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selenakWiki summary: After creating a wormhole Crichton's module is repaired on a nearby planet by Furlow, while Vorcarian Blood Trackers Rorf and Rorg attempt to collect the Peacekeeper bounty placed on their heads.
This episode felt oddly out of order to me in terms of crew interaction. I mean, I know it isn't, since Moya's pregnancy gets referenced in dialogue, and John uses what he's learned about Luxan physiology by now, but the Crichton-D'Argo interaction, D'Argo initially pushing the idea of leaving Aeryn and John behind, Rygel being aghast at the idea of seeing Zhaan naked - the same Rygel who several episodes ago was blasé about her making a pass at him and even more episodes ago made a reference to having seen her naked when she asks "how long have known each other?". It does feel like this script was written without knowledge of much of the other scripts, just their overall outline.
This said: I think that counts as a first glimpse at Crichton's dark side, and no, I don't mean the bounty hunter role playing. I mean Crichton in the full grip of wormhole obsession. It shows how selfish he can get there, for which Aeryn rightly calls him out afterwards, as he damn causes Aeryn and him disappearing into an unstable wormhole and later just assumes she'll go along with more sun flares observing without bothering to check. Conversely, Crichton's not wrong when people not Aeryn admonish him for the same thing to point out they were willing to cut Pilot's arm off for their own chance to go home.
Speaking of the bounty hunter playing: it's always fun when a regular gets the chance to adopt a different persona, but I think tkhe concept of the Vorcarian blood hunters has aged badly, between the comedy dumb-ness, the "she's my mate", and alpha dog clichés and so forth. Speaking of contemporary context, Crichton first getting Rorf's name wrong as "Worf" is something that a 1990s watcher would have immediately associated with the TNG (and later DS9) character.
On the other end of gender clichés, thankfully, we get Furlow the cheerfully amoral engineer, repairing Crichton's module and ending up with the wormhole data he's collected. (On a tiny tape which makes me feel nostalgic.) I think Furlow, as a man, wouldn't have been a bad character, but that she's a middle-aged looking woman who gets to bond with Crichton over the science/engineering closest to his heart who isn't the least bit made up to look sexually appealing, and whose trickster nature is not connected to any romantic feelings by anyone, just related to her dual desire to make a buck and use the latest research, really is the cream on the cake, to use a German simile. Thematically, I think works out well she first shows up in this episode where, see above, we also first see how John looks in full obsessive mode apropos a wormhole and the prospect of getting home, because Furlow, like Scorpius later, works as a dark side reflection of John Crichton in regards to how they handle the science.
Aeryn's reaction to Crais' holographic message: "I always take him seriously." It's interesting that Crais has embedded a message here because I don't think the reverse is true until after she's put him through the wringer. At this point, she's just a means to get his hands on Moya and its passengers, and she sees that, but in a way it's surprising it has taken him this long to try the pardon offer for Aeryn. Claudia Black is again magnificent in the way she plays Aeryn's silent and very palpable longing to go home to her old life while also having her aware that this is just not an option.
My complaint that the D'Argo/John interaction feels like from several episodes ago not withstanding, the part of their big scene where D'Argo admits how hard it is for him to look at Crichton and not see a Peacekeeper (read: his brother-in-law) feels like a good follow up to the previous episode.
Lastly: Zhaan's photogasms are both still amusing and a great way for the show at the time to distinguish itself from the other sci fi fare on tv, covering various angles - characters' sexualty on display without them being punished for it, check, and another massive hint that Delvians aren't mammal life forms but plants.
The Other Days
This episode felt oddly out of order to me in terms of crew interaction. I mean, I know it isn't, since Moya's pregnancy gets referenced in dialogue, and John uses what he's learned about Luxan physiology by now, but the Crichton-D'Argo interaction, D'Argo initially pushing the idea of leaving Aeryn and John behind, Rygel being aghast at the idea of seeing Zhaan naked - the same Rygel who several episodes ago was blasé about her making a pass at him and even more episodes ago made a reference to having seen her naked when she asks "how long have known each other?". It does feel like this script was written without knowledge of much of the other scripts, just their overall outline.
This said: I think that counts as a first glimpse at Crichton's dark side, and no, I don't mean the bounty hunter role playing. I mean Crichton in the full grip of wormhole obsession. It shows how selfish he can get there, for which Aeryn rightly calls him out afterwards, as he damn causes Aeryn and him disappearing into an unstable wormhole and later just assumes she'll go along with more sun flares observing without bothering to check. Conversely, Crichton's not wrong when people not Aeryn admonish him for the same thing to point out they were willing to cut Pilot's arm off for their own chance to go home.
Speaking of the bounty hunter playing: it's always fun when a regular gets the chance to adopt a different persona, but I think tkhe concept of the Vorcarian blood hunters has aged badly, between the comedy dumb-ness, the "she's my mate", and alpha dog clichés and so forth. Speaking of contemporary context, Crichton first getting Rorf's name wrong as "Worf" is something that a 1990s watcher would have immediately associated with the TNG (and later DS9) character.
On the other end of gender clichés, thankfully, we get Furlow the cheerfully amoral engineer, repairing Crichton's module and ending up with the wormhole data he's collected. (On a tiny tape which makes me feel nostalgic.) I think Furlow, as a man, wouldn't have been a bad character, but that she's a middle-aged looking woman who gets to bond with Crichton over the science/engineering closest to his heart who isn't the least bit made up to look sexually appealing, and whose trickster nature is not connected to any romantic feelings by anyone, just related to her dual desire to make a buck and use the latest research, really is the cream on the cake, to use a German simile. Thematically, I think works out well she first shows up in this episode where, see above, we also first see how John looks in full obsessive mode apropos a wormhole and the prospect of getting home, because Furlow, like Scorpius later, works as a dark side reflection of John Crichton in regards to how they handle the science.
Aeryn's reaction to Crais' holographic message: "I always take him seriously." It's interesting that Crais has embedded a message here because I don't think the reverse is true until after she's put him through the wringer. At this point, she's just a means to get his hands on Moya and its passengers, and she sees that, but in a way it's surprising it has taken him this long to try the pardon offer for Aeryn. Claudia Black is again magnificent in the way she plays Aeryn's silent and very palpable longing to go home to her old life while also having her aware that this is just not an option.
My complaint that the D'Argo/John interaction feels like from several episodes ago not withstanding, the part of their big scene where D'Argo admits how hard it is for him to look at Crichton and not see a Peacekeeper (read: his brother-in-law) feels like a good follow up to the previous episode.
Lastly: Zhaan's photogasms are both still amusing and a great way for the show at the time to distinguish itself from the other sci fi fare on tv, covering various angles - characters' sexualty on display without them being punished for it, check, and another massive hint that Delvians aren't mammal life forms but plants.
The Other Days
no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 11:18 am (UTC)The actress who plays Furlow (Magda Szubanski) is a well known Australian comedian, who has done a lot of sketch comedy and is not known for being made up to look "sexy". (If you're interested, someone has uploaded a lot clips of her sketch comedy on YouTube.)
Wasn't that planet (I'm not sure if it was ever named) reminiscent of Tatooine? I suppose that's one advantage of filming in Australia--lots of sand (though I strongly suspect that was filmed somewhere on the coast rather than out in the actual desert. I also suspect the resemblance to Tatooine was totally deliberate.)
Yes, and it really is an obsession too--Crichton totally zoned out at the sight of that wormhole. Even at this stage I get the impression that wormholes are more than just a means to go home for Crichton. Unless my memory plays me false, I'd say the same holds true for Scorpius--they're more than just a weapon. Two sides of the same coin? This is something they're going to pick up and run with.
Along, of course, with Furlow taking Crichton's wormhole data. That's going to play out along the track--though I can't recall whether I expected to see Furlow again when I first watched this episode!
I loved Crichton role-playing the badass, and appreciated his tentative alliance with D'Argo (which is going to ripen into a friendship) but what really impressed me in "Till the Blood Runs Clear" was Aeryn. From her reluctance to let go of the idea of going home, to finding a solution to the bounty hunter problem that involved using her brains instead of her gun, she was marvellous from start to finish. And lets not forget her wonderful snark to Crichton in the beginning of the episode.
And credit to Zhaan and Rygel as comic relief this time round. Once again I'm stunned by special effects work that went into Rygel. It's hard to believe he wasn't played by a real Hynerian!
no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 03:09 pm (UTC)That's going to play out along the track--though I can't recall whether I expected to see Furlow again when I first watched this episode!
I don't remember, either. Though on rewatch, it seems clear they've set her up for a return!
Aeryn coming up with a solution while blinded was indeed awesome, and showcased her increasing ability to think outside the box beautifully.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 05:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-25 12:29 am (UTC)It's a hive of scum and villainy. *g*
no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 05:05 pm (UTC)Agree that the use of the outdated "alpha wolf" theory and Crichton taking pleasure in being nasty to Aeryn in order to ingratiate himself with Rorf are unpleasantly dated now.
There's a bit of dialogue that annoyed me when Zhaan and Rygel are arguing in the opening sequence - Zhaan says something like, echoing Rygel's use of "one", "one always thinks of one" when it should be "one always thinks of oneself", especially since Zhaan's dialogue is usually quite elevated and perfectly grammatical.
Also, whenever John's ship is referred to as his "module", it reminds me of the lyrics of Bowie's "Jean Genie": "he's so simple-minded he can't fly his module, bites on the neon and sleeps in a capsule".
no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 06:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 07:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-25 12:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-24 06:20 pm (UTC)What I love about Farscape is in any other sf show of the time, especially if it were a male character, Furlow would turn out to have a Secret Heart of Gold. Nope!
no subject
Date: 2020-05-25 06:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-25 03:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-25 03:32 am (UTC)The pardon offer was brilliant on Crais's part, and I was proud of Aeryn for not falling for it. Her blindness hijinks were very impressive, too, but I would have loved to see that gone into a lot more. A whole episode of Aeryn dealing with being blind and not knowing if it was temporary or not, instead of five minutes.
What do you mean Zhaan is a PLANT?
no subject
Date: 2020-05-25 06:14 am (UTC)A whole episode of Aeryn dealing with being blind and not knowing if it was temporary or not, instead of five minutes.
Later season Farscape will do that with a regular, though not Aeryn.