Farscape Rewatch: Coup by Clam (4.10)
Jul. 25th, 2021 12:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakWiki summary: With Moya struggling to adapt to Tormented Space, the crew stops at an isolated settlement to get assistance. They submit to a routine examination for so-called "Space Madness", but find themselves the victims of an extortion plot by the examining doctor, who has placed toxic quantum clams in their food.
Honestly though, I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn't recalled disliking this episode, true, but neither had I any positive associations. I dimly recalled it did the Farscape bodily fluid thing, and that Scorpius ended up saving the day somehow, and that was it. On this rewatch, though, I had a grin on my face through most of the episode. I thought the food poisoning extortion scheme was just the kind of petty grift the show had been missing this season (well, okay, except for the thieves some eps back, but they hadn't been fun) which made the inhabitants of the Farscapeverse so real. And I was ready to sacrifice a goat to the (female) scriptwriter for not pairing up John and Aeryn with the food poisoning link, but instead Aeryn and Rygel, and John and Sikozu, which meant instead of yet more gratitious John/Aeryn angst we just had enjoyable silliness. Clearly, every time Claudia Black gets to channel Rygel, the episode in question is a winner. :)
Making this the planet of the evil machos but letting the female revolutionary movement being hostile to our heroes as well could have backfired, which is why I was glad of the subplot with Chiana and the sympathetic undercover revolutionary on Moya as a counterpart. (Said plot was also a serious counterpart to the "John and Rygel in drag" part of the shenanigans down on the planet.) It's in general a good episode for Rygel, including both his pragmatic, sensible side and the capacity for vicious retaliation (i.e. biting off the nose of the doctor at the end and feeding him the clam).
Scorpius using his incredible pain threshold as a method to prolong the others' lives till the cure can be administered reminded me that the comment a week or two ago that the reason why no one uses the Yensch-bracelets again on Scorpius is that really, if it serves his purposes he's able to endure any amount of pain, so there's no point was utterly correct.
In conclusion: not a deep episode, but a fun one. Bring on the Unrealized Realities!
The other episodes
Honestly though, I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn't recalled disliking this episode, true, but neither had I any positive associations. I dimly recalled it did the Farscape bodily fluid thing, and that Scorpius ended up saving the day somehow, and that was it. On this rewatch, though, I had a grin on my face through most of the episode. I thought the food poisoning extortion scheme was just the kind of petty grift the show had been missing this season (well, okay, except for the thieves some eps back, but they hadn't been fun) which made the inhabitants of the Farscapeverse so real. And I was ready to sacrifice a goat to the (female) scriptwriter for not pairing up John and Aeryn with the food poisoning link, but instead Aeryn and Rygel, and John and Sikozu, which meant instead of yet more gratitious John/Aeryn angst we just had enjoyable silliness. Clearly, every time Claudia Black gets to channel Rygel, the episode in question is a winner. :)
Making this the planet of the evil machos but letting the female revolutionary movement being hostile to our heroes as well could have backfired, which is why I was glad of the subplot with Chiana and the sympathetic undercover revolutionary on Moya as a counterpart. (Said plot was also a serious counterpart to the "John and Rygel in drag" part of the shenanigans down on the planet.) It's in general a good episode for Rygel, including both his pragmatic, sensible side and the capacity for vicious retaliation (i.e. biting off the nose of the doctor at the end and feeding him the clam).
Scorpius using his incredible pain threshold as a method to prolong the others' lives till the cure can be administered reminded me that the comment a week or two ago that the reason why no one uses the Yensch-bracelets again on Scorpius is that really, if it serves his purposes he's able to endure any amount of pain, so there's no point was utterly correct.
In conclusion: not a deep episode, but a fun one. Bring on the Unrealized Realities!
The other episodes
