Farscape Rewatch: Taking the Stone (2.03)
Aug. 23rd, 2020 03:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakWiki summary: Chiana leaves Moya and takes residence on a planet populated by a young group of aliens who take part in a dangerous and life-threatening rite.
Something I hadn't remembered at all was the tiny subplot about Rygel the graverobber being spooked into returning the stolen goods. Whereas I recalled the main plot quite well, not least because, and this held up upon rewatch, it contributed very much to both my fondness for Chiana and for the Chiana & John relationship. Something that had faded in memory but which impressed me very much this time around is Aeryn's role lin all this; we've seen in the previous episode she and Chiana are still not exactly keen on each other, and she's initially pissed off at the prowler stealing, but she's also very astute and insightful with what's going on with Chiana, and how dragging her back to Moya by force won't solve anything. "I know loss" is such a profound line the way Claudia Black says it and really sells me on Aeryn meaning so much with this.
This is the first big Chiana episode, and the first one where Chiana's sex appeal is totally irrelevant to what happens in her scenes. Speaking of the acting, Gigi Edgley really does a terrific job here, because I never lost the impression Chiana is in incredible pain through most of the episode, no matter the outward bravado or anger or curiosity. In terms of writing, I approve of the fact that whether or not the leader of the local gang is scheming for her to die in his place is not made the solution, because it's irrelevant to Chiana's basic problem: the loss of her brother, not knowing whether she can continue/is worthy of continuing without him. In a lesser episode, Chiana would have found the will to live again either after a good talking to or through the discovery she'd been set up or something like this. Here, it's John who has to learn to let her deal with it and that what he can do for her is being there for her, not tell her how to grieve. (Even though sonic bungee jumping is admittedly... anyway.)
Something else that strikes me is that while we've seen John and Chiana affectionate in, say, the s1 finale, this is the first episode that shows that they really have come to care about each other deeply. Hence Chiana's hurt when he blows her off initially, but also the tenderness in the later scenes. Back then I found it all the more intriguing because Chiana wasn't set up as an alternate love interest (her flirtatious nature not withstanding), and late 90s/early 2000s tv in general didn't offer many male and female friendships that weren't destined to become romantic sooner or later. There's a strong subtext here that he's come to see her as something of a little sister (her denial that she's not this not withstanding), and that's as good a way to describe the relationship as any, though similtanously they are also aware of each other as man and woman (even before John figures out he already did have sex with her, courtesy of time travelling), it's just not a primary thing.
John asking Aeryn point blank whether she thinks he's been acting (more) crazy in recently: I seem to recall there's an audio commentary for the next episode where the writers say they didn't decide on the neural chip arc until Crackers Don't Matter, so this surprises me a bit, because it sure as hell sounds as if they'd already decided and are giving the audience a strong hint. Leaving such Doylist deliberations aside, on a Watsonian level it shows our Crichton is self aware enough to start noticing something is off that's not just the stressful life of the Unchartered Territories. That he plays Russian Roulette with mushrooms certainly is as bonkers as anything that Chiana is doing in this episode, and he's not working through the loss of a beloved brother. (John and Chi both being capable of doing crazy stunts gets visualized in the final scene when they both go into the "Taking the Stone" gesture.)
Trivia: -neuralclone's observation that the Unchartered Territories are full of remnants of previous civilizations gets another example here in the planet of the royal tombs.
- the clans choosing radioactive brief butpartying intense life over long term survival on the surface struck me back then as perhaps H.G. Wellesian, but on this rewatch, it just strikes me as insane human nature, because good lord, the Covid parties... Anyway, our heroes being unable to talk them out of it is another entry in the "were not Star Trek" annals and a Farscape thing
The other episodes
Something I hadn't remembered at all was the tiny subplot about Rygel the graverobber being spooked into returning the stolen goods. Whereas I recalled the main plot quite well, not least because, and this held up upon rewatch, it contributed very much to both my fondness for Chiana and for the Chiana & John relationship. Something that had faded in memory but which impressed me very much this time around is Aeryn's role lin all this; we've seen in the previous episode she and Chiana are still not exactly keen on each other, and she's initially pissed off at the prowler stealing, but she's also very astute and insightful with what's going on with Chiana, and how dragging her back to Moya by force won't solve anything. "I know loss" is such a profound line the way Claudia Black says it and really sells me on Aeryn meaning so much with this.
This is the first big Chiana episode, and the first one where Chiana's sex appeal is totally irrelevant to what happens in her scenes. Speaking of the acting, Gigi Edgley really does a terrific job here, because I never lost the impression Chiana is in incredible pain through most of the episode, no matter the outward bravado or anger or curiosity. In terms of writing, I approve of the fact that whether or not the leader of the local gang is scheming for her to die in his place is not made the solution, because it's irrelevant to Chiana's basic problem: the loss of her brother, not knowing whether she can continue/is worthy of continuing without him. In a lesser episode, Chiana would have found the will to live again either after a good talking to or through the discovery she'd been set up or something like this. Here, it's John who has to learn to let her deal with it and that what he can do for her is being there for her, not tell her how to grieve. (Even though sonic bungee jumping is admittedly... anyway.)
Something else that strikes me is that while we've seen John and Chiana affectionate in, say, the s1 finale, this is the first episode that shows that they really have come to care about each other deeply. Hence Chiana's hurt when he blows her off initially, but also the tenderness in the later scenes. Back then I found it all the more intriguing because Chiana wasn't set up as an alternate love interest (her flirtatious nature not withstanding), and late 90s/early 2000s tv in general didn't offer many male and female friendships that weren't destined to become romantic sooner or later. There's a strong subtext here that he's come to see her as something of a little sister (her denial that she's not this not withstanding), and that's as good a way to describe the relationship as any, though similtanously they are also aware of each other as man and woman (even before John figures out he already did have sex with her, courtesy of time travelling), it's just not a primary thing.
John asking Aeryn point blank whether she thinks he's been acting (more) crazy in recently: I seem to recall there's an audio commentary for the next episode where the writers say they didn't decide on the neural chip arc until Crackers Don't Matter, so this surprises me a bit, because it sure as hell sounds as if they'd already decided and are giving the audience a strong hint. Leaving such Doylist deliberations aside, on a Watsonian level it shows our Crichton is self aware enough to start noticing something is off that's not just the stressful life of the Unchartered Territories. That he plays Russian Roulette with mushrooms certainly is as bonkers as anything that Chiana is doing in this episode, and he's not working through the loss of a beloved brother. (John and Chi both being capable of doing crazy stunts gets visualized in the final scene when they both go into the "Taking the Stone" gesture.)
Trivia: -
neuralclone's observation that the Unchartered Territories are full of remnants of previous civilizations gets another example here in the planet of the royal tombs. - the clans choosing radioactive brief but
The other episodes
no subject
Date: 2020-08-24 04:42 am (UTC)... And I was going to kick off my response by saying the very same thing!
My first thought watching this was "Farscape is going all Mad Max again!", followed by the thought, "And the Clan reminds me of the hippies in "The Way to Eden"." A darker version of "The Way to Eden", of course, because this is Farscape.
And of course the Clan isn't going to take John's advice and move to the surface where they can live longer, because they're teenagers and "it can't happen" to them, even when "it" is staring them in face (or rather, banished from sight). And as they described 30-something Crichton as "ancient" clearly the idea of living to maturity doesn't hold much appeal to them. Their society is built around the idea of "live fast and die young" and John's well-meaning advice isn't going to sway them.
I'm inclined to think that at this stage they're just going with the idea that John is suffering from PTSD after Scorpy's aurora chair. I've just been looking up the "arousal and reactivity symptoms" of PTSD:
1. Jumpiness, exaggerated startle response, hypervigilance
2. Sleep disturbance
3. Irritability and/or aggressive behavior
4. Problems with concentration
5. Reckless or self-destructive behaviors
- and 1, 3 and 5 certainly fit John's behaviour in the last two episodes.
(Farscape does fantastic world building and has some frelling wonderful aliens and action plots, but on this rewatching I've become very impressed at how real its emotional core is. Chiana processing grief and John processing trauma and them colliding with each other in their different ways of handling things is just the latest example.)
no subject
Date: 2020-08-24 08:09 am (UTC)*nods* Mind you, recent events made me conclude they might not have acted differently at any other age. Or even: given that currently teenagers are on the front lines of the saving the environment movements, I'm not sure we're not slandering them...
but on this rewatching I've become very impressed at how real its emotional core is.
Yes, and that's why snobbery like that of Edward J. Olmos of "if the first alien shows up, I'M outta here" fame irritates me so much. Chiana might be grey-skinned and -haired, but you never doubt her emotional reality for a heartbeat, and as for what's to come for Pilot...
no subject
Date: 2020-08-24 11:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-24 01:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-28 09:20 pm (UTC)Watching this time, my big takeaway was that John is just as driven by negative emotion as Chiana in this, convinced that if he can keep one thing in his life stable and status quo he can keep the whole of it.
In Star Trek terms, this reminded me specifically of "Miri" with the whole "condition that kills you when you reach adulthood" thing.
"Only on Farscape" moments: Rygel eating the maggot, and Chiana dropping to her knees on the "tralk" line.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-29 05:08 am (UTC)Yes, that's how the first scene comes across to me now, though I remember back in the day I just wrote it off as him being in a mood. But like I said - playing Russian Roulette with mushrooms you have no idea about really is insanely risky and easily on a level with what Chiana does. No wonder he asks Aeryn later.
Good point about Miri, I'd forgotten.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-29 09:34 am (UTC)