Farscape Rewatch: Fractures (3.17)
Apr. 18th, 2021 01:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakWiki summary: Moya encounters a band of former Peacekeeper prisoners, one of which is a traitor. Talyn returns, but Aeryn has difficulty accepting the presence of Crichton. Upon learning about his counterpart's sacrifice, Crichton decides he needs to stop Scorpius' wormhole research and plans to board the Command Carrier.
I must say, I had completely forgotten this episode offers our first non-evil (as far as we know) Scarran, and that D’Argo sort of bonds with him. Possibly because I don’t recall any follow up? As in, while both Scarrans and Peacekeepers are introduced as antagonists and very bad news, the PKs, even aside from Aeryn as a regular, are presented from the get go as being evil qua system, not via genetic make-up, meaning that individual Peacekeepers can be presented as three dimensional and make non-evil choices (which happened as early as s1, again, even completely leaving Aeryn aside). By contrast, Scarrans so far showed up to menace, kill and terrorize, with “Scarrans are worse than PKs!” Being Scorpius’ big self justification in his own head. And yet here, we get a Scarran-as-tormented-prisoner, who does, in fact, not betray his allies and is able to get along with other races. It’s a remarkable storytelling choice, but as far as I recall s4 - which I haven’t watched in years and years and years, so who knows what I’ve forgotten - there won’t be another like him even once we get to meet the Scarrans on their home turf.
Anyway, the Scarran isn’t what made the episode as you can see from the wiki summary. MoyaJohn (and everyone else) finds out about TalynJohn’s death, which comes with Aeryn’s emotional withdrawal and stonewalling as part of her attempt to (not) deal with her pain. As opposed to what I recall from s4, this back in the day struck me as legitimate angst, and still does; Aeryn’s grief along with the season until now having divided its narrative attention equally on both is the final building stone, so to speak, in the effort to keep both Crichtons real instead of treating one of them as the “real” one and the other as the copy. At the some time, as an audience member I feel for Crichton and her both, being in this horrible and impossible situation. (Though once again I wonder what Aeryn would have done if TalynJohn had lived - would she have written MoyaJohn off completely or at least attempt to, well, say goodbye or have a friendly relationship or what?)
That the main message TalynJohn has left to his other self is not, in fact, about Aeryn (though of course there’s a message about her as well, but it’s not the main event) but about wormhole technology, what it can do, and the responsibility this means is part of the ongoing “responsibilities of a scientist” arc this season, and yet it’s a new storytelling step. In s1 and s2, the big action show finales came to be because Our Heroes had to rescue one of theirs (or two); destroying the Gammak Base and later the Shadow Depository was the means to an end, but not the reason. Escaping, fleeing, has still been their primary drive and modus operandi. Whereas what John suggests at the end is the exact opposite. It means seeking out their (well, his) far more powerful arch nemesis, not to rescue one of their own but for a general principle that involves the future of the galaxy at large. It’s a different kind of mission, and I find it telling that the two characters who first join him are the two ex Peacekeepers, who while rejecting their society now have been imprinted on serving a greater good being the ultimate goal.
Going back to the start: Fractures by confronting the Moya crew with a bunch of escaped prisoners (plus one Peackeeper) in a way lets them meet their earliest selves (well, not Jool, Jool gets to interact with Crais instead), and on this rewatch I thought it was a shame that they were all killed off. I mean, I can see why, what with the upcoming epic season finale, but still: the Scarran was really innovative and interesting, and Chiana interacting with other Nebari who don‘t want to brainwash her is so very rare. As for Orrhn, that entire subplot felt like „if Farscape had done Hynerian episodes the way DS9 did Ferengi episodes“. If you hated or at least disliked Ferengi episodes on DS9, I can see you reacting with „well, thankfully there weren‘t more!“, but I found that brief glimpse at a Hynerian other than Rygel interesting, and I do appreciate her story is the reverse of, say, Pel‘s on DS9; she‘s not in love with Rygel, she‘s using him (and that she‘s letting him know she didn‘t enjoy herself while doing so is the insult adding to injury), and if you think about it, she‘s not that different from Rygel at the start of the show in her willingness to sell out everyone in order to save herself.
Lastly: the fact that TalynJohn ends his Stark-delivered holographic message with another take on rock, paper, scissors, and the fact MoyaJohn and he no longer make the same decisions is such a great visual to emphasize that while they‘re both John Crichton, different experiences do make us change (in small and larger ways), and at the same time perhaps the ultimate pay off to John starting to teach D‘Argo that game all the way back in s1.
The other episodes
I must say, I had completely forgotten this episode offers our first non-evil (as far as we know) Scarran, and that D’Argo sort of bonds with him. Possibly because I don’t recall any follow up? As in, while both Scarrans and Peacekeepers are introduced as antagonists and very bad news, the PKs, even aside from Aeryn as a regular, are presented from the get go as being evil qua system, not via genetic make-up, meaning that individual Peacekeepers can be presented as three dimensional and make non-evil choices (which happened as early as s1, again, even completely leaving Aeryn aside). By contrast, Scarrans so far showed up to menace, kill and terrorize, with “Scarrans are worse than PKs!” Being Scorpius’ big self justification in his own head. And yet here, we get a Scarran-as-tormented-prisoner, who does, in fact, not betray his allies and is able to get along with other races. It’s a remarkable storytelling choice, but as far as I recall s4 - which I haven’t watched in years and years and years, so who knows what I’ve forgotten - there won’t be another like him even once we get to meet the Scarrans on their home turf.
Anyway, the Scarran isn’t what made the episode as you can see from the wiki summary. MoyaJohn (and everyone else) finds out about TalynJohn’s death, which comes with Aeryn’s emotional withdrawal and stonewalling as part of her attempt to (not) deal with her pain. As opposed to what I recall from s4, this back in the day struck me as legitimate angst, and still does; Aeryn’s grief along with the season until now having divided its narrative attention equally on both is the final building stone, so to speak, in the effort to keep both Crichtons real instead of treating one of them as the “real” one and the other as the copy. At the some time, as an audience member I feel for Crichton and her both, being in this horrible and impossible situation. (Though once again I wonder what Aeryn would have done if TalynJohn had lived - would she have written MoyaJohn off completely or at least attempt to, well, say goodbye or have a friendly relationship or what?)
That the main message TalynJohn has left to his other self is not, in fact, about Aeryn (though of course there’s a message about her as well, but it’s not the main event) but about wormhole technology, what it can do, and the responsibility this means is part of the ongoing “responsibilities of a scientist” arc this season, and yet it’s a new storytelling step. In s1 and s2, the big action show finales came to be because Our Heroes had to rescue one of theirs (or two); destroying the Gammak Base and later the Shadow Depository was the means to an end, but not the reason. Escaping, fleeing, has still been their primary drive and modus operandi. Whereas what John suggests at the end is the exact opposite. It means seeking out their (well, his) far more powerful arch nemesis, not to rescue one of their own but for a general principle that involves the future of the galaxy at large. It’s a different kind of mission, and I find it telling that the two characters who first join him are the two ex Peacekeepers, who while rejecting their society now have been imprinted on serving a greater good being the ultimate goal.
Going back to the start: Fractures by confronting the Moya crew with a bunch of escaped prisoners (plus one Peackeeper) in a way lets them meet their earliest selves (well, not Jool, Jool gets to interact with Crais instead), and on this rewatch I thought it was a shame that they were all killed off. I mean, I can see why, what with the upcoming epic season finale, but still: the Scarran was really innovative and interesting, and Chiana interacting with other Nebari who don‘t want to brainwash her is so very rare. As for Orrhn, that entire subplot felt like „if Farscape had done Hynerian episodes the way DS9 did Ferengi episodes“. If you hated or at least disliked Ferengi episodes on DS9, I can see you reacting with „well, thankfully there weren‘t more!“, but I found that brief glimpse at a Hynerian other than Rygel interesting, and I do appreciate her story is the reverse of, say, Pel‘s on DS9; she‘s not in love with Rygel, she‘s using him (and that she‘s letting him know she didn‘t enjoy herself while doing so is the insult adding to injury), and if you think about it, she‘s not that different from Rygel at the start of the show in her willingness to sell out everyone in order to save herself.
Lastly: the fact that TalynJohn ends his Stark-delivered holographic message with another take on rock, paper, scissors, and the fact MoyaJohn and he no longer make the same decisions is such a great visual to emphasize that while they‘re both John Crichton, different experiences do make us change (in small and larger ways), and at the same time perhaps the ultimate pay off to John starting to teach D‘Argo that game all the way back in s1.
The other episodes
