One question: is it a requirement that all Peacekeeper commanders are insane,or is just an accident? *g*
This is one of episodes that stuck most vividly in my mind, and yet, after many years of not watching, it turns out there were things I either hadn't recalled (Chiana's voice sounds somewhat differently here from how Gigi Edgley plays the character later, I think) or misremembered (nope, the head-on-a-stick thing happens seasons later).
Me too--though in my case I thought that the Nebari-try-to-mind-cleanse-the-crew-by-doing-creepy-things-with-their-eyeballs scene was in this episode. Nope, I'll have to wait until Season 2 to see that (through my fingers, probably). I agree with all you say about the totalitarian nature of Nebari society. The whole "mind cleansing" thing sounds positively Orwellian, or to use Zhaan's word, "evil". That and the sanctimonious way in which Salis tortures his prisoner means I can't feel particularly concerned by the possibility that Chiana killed him. In the Uncharted Territories the forces of law are usually arraigned against the individual and if you want justice you have to take it into your own hands.
However I do think the possibility was raised (killer last line, Crichton!) in order to unbalance the still tenuously bonded crew. They're still slowly coming together and now this new character has been introduced. Can they trust her? My memories of Chiana's early episodes are faded, so I'm quite looking forward to watching how this develops.
Mind you, given everyone but Crichton and Aeryn is an ex-convict on this ship, they were amazingly quick to take Salis' word on her being a dangerous criminal, without, other than Crichton, asking what exactly she'd done.
Strictly speaking, Rygel was a political prisoner--but his lack of interest in what Chiana had done was entirely in character. Which brings me to Rygel. The way Farscape gives its "muppet" characters serious storylines and character development is a thing of joy. (And it doesn't hurt that Rygel is voiced by a Shakespearean actor, either!) I thought the scene where he defied Durka while he was tied to a table was a Crowning Moment of Awesome for him.
A last comment on the production values of this episode: I thought the way this episode was lit, and some of the angles from which it was shot, added a nice menacing atmosphere to Moya (particularly after Durka locked himself into Command). It underlined the fact that something and someone nasty had invaded the Moyans' home.
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Me too--though in my case I thought that the Nebari-try-to-mind-cleanse-the-crew-by-doing-creepy-things-with-their-eyeballs scene was in this episode. Nope, I'll have to wait until Season 2 to see that (through my fingers, probably). I agree with all you say about the totalitarian nature of Nebari society. The whole "mind cleansing" thing sounds positively Orwellian, or to use Zhaan's word, "evil". That and the sanctimonious way in which Salis tortures his prisoner means I can't feel particularly concerned by the possibility that Chiana killed him. In the Uncharted Territories the forces of law are usually arraigned against the individual and if you want justice you have to take it into your own hands.
However I do think the possibility was raised (killer last line, Crichton!) in order to unbalance the still tenuously bonded crew. They're still slowly coming together and now this new character has been introduced. Can they trust her? My memories of Chiana's early episodes are faded, so I'm quite looking forward to watching how this develops.
Strictly speaking, Rygel was a political prisoner--but his lack of interest in what Chiana had done was entirely in character. Which brings me to Rygel. The way Farscape gives its "muppet" characters serious storylines and character development is a thing of joy. (And it doesn't hurt that Rygel is voiced by a Shakespearean actor, either!) I thought the scene where he defied Durka while he was tied to a table was a Crowning Moment of Awesome for him.
A last comment on the production values of this episode: I thought the way this episode was lit, and some of the angles from which it was shot, added a nice menacing atmosphere to Moya (particularly after Durka locked himself into Command). It underlined the fact that something and someone nasty had invaded the Moyans' home.