Three More Left …
4. “The Dark Avenger”:
Farscape 4.20 FAQ
What's it called?
Farscape 4.20 FAQ
What's it called?
"We're So Screwed, Part 2: Hot to Katratzi"
What does TV Guide say?
"Moya's crew travels to Katratzi, a Scarran base where Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) is being tortured for wormhole information. The base is home to both Kalish and Charrid forces – underlings for the Scarrans. The crew plans to incite a confrontation between these two contingents, hoping this diversion will allow them to free Scorpius, and prevent wormhole knowledge from falling into Scarran hands."
Any former cast members?
You betcha.
Grayza? Braka?
Both, actually.
Do we finally see Katratzi?
Yep, looks kinda Death Star-ish, beautifully rendered and not like anything you're likely to see on Enterprise. Ever.
Any chance that Scorpius might be imprisoned there!?!
How intuitive of you. As it happens, he's being put through the proverbial ringer while the Scarrans try and get him to spill the beans about the fabled wormhole technology.
So Crichton and co. stage yet another daring rescue mission in an effort to stop their former nemesis from giving up the goods?
Kinda, sorta. Another typical Crichton scheme that's 2 parts genius and 3 parts suicide. How I will miss this show when it is gone.
What's the worst that could happen?
You've obviously never tangled with a Scarran before......
Anything big?
The surprise return of one of my favourite characters from the previous season and more intriguing insights into the origins of one of the more recent additions to Moya's ever changing crew.
The good?
Difficult to say what isn't in this near perfect episode. It twists and turns in a way only Farscape can, leaving the viewers to recoil in horror and dare to wonder where the writers will leave our beloved crew by the series' end.
The bad?
Aeryn's pacifism at the most inopportune of moments is a minor annoyance. Also, in the case of Wayne Pygram as Scorpius, how much foaming at the mouth can one man do!
How does it end?
Scorpius reveals his true colours. Kinda.
3. “Altoids Girl”:
Farscape 4x20 Hot to Katratzi
Well, this was quick. I"m certiantly enjoying the names immensly..
John, with a renewed Aeryn and the rest of the crew are on their way to rescue Scorpy, or at least to get him out of the Scarrens' hands. John's plan? To walk into Katratzi with a thermoneacular strapped to his waist and balls the size of texas. John's past and future is in one room: Grayza, the Scarrens, Aeryn, wormwholes on the brain and Scorpy not too far behind. He's brash, bold, has some great lines, w/ a mock patriotic slant that ends with John ready to sell the wormwhole tech to the highest bidder. "Blue light special on aisle three" he says, "..and a free set of steak knives."
The crew seperate to take on the various species on board: Sikuzo and the Kalish, D'Argo with the Charrids (think bounty hunters but stupider) Chiana and the Scarrens, and Noranti with the Sebeceans. They are going to try and arouse suspiciouns between the races.
Sufficed to say they start the riot, there is a bunch of politiking between species, John and Aeryn kicking ass and plenty of Scorpy torture. I'm not going to get into the details because there are a ton and the last review ended more like an extended synopsis than anything else. I'm just going to mention a few things that are important, that I like, and a few I didn't, and an over all impression of the episode.
The real Stark is back do, and is brought in by the Scarrens to torture Scorpy.
Scorpy has been a spy for ten arns for a faction of Scarrens.
Sikuzo, we are finally told officially, is a bioloid, and so is another Kalish; she will use him to arouse tension between the Kalish and the Charrids.
The episode ends with Scorpy free, a knocked out Aeryn and John's heartbeat getting very, very, very high.
Likes:
John and Aeryn and the bomb that senses heart rate. You do the math. Chiana and the mivonks. Scarrens and their love of flowers. Scorpy and his tongue. The dance in the elevator, parralleing "Dog With Two Bones" John, Aeryn, field of flowers. John as the brash, caustic American that he is.
Dislikes:
Once again the pacing. It's quick in some places and then just off in others. Farscape has the tendency to have so many things happening at once, and usually it pulls it off, but...
The Scarren make up: in some lights it works, in others it's just makes them look like the kids in fourth grade that hit puberty early.
That's it for now. Goddamnit I'm gonna miss this show when it's gone.
Altoid's Girl
2. “DrunkStan”:
Farscape 4.20 - We're So Screwed Pt 2 - Hot to Katratzi Baby get down!! This is what TV was made for! Smart, snappy dialogue. Good use of all characters. Good pacing and tension. Some poignant moments and surprises. And a good old fashioned, guns-ablazing riot topped off with a nice cliff-hanger ending.
So what's the story so far? Hot on the heels of a captured Scorpius, the crew follow the Scarrens to Katratzi, where a Peace-Keeper command carrier is also in orbit. John is worried that wormhole information may be tortured out of Scorpy and comes up with a plan to ingratiate himself into these negotiations. Complete with a nuclear bomb strapped to his side, John strides into the conference room and launches into a fantastically bravado speech, warning that any change in his status will cause detonation, and that he is the man who is "…able to leap tall galaxies in a single bound". With a final capitalistic flourish, he states "..and what am I bid for the secrets of the universe?". Hell, he's even prepared to throw in a set of steak knives to seal the deal. This precipitates a bidding war on both sides to gain this knowledge.
Of course, this is a bluff to buy more time. Meanwhile, D'Argo, Rygel and Sikozu are busy sowing the seeds of discontent between the various allied species, playing up on their prejudices and fears. They are aiming to start a full blown riot to cover Scorpy's rescue and escape. However, Scorpy has his own problems. The gruelling physical torture has been replaced by mental torture, courtesy of Stark (the real one), seeking revenge for the way he was treated in Series one and threatening to capture his soul.
What's good? Where do I start? John is back to his wisecracking best, with Aeryn not far behind ("Does mummy know where you are?" she quizzes Braca when they meet in the corridor, referring to Grayza). Rygel's and D'Argo's convincing double act, sowing the seeds of doubt into the Charrid's minds. Scorpy's lurid offers of sado-masochistic sex to his female Scarren torturer. More secrets revealed about Sikozu. John and Aeryn having a quiet slow dance whilst travelling on the subway. A fantastically orchestrated riot, complete with gunplay and armed Kaylish running over the walls and ceilings. Some shocking revelations about Scorpius. All those good points are just for starters!
What's bad? Not much, only small niggling points (for instance, what's Stark doing there, what are his motivations?). This is as close as gets to perfect TV. The only really bad point is that the Sci-Fi Channel shamefully broke their promise to viewers for a 5th series. I keep getting the dread feeling that there will be no closure for these well written characters.
Keep bugging the Sci-Fi Channel
DrunkStan
1. “Limber”:
Herc!
Whoo! "Hot to Katratzi"! Okay, I liked this episode LOADS more than then last one. Unfortunately, I thought that this was going to be a two-parter - I was very wrong. It seems that Farscape's doing a three-parter instead, so it's Cliffhanger Time again this week.
Now, at the beginning of this episode, I had my doubts about two of the characters. First of all - what the hell is up with Sikozu? She seems kind of loyal, but then there was that weird hand-thing she pulled on the control panels last show. And she's got that Thing going on with Scorpius... Who is the other wildcard. Loyal? Evil? Does he really have a Harvey hotline into John's brain? I am utterly confused, more than a little paranoid - god, I love this show.
So. After the last episode, which was a load of useless action as far as I'm concerned, this episode seems tight and tuned. For one, we start off with the crew all in the same place. They don't stay together for long, but long enough so that we at least know they're all on the same page. Except for Scorpius, who's in some kind of elaborate (and bloody - ew) torture cage being questioned by the War Scarran (she's probably got a real title, but y'all know who I mean, right? Right.) He's obviously been in there a while, judging from the amount of Tang dripping off his chin. Anyhow, War Scarran's goading him about wormholes, and he Tangs back "I've been searching my whole life for a female like you..." And then he purrs at her sadistically. HA! She sneers and zaps him.
The crew's left Moya somewhere, choosing to approach Katratzi (though one would be forgiven in thinking they were headed for the Death Star by appearances) in the Prowler. Sikozu hails the base by telling them that John Crichton wants to join the negotiations, which gets them docking clearance. The plan? Enter the base, start a civil war, grab Scorpius and scarper. The insurance? "Mankind's greatest contribution to the absurd: the thermonuclear bomb." Credits!
This episode's great. John strides right into the negotiation chamber, the bomb on his hip and Aeryn (very pointedly included as his "partner") at his side. He cuts to the chase immediately, in a monologue laced with pop-culture references, the American way and, well, insanity. Basically, he's offering the wormhole technology ("and a free set of steak knives") to the highest bidder. "Now - what am I offered for all the powers of the universe?" Hee! He is totally hyped and off the wall in this episode, not to mention a total cheeseball; fabulous.
The players in this installment: Grayza and Braca; the Scarran Emperor and War Scarran; and some Kailish and guys who look like Klingons splashed with acid whose names I don't know (Cherids, maybe?). Another thing that sets this episode apart from the last - here, the crew are split up, but we know what they're doing. Sikozu's deployed to the Kailish, Rygel and D'Argo are headed to the Cherids, and Noranti and Chiana are assigned to Peacekeeper recon. And now I'm going to ignore most of them, because they spend the rest of the episode subtly nudging the already-paranoid races towards action. The really important stuff centers on Aeryn and John, Sikozu, and then Scorpius.
Aeryn and John are delightful, gallivanting around Katratzi like kids at a playground. They visit everything, piss everyone off, dance in an elevator, and then do something that got John arrested for in college in the middle of a restricted field of Scarran delicacies. Hee! This freaks the Scarrans out - apparently because it's a restricted area, though it also might have something to do with the sex-in-food-area thing. Maybe. Anyhow, they're having a marvellous time, in a very flirting-with-death way. Which is highly appropriate, as the bomb is linked to Crichton's heart rate - it drops? Boom. It speeds up? Boom. It stops? Boom. It's effective - at one point War Scarran tries the heat thingie, and the bomb almost explodes (the alarm tone goes wild) and he refuses to deactivate it. It also tends to start blinking when he's nuzzling Aeryn, which she finds hysterical. It seems he's not bluffing.
Sikozu's busy with another cute guy. She gets in contact with the Kailish Secretary's assistant - and then something bizarre happens. While bickering about background checks in a secluded corner, Sikozu... uh, well, she rotates her eyeball 180 degrees. Half of it's a metallic sphere. After catching his breath, the assistant does the same, and then they lean in to each other and breathe deeply. Well, THAT was unexpected. Turns out they're both bioloids, and members of "The Resistance" - I can only assume it's a Kailish organization to overthrow the Scarrans? BioloidBoy agrees to help the Moya crew incite a riot between the Cherids and the Kailish.
And Scorpius... War Scarran continues to torture him, and he produces more frothy Tang. But then, War Scarran springs a surprise - Stark! He's back, and he is deLIGHted to have Scorpius in a torture room. He's got Scorpius all to himself for two whole arns - and then, he'll kill Scorpius and imprison his soul. Stark exposes his shiny face, Scorpius screams and flails. But just when we think Scorpius might be a Good Guy - in comes the Emperor. Apparently Scorpius hasn't been affected by the torture at all - he's just mimicking, and he's the Emperor's spy, and has been for ten cycles. But he's jittering the entire time, and he doesn't SEEM like he's faking... Honestly - I canNOT keep UP with this show. But I like it that way. And then Scorpius is handed over to Crichton and Aeryn; they threaten to kill him until they're sure he's genuine, then begin to haul his tortured carcass out of there as All Hell Breaks Loose.
The ending fight sequence is great - humorous and quick, and I know where everyone is located. It's also wildly cool to have numerous Kailish climbing the walls all at once, firing everywhere. There's one FABULOUS Crichton line, when Braca saves Scorpius' ass from a Scarran ("Feel the love, Mr. Burns"), and they're almost at the Prowler when... Scorpius backhands Aeryn and wrestles John to the floor!
Scorpius tells John to breathe deeply, then hisses "If you trust me enough to live, you may well discover the truth..." as John starts to go apoplectic at the betrayl and the nuke starts sounding its warning beep...
To Be Continued!
Highlights - Hello, BIOLOID?!? John's monologue. Crichton/Aeryn scenes, again. Sikozu, who really acts her spots of this week. The pithy Scorpius remarks. What's up with the Scarran foliage? All the dialogue this week, really. Stark, from left field. God, I hope some of these get tied up before the series finale, because I'm intrigued.
Excellent show, excellent writing, excellent arc - damn you, SciFi.
5. “Charlie & Tex”:
FARSCAPE 4.20: HOT TO KATRATZI Picking up where Fetal Attraction left off, the second part of the aptly-named We’re So Screwed trilogy sees Moya & company out to free Scorpius from the clutches of the Scarrans.
Crichton’s reason for rescuing his nemesis is to prevent Scorpuis’ from revealing the knowledge of wormhole technology that has been buried in his mind.
Crichton gatecrashes a conference between the Scarrans and the Peacekeepers and announces that he his willing to sell his knowledge of wormholes to the highest bidder, proudly offering: “I’m an American. What does every American want? Capitalism”. In order to ensure his safety, Crichton has strapped a crude thermo-nuclear device to himself, tricked-up with every kind of dead-mans’switch he can muster: “too happy, too sad…”
Whilst both sides are trying to up the ante, the wheels are set in motion to free Scorpius. As Rygel and D’argo try to get the low-level workers at the complex to riot, Sikozu enlists the help of a kindred spirit to aid the acquisition of Scorpius.
Crichton make dummy deals with both sides: the Peacekeepers offer him a full pardon for past crimes and the Scarrans offer him a guarantee of safety for him and Earth, to which Crichton replies:
“Bill Gates couldn’t guarantee Windows safety, so how can you guarantee mine?”
As Scorpius in being interrogated, the Scarrans pull out their secret weapon to use in extracting the vital information. Without spoiling it for you (although other reviews printed here will doubtless reveal who it is), the Scarrens bring in a familiar face, absent from Moya for some time, who is just itching to take revenge on his former tormentor. Whereas, a devoted ally seeks to free his former master from enemy hands…
When the balloon goes up, the riots break out and Crichton & Aeryn find Scorpius and drag the weakened half-breed to a waiting escape ship (it’s gotta’ be said that the silly voice that Wayne Pygram puts on at this point makes him sound like Zippy from Rainbow – one for the UK readers!). As this is the second part of a three-part story, the escape does not go to plan: the climax sees Scorpius decking Aeyrn and pinning Crichton to the floor as he hisses “trust me…”, all the while the stress-o-meter attached to the Crichton’s Thermo-nuclear device beeps furiously, like Jackie Gleason’s Haemo-gauge in Smokey & the Bandit II…
This episode is a great mid-section to this story, and serves to show that it’s a fucking shame (excuse our French) that this show will bite the big one in two episodes time. It is also a pity because this, along with the previous episode, finally started to flesh out a couple of characters that have long been overlooked – namely Noranti & Rygel. Noranti has become both more compassionate and street-smart, with a nice line in knowing humour and (gulp) more than a hint of a sex-drive about her…
The romance between Crichton & Ayren (which, let’s face it, has been more off-&-on than the whole fucking marriage storyline in Lois & Clark) finally begins to show itself, as the pair share a moment in a lift before the potentially futile rescue plan commences, giving a literal interpretation to the words of Irving Berlin’s Let’s Face the Music and Dance”
There have been a couple of times in the last couple of episodes where Rygel has come into his own and you see that there is great potential in the character – a greater depth than merely being the one who drops helium trouser-coughs for comic relief. It’s a great pity that this will not be developed further. It would have been cool if they could have given him an episode where he was the main character - in the tradition of groan-inducing titles, they could have called it Making Plans for Rygel.
It will soon be time for Farscape to disappear down a televisual wormhole on the strength of what has been seen for the most part this season, it’s a real bitch.
CHARLIE & TEX
