Farscape Rewatch: The Ugly Truth (2.17)
Nov. 15th, 2020 01:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakWiki summary: After a Plokavian ship is destroyed by Talyn with Crichton, Aeryn, D'Argo, Zhaan, and Stark on board, they are put on trial by the Plokavians. During their testimony, the story of their meeting with Talyn and Crais is told from a number of perspectives.
What I renembered about this one before rewatching: uses the Rashomon concept, sort of, to hilarious effect. What I had utterly forgotten before rewatching: this is the one where Stark sort of dies (the first time). Though to be fair, they let him make it clear that he has a chance of surviving, so aren't really faking the audience out. Still, retrospectively I wonder about the storytelling choices for Stark. He had a strong debut in the two parter which introduced him, but in this season, he gets abruptly brought back to boost Zhaan's psychic powers in one episode, then "killed off" in the next, without having had a chance to grow on (much of) the audience which means there's a big difference between the way his presumed death affects the characters and them. Now the actor continues to be good - the reaction shots in the lower key flashbacks when he watches Crais tell you all about how strongly Stark still feels about the Peacekeepers who imprisoned him (and his people) before he says a word, for example, and the episode shows both the annoying side of Stark and his capacity for sacrifice. But still, at the end, I wonder whether the first time audience is supposed to be as strongly affected as Zhaan or at least as D'Argo, and well, Stark wasn't around long enough for that.
This being said: the way the episode uses the "everyone is the hero of their own story" gimmick is as funny as I recalled, while also making character points about everyone and how they see each other and themselves. That whoever tells the tale is the character acting calmly and rationally in the flashback, becoming the spokesperson/leader of the Moya group, with everyone else taking on exaggarated characteristics of themselves: a given. (Thus Zhaan is a frightened mess in Aeryn's flashback, while in Zhaan's flashback not only is she the supremely confident voice of reason but everyone else talks like she does, too. (Crais keeping calling Crichton "John" in Zhaan's flashback the way Zhaan does was something else I'd forgotten and it made me grin.) I think one of my favourite details is that in Aeryn's flashback, not only does she declare she could reason with Talyn and he'd listen to her but everyone else, including Crais, declares her to be the supreme Talyn whisperer as well. Meanwhile, in everyone else's flashbacks, all this is reduced to Aeryn making one comment/threat that she could take over as Talyn's captain. My other favourite detail is that in D'Argo's flashback, John's utterings are limited to agreeing with D'Argo and saying "yeah" after D'Argo told Crais what's what. Methinks for all that they're friends now, D'Argo is still secretly irritated by John's incessant chatter.
(Missed chance: we never find out how Crais' version of this event would have looked and sounded like. I bet it would have included Aeryn complimenting him on his Talyn handling.)
Angsty with hindsight: Crais' concern about Talyn's growing aggressive tendencies. Mind you, it's a case of "they should have listened, but I utterly understand why everyone is so sceptical about newly reformed Crais". There's something both tragic and fitting about Crais, who is after all responsible for Talyn being essentially a child with superweapons, becoming a severe case of "be careful what you wish for" as he witnesses Talyn's development and is unable to stop it.
Lastly: John at the end asking Aeryn about why she didn't blame the entire incident on Crais and after her "because of Talyn" explanation adding the question whether this was her only reason, which she confirms: is just low key enough not to come across as irritatingly possessive/jealous, but it's interesting that he feels the need to ask in the first place.
The Other Days
What I renembered about this one before rewatching: uses the Rashomon concept, sort of, to hilarious effect. What I had utterly forgotten before rewatching: this is the one where Stark sort of dies (the first time). Though to be fair, they let him make it clear that he has a chance of surviving, so aren't really faking the audience out. Still, retrospectively I wonder about the storytelling choices for Stark. He had a strong debut in the two parter which introduced him, but in this season, he gets abruptly brought back to boost Zhaan's psychic powers in one episode, then "killed off" in the next, without having had a chance to grow on (much of) the audience which means there's a big difference between the way his presumed death affects the characters and them. Now the actor continues to be good - the reaction shots in the lower key flashbacks when he watches Crais tell you all about how strongly Stark still feels about the Peacekeepers who imprisoned him (and his people) before he says a word, for example, and the episode shows both the annoying side of Stark and his capacity for sacrifice. But still, at the end, I wonder whether the first time audience is supposed to be as strongly affected as Zhaan or at least as D'Argo, and well, Stark wasn't around long enough for that.
This being said: the way the episode uses the "everyone is the hero of their own story" gimmick is as funny as I recalled, while also making character points about everyone and how they see each other and themselves. That whoever tells the tale is the character acting calmly and rationally in the flashback, becoming the spokesperson/leader of the Moya group, with everyone else taking on exaggarated characteristics of themselves: a given. (Thus Zhaan is a frightened mess in Aeryn's flashback, while in Zhaan's flashback not only is she the supremely confident voice of reason but everyone else talks like she does, too. (Crais keeping calling Crichton "John" in Zhaan's flashback the way Zhaan does was something else I'd forgotten and it made me grin.) I think one of my favourite details is that in Aeryn's flashback, not only does she declare she could reason with Talyn and he'd listen to her but everyone else, including Crais, declares her to be the supreme Talyn whisperer as well. Meanwhile, in everyone else's flashbacks, all this is reduced to Aeryn making one comment/threat that she could take over as Talyn's captain. My other favourite detail is that in D'Argo's flashback, John's utterings are limited to agreeing with D'Argo and saying "yeah" after D'Argo told Crais what's what. Methinks for all that they're friends now, D'Argo is still secretly irritated by John's incessant chatter.
(Missed chance: we never find out how Crais' version of this event would have looked and sounded like. I bet it would have included Aeryn complimenting him on his Talyn handling.)
Angsty with hindsight: Crais' concern about Talyn's growing aggressive tendencies. Mind you, it's a case of "they should have listened, but I utterly understand why everyone is so sceptical about newly reformed Crais". There's something both tragic and fitting about Crais, who is after all responsible for Talyn being essentially a child with superweapons, becoming a severe case of "be careful what you wish for" as he witnesses Talyn's development and is unable to stop it.
Lastly: John at the end asking Aeryn about why she didn't blame the entire incident on Crais and after her "because of Talyn" explanation adding the question whether this was her only reason, which she confirms: is just low key enough not to come across as irritatingly possessive/jealous, but it's interesting that he feels the need to ask in the first place.
The Other Days
