Farscape Episode 1.15: “Durka Returns”

[chavalah.livejournal.com]

At long last, this feels like “Farscape.” Chiana, the last major member of the crew, as well as my favorite character, has finally showed up. On the ScapeCast rewatch of this episode, one of the panelists noted that Chiana brought something that was missing from the show, even if we didn’t know it was missing until she arrived.

She was certainly one of the most convincing aliens, to my mind. Gone are the days of the slow talkers; Gigi Edgley plays her alien with cat-like grace. It’s incredible to just watch her move. But beyond her strange physicality, Chiana had a lot in common with the crew. She was an outsider, on the run due to questionable crimes. She was also basically the show’s first teenager, and interacted with our friends on Moya in ways that might not seem so different to we humans. She was sexy, mischievous, flawed, compassionate and growing.

But enough of my Chiana fangirling; I have the rest of the series to do that now. :D This episode did more than introduce new characters; it also reintroduced old ones. This led to some personal growth arcs for Rygel and Aeryn (meanwhile, John was largely wrapped up with the new girl. :P) We are also introduced to a new alien culture, which actually rivals the Peacekeepers both in weaponry and in crazy groupthink. Yikes.

( Episode Summary and Spoilers )