite possible. For starters, they certainly expected Virginia Hey to stay, and if you have a female character with strong psychic powers and are of that generation, you probably can't resist doing your very own take on the Dark Phoenix tale. (See also Willow in BtvS, Lyta in B5, and the endless replays the Phoenix saga got in the Marvelverse itself. Secondly, as far as I recall Stark originally was only meant as a one shot character, and they kept him because they'd liked the actor. Without Stark, Zhaan has no s2 Story.
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Date: 2020-05-03 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-03 03:43 pm (UTC)They may or may not have planned a "Dark Phoenix" plot for Zhaan in the future, but instead she ended up with a much more nuanced and low-key plot throughout the rest of the series, one which explores but never solves her issues with being an idealistic pacifist in a brutal universe which seldom rewards such attitudes. You don't just see it in the other Maldis appearance, but also notably in her encounter with Kayhaynu in "Look at the Princess". Personally I prefer it to a full-on "evil Zhaan" plot, especially since it always seems to be the female psychics/magicians in fiction who go berserk due to excess power.
Also, of course, this is probably Farscape's most blatant homage to Blake's Seven until the arrival of Grayza, given the parallels with "Duel" (Giroc in "Duel" seems almost as malevolent and cruel as Maldis, although her younger associate isn't as bad.) I wonder if there was a conscious influence from B7 in not letting John defeating Crais becoming as routine as Blake defeating Travis - this is actually the *only* episode that has the crew directly coming up against Crais before "Nerve" and its game-changing developments.
Another amusing touch that I read about after I watched the episode previously, and confirmed on this viewing - all of Maldis's lines when he's playing the kindly old wizard Haloth are in iambic pentameter.
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Date: 2020-05-03 04:00 pm (UTC)Blake's 7: ZOMG, you're right! Should have thought of that. Mind you, with Duel I thought that Sinofar and Giroc were meant as the two faces/aspects of the same being in a Pop culture mysticism way.
all of Maldis's lines when he's playing the kindly old wizard Haloth are in iambic pentameter.
Ha. Maybe one of the Deadwood Writers was a fan?
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Date: 2020-05-07 06:42 pm (UTC)I'm not doing the rewatch as I don't have Amazon Prime, but I am enjoying reading some of the posts.
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Date: 2020-05-04 10:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-05 07:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-04 11:57 am (UTC)But I agree with Neuralclone--Maldis visually reminded me strongly of LaCroix, with less class. And thinking back, I remember being interested in the set design in Maldis' lair, with the labyrinth's in-and-out walls and openings, the big whirling thing with chains.
Oh, and back when Theatrical Muse was big, and a lot of us writing the connected storylines, Florastuart played Lt. Teeg for a good bit.
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Date: 2020-05-05 07:51 am (UTC)Theatrical Muse: that brings back memories! So Florastuart did. And you were a great Crichton, while Andraste was a Wonderful Crais. I'm still proud of the rp we pulled off where G'Kar got saved from imprisonment by a grudging Crichton and Crais team-up.