Farscape Episode 3.18: “Fractures”

[chavalah]

Welcome to the reunion episode! Though because this is “Farscape,” it turns out to be so much more. :P We do get the Moya and Talyn reunion, which is of course marred by Talyn John’s absence, but our guest aliens of the week also introduce a mystery thriller arc. I think that the ScapeCast crew had a little bit more fun with that than usual, mainly as a way to break the tension between John and Aeryn.

The episode also mixed and matched Crais and Jool to surprising effect, and introduced a transgender theme before that identity became quite the buzzword that it is today. And finally, it propelled John towards a new trajectory, which sets the course for the end of season three. Which also happens to be my favorite arc of the show ever. :P I get tingly, starting with this ending!

Episode summary is here, courtesy of the John and Aeryn Fansite.

( Spoilery thoughts )

Xena: Warrior Princess Episode 3.18: “Fins, Femmes and Gems”

[chavalah]

After a series of serious and semi-serious episodes, we are back to the silly. :P Weekly mission gets obfuscated by magical spell that gives Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer another excuse to act out of character, hee. I tend to love the banter in these sorts of episodes, though in the commentary it seems like Lucy was less enthused to have Xena mime fishing all day. :P Hee, and here it was her husband who wanted to do something with fishing!

The provenance of this episode is a bit varied. We have Robert’s fishing fantasy, and also one of the show sponsors wanting to do something with diamonds. Given those parameters, it seems like the writers did a decent job at creativity. But there’s a darker underbelly to the behind the scenes, too, regarding issues of subtext. Wuh-oh. No one should ever mess with “Xena”subtext! I’ll delve intro the controversy under the cut.

Summary is here, courtesy of whoosh.org.

( Spoilery thoughts )