Learn how it almost ends:
1. “Denis DaMenace”:
Farscape 4.21 FAQ
What's it called?
Farscape 4.21 FAQ
What's it called?
"We're So Screwed, Part 3: La Bomba"
What does TV Guide say?
Crichton is reluctant to help destroy a cache of valuable flora after Scorpius thwarts his plans to escape the Scarran base; Stark (Paul Goddard) menaces Rygel and Noranti, compelling Sikozu to decide her future aboard Moya.
What is TV Guide getting wrong?
I don't know how Sikozu is compelled by anything Stark, Rygel or Noranti does this week. Though Sikozu does reveal a big secret this week having to do with her rotating eye. She also puts out.
Flora? Was that the Scarran garden John and Aeryn frolicked in last episode?
Yes. And it seems that grasshopper would give up anything to destroy it. Yep, even wormholes.
Why does Scorpy want to destroy it so bad?
Its seems that the plants and in particular the mother plant we saw on that pedestal last episode are the key to the Scarrans intellect. They aren?t just a nasty tasting snack food.
So is Scorpius really betraying John and his efforts to save him?
Yes and no. Scorpius stopped them from escaping because he really, really wants to destroy the secret Scarran garden. He also explains that they would have never made it out of Katratzi in one piece; the Scarran Emporer backs him up on this account.
But is Scorpius really working as a double agent for the emperor?
One never knows with Scorpius. He?s a sly one. But it seems he was making a deal with the emperor to stay alive and to get at that garden.
What about Stark? Since he proved how much he hates Scorpius will he join back up with the Moya crew?
Well Stark isn?t quite Stark. The Scarrans have Stark held in stasis because he knows too much about their garden and have replaced him with a bioloid.
Since Scorpy tortured poor Stark for so long in the Aurora chair, will they be able to get along on Moya?
That remains to be seen. However Scorpius, John (and Harvey) have a heart-to-heart about broken promises where Scorpy spills the whole garden situation and why Stark spent his time in the Aurora chair. This nicely ties up some questions about Stark and John?s torture in the Aurora chair in the first season. Damn this show is brilliant!
What about Braca and Grayza?
They play a VERY important part in the negotiations to get John?s wormhole technology. They make an offer that Moya?s crew will find almost impossible to pass up. Is it too good to be true? Probably? but by the end of the episode you can hope that their payment for the wormhole technology may have been paid without them having to hand the technology over.
What’s the offer and why could they receive it before they hand over the technology?
Their pardons. And to avoid spoiling anything for you? let?s just say that Braca finally grows some balls.
What are D?argo and Chiana up to?
Mostly they just want off Katratzi really bad. But once they get off? well they get off.
How about Granny and Rygel?
Like TV Guide says: Stark terrorizes them. But they rescue the real Stark who seems happy to see our lovable Hynerian Dominar. Also, Granny shows how valuable she can be by taking out one of those long faced Scarrans. Let me remind you, that is a feat that even the bad-ass Aeryn could not accomplish.
What about John?s bomb? Does it go off?
This is Farscape, so you knew it had to. It goes off in a way that is utterly predictable yet completely satisfying. Be honest? if the bomb didn?t go off in the Scarran?s main base, how disappointed would you have been?
The big news?
By the end of the episode, Scorpius agrees to forgive John?s wormhole knowledge debt to him.
The bigger news?
Sikozu is harboring a big secret that she lets us in on. She makes Granny?s use of powder to take out a Scarran seem very, very small. Let?s just say it reminds me of a great X-men character.
The biggest news?
Aeryn is up to something when they visit the Peacekeeper carrier that we are not let in on? but we can make a good guess by the final credits.
What's good?
This episode is another prime example of why Farscape is the best show on television. Ben Browder delivers the best lines written for episodic television right now. A lot of stories and character are fleshed out so well in this episode that is hard not to fall in love with David Kemper and the Farscape creative team. John and Aeryn?s relationship has not become annoying as most long-simmered TV relationships get after the two characters are finally together. Their relationship seems very natural as there is some great chemistry between Ben Browder and Claudia Black. The special effects, make-up, muppetry and set designs are all top-notch. This 3-parter has been some of the best Farscape to date.
What's not so good?
Not much. To be really nit-picky, it seems too easy for Moya?s crew to wander around the most highly guarded secret base in the Scarran Empire. The elevator escape plan that Scorpius comes up with seems a bit contrived, but it sure is a lot of fun. Also the ratings for Farscape haven?t exactly been lighting the world on fire, which is the biggest shame of all as Sci Fi can smugly claim they are doing the right thing by canceling it. Only one more episode left for us Scapers, and then it is off to DVD land. Excuse me while I weap.
How does it end? Give up the Spoilers!
Chiana and Dargo screw. Sikozu and Scorpious are about to screw. Boy am I glad Noranti and Rygel don?t screw. John and Aeryn get intimate? and Aeryn has something she wants to tell him. It?s probably a good guess that it has something to do with whatever she did on the Peackeeper Carrier.
DaMenace’s rating for “Farscape” 4.21?
****
The Hercules T. Strong Rating System:
- ***** better than we deserve
- **** better than most motion pictures
- *** actually worth your valuable time
- ** as horrible as most stuff on TV
- * makes you quietly pray for bulletins
Hope you post mine this week. In the mean time, keep up with that Buffy spoilage.
2. “Limber”:
Herc -
Last installment of the Katratzi trilogy, and after this there's only one more... So I'm going spoiler-free after the teaser, because a series this good deserves the chance to go out without being spoilt.
Crichton is NOT happy; Scorpius still has him pinned to the floor, desperately snarling something about calming down. Apparently John does, as there's no explosion. The Emperor shows up, sweetly asking if Crichton was planning to leave - Crichton insists that they were leaving because of the riot, no other reason. War Scarran gloats a bit about Scorpius being her prisoner, but then makes a quick exit when the Emperor dismisses her. Crichton, Emperor, snarl, snarl, Emperor backhands Scorpius off of Crichton, threat threat. All Scarran space around Katratzi has been mobilized to shoot anything non-Scarran, so maybe leaving wouldn't be the best idea after all, coos the Emperor. Crichton, having scrambled over to Aeryn, is resigned.
But what's this? Jenek's rooting around in D'Argo's ship (Lol'Aa?) Jenek's neutralized the system, but the Emperor wants more - he wants the starcharts and vector logs copied, then the entire area cleaned. "I don't want them to know what we know," the Emperor says.
Finally, our intrepid crew get to reunite, Scorpius and all. Scorpius is pointing out that the Scarrans were ready for this kind of move, and that he saved them; the rest of the crew seems to just gloss over this, trying to figure out another tack. Perhaps blasting their way out? But Lol'Aa doesn't respond to D'Argo's call, and before you know it... War Scarran's back. She advances on John, purring about not being frightened by Grayza, the bomb, John - and then she backhands him across the table and, uh, fondles his bomb. She's like some crazy egomaniacal restrained nympho, and she's totally creeping me out. CREDITS!
It's a pretty good episode, all in all. Tight plot, plenty of action, comedy gold, and the emotional impact is a nice counter to John's initial showmanship. It's sad to think that it'll all be over next week; the writers have set up batches of new, interesting problems and mysteries, and maybe that's what's holding me back from raving about this installment. As I saw all this great subtext and foreshadowing, all I could think of was - it's shadow for nothing. Unless they make a movie or two. But I'm not holding my breath. Regardless, this was a fine episode, balancing everything out in a lovely way, with just the right punch at the very end.
Highlights: We're finally told what the flowers are all about. Can you spot Mrs. Browder? Ha! Harvey watches too much "NYPD Blue" (uh, please tell me John didn't see "Oz" while he was back on Earth...) We also get the reason for Harvey's return, and it ain't pretty. Crichton and Grayza have a few words, but those words are loaded - one in particular. Dude - how many bioloids can one show have?!? Aeryn gets to the root of John's War Scarran fear. Damn unreliable nuclear craftsmanship... (Would it have killed them to throw some muzak into the Scarran elevator scene?) Sikozu displays superpower number three! War Scarran has a boyfriend? Ick. Mr. Smithers objects to the PKs going out in style. There's a rather hilarious shot of some extra flying over the camera in an explosion slo-mo. Hee... "Nikalou".
And the last five minutes have a little something for everyone.
One to go...
3. “Dark Avenger”:
Farscape 4.21 FAQ
What's it called?
What's it called?
"We're So Screwed, Part 3: La Bomba"
What does TV Guide say?
"After thwarting Crichton's (Ben Browder) escape plan, Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) denies that he's a Scarran spy, and demands Crichton's help to destroy a cavern of vital Scarran flora – claiming it will also provide them with a better means of escape. And while Rygel (voiced by Jonathan Hardy) and Noranti (Melissa Jaffer) fight an evil Stark (Paul Goddard), Sikozu (Raelee Hill) must reveal her true colors if they are all to survive."
True colours?
Yeah, sorta sparkly, almost in a Dark Phoenix kinda way.
Grayza? Braka?
Quite prominent this week.
So is Scorpy really a Scarren spy?
Pah, is anything ever as it first seems on this here show?
What's the deal with the 'cavern of vital Scarren flora'?
Put it this way - you'll never think of the term flower power the same way again.
So Crichton and co., by God, come up with yet another daring escape plan in an effort to flee Katratzi?
Kinda, sorta. Oh who am I kidding, this is the John Crichton show. Anything involving big, drill shaped elevators, a gang of escaped prisoners and a misplaced nuclear device is destined to end in tears.
What's the worst that could happen?
Ummm, Ka-Boom......????
Anything big?
Sikozu's purty light show, the Scorpy/Harvey revelation about the source of Scarran power. Also, one thinks that Aeryn's down-played trip to the Command Carrier's sickbay is gonna have some serious bearing on next week's season finale.
The good?
A Farscape shippers' delight this one turns out to be. John/Aeryn, D'Argo/Chiana, Scorpius/Sikozu, there's something for everyone to smile about. Plus some sweet John-Harvey 2.0 material as well as the great 'Wonka-vator' ride to the surface!
The bad?
The mere fleeting glimpses we get of Stark, the tease of an all out assault on Katratzi by Grayza's Command Carrier. One gets the feeling that the writer's are still living in the shadow of last season's destruction of Scorpy's ship at the hands of Crais and Talyn and try as they might, they just don't come close to topping it this time around.
How does it end?
John takes a moment.
4. “Charlie & Tex”:
FARSCAPE 1.21 REVIEW
LA BOMBA
The third part of the We’re So Screwed story begins with the Scorpius persuading Crichton to calm himself down and disarm the bomb he has strapped to him.
The Scarrens and the Peacekeepers both experience shifts in their power structures as they race to get the wormhole knowledge any way they can.
A plan is formulated to escape from Katratzi by using a burrowing elevator (in typical Crichton pop-culture fashion, it is eventually referred to as the Wonka-vator) whilst the systems in D’argo’s ship Lo'la attempt to repair themselves after being tampered with.
Along the way, Scorpius becomes obsessed with making a breed of plant, the Crystherium Utilia that is grown in a nursery on Katratzi and is essential to the ruling members of the Scarrans, completely extinct. The man in black is more than a little peeved when it becomes apparent that an almost impenetrable shield has been erected around the mother plant.
In the nursery, when most of the gang are trapped and Scarran troops are on their way down in the elevator (btw, there is a tip of the hat to the "fart-in-the-lift" gag in Revenge of the Pink Panther). In typical Farscape fashion, when all looks lost one of the main characters conveniently reveals a previously unknown ability that saves the day.
Meanwhile, Rygel and Nortanti have to battle with an evil duplicate of Stark in order to release the real Stark from stasis so that he can help them to find a way off Katratzi, owing to his knowledge of the base through spending a lot of time there before joining Moya – are you guys still following this…?
As all this goes on, things aren’t looking too good for Grayza, apart from not still not being able to locate a couple of replacement buttons for her blouse, she faces an act of mutiny from her supposedly loyal second-in-command, Brakka. Jesus, hasn't velcro hit this part of Tormented Space yet?
In the elevator, most of the gang await the almost certain death from Scarrens, Crichton strikes a bargain with Scorpius – if he is able to destroy the plants that are so precious to the Scarrens, Scorpius will forget the earlier deal about Crichton imparting his knowledge of wormhole technology to him. Crichton reactivates the bomb and throws it down the lift-shaft – where it plummets literally right into the hands of the Scarrens...
The episode ends with Chiana & D’Argo in the sack, Scorpius & Sikozu closer than ever, Stark back with the gang and a depressed Crichton is pondering wearily about the amount of people he killed when the bomb went off.
La Bomba, when viewed with the previous parts in the story, represents Farscape at it’s best – there are thrills, spills & all that other shit. The pacing, directing, writing and general production values are such that if you were watching on a big widescreen TV & decent sound system, there are times when you would swear that you were watching a movie. The climax is one of the most thrilling & hilarious things we’ve ever seen on something produced for TV, with a combination of coup-de-grace and comic timing rivaled only by Bill Hicks delivering a "fuck you" at a funeral.
There a couple of things that work against this episode – firstly, the fight between Rygel & Noranti and the duplicate of Stark is over in a flash, maybe it is another example of the BBC being over-zealous with the scissors (they even got rid of the We’re So Screwed title for the trilogy) and even after rescuing him, he does nothing to help the plot along. The other irritant is the hastily inserted sub-plot about the Crystherium Utilia plant – it is introduced so rapidly and appears to be nothing more than a way of hastily getting rid of the Scarrens from the show.
Apart from Crichton’s melancholic brooding this three-parter ends on a relatively upbeat note: it sees Paul Goddard back on the show as a series regular after a suspiciously swift exit some time ago; many story-threads were wrapped up and after the episodes set on Earth earlier in the season, the emphasis had been taken off of the original premise of the show – to get Crichton back home. With a little editing and reshooting, this could have been the perfect closer to the series. It is a pity that there is one more episode to go, as whatever follows can surely only be an anticlimax – probably with a cliffhanger storyline that will never be resolved.
Oh well, mustn’t grumble…
CHARLE & TEX
5. “BH”:
Here we have Part 3 of "We're So Screwed" called "La Bomba", which might be the most human episode this season since 4.11 "Terra Firma".
This third parter picks up where part two "Hot to Katratzi" left off, with Scorpius sabatoging Crichton's plan for freeing him and they end up still on the Scarran base. It is revealed that the flowers that the scarrans like to suck on actually are what keeps them alive and continually evolving! Without them they'd be dead a thousand cycles ago. The plan is to blow up the mother flower and get out of there!
This 3 parter has been the best of all three part story arcs that they have done. Titling it "We're So Screwed" is aptly put, since it seems that when they have the situation under their control, they get screwed! Not only is this, and has been, funny as hell but it has been an intriguing and inventive story that always leaves me wondering "whats going to happen next?" I can usually see the ending of all stories since all producers seem to like to do is rehash storylines from before over and over (a reason why I dropped Enterprise from my viewing schedule), but with Farscape, as always, I am left guessing and always surprised with a smile on my face.
Thankfully my favorite character returns to the crew of Moya, and its not Stark (although I love him on the show), its "Harvey", Scorpius's neural Clone in John's brain. Being in John's brain lets us see John in many different guises and also see Harvey do many different and non-Scorpius things. This time its "tough cop" (Crichton) questioning a street punk (Scorpy!). My favorite scene since we saw "Harvey" wearing a sun hat and beach shirt at the beginning of the season, going for a snow cone.
The best moment here is the end, where we see the storyline has been tied up neatly, but not without its bruises. Its where John Crichton reflects upon what he has done, and wonders if he's going to continue doing this over, and over, and over again. Its the most sympathic scene with John I've seen in awhile, and really sums up what his character has gone through these last few years. But none of that would work if it weren't for a truely talent Ben Browder.
"We're So Screwed" Part 3 : La Bomba gets a much deserved 4 stars (out of 5). My only complaint was that Norianti and Rigel's subplots got so cut that we didn't get a lot of them this ep.
I'm also saddened that I won't be seeing any more new stories with the crew of Moya. UPN PICK UP THIS SHOW!
BH
