scifi_rewatch | Farscape Episode 1.13: “The Flax”

This is one of those episodes I feel I should have remembered better, because it has a pivotal, burgeoning lovers moment between John and Aeryn (then again, shipping those two has never been my top priority in “Farscape.” :P *waits for rotten fruit*) All in all I think it was a solid episode, which showed our characters continuing to evolve. More than that, I was struck by the fact that we know these people now—John and Aeryn’s banter over stupid humans and unforgiving Peacekeepers is per usual, and Zhaan’s guilt over her crime and D’argo’s longing for his son have real weight after previous episodes. Maybe we, as the audience, are starting to become part of Moya’s crew as well.

And a final note over the cut—it’s always nice to be reminded that when dealing with alien species, there might be different genealogical factors to identify genders. :P

Aeryn is hands-off trying to teach John how to pilot one of Moya’s shuttles, which John slowly seems to be getting. “Slicker’n’snot,” he opines, earning a raised eyebrow from the Peacekeeper. For the record, John is from further down south than I am, so this Crichtonism kinda went over my head as well. :P Aeryn’s still not impressed. He’s careening the vehicle a little bit, but they’re in empty space, which is kind of the same as test driving a car in an empty parking lot on Sunday morning, John explains. That one I got. :P

Moya looks purpleish from the outside; strange editing shenanigans or a product of pregnancy? Rygel is bored and hammering on what looks like a plastic game board of some sort. Zhaan, studying some schematics of some sort, is a bit irritated by his behavior and asks him to leave. Rygel wants Zhaan to play the game with him. D’argo enters, complaining of Moya’s pregnancy and accompanying changes to living conditions aboard. His annoyance slips over into wondering why John and Aeryn aren’t back yet, and he reminds us all about how Crais is tracking them. Teaching John takes time, Zhaan reminds him. This tactic never wins much favor with D’argo. :P Rygel, meanwhile, continues to clank the game, ratcheting up the already-high tension. Fun times.

In the shuttle, John wants Aeryn to have fun, equating this experience to Top Gun and The Need for Speed. “I have no need for speed,” Aeryn says bluntly, leading John and a bunch of other nerdy humans to squeal. :P She reminds him that the only reason she’s out here is because “you may become vaguely of use to me in battle.” Feel the love. They fall into their usual banter about how slow he is, and how screwing up in Peacekeeper training could lead to officer execution. No pressure! But their tedium is interrupted by a series of bumps to the hull! Sparks go flying, but they can’t see any sudden mass outside the ship. Yet something is pulling them in… from outside the shuttle, we see part of a force field. John and Aeryn go sprawling from their seats! Aeryn appears knocked out, but John nudges her awake. He’s convinced that they’ve hit something, though the scanners still confirm nothing. And yet something is blocking their view from the stars! What is going on here?

On Moya, the crewmates have erupted into one big argument until a loud alarm sounds from the clamshell. “So sorry, I seem to have hit the wrong com,” Pilot says dryly, which might be the best line of the episode. :P He has news; an unidentified vessel is approaching and the occupant wants to come aboard. Moya’s scans have found pieces of weapons on the ship, but nothing fully formed. That’s good, right? We switch to the banged up vessel, which kind of looks like Serenity out of “Firefly”! :P The occupant, Staanz, looks like an Earth punk covered in weird tattoos and is a smooth talker, or so he’d like to believe. :P They really should be grateful to him, he butters the crew up, because they were about to fly into The Flax! It’s an invisible force field put up by Zenetian pirates that’s invisible to the sensor scans we saw in action on the shuttle. Zhaan goes to warn John and Aeryn of this trap as Staanz introduces himself to Rygel as a “garbologist, a connoisseur of what other people throw away.” It’s meant to be cheesy as he smiles with rotten teeth. Rygel senses another smooth talker, and a partner for his game.

Aeryn’s assessment of the situation aboard the shuttle is that it’s not moving at all. John is trying to fix something under the floor. The com system is operational but no signals; so much for Zhaan’s warning! John notes that they have no power. That can’t be good…

Zhaan can’t make contact with the pod, she informs D’argo. They discuss that Staanz might be right about The Flax, so what would he want from them in return? “Anything he can get his hands on,” is D’argo’s guess. He’s accessed Staanz’s criminal record file from the Peacekeeper databank, and it’s along one. They start arguing about whether this makes him untrustworthy. All of them have Peacekeeper criminal records as well, Zhaan reminds D’argo. Some of ours are fake while others’ aren’t, D’argo reminds a stunned Zhaan. Wait, did he know about this?? Did Zhaan make a confession to the rest of the crew after the last episode?

Sttanz and Rygel are still in the middle of their game when D’argo hauls the stranger up. Staanz stammers about how he used to be a Zenetian pirate, but now he’s just “an honest garbologist.” He likes to tick off the pirates by warning passing ships of The Flax, because he took the fall for them and was imprisoned. Of course, a small reward for his troubles would not be unwelcome. :P He drops his pants to show off a prison tattoo, leaving Rygel and D’argo very uncomfortable, hee. Rygel notes that he’s missing a certain piece of his anatomy, which does not help with the awkwardness. He’s “not exactly cut from the same mold” as the others, Staanz explains cryptically. Zhaan asks if he can help them with the John and Aeryn situation, to which Staanz asks if they’re family. No, Zhaan says, and good, Staanz replies. “There’s nothing worse than losing family.” :-/ If that’s not ominous, I don’t know what is.

John and Aeryn are now working in complete darkness, except for their flashlights. They’re moving slow on repairs because John’s a dumb human and Aeryn’s not a tech, same banter as always. :P John is ultimately able to re-route power from auxiliary, so yay!

D’argo bodily hauls Staanz to a cell and locks him in, noting that his boots are Luxan. The only way he could have gotten them is off of a dead foe. Staanz stammers, claiming he tried to save the Luxans from the Zenetians…but D’argo is actually more interested in the maps he’s pretty sure must be aboard their ship. He promises that if Staanz takes him there, then everything else on the ship is his. Whoah. Looks like they reached an understanding here, and D’argo lets him out.

With newly restored power, John and Aeryn are trying to push through The Flax. It ends up blasting them backwards again, and sets fire in the shuttle! Aeryn has to hack something off of her leg (resulting in more amusing banter about whether she means she’ll hack off the actual leg,) and she’s able to send out a quick message to Moya.

Zhaan picks it up; Aeryn keeps it short and sweet about their condition. She comms D’argo with the news, who is now aboard Staanz’s ship. Uh oh. Conflict of interest? Zhaan thinks they’re going to rescue John and Aeryn, and D’argo affirms privately to his partner that they’ll loot quickly and then come back for his companions. Meanwhile, his ship is a hunk of junk on the inside, which basically has to be powered through a fire in the furnace and a big, pedaling machine. Plus it stinks, D’argo complains. Hey, you asked for this! :P Stanz is proud of these doll things made out of green fungi that he claims will make a killer profit.

John confirms the obvious to Aeryn—they’re still stuck. They’re at the point where they can only wait for rescue attempts from the outside, but more importantly, Aeryn is standing near him working on repairing something, and her boobs are in his face. Our home boy be distracted, and they quickly move apart to work separately.

Staanz shows D’argo something on the radar screen; the ship of his ex-boss, Kcrackic! He’s kinda on this guy’s hit list for the secrets he told to get out of prison. Uh oh. If he knows where they are, all is screwed. Tension mounts as Kcrackic’s ship comes near, and then passes them! Unfortunately, it’s headed right towards Moya. Gulp.

Rygel is still bored, resentful at losing his game partner, and not interested in helping Zhaan to distract Kcrackic, as per D’argo’s instructions. Zhaan goes to greet Kcrackic and a companion, and the Zenetians note that Moya is pregnant. Pregnant Leviathans can be fierce, Kcrackic says, as if we don’t already know! :P He’s looking for Staanz. Zhaan says he hasn’t seen him. Kcrackic takes a look around, noting nothing of value on the ship, so he’s about to depart. They’ve reached the command by now and Zhaan introduces him to “Dominar” Rygel the sixteenth. Kcrackic notes the game he’s playing, and Rygel goads him into sitting down for a match. Damn, these Zenetians like to gamble!

John and Aeryn are in trouble, noting that the atmospheric line has been crushed. This might be a problem to fix, yikes. As usual, since we’ve missed it so far this episode, the next crash sends our crewmates crashing to the floor with the human on top of the Peacekeeper. “Comfortable?” Aeryn asks. “Can I get you a pillow?” Oh, the comedian. :P John gets off her, and shippers are disappointed.

Staanz and D’argo are out of gas and short on patience as the former opens to furnace to burn some of his “killer profit” dolls. Hey, I guess this situation supersedes that. :P They get caught in The Flax!

John and Aeryn plan to depressurize since the atmospherics are gone anyway. Only problem is that one of their space helmets is broken. Uh oh… that means one of them would die! Aeryn gives John something called “the kill shot,” and something similar to revive her once he’s finished fixing the line. It’s determined that since he’s more technical, he should be the one to do it. However, there is another problem. The helmet that broke was his—Aeryn’s won’t fit him. He drills Aeryn on human physiology—his brain can last 4-6 minutes without oxygen. He walks her through the repairs that have to be made—so much for being slow! Aeryn certainly can’t afford to be.

Looks like Rygel is losing his game, uh oh. Ryg makes a move similar to one that Staanz made earlier, which Kcrackic notes. The Hynerian claims he made the move up himself. “I know somebody else who makes that move,” Kcrackic notes. “Good for you,” Rygel responds tersely. :P

Aeryn is about to put John under, but John, unsure how this Sebacean tech will work on him anyway, wants to teach her how to do CPR. He has Aeryn lie down, and the shippers start swooning again. :P

D’argo notes the no-stars situation from Staanz’s ship. Staanz explains that The Flax absorbs all light. He’s looking to dissolve part of The Flax, and hands D’argo a stick to whack part of the ship on his signal. Staanz pedals his little device and they break free! Damn, this makes me feel bad for John and Aeryn. :P Staanz tries to hug D’argo, which of course doesn’t work very well. :P

Aeryn tries her hands at compressions against his chest, and then it’s time to put him under. John asks what Sebeceans believe happens after death. Humans believe in “a bright light,” and a new reality with friends, families and relatives all passed away. Aeryn looks perturbed by all of this, and says that Sebaceans believe “when you die you die, you go nowhere, you see nothing.” Sounds comforting. :P John repeats his tech instructions, worried. “I won’t let you down, John,” Aeryn promises. Aw. Now there’s a little bit of comfort. She claims the “kill shot” won’t hurt, then injects him…and of course he starts convulsing before he goes under. :P Aeryn puts on her suit and vents the shuttle.

Rygel’s game continues to go badly, and in desperation he tries to wager Moya, earning angry shock from Zhaan. But Kcrackic refuses to take her, noting the pregnant Leviathan fierceness again. So then Rygel moves to wagering Staanz’s location! :-O Rygel, noooo! This is, of course, followed by him almost winning the game, but ultimately losing. :-/ Kcrackic’s assistant is ready to blow his brains out if he doesn’t give up Staanz’s location. Rygel says they can locate Staanz through D’argo’s com frequency, which is in Moya’s datastore. The Zenetians go to collect their prize and Rygel, at least, looks guilty.

Aeryn works hastily on repairs, constantly checking on John’s prone form. After a few seconds, she stops and realizes that the “wake up” juice is gone! Thank goodness she learned CPR, right? :P She brings back the air, hauls him down, and ultimately their first kiss is what wakes him. Once again, I feel shame for not holding this episode close to my heart. :P

D’argo is trying to justify that John and Aeryn are still alive, since they have a reserve tank of oxygen (guess that was related somehow to the atmospheric damage.) He and Staanz have located the Luxan ship! Which is of course about to get pulverized in the Zenetian pulverizing line. :P The camera stays with D’argo’s face as the stakes rise. Staanz realizes that the Luxan is changing his mind, and tries to persuade him to care more about the maps. D’argo mentions wanting to go home to his son, so of course Staanz can use that. So much drama…

John finally wakes; his first words being a relieved “you did it” and a slightly more indignant “that hurt like hell.” :P Aeryn admits that she didn’t finish the repairs before she decided to wake him, meaning they probably have about half an arn left of air at all.

The pirate ship leaves, and Zhaan scolds Rygel about giving up Staanz and D’argo. But then Rygel lets her in on something—he and Pilot had this whole thing planned! Pilot gave Kcrackic the wrong frequency; somewhere that will take the pirates far away, Pilot says vaguely. Rygel lost on purpose! “You think it was easy? He’s an abominable player!” Rygel complains. This might be one of his most selfless activities to date. :P

John and Aeryn sit in the cold, hoping for rescue but having no clue what the crew is up to. John pulls Aeryn close. Aaaw.

Staanz is now docking at the Luxan ship, but D’argo looks resigned. He tells Staanz when he meets Jothee, “I want to be able to look him in the eye.” Apparently he’d feel too much shame if he put his personal ambitions in front of the lives of his friends—now John and Aeryn are his friends! He lets go of his dreams of finding the maps that will take him home.

Aeryn admits to the reason why she saved John rather than left him for dead to finish the repairs—she didn’t want to die alone. John points out that Peacekeepers are meant to train and die alone, and Aeryn admits maybe her training is failing her. With muted tears in her eyes, she asks if he saw any of the things he was hoping to see, to which John says no. Aeryn looks pretty disappointed for someone who claimed that nothing would happen after death. The music swells as their emotions take over, and slowly spills into something physical. Suddenly Aeryn is on top of him and clothes are flying off! :-O Damn, what a day for shippers! They’re making out heavily and getting ready to do the deed…wait, is that someone at the door?? Suddenly, here’s D’argo! The music and tone quickly changes to comical as the three of them (Aeryn still on top of John) look at each other strangely. D’argo teases them vaguely before leading them to Staanz’s ship. We see that Staanz is tied down so that they would go to John and Aeryn rather than stay with the Luxan ship. “I’d offer you something to chew but what can I say, my hands are tied at the moment.” Oh Staanz, the joker. :P

And the joke’s not quite up! Turns out maybe he wants to find another Luxan ship with D’argo…he’s lonely, you see. “Everybody needs a mate, Ka D’argo,” he says suggestively. Turns out he’s the female of his species, and considered “quite the Zenetian beauty.” :-O (I really don’t want to know what that makes Kcrackic. :P) Now D’argo is at the brunt of sexual teasing by John, and he awkwardly leaves Staanz there all tied up while he shouts out protestations of love. I know it’s supposed to be silly, but I’m rather put off by the fact that D’argo just left him there all tied up! He didn’t even offer to pay for drinks first, either. :P

Later, D’argo is back to being in a serious mood. He talks to Zhaan about all of his internal conflicts this episode—saving friends vs finding a way home to his son, trying to remain honorable and do the right thing. “Oh every front, I failed,” says the self-critical D’argo.

John and Aeryn get to end on a humorous note. Alone in command, they label their indiscretion as something happening in “the heat of the moment,” aka nothing would have changed if it were Aeryn/D’argo or John/Zhaan on that shuttle. Both of them look like they don’t quite believe that (though hey, John, you just shared unity with Zhaan last ep! :P) Anywho, of course this will never happen again. Of course. Before leaving, John asks teasingly, “you are the female of your species, right?” Aeryn gives him an eyeroll look, but smiles as he walks away.

Pretty powerful episode on a lot of fronts! Of course, we all know that John/Aeryn is just beginning, and not just a one-time fluke, though it makes sense that such a strenuous situation would encourage them to let down their guards for the first time. All of the characters had a bit of development this episode—including Rygel, whose selfishness was actually a clever ruse this time. And finally, I gotta admire that “Farscape” paid respect to the idea that most likely all alien species would not have the same sex and gender parameters. Makes the whole show seem a bit more real just by adding a male-humanoid lady. :P

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