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scifi_rewatchI remember really liking this episode when it first aired, because the planet depicted was the first one since “I., E.T.” that didn’t look like a gussied-up basement. :P (Actually, methinks it was meant to resemble Tatooine, hee.) Somehow this made the story come more alive for me.
This is also an episode where subtle shifts come into play—John accepts Moya modifications on his module, though technically it’s all in service of finding the almighty wormhole. He repeats an offer to take Aeryn to Earth and Aeryn, meanwhile, is in a state of transition about life herself. But probably the biggest relationship-thing to come out of this episode is that John finally attaches a label to his troubles with D’argo—alpha male posturing—and by accepting this they’re able to move past aggression and into camaraderie. It’s a good first step for our men!
And finally, we have the introduction of the ever-sneaky mechanic, Furlow. She’s a crafty one (who’s also interested in wormholes! The first we’ve seen outside of John…) Small spoiler, but don’t expect we’ve seen the last of her.
We open on John and Aeryn piloting John’s module (well really Aeryn’s piloting it, lulz, or maybe just fiddling around.) John is ecstatic, though, because of recent Moya modifications. He’s checking out solar flares, which makes communication with his shipmates staticky. “Don’t worry; we’ll be home for dinner,” he says and we can see him on Moya’s main screen. Zhaan warns that the star is “unusually erratic;” “sounds just like Crichton,” Aeryn demurs.
The module disappears behind a burst of light that goes spilling into Moya. Zhaan closes her eyes, leans backwards and flexes; she’s obviously having a pleasurable experience. Pilot, concerned for the fetus we met last ep, wants to move into the shadow of a nearby planet, to which our Delvian reluctantly agrees.
John and Aeryn check on the “flight recorder,” aka “tape recorder,” aka “retrograde metal recording device.” :P Our human thinks that solar flares led to his sudden space travel…he then attempts to repeat the sling shot move that shot him through the wormhole! Aeryn is a bit :-O but John is suddenly distracted…said wormhole is outside his window. Or at least a wormhole. Aeryn calls the wormhole unstable and entreats John to reverse thrusters…but John is in a bit of a trance, her voice going fuzzy as blue light plays upon his face. He flashes back to the first image of Premiere, where he’s looking at the sunrise over his shuttle. There’s some great commentary from a recent ScapeCast rewatch of this ep where a commentator asserts that John has to choose between two suns—Earth’s sun and Aeryn Sun. :P He ultimately chooses the latter, reversing thrusters before they’re completely sucked in.
Rygel, floating on his thronesled and wearing a robe, complains of being shaken awake. Zhaan wants to look for John and Aeryn but D’argo says no; he and Ryg want to leave. (Seems a bit extreme to abandon them, though; maybe I misunderstood?) What’s the purpose in staying? D’argo poses. Flares light up the room again and Zhaan vegges out to ethereal music. “I can think of a reason…” She gets touchy feely with an uncomfortable D’argo as Pilot explains that Delvian females are “unusually sensitive to bionic radition.” Zhaan’s term is “photogasm”…okay… Rygel wins the day with a disgusted scoff. “I’ll go get a mop and bucket.” :PP
John comms in, appearing on the monitor with Aeryn. He babbles a bit, thrilled to have found a wormhole—no one else cares. :P John, still giddy despite lack of communal enthusiasm, says they’ll be staying here awhile, but Aeryn counters—they have a plasma leak. D’argo says they must abandon the module, which finally seems to deflate John’s mood. It’s dangerous to bring the module aboard Moya like this, particularly with the fetus, Pilot claims. “Guys…I might have just found a way home,” John says warily. “Your home—not ours,” D’argo asserts. Ouch. John addresses Rygel; didn’t he speak to a mechanic on the planet below? Name of….”Furball?” “Furlow.” :P John asks for directions over D’argo’s protests. “Sometimes you’re a real pain in the ass!” John snarls to the Luxan before terminating comms. D’argo continues to yell at the screen, but Pilot can’t reestablish communication due to the flares. “What is a ‘pain in the ass’?” D asks brusquely. “Human speak, I believe, for someone irritating, stubborn, obnoxious,” Zhaan answers, and Rygel throws in a few more adjectives for good measure. :P D’argo walks out of command.
“You’re with me on this, right?” John asks Aeryn as they speed to the planet. “Oh, now you think to ask.” Aeryn’s sarcastic. :P She accuses him of wanting to take her into a dangerous wormhole; “next time, you fly solo!” (Spanish-translation microbe? Spanglish? :P) They continue griping at each other, as is their custom.
On the desert planet, a figure garbed all in white takes readings with a mechanical device and then watches the module speed towards a canyon-face looking city structure. Soon thereafter, reddish aliens in jumpsuits drag the module into a repair shop. Furlow is a stocky, female humanoid. She has a strange, halting way of speaking; strange cadence often seems to define newbie aliens on “Farscape,” hee. She says the module should be fixed by nightfall and we get our first look at the Moya modifications, aka sphere-like crystal objects bolted to either side.
John continues to be wary but Furlow counters with “everything is going to be just fine; that’s my motto. No, the other way, you dumb welnitz!” to an employee. :P She notes that the module “hardly looks space worthy” and “this thing belongs to the collections, not in space.” Basically, she’s willing to take it off John’s hands. :P Nope, not for sale, John says. Just fix it asap because he wants to go back up to look at solar flares. Furlow thinks the flares will die down soon but don’t worry; they should be back in five cycles. John does a little :-O and tells her no, she’s got to fix the module now! He’s collecting data, see. Oh? Asks Furlow with coy interest. Aeryn calls her on it; “don’t make conversation; fix the module!” John goes into simmer-down mode; sorry to be pushy, they’re just in a hurry. “Since you asked so nicely…” Furlow says snippily. Now get out of my way! Hee. She tosses them two pairs of goggles and ushers them outside. I love how it’s inherent that the goggles are protection from the flares, yup.
Outside looks a bit like Mos Eisley. :P Aeryn tries to com the others to no avail. John asserts that she should be happier that he found a wormhole and can ergo be out of her hair. “…unless you want to go with me; that offer’s still open.” Whoah sudden shift! Aeryn says no, and the twosome are suddenly distracted by a beacon…of none other than Bilar Crais! He tells the general public that the Peacekeepers are looking for three escaped prisoners—D’argo, Zhaan and Rygel. John figures Crais wants to kill him himself, but why not mention Aeryn? Aeryn has an idea…instead of divulging, she goes to collect the beacon device.
Two wolfish-looking aliens tell her to back away. Aeryn is able to turn it off by the time they approach, and she tells John to keep quiet. The aliens want to know if John and Aeryn are looking for the fugitives, to which the ex-PK says no. The aliens accuse her of lying; the male asks John, “is this your female!” “I am no one’s female!” Aeryn contests hotly. The woman suddenly grabs her and puts her teeth to her throat, vampire-style! The man trains his gun on John. “Not your female, hm? Then you won’t miss her.” Uh oh.
…time for John to change tactics! “Tell your bitch to let my female go!” he snarls to his fellow dude. “Then this female is your mate?” the male alien asks. “One of them,” John responds brusquely. LOL. The female backs off and John publicly chastises Aeryn for speaking. The aliens introduce themselves as Vulcarian blood trackers. “The best.” “Second best,” John interjects. …oh honey. :P But it gets better; he introduces himself and Aeryn as “Butch and Sundance.” The trackers are named Rorg (female) and Rorf (male), isn’t that easy to remember. “Butch” implies that those fugitives are his. “That bounty belongs to me.” Rorf growls.
Back on Moya John and Aeryn still aren’t back yet, delaying D’argo’s plan to leave ASAP. Zhaan is currently indisposed; all we see is her sinking sunlit fingers into her cast-off clothes, hee. D’argo decides he’ll go down to the planet to drag John and Aeryn back. Oh dear…
John, Aeryn and the trackers share meat over a fire in an abandoned warehouse-looking space. Rorf says that Moya was spotted nearby. There are beacons like this on several planets, yikes. Nice reminder of the danger they’re in. While Aeryn plays with the beacon in the corner the trackers seem to like “Butch’s” alpha-male persona, even quieting down when he jabs a smoking stick at them. The fugitives won’t be taken without blood spilt, he warns. “We like spilt blood!” Rorg crows, but John counters with a forceful “Well I don’t! Not my own.” This means they’ll have to work together and split the bounty…maybe 70-30? Rorf gets into “Butch”’s face and snarls “70-40!” Oh, show. “80-40,” John says, just wasting time now, I guess. :P The trackers agree to this strange mathematical equation, but outside they assert that they’re only working with the human “for now.” Oh dear.
Inside the warehouse, Aeryn thinks John’s ruse won’t work much longer, but John’s relatively hopeful that module repairs will be finished before long. He commends her for playing the submissive role. “It’s necessary,” Aeryn responds. “What made you think of it?” John says he has a theory about alpha-males and pack animals, basically from observing a pair of Dobermans his dad once owned. :P “The first sign of submission and you’re lunch.” “I showed no sign of submission,” Aeryn objects. “Didn’t have to; you’re a female,” John replies. Apparently we don’t have these sorts of pissing contests. :P
Aeryn’s too busy figuring out a personal encoding sequence on the beacon! The Crais hologram pops back up and addresses her directly. He offers her “conditional amnesty” and an honorable retirement for giving up “the human” We close in tight on Aeryn’s conflicted face. “You have my oath as a Peacekeeper,” Crais concludes. John brushes it off and starts back to Furlow’s, but Aeryn isn’t following. “You’re not taking him seriously, are you?” John asks her incredulously. “I always take him seriously,” Aeryn says intensely. Uh oh. …so are we supposed to believe that Crais wants to kill John but doesn’t know if he can find him on his own? Or is he just rubbing salt into Aeryn’s wounds?
D’argo, with a big mask obstructing most of his face, lands on the planet in Aeryn’s prowler. He’s able to talk to Pilot so either the solar flares have died down or they have a stronger coms device. One of the white aliens watches from the brush as D’argo walks off. In town, the trackers smell him! No! D’argo continues to walk to the rock music that accompanied the trackers earlier. The trackers track, coming onto the sand dunes, but D’argo seems to sense something. He holds his blade up and later sneaks up behind Rolf, hiding on the dunes, and jabs his qualta blade into his back. But Rorg sneaks up from behind and stuns him! Damn!
Furlow talks with a white alien while John inspects his module. “Your junk pile’s gonna need a lot more work than I thought,” the mechanic shouts out to him, puffing on a cigar. She has a strange chin guard on, lending more quirkiness to her character. Anywho. She makes a big show of the fact that she knows the ship’s been in contact with wormholes—she can use it as scrap. John, having heard the “w” word, is now more interested in her. What does she know about wormholes?? “Only that they’re theoretically possible but that no one’s actually found one,” Furlow answers enticingly. Looks like maybe there was the beginnings of one up in the flares…John repeats his line about getting back up there asap. Well…Furlow demurs, maybe he’d like to buy a “second-hand Prowler” she’s just come across? Second-had prowler?? Uh-oh! Aeryn comes in and John tells her to stay with the module as he bolts out.
Outside he sees the trackers leading D’argo into the city in chains! John re-applies his “Butch” attitude and tells them to leave D with him and go look for the others. The trackers disagree—they should interrogate him together. “Who the hell do you think is in charge here?” “Butch” snarls. D’argo’s awake, and gets out an enraged “I will kill you, Crichton!” before he’s tasered again. …Crichton? Your name is Cricthon? A confused Rorf asks. Yeah…Butch Cricthon…oh dear. His name wasn’t on this beacon but maybe it’s on others? :-/
Either way, the trackers don’t move on him. Later D’argo is tied to a rack in the warehouse room. Luxans won’t talk, John warns. “It won’t hurt to try,” Rorf cackles. He presses a blade into D’s lakka. “I bet it’s useless,” John calls out, losing ground. The others probably aren’t on the planet so they need Moya’s location, Rorg chimes in. Her mate cuts his lakka—dark blood spills out! John dolts forward, repeating what he learned in an earlier episode about making the blood run clear. Yay, continuity! If it isn’t clear it could turn toxic and kill the Luxan and Crais wants the fugitives alive. …the beacon didn’t mention anything about “alive,” Rorf points out. Dum dum DUUM! He turns his blade on John! Why are you protecting D’argo? He demands. Are they secret allies? Maybe the fugitives offered him more money? “You think I care about this piece of meat?” “Butch” says incredulously. John leans in, the blade dangerously close to his throat! D’argo is worthless dead and questioning him is a waste of time! He snarls. Rorf tells him to prove his loyalties and hands him the knife. (You could attack the trackers, John! Wait. :P) John takes it, yanks on D’s lakkas and bad-talks him. Luckily D’argo is still knocked out when John punches him in the face (ouch) but when he withdraws we see that the blood is running clear again. Nice use of pressure, human!
Aeryn, none too thrilled with her babysitting job, wants to know how much longer the repairs will take.”Twice as long as if you weren’t here,” Furlow hints. :P Maybe Aeryn should take in the sights outside, like a “truly outstanding expanse of sand.” Furlow could be a tour guide, hee. Aeryn’s suddenly distracted by a red tech trying to grab the flight recorder! She yanks him off and yanks off his goggles, portraying his yellow, glowing eyes underneath. The tech punches her and the two engage in fisticuffs. But Aeryn doesn’t have her goggles on either and suddenly, thrown to the ground, a solar flare overtakes her. When she stands, dizzily, her movements are all discombobulated. Sheesh, you’d think the PKs would have more training for how to fight when certain senses are impaired. Instead the tech grins and shoves her back down. He goes for a blunt object to crash into her face! But Furlow knocks him out, hard, killing him. Aeryn confirms that she can’t see.
Zhaan sneaks up on Rygel in command, saying she feels “fully renewed!” “Are you fully clothed?” Rygel asks nervously, his hands covering his eyes. “I’m not wearing a scrap!” Zhaan tells him gleefully. “I’m as nude as a newborn baby,” she whispers in his ear. “Don’t insult my eyes with your naked blue extremities!” Rygel cries out defensively. “Which ones in particular don’t you like?” Zhaan asks suggestively. “Show them to me.” She takes his hands away from his eyes and she’s clothed, of course. Cheeky Zhaan. :P She wants to know where D’argo is—on the planet to pick up John and Aeryn, Rygel replies. Our Delvian doesn’t like the sound of that; she decides she has to go down herself and diffuse the tension. Yikes! Now they’re all down there, and Rygel is the least likely to help them out. :/
Furlow, sitting in the module, tells Aeryn there’s a 60 percent chance of recovery, possibly more. She doesn’t sound too phased one way or the other, hee. And she still doesn’t technically seem to be fixing the module…anywho. The female tracker, in front of D’argo, picks up Zhaan’s scent. Zhaan, without protective gear, also walks the desert to rock music. The trackers track. Zhaan senses danger? Sheesh these trackers…kinda suck.
John comes back to Aeryn to explain the D’argo situation but Aeryn is distracted by her blindness. She explains how the solar flare got in her face while she was fighting a bounty hunter. She shakes off his hands, but John is adamant. “Stop acting like a bad-ass Peacekeeper!” he protests. “Ex-Peacekeeper, actually,” Aeryn reminds him hotly. From the module, Furlow is paying attention to all of this. John leaves after making a vague command to Furlow about needing his module—soon! So much for the alpha-male there, heh.
D’argo jolts awake on the rack and is able to wrench one hand free of his restraints. Zhaan sees the trackers and uses her Pa’u powers to hide her scent! Nifty! But then she has to fight off phogogasms—“this is hardly the time,” she sighs to herself, but she melts into a puddle on the sand dune. :P
John comes back to the warehouse and finds D’argo alone. But as he draws near, D leaps out from his former constraints and kicks John in the face! The human edges away from him and they argue—“you’re not supposed to be down here!” “Neither are you!” They argue about each other’s selfishness to get home; John goes wormhole-crazy and D’argo chopped off Pilot’s arm a few episodes back. John climbs a ladder and points out that he kept D’argo’s family secrets before they publicly came to light. So suddenly they’re talking about their own relationship. “I saved your ass today!” “you tortured me!” “I have no idea what goes on in that tiny little brain of yours, D’argo!” “I have no idea why you do any of the things that you do!” This is starting to sound like a bad lovers quarrel. :P “I’m tired of sticking out my hand only to have you snap at it,” John says, frustrated. “Every time I let down my guard, you disappoint me,” D’argo answers. *sigh* Where’s the bromance, boys. :(
D’argo admits that he overreacts sometimes, and forgets that John isn’t a Peacekeeper. They look so much alike and all. John climbs down the ladder and employs his pop psychology of the day, hee. His real issue with the human is that he has to be “the alpha male.” You know, “the big shot, the one with the big britches, the leader.” John calls him childish; D’argo calls him selfish. But D’argo can be selfish too, he admits. “I ever come after you with a weapon?” John points out. “This isn’t going to work, is it? We’re never going to be friends.” “Friendship is a lot to ask,” D’argo says. Wistful music. :( They decide to start with respecting each other. Nice compromise! John teaches D’argo the human handshake..quite appropriate as it’s meant to show that there are no weapons between them. D’argo reaches his qualta hand out to John…then moves his blade to the other hand and shakes. Powerful.
Furlow tells Aeryn that she feels for her—must be hard for a tough chick to rely on the kindness of strangers. Aeryn points out that Furlow really has no intention of fixing the module soon. “Well, I normally don’t have so many bounty hunters getting in my way.” Dangerous tak… Aeryn, playing with the beacon, wants to strike a new deal—“you any good with cyber manipulation?” Hm.
The boys go to Furlow’s shop—D’argo says that he and Aeryn will take her prowler and John will have his module, of course. But before they can get inside they’re caught in some gunfire! The trackers are shooting at them. Our guys hide behind cover—junk on a table; lots of scrap metal here. :P D’argo fires with his qualta blade. John wants D to get to Aeryn but the Luxan refuses; “I will not abandon you in battle.” Damn, respect is actually worth a lot. John attempts to “alpha-male” the trackers again but it looks like “Butch” is dead. “Who the hell do you think you’re shooting at?!” Boom boom sends him back, hee. They accuse him of switching sides, and John says something noncommittal. Meanwhile Aeryn comes out the door, blind and walking in slow-motion! She stumbles to the middle of the square and John runs out, attempting to shield her. Aeryn switches on the beacon and there’s a new message! Crais says the Peacekeepres have called off the hunt for the fugitives and the reward has been withdrawn. Aeryn’s grinning like a banshee at her work, hee. “No reward?” Rorg says incredulously. “They’re all yours, Butch!” Rorf says as they back off. …sheesh, had they ever considered that maybe “Sundance” deliberately changed the message because they had switched sides? Luckily the trackers don’t appear to be that smart. :P
Aeryn explains that Furlow changed the message. Zhaan walks into the scene and says the flares have stopped—well, obviously, hee, cos she’s walking. John is visibly disappointed, but Zhaan promises him other stars with flare activity. Aww. “So close,” says John, walking away. Later he and Aeryn lean over the module. The ex-PK’s vision is finally getting a little better. John asks if she was seriously considering Crais’s offer of amnesty…well, what he meant by “honorable retirement” was the living death, Aeryn says. Damn, that’s harsh. I guess you die or you get a dementor’s kiss. :/ Why listen to it if you knew it was bogus? John asks. It “was nice, even for a moment, to believe it was genuine,” Aeryn admits. A big part of her still wants her old life, or at least to go back. She asks John to settle their debt with Furlow, so he goes to find the mechanic.
Furlow hands him a bill for parts, overtime and goggle rental…ok, she’ll throw in the goggles for free. :P John takes a look at the bill and offers food cubes…Furlow’s not amused. They have a bit of a problem—the Moyans seem to be out of money. Furlow suggests that he might have something else of value, “and I don’t mean your charming smile.” The ability to create a wormhole for space travel is incredibly “profitable.” She wants exclusive rights to his data! John protests; said data is his only ticket home! Furlow suggests that maybe he stay here, but of course John can’t with the bounty hunters. “Well, then you really have a problem,” Furlow replies. John hands over his tape, defeated. “I can start over from scratch.” I’m wondering how Furlow will play the tape, actually, but then again maybe she’s good enough to figure it out. “Five years from now I’ll be waiting for you at the end of that wormhole,” John promises. Furlow bids him adieu with the reminder that he knows where to come for repairs, heh.
So what an episode! John gains an ally, gains a little wormhole intel, but loses all the data he’s acquired to get home. Not exactly the best odds. We also learn a bit more about how Crais is enlisting civilians to help with his hunt…better hope his commanders don’t find out about this, but they’re all pretty removed from the Uncharted Territories anyway. Finally…Furlow. What a character. I like her…there’s something devious yet coy about her and she certainly knows how to get what she wants. In fact…I have a theory that the tech she killed was working for her, but once Aeryn found out about him she deemed him no longer useful. That’s pretty cold to murder an ally. Furlow strikes me as someone not vengeful but incredibly selfish and willing to do anything to further her goals. She certainly seems to be one of the more formidable foes that we’ve encountered thus far, but maybe I’m speaking from a foresight bias. :P *zips lips*
___
This is also an episode where subtle shifts come into play—John accepts Moya modifications on his module, though technically it’s all in service of finding the almighty wormhole. He repeats an offer to take Aeryn to Earth and Aeryn, meanwhile, is in a state of transition about life herself. But probably the biggest relationship-thing to come out of this episode is that John finally attaches a label to his troubles with D’argo—alpha male posturing—and by accepting this they’re able to move past aggression and into camaraderie. It’s a good first step for our men!
And finally, we have the introduction of the ever-sneaky mechanic, Furlow. She’s a crafty one (who’s also interested in wormholes! The first we’ve seen outside of John…) Small spoiler, but don’t expect we’ve seen the last of her.
We open on John and Aeryn piloting John’s module (well really Aeryn’s piloting it, lulz, or maybe just fiddling around.) John is ecstatic, though, because of recent Moya modifications. He’s checking out solar flares, which makes communication with his shipmates staticky. “Don’t worry; we’ll be home for dinner,” he says and we can see him on Moya’s main screen. Zhaan warns that the star is “unusually erratic;” “sounds just like Crichton,” Aeryn demurs.
The module disappears behind a burst of light that goes spilling into Moya. Zhaan closes her eyes, leans backwards and flexes; she’s obviously having a pleasurable experience. Pilot, concerned for the fetus we met last ep, wants to move into the shadow of a nearby planet, to which our Delvian reluctantly agrees.
John and Aeryn check on the “flight recorder,” aka “tape recorder,” aka “retrograde metal recording device.” :P Our human thinks that solar flares led to his sudden space travel…he then attempts to repeat the sling shot move that shot him through the wormhole! Aeryn is a bit :-O but John is suddenly distracted…said wormhole is outside his window. Or at least a wormhole. Aeryn calls the wormhole unstable and entreats John to reverse thrusters…but John is in a bit of a trance, her voice going fuzzy as blue light plays upon his face. He flashes back to the first image of Premiere, where he’s looking at the sunrise over his shuttle. There’s some great commentary from a recent ScapeCast rewatch of this ep where a commentator asserts that John has to choose between two suns—Earth’s sun and Aeryn Sun. :P He ultimately chooses the latter, reversing thrusters before they’re completely sucked in.
Rygel, floating on his thronesled and wearing a robe, complains of being shaken awake. Zhaan wants to look for John and Aeryn but D’argo says no; he and Ryg want to leave. (Seems a bit extreme to abandon them, though; maybe I misunderstood?) What’s the purpose in staying? D’argo poses. Flares light up the room again and Zhaan vegges out to ethereal music. “I can think of a reason…” She gets touchy feely with an uncomfortable D’argo as Pilot explains that Delvian females are “unusually sensitive to bionic radition.” Zhaan’s term is “photogasm”…okay… Rygel wins the day with a disgusted scoff. “I’ll go get a mop and bucket.” :PP
John comms in, appearing on the monitor with Aeryn. He babbles a bit, thrilled to have found a wormhole—no one else cares. :P John, still giddy despite lack of communal enthusiasm, says they’ll be staying here awhile, but Aeryn counters—they have a plasma leak. D’argo says they must abandon the module, which finally seems to deflate John’s mood. It’s dangerous to bring the module aboard Moya like this, particularly with the fetus, Pilot claims. “Guys…I might have just found a way home,” John says warily. “Your home—not ours,” D’argo asserts. Ouch. John addresses Rygel; didn’t he speak to a mechanic on the planet below? Name of….”Furball?” “Furlow.” :P John asks for directions over D’argo’s protests. “Sometimes you’re a real pain in the ass!” John snarls to the Luxan before terminating comms. D’argo continues to yell at the screen, but Pilot can’t reestablish communication due to the flares. “What is a ‘pain in the ass’?” D asks brusquely. “Human speak, I believe, for someone irritating, stubborn, obnoxious,” Zhaan answers, and Rygel throws in a few more adjectives for good measure. :P D’argo walks out of command.
“You’re with me on this, right?” John asks Aeryn as they speed to the planet. “Oh, now you think to ask.” Aeryn’s sarcastic. :P She accuses him of wanting to take her into a dangerous wormhole; “next time, you fly solo!” (Spanish-translation microbe? Spanglish? :P) They continue griping at each other, as is their custom.
On the desert planet, a figure garbed all in white takes readings with a mechanical device and then watches the module speed towards a canyon-face looking city structure. Soon thereafter, reddish aliens in jumpsuits drag the module into a repair shop. Furlow is a stocky, female humanoid. She has a strange, halting way of speaking; strange cadence often seems to define newbie aliens on “Farscape,” hee. She says the module should be fixed by nightfall and we get our first look at the Moya modifications, aka sphere-like crystal objects bolted to either side.
John continues to be wary but Furlow counters with “everything is going to be just fine; that’s my motto. No, the other way, you dumb welnitz!” to an employee. :P She notes that the module “hardly looks space worthy” and “this thing belongs to the collections, not in space.” Basically, she’s willing to take it off John’s hands. :P Nope, not for sale, John says. Just fix it asap because he wants to go back up to look at solar flares. Furlow thinks the flares will die down soon but don’t worry; they should be back in five cycles. John does a little :-O and tells her no, she’s got to fix the module now! He’s collecting data, see. Oh? Asks Furlow with coy interest. Aeryn calls her on it; “don’t make conversation; fix the module!” John goes into simmer-down mode; sorry to be pushy, they’re just in a hurry. “Since you asked so nicely…” Furlow says snippily. Now get out of my way! Hee. She tosses them two pairs of goggles and ushers them outside. I love how it’s inherent that the goggles are protection from the flares, yup.
Outside looks a bit like Mos Eisley. :P Aeryn tries to com the others to no avail. John asserts that she should be happier that he found a wormhole and can ergo be out of her hair. “…unless you want to go with me; that offer’s still open.” Whoah sudden shift! Aeryn says no, and the twosome are suddenly distracted by a beacon…of none other than Bilar Crais! He tells the general public that the Peacekeepers are looking for three escaped prisoners—D’argo, Zhaan and Rygel. John figures Crais wants to kill him himself, but why not mention Aeryn? Aeryn has an idea…instead of divulging, she goes to collect the beacon device.
Two wolfish-looking aliens tell her to back away. Aeryn is able to turn it off by the time they approach, and she tells John to keep quiet. The aliens want to know if John and Aeryn are looking for the fugitives, to which the ex-PK says no. The aliens accuse her of lying; the male asks John, “is this your female!” “I am no one’s female!” Aeryn contests hotly. The woman suddenly grabs her and puts her teeth to her throat, vampire-style! The man trains his gun on John. “Not your female, hm? Then you won’t miss her.” Uh oh.
…time for John to change tactics! “Tell your bitch to let my female go!” he snarls to his fellow dude. “Then this female is your mate?” the male alien asks. “One of them,” John responds brusquely. LOL. The female backs off and John publicly chastises Aeryn for speaking. The aliens introduce themselves as Vulcarian blood trackers. “The best.” “Second best,” John interjects. …oh honey. :P But it gets better; he introduces himself and Aeryn as “Butch and Sundance.” The trackers are named Rorg (female) and Rorf (male), isn’t that easy to remember. “Butch” implies that those fugitives are his. “That bounty belongs to me.” Rorf growls.
Back on Moya John and Aeryn still aren’t back yet, delaying D’argo’s plan to leave ASAP. Zhaan is currently indisposed; all we see is her sinking sunlit fingers into her cast-off clothes, hee. D’argo decides he’ll go down to the planet to drag John and Aeryn back. Oh dear…
John, Aeryn and the trackers share meat over a fire in an abandoned warehouse-looking space. Rorf says that Moya was spotted nearby. There are beacons like this on several planets, yikes. Nice reminder of the danger they’re in. While Aeryn plays with the beacon in the corner the trackers seem to like “Butch’s” alpha-male persona, even quieting down when he jabs a smoking stick at them. The fugitives won’t be taken without blood spilt, he warns. “We like spilt blood!” Rorg crows, but John counters with a forceful “Well I don’t! Not my own.” This means they’ll have to work together and split the bounty…maybe 70-30? Rorf gets into “Butch”’s face and snarls “70-40!” Oh, show. “80-40,” John says, just wasting time now, I guess. :P The trackers agree to this strange mathematical equation, but outside they assert that they’re only working with the human “for now.” Oh dear.
Inside the warehouse, Aeryn thinks John’s ruse won’t work much longer, but John’s relatively hopeful that module repairs will be finished before long. He commends her for playing the submissive role. “It’s necessary,” Aeryn responds. “What made you think of it?” John says he has a theory about alpha-males and pack animals, basically from observing a pair of Dobermans his dad once owned. :P “The first sign of submission and you’re lunch.” “I showed no sign of submission,” Aeryn objects. “Didn’t have to; you’re a female,” John replies. Apparently we don’t have these sorts of pissing contests. :P
Aeryn’s too busy figuring out a personal encoding sequence on the beacon! The Crais hologram pops back up and addresses her directly. He offers her “conditional amnesty” and an honorable retirement for giving up “the human” We close in tight on Aeryn’s conflicted face. “You have my oath as a Peacekeeper,” Crais concludes. John brushes it off and starts back to Furlow’s, but Aeryn isn’t following. “You’re not taking him seriously, are you?” John asks her incredulously. “I always take him seriously,” Aeryn says intensely. Uh oh. …so are we supposed to believe that Crais wants to kill John but doesn’t know if he can find him on his own? Or is he just rubbing salt into Aeryn’s wounds?
D’argo, with a big mask obstructing most of his face, lands on the planet in Aeryn’s prowler. He’s able to talk to Pilot so either the solar flares have died down or they have a stronger coms device. One of the white aliens watches from the brush as D’argo walks off. In town, the trackers smell him! No! D’argo continues to walk to the rock music that accompanied the trackers earlier. The trackers track, coming onto the sand dunes, but D’argo seems to sense something. He holds his blade up and later sneaks up behind Rolf, hiding on the dunes, and jabs his qualta blade into his back. But Rorg sneaks up from behind and stuns him! Damn!
Furlow talks with a white alien while John inspects his module. “Your junk pile’s gonna need a lot more work than I thought,” the mechanic shouts out to him, puffing on a cigar. She has a strange chin guard on, lending more quirkiness to her character. Anywho. She makes a big show of the fact that she knows the ship’s been in contact with wormholes—she can use it as scrap. John, having heard the “w” word, is now more interested in her. What does she know about wormholes?? “Only that they’re theoretically possible but that no one’s actually found one,” Furlow answers enticingly. Looks like maybe there was the beginnings of one up in the flares…John repeats his line about getting back up there asap. Well…Furlow demurs, maybe he’d like to buy a “second-hand Prowler” she’s just come across? Second-had prowler?? Uh-oh! Aeryn comes in and John tells her to stay with the module as he bolts out.
Outside he sees the trackers leading D’argo into the city in chains! John re-applies his “Butch” attitude and tells them to leave D with him and go look for the others. The trackers disagree—they should interrogate him together. “Who the hell do you think is in charge here?” “Butch” snarls. D’argo’s awake, and gets out an enraged “I will kill you, Crichton!” before he’s tasered again. …Crichton? Your name is Cricthon? A confused Rorf asks. Yeah…Butch Cricthon…oh dear. His name wasn’t on this beacon but maybe it’s on others? :-/
Either way, the trackers don’t move on him. Later D’argo is tied to a rack in the warehouse room. Luxans won’t talk, John warns. “It won’t hurt to try,” Rorf cackles. He presses a blade into D’s lakka. “I bet it’s useless,” John calls out, losing ground. The others probably aren’t on the planet so they need Moya’s location, Rorg chimes in. Her mate cuts his lakka—dark blood spills out! John dolts forward, repeating what he learned in an earlier episode about making the blood run clear. Yay, continuity! If it isn’t clear it could turn toxic and kill the Luxan and Crais wants the fugitives alive. …the beacon didn’t mention anything about “alive,” Rorf points out. Dum dum DUUM! He turns his blade on John! Why are you protecting D’argo? He demands. Are they secret allies? Maybe the fugitives offered him more money? “You think I care about this piece of meat?” “Butch” says incredulously. John leans in, the blade dangerously close to his throat! D’argo is worthless dead and questioning him is a waste of time! He snarls. Rorf tells him to prove his loyalties and hands him the knife. (You could attack the trackers, John! Wait. :P) John takes it, yanks on D’s lakkas and bad-talks him. Luckily D’argo is still knocked out when John punches him in the face (ouch) but when he withdraws we see that the blood is running clear again. Nice use of pressure, human!
Aeryn, none too thrilled with her babysitting job, wants to know how much longer the repairs will take.”Twice as long as if you weren’t here,” Furlow hints. :P Maybe Aeryn should take in the sights outside, like a “truly outstanding expanse of sand.” Furlow could be a tour guide, hee. Aeryn’s suddenly distracted by a red tech trying to grab the flight recorder! She yanks him off and yanks off his goggles, portraying his yellow, glowing eyes underneath. The tech punches her and the two engage in fisticuffs. But Aeryn doesn’t have her goggles on either and suddenly, thrown to the ground, a solar flare overtakes her. When she stands, dizzily, her movements are all discombobulated. Sheesh, you’d think the PKs would have more training for how to fight when certain senses are impaired. Instead the tech grins and shoves her back down. He goes for a blunt object to crash into her face! But Furlow knocks him out, hard, killing him. Aeryn confirms that she can’t see.
Zhaan sneaks up on Rygel in command, saying she feels “fully renewed!” “Are you fully clothed?” Rygel asks nervously, his hands covering his eyes. “I’m not wearing a scrap!” Zhaan tells him gleefully. “I’m as nude as a newborn baby,” she whispers in his ear. “Don’t insult my eyes with your naked blue extremities!” Rygel cries out defensively. “Which ones in particular don’t you like?” Zhaan asks suggestively. “Show them to me.” She takes his hands away from his eyes and she’s clothed, of course. Cheeky Zhaan. :P She wants to know where D’argo is—on the planet to pick up John and Aeryn, Rygel replies. Our Delvian doesn’t like the sound of that; she decides she has to go down herself and diffuse the tension. Yikes! Now they’re all down there, and Rygel is the least likely to help them out. :/
Furlow, sitting in the module, tells Aeryn there’s a 60 percent chance of recovery, possibly more. She doesn’t sound too phased one way or the other, hee. And she still doesn’t technically seem to be fixing the module…anywho. The female tracker, in front of D’argo, picks up Zhaan’s scent. Zhaan, without protective gear, also walks the desert to rock music. The trackers track. Zhaan senses danger? Sheesh these trackers…kinda suck.
John comes back to Aeryn to explain the D’argo situation but Aeryn is distracted by her blindness. She explains how the solar flare got in her face while she was fighting a bounty hunter. She shakes off his hands, but John is adamant. “Stop acting like a bad-ass Peacekeeper!” he protests. “Ex-Peacekeeper, actually,” Aeryn reminds him hotly. From the module, Furlow is paying attention to all of this. John leaves after making a vague command to Furlow about needing his module—soon! So much for the alpha-male there, heh.
D’argo jolts awake on the rack and is able to wrench one hand free of his restraints. Zhaan sees the trackers and uses her Pa’u powers to hide her scent! Nifty! But then she has to fight off phogogasms—“this is hardly the time,” she sighs to herself, but she melts into a puddle on the sand dune. :P
John comes back to the warehouse and finds D’argo alone. But as he draws near, D leaps out from his former constraints and kicks John in the face! The human edges away from him and they argue—“you’re not supposed to be down here!” “Neither are you!” They argue about each other’s selfishness to get home; John goes wormhole-crazy and D’argo chopped off Pilot’s arm a few episodes back. John climbs a ladder and points out that he kept D’argo’s family secrets before they publicly came to light. So suddenly they’re talking about their own relationship. “I saved your ass today!” “you tortured me!” “I have no idea what goes on in that tiny little brain of yours, D’argo!” “I have no idea why you do any of the things that you do!” This is starting to sound like a bad lovers quarrel. :P “I’m tired of sticking out my hand only to have you snap at it,” John says, frustrated. “Every time I let down my guard, you disappoint me,” D’argo answers. *sigh* Where’s the bromance, boys. :(
D’argo admits that he overreacts sometimes, and forgets that John isn’t a Peacekeeper. They look so much alike and all. John climbs down the ladder and employs his pop psychology of the day, hee. His real issue with the human is that he has to be “the alpha male.” You know, “the big shot, the one with the big britches, the leader.” John calls him childish; D’argo calls him selfish. But D’argo can be selfish too, he admits. “I ever come after you with a weapon?” John points out. “This isn’t going to work, is it? We’re never going to be friends.” “Friendship is a lot to ask,” D’argo says. Wistful music. :( They decide to start with respecting each other. Nice compromise! John teaches D’argo the human handshake..quite appropriate as it’s meant to show that there are no weapons between them. D’argo reaches his qualta hand out to John…then moves his blade to the other hand and shakes. Powerful.
Furlow tells Aeryn that she feels for her—must be hard for a tough chick to rely on the kindness of strangers. Aeryn points out that Furlow really has no intention of fixing the module soon. “Well, I normally don’t have so many bounty hunters getting in my way.” Dangerous tak… Aeryn, playing with the beacon, wants to strike a new deal—“you any good with cyber manipulation?” Hm.
The boys go to Furlow’s shop—D’argo says that he and Aeryn will take her prowler and John will have his module, of course. But before they can get inside they’re caught in some gunfire! The trackers are shooting at them. Our guys hide behind cover—junk on a table; lots of scrap metal here. :P D’argo fires with his qualta blade. John wants D to get to Aeryn but the Luxan refuses; “I will not abandon you in battle.” Damn, respect is actually worth a lot. John attempts to “alpha-male” the trackers again but it looks like “Butch” is dead. “Who the hell do you think you’re shooting at?!” Boom boom sends him back, hee. They accuse him of switching sides, and John says something noncommittal. Meanwhile Aeryn comes out the door, blind and walking in slow-motion! She stumbles to the middle of the square and John runs out, attempting to shield her. Aeryn switches on the beacon and there’s a new message! Crais says the Peacekeepres have called off the hunt for the fugitives and the reward has been withdrawn. Aeryn’s grinning like a banshee at her work, hee. “No reward?” Rorg says incredulously. “They’re all yours, Butch!” Rorf says as they back off. …sheesh, had they ever considered that maybe “Sundance” deliberately changed the message because they had switched sides? Luckily the trackers don’t appear to be that smart. :P
Aeryn explains that Furlow changed the message. Zhaan walks into the scene and says the flares have stopped—well, obviously, hee, cos she’s walking. John is visibly disappointed, but Zhaan promises him other stars with flare activity. Aww. “So close,” says John, walking away. Later he and Aeryn lean over the module. The ex-PK’s vision is finally getting a little better. John asks if she was seriously considering Crais’s offer of amnesty…well, what he meant by “honorable retirement” was the living death, Aeryn says. Damn, that’s harsh. I guess you die or you get a dementor’s kiss. :/ Why listen to it if you knew it was bogus? John asks. It “was nice, even for a moment, to believe it was genuine,” Aeryn admits. A big part of her still wants her old life, or at least to go back. She asks John to settle their debt with Furlow, so he goes to find the mechanic.
Furlow hands him a bill for parts, overtime and goggle rental…ok, she’ll throw in the goggles for free. :P John takes a look at the bill and offers food cubes…Furlow’s not amused. They have a bit of a problem—the Moyans seem to be out of money. Furlow suggests that he might have something else of value, “and I don’t mean your charming smile.” The ability to create a wormhole for space travel is incredibly “profitable.” She wants exclusive rights to his data! John protests; said data is his only ticket home! Furlow suggests that maybe he stay here, but of course John can’t with the bounty hunters. “Well, then you really have a problem,” Furlow replies. John hands over his tape, defeated. “I can start over from scratch.” I’m wondering how Furlow will play the tape, actually, but then again maybe she’s good enough to figure it out. “Five years from now I’ll be waiting for you at the end of that wormhole,” John promises. Furlow bids him adieu with the reminder that he knows where to come for repairs, heh.
So what an episode! John gains an ally, gains a little wormhole intel, but loses all the data he’s acquired to get home. Not exactly the best odds. We also learn a bit more about how Crais is enlisting civilians to help with his hunt…better hope his commanders don’t find out about this, but they’re all pretty removed from the Uncharted Territories anyway. Finally…Furlow. What a character. I like her…there’s something devious yet coy about her and she certainly knows how to get what she wants. In fact…I have a theory that the tech she killed was working for her, but once Aeryn found out about him she deemed him no longer useful. That’s pretty cold to murder an ally. Furlow strikes me as someone not vengeful but incredibly selfish and willing to do anything to further her goals. She certainly seems to be one of the more formidable foes that we’ve encountered thus far, but maybe I’m speaking from a foresight bias. :P *zips lips*
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