![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakWiki summary: To avoid capture by Scorpius Crichton is forced to propose to a Princess — however, there are competitors for the throne and a rival working with a Scarran plans to eliminate Crichton.
This is such a tropey episode that it feels like someone's fanfic in the best way. Arranged Marriage, check; main pairing first having a misunderstanding and then due to new circumstance forced to confront the depth of their feelings for each other, check; readers, err, viewers assured that temporary rival for OTP is not really a rival and only temporary by making it clear a) this is in no way her fault and her affections are otherwise engaged, and b) the eighty years statue clause means this for sure won't happen to our main character. Oh, and all regulars except for Zhaan and Pilot, who are in the other plotline, offer advice on the main pairing's love lives instead on minding their own business. (Even Rygel.) Like I said: pure fanfic.
Seriously, though, there is something about the episode that on this rewatch feels incredibly charming to me and makes me handwave away any world building concerns (like how is this whole thing supposed to work without the frozen as statues people going insane in the course of 80 years if they're conscious the entire time? and why a monarchy, if these are descendants from Sebacean dissidents?). I remember the first time around being a bit surprised Aeryn freaks out about a compliment re: her hair and a kiss now when in the previous episode they were literally in each other's pants, but in retrospect, precisely because they've become closer and closer would be a good time for Aeryn to get fears and issues. And I do appreciate that Katralla is given a reason to marry Crichton which has nothing to do with him being that irresistible and which ensures she's not presented as a villain.
This episode offers is our first Scarran character, and when I rewatched the ep, I actually thought: Huh, I remembered you as taller. It's also when we get for the first time a hint to Scorpius' backstory, and where Scorpius shows up displaying why he's different than any PK so far. Insane Military Commander (tm) Crais would have thrown his weight around and come to the planet with an escort; Scorpius showing up seemingly alone and casual is ever so much more unsettling, as is him being smart enough not to pursue Moya when Zhaan tries her dstracting manoeuvre in the first place.
It's a very good episode for Ben Browder, as Crichton's storyline goes from a John/Aeryn rom com to being a PTSD (with no post in the TS) victim of torture. The scene where he tells Aeryn he's scared of Scorpius, that Scorpius is in his head all the time (and he doesn't even know yet how literally) along with the later scene between John and D'Argo when John says "hope" are such good character scenes. One of many things I'll always love this show for is that it committed 100% to showing the vulnerability, the long term unhealed trauma of torture in its male lead, instead of using the torture it inflicts on him to show how manly he is and how he can't be broken. And when John tells D'Argo he needs to have the hope that he'lll be able to get home and see his loved ones again, that this keeps him going, then all the inherent silliness of the arranged marriage premise with the statue on top suddenly stops being silly and truly is a visceral loss to be dreaded.
On a lighter note: "John, I'm with Chiana now" = Farscape continues its laudable course of letting D'Argo not show any homophobic reactions.
I do hope John's sister recorded all those Buffy episodes for him to marathon once he gets home in s4. Honestly, that's another thing I love the show for: not playing John's geekness safe by letting ihm reference only established classics like Star Trek or Star Wars but something that was then a contemporary show in its third or so season.
The Other Episodes
This is such a tropey episode that it feels like someone's fanfic in the best way. Arranged Marriage, check; main pairing first having a misunderstanding and then due to new circumstance forced to confront the depth of their feelings for each other, check; readers, err, viewers assured that temporary rival for OTP is not really a rival and only temporary by making it clear a) this is in no way her fault and her affections are otherwise engaged, and b) the eighty years statue clause means this for sure won't happen to our main character. Oh, and all regulars except for Zhaan and Pilot, who are in the other plotline, offer advice on the main pairing's love lives instead on minding their own business. (Even Rygel.) Like I said: pure fanfic.
Seriously, though, there is something about the episode that on this rewatch feels incredibly charming to me and makes me handwave away any world building concerns (like how is this whole thing supposed to work without the frozen as statues people going insane in the course of 80 years if they're conscious the entire time? and why a monarchy, if these are descendants from Sebacean dissidents?). I remember the first time around being a bit surprised Aeryn freaks out about a compliment re: her hair and a kiss now when in the previous episode they were literally in each other's pants, but in retrospect, precisely because they've become closer and closer would be a good time for Aeryn to get fears and issues. And I do appreciate that Katralla is given a reason to marry Crichton which has nothing to do with him being that irresistible and which ensures she's not presented as a villain.
This episode offers is our first Scarran character, and when I rewatched the ep, I actually thought: Huh, I remembered you as taller. It's also when we get for the first time a hint to Scorpius' backstory, and where Scorpius shows up displaying why he's different than any PK so far. Insane Military Commander (tm) Crais would have thrown his weight around and come to the planet with an escort; Scorpius showing up seemingly alone and casual is ever so much more unsettling, as is him being smart enough not to pursue Moya when Zhaan tries her dstracting manoeuvre in the first place.
It's a very good episode for Ben Browder, as Crichton's storyline goes from a John/Aeryn rom com to being a PTSD (with no post in the TS) victim of torture. The scene where he tells Aeryn he's scared of Scorpius, that Scorpius is in his head all the time (and he doesn't even know yet how literally) along with the later scene between John and D'Argo when John says "hope" are such good character scenes. One of many things I'll always love this show for is that it committed 100% to showing the vulnerability, the long term unhealed trauma of torture in its male lead, instead of using the torture it inflicts on him to show how manly he is and how he can't be broken. And when John tells D'Argo he needs to have the hope that he'lll be able to get home and see his loved ones again, that this keeps him going, then all the inherent silliness of the arranged marriage premise with the statue on top suddenly stops being silly and truly is a visceral loss to be dreaded.
On a lighter note: "John, I'm with Chiana now" = Farscape continues its laudable course of letting D'Argo not show any homophobic reactions.
I do hope John's sister recorded all those Buffy episodes for him to marathon once he gets home in s4. Honestly, that's another thing I love the show for: not playing John's geekness safe by letting ihm reference only established classics like Star Trek or Star Wars but something that was then a contemporary show in its third or so season.
The Other Episodes
