Farscape Rewatch: Nerve (1.19)
Jul. 12th, 2020 07:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakWiki summary: When an injury Aeryn sustained in A Bug's Life threatens to kill her, Crichton and Chiana travel undercover to a nearby Peacekeeper base to obtain a tissue transplant, and are aided by Gilina. Base leader Scorpius penetrates Crichton's disguise and subjects him to an interrogation device called the Aurora Chair. Crichton's cellmate is a masked individual named Stark.
Aaaaand here he is: our main antagonist of the series. Retrospectively, I'm amused that the first time Scorpius shows up, in the mess hall, he's pointed out to the tv audience but Crichton doesn't seem to notice him at all, and also he just is there for a moment, takes a look so we can admire the creepiness, and then leaves again. Wayne Pygram, getting stuck with all that make-up for the next few years, really was one of those actors who managed to convey an incredible amount despite or even with it. Not yet in this first outing, of course, though I will say the interrogation/torture scene already make clear that Scorpius isn't doing this to get his sadistic jollies, he, more chillingly, just thinks it's an excellent way to satisfy his curiosity about this non-Sabacean maybe spy who turns out to have a connection with wormholes. (Or anyone else, see Stark, though I'll save my comments about Stark's introduction for the next episode when he has his proper debut.) I mean, even non-fascist organisations would consider interrogating someone whom you've caught impersonating one of your officers legit, but Scorpius does not even try to have an actual conversation with Crichton before getting to the mind flaying. (And thereby setting the tone for their relationship.) Incidentally, scriptwriter Richard Manning, I'm curious why you called it "The Aurora Chair" - what on earth does it have to do with dawn? (Maybe John's translator microbes malfunctioned.)
It's fitting that the episode where John first meets his shadow self also finds him in in full on obsessive mood, about Aeryn instead of wormholes/reaching Earth this time (last time we've seen him like this was several eps ago when he and Aeryn were out in a prowler and he caught sight of a wormhole). It reminds me of that scene in the s4 opener where an exasparated Rygel lists John's preoccupations with Aeryn, wormholes, Earth, wormholes, Earth, Aeryn, and he's not wrong. We've seen John worried for Aeryn before, of course, and it's entirely understandable to do everything to save someone you care about from dying even if you're not in love with her, but this is still a different type of concerned than, say, when he's worried for Aeryn in DNA Mad Scientist. It makes his mono-focused and unable to relate to anything or anyone else, which comes out not just in the initial distrust that Chiana comes along simply to help, not for an ulterior motive (sure, Chiana hasn't been with them that long, but earlier John would have taken her on her word for this) but also in his attitude towards Gilina. Meeting a woman you flirted with after having emotionally comitted yourself to your One True Love might be awkward at a ball, but this is a rescue operation, it's not like John and Gilina had been dating, she's helping, and if he'd just explained but still behaved friendly... never mind. Btw, it says something about Chiana's own brand of ruthless pragmatism and emotional priorities that without anyone giving her the backstory she figures out Gilina has a bit more than attraction for Crichton and point blank lies to her in order to keep their newfound ally at the base extra motivated.
(Seriously though: the difference between the John who said goodbye to Gilina in PK Tech Girl and the John showing up here says a lot about how he's developing, not just in terms of Aeryn.)
Meanwhile on Moya: awwwwwwwww on D'Argo's downright tender concern for Aeryn. It's been a while since the show emphasized their fellow warriors bond, but here it is in its full glory, and if you think back to the early part of the show when D'Argo couldn't see Aeryn without (for understandable reasons) thinking (and growling out loud) "Peacekeeper", it highlights how far they've come.
On this rewatch, for the first time it occurred to me that Aeryn herself originally taking her death sentence as given when, since she has the same information Crichton has - that there's a PK base within reachable distance - she could have come up with the same idea invites speculation: more innate fatalism? More concern for her fellow Moyans (since obviously going anywhere near a PK Base is incredibly dangerous to same)?
Lastly: welcome back, Crais. You don't know it yet, but you're nearing the end of your stint as main antagonist, and even in this first meeting between Crais and Scorpius, it's clear why that was a good decision on the part of the creative team. On a Watsonian level, I wonder why Crais isn't more worried, because he has to know that the longer he stays on the base, the more chances are he'll be busted in terms of the fact he's ignored and gone against orders for eons to satisfy his personal vendetta. But he's still in his insane military commander mode, I suppose, and thus not thinking beyond finally getting his hands on Crichton.
The Other Days
Aaaaand here he is: our main antagonist of the series. Retrospectively, I'm amused that the first time Scorpius shows up, in the mess hall, he's pointed out to the tv audience but Crichton doesn't seem to notice him at all, and also he just is there for a moment, takes a look so we can admire the creepiness, and then leaves again. Wayne Pygram, getting stuck with all that make-up for the next few years, really was one of those actors who managed to convey an incredible amount despite or even with it. Not yet in this first outing, of course, though I will say the interrogation/torture scene already make clear that Scorpius isn't doing this to get his sadistic jollies, he, more chillingly, just thinks it's an excellent way to satisfy his curiosity about this non-Sabacean maybe spy who turns out to have a connection with wormholes. (Or anyone else, see Stark, though I'll save my comments about Stark's introduction for the next episode when he has his proper debut.) I mean, even non-fascist organisations would consider interrogating someone whom you've caught impersonating one of your officers legit, but Scorpius does not even try to have an actual conversation with Crichton before getting to the mind flaying. (And thereby setting the tone for their relationship.) Incidentally, scriptwriter Richard Manning, I'm curious why you called it "The Aurora Chair" - what on earth does it have to do with dawn? (Maybe John's translator microbes malfunctioned.)
It's fitting that the episode where John first meets his shadow self also finds him in in full on obsessive mood, about Aeryn instead of wormholes/reaching Earth this time (last time we've seen him like this was several eps ago when he and Aeryn were out in a prowler and he caught sight of a wormhole). It reminds me of that scene in the s4 opener where an exasparated Rygel lists John's preoccupations with Aeryn, wormholes, Earth, wormholes, Earth, Aeryn, and he's not wrong. We've seen John worried for Aeryn before, of course, and it's entirely understandable to do everything to save someone you care about from dying even if you're not in love with her, but this is still a different type of concerned than, say, when he's worried for Aeryn in DNA Mad Scientist. It makes his mono-focused and unable to relate to anything or anyone else, which comes out not just in the initial distrust that Chiana comes along simply to help, not for an ulterior motive (sure, Chiana hasn't been with them that long, but earlier John would have taken her on her word for this) but also in his attitude towards Gilina. Meeting a woman you flirted with after having emotionally comitted yourself to your One True Love might be awkward at a ball, but this is a rescue operation, it's not like John and Gilina had been dating, she's helping, and if he'd just explained but still behaved friendly... never mind. Btw, it says something about Chiana's own brand of ruthless pragmatism and emotional priorities that without anyone giving her the backstory she figures out Gilina has a bit more than attraction for Crichton and point blank lies to her in order to keep their newfound ally at the base extra motivated.
(Seriously though: the difference between the John who said goodbye to Gilina in PK Tech Girl and the John showing up here says a lot about how he's developing, not just in terms of Aeryn.)
Meanwhile on Moya: awwwwwwwww on D'Argo's downright tender concern for Aeryn. It's been a while since the show emphasized their fellow warriors bond, but here it is in its full glory, and if you think back to the early part of the show when D'Argo couldn't see Aeryn without (for understandable reasons) thinking (and growling out loud) "Peacekeeper", it highlights how far they've come.
On this rewatch, for the first time it occurred to me that Aeryn herself originally taking her death sentence as given when, since she has the same information Crichton has - that there's a PK base within reachable distance - she could have come up with the same idea invites speculation: more innate fatalism? More concern for her fellow Moyans (since obviously going anywhere near a PK Base is incredibly dangerous to same)?
Lastly: welcome back, Crais. You don't know it yet, but you're nearing the end of your stint as main antagonist, and even in this first meeting between Crais and Scorpius, it's clear why that was a good decision on the part of the creative team. On a Watsonian level, I wonder why Crais isn't more worried, because he has to know that the longer he stays on the base, the more chances are he'll be busted in terms of the fact he's ignored and gone against orders for eons to satisfy his personal vendetta. But he's still in his insane military commander mode, I suppose, and thus not thinking beyond finally getting his hands on Crichton.
The Other Days
no subject
Date: 2020-07-12 05:40 pm (UTC)In terms of Aeryn, I think the reason for not suggesting the Gammak Base on her own account is because she knows how unlikely the chances of succeeding are, and as a good soldier she doesn't want other people taking crazy risks to save her life. I liked the fact that D'Argo isn't just sympathetic, but actually comes up with the idea of using Moya's systems for dialysis when Zhaan is defeated. And I was definitely surprised the first time I saw this episode, and again, that Aeryn is actually cured before the cliffhanger.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-13 05:54 am (UTC)I was too back in the day, and it occurs to me that this is very Farscape, because this way, Aeryn and John take turns being the who needs to get rescued (though in different ways).
In terms of Chiana, he's also more judgemental about her sexual activities than he will be later, although that might be because he's worried about the mission.
Yes, it did come across to me like being about his fear they'll get busted this way. Mind you, it would have read differently if Chiana had been the first character on this show behaving overtly sexual with several people. (Though in this particular case, it's clearly part of her idea of infiltration.) But since we had D'Argo on the lotus eater planet, for example, it establishes a different context.
Re: Aeryn, sounds most plausible to me!
no subject
Date: 2020-07-12 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-13 05:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-13 01:29 am (UTC)I don't know if TPTB had decided that Scorpius was going to be an ongoing antagonist at this point, or whether he as originally written as "villain of the week", but he certainly makes more sense than Crais in that role both dramatically and thematically. I'm inclined to think that his development into John's "shadow self" (great phrase!) was a happy accident. I'm looking forward to the future where they develop his background and his motives more fully, though they're still consistent with what we see here.
And speaking of "shadows"--was that Lieutenant Braca trailing Crais in a non-speaking part? *g*
It was sheer bad luck John was walking down that corridor when Scorpius was passing the other way.
Next, Chiana. I've just realised that she's the only person on Moya who's a career criminal. And she deploys her skills to advantage here. I found the way she "distracted" the officers on the base very entertaining. She was obviously more comfortable with what she was doing than John was (I got the impression that she was having fun until things went pear-shaped!)
Lastly John: is it just me, or does he come out with the pop culture references more often when he's under stress? I counted at least three here: James Bond, Lost in Space and Monty Python. I'm sure other viewers caught more!
no subject
Date: 2020-07-13 06:07 am (UTC)Oh, absolutely. I mean, in terms of quite how important he became to the show, and how the relationship with John turned out. I'll never forget how surprised I was when I heard the commentary on Crackers don't matter when they said only then did they decide on the neural chip story, definitely not in this two parter we're now wawtching. However, I do think Scorpius was meant to be more than a villain of the week, because this two parter puts him in a position to take over from Crais. Presumably if the character hadn't worked out the way he did, or if they couldn't have come up with good storylines, Scorpius in turn would have been replaced by another ongoing antagonist the next season.
John and his pop culture references: speaking of Trek, the people around him must feel like they're in the TNG episode Darmok all the time when talking to him. ;)
no subject
Date: 2020-07-13 01:54 pm (UTC)On "Darmok", I prefer my idea that Aeryn and John will go down in Sebacean legend as similar to a gender-swapped version of Spike/Dru from early Buffy - the ruthless, calculating warrior and her sexy, psychotic shaman boyfriend who is vulnerable and needy with occasional outbursts of berserk violence, and advises her in oracular, densely metaphorical word salad that only she can get the meaning of.
no subject
Date: 2020-07-18 06:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-26 01:46 pm (UTC)That was my impression too!