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scifi_rewatchIt’s been awhile since I’ve watched this one, maybe since its first airing in 1999. Subsequently I haven’t given it much thought, or appreciated how it became one of the most despised episodes of the series (I’m siding with Rockne O’bannon here and his DVD commentary entitled “When Bad Things Happen to Good Shows.” :P) Maybe it’s only appropriate, since the next episode is, in my opinion, one of the best of the series.
Upon rewatch of this one, however, I feel little but dislike as well. Too many plot holes and other irritants. The biggest one being the premise of why the people of Acquara were purposefully cut off from the rest of the universe when the whole reason they were sent out to the uncharted territories was to expand an empire. This is also one of the only “Farscape” eps to feature a lot of actors of color (pretty much everyone on the planet, actually,) but they’re painted as stereotypically primitive, if largely a nice group of people. Religion gets a bad wrap, too, which irritates me; someone (John, in this case,) literally telling folks “your beliefs are wrong.” In this instance, it’s tied up to the “priestans” knowingly keeping the rest of the people in the dark, but to what purpose is still a mystery to me! Usually I respect “Farscape”’s take on religion, which largely manifests in Zhaan’s storyline, but I swear, if one more sanctimonious crewmate got in her face grumbling about how much she sucks for giving up the priesthood, I was gonna smack him or her. :P Back the frell off, will you? It’s not your business what she does with her life or how she copes with her past. I swear, Rygel was my favorite non-Zhaan crewmate by default because, due mostly to disinterest, he left Zhaan alone. (Guess Pilot and Moya are ok, too. :P)
For how little good there was this eppy, I did mostly enjoy the girls and their banter on the ship, vs the boys and their banter on the planet. The characters and their reactions to situations are starting to feel three-dimensional. On that note, it’s heartening to think we’ve reached the time in the series when the rest of the crew would spend a quarter of a cycle looking for a lost mate, at risk to their own lives. That, at least, makes me feel feklempt.
The boys repair part of the ship as John complains that he’s always blamed for things around here. D’argo responds that this is because things that go wrong are usually his fault. This blockage was probably caused by John burning the last of his module fuel. “I’m totally dependent on your technology, now,” John grumbles. He stalks off after the argument takes a turn for whose end of the universe they’re living in.
Outside he meets Zhaan who tries to reach out to him. “I’m fed up,” he gripes, launching into a tirade against her confusion about the term; “Is this going to be another translator microbe hiccup? ‘Oh John, you’re fed up, does that mean you’ve had too many food cubes today?’” Zhaan persists in trying to help, but John brushes her off by being the first frellnik who brings up that she’s set aside her priesthood. Obviously this makes her totally useless. >.<
Later, in the hangar bay, he tells Aeryn that he’s going for a drive. “This is hardly the time for human nonsense,” Aeryn lectures predictably, but fed-up John finally wants to stand up for himself. “You are so damn smart. There’s no time for any stupid human anything.” He’s sick of the whole crew—Napoleon, Blue, tentacle boy and the former PK herself. Kinda like D’argo from several episodes back, he’s gotta get out of dodge. He hopes into his module, ignoring D’argo’s command to get back to work, and he flies off.
Moya, however, is in trouble. As the rest of the crew assembles in command, Pilot says she must “decompensate.” Otherwise known as “starburst.” :-O A desperate Zhaan tries to get John on the horn, but it’s too late. We stay with John as he watches the ship prepare to speed away; “you guys bugging out on me?” The starburst blasts his module backwards and then he’s all alone. “I am a dead man,” John realizes.
…or maybe not quite! After the opening credits, we pan down on him chilling shirtless on his module, which is parked by the edge of a river. He’s got an oh-so-fake beard as well. :P There’s a beautiful, huge planet with rings in the sky, but John is more interested in a primitive trap he has set up for fishing. Finally there’s something on the line and John jumps in…hauling out one huge-ass crab! He’s ecstatic, and doesn’t see a young woman, obviously meant to be Sebacean and dressed in a Polynesian style, approaching him. “I wasn’t sure who to bet on—you or the shakloom,” she teases. John offers to share the meat with her, and she responds that on this planet, Acquara, this is a sign that he holds affection for her. So John commits the Aragorn-in-Lord-of-the-Rings-movies mistake. He blatantly ignores custom and leads the young lady on. In Aragorn’s case, it involved taking a cup of wine from Eowyn, even though he was still in love with Arwen. But hey, he knew the rules. :P
The woman, Lishala, has a gift for him…it’s a map of the sky. She wants him to show her where his homeworld is. John spreads the map across a rock in front of the make-shift hut he has set up for himself, and then throws a rock into the water to signify Earth’s location. Yup, that seems about accurate. :P Our human is now in a sour mood and it’s not likely to get better. Rockon, a dark-skinned, shirtless warrior enters the scene and tells Lishala that her father wants her. Lishala says Rockon should learn to be nice…like John. Ooo, burn. Once they’re alone, Rockon implies that John’s shakloom catch is actually pretty unimpressive; a baby. :P He also gripes about how Lishala has never given him a gift. You don’t need a map to find your way home, John points out. Rockon answers that John will never get home from Acquara anyway. Maybe so, says John, but perhaps I can live with it here. Very D’argo-ish in “Thank God It’s Friday, Again.” :P
Speaking of D, let’s check in on him and the rest of the crew! Moya is approaching a green, Earth-like planet. We find out that they’re searching for John, and have in fact been searching for a quarter of a cycle! Pretty significant shift in the overall crew relationship, methinks. Zhaan points out that John is to blame for what happened, but D’argo calls her cold. Cold but practical, Zhaan says. Their changed reactions to John seem a little misplaced. Didn’t Zhaan trust John above all the others? Perhaps she has changed. Or perhaps it’s just inevitable what she’s saying; “we may have to acknowledge that Crichton has met his destiny and we’re just not part of it.” D’argo says it’s up to her, then, when they abandon the search for their friend. Ouch.
In the village on Acquara, a lot of extras are frolicking around. We pan back briefly to see that they’re at the base of a beautiful waterfall. John enters, wearing a purple vest that matches the general color scheme of the villagers. He plays with the kids and then is beckoned into a hut with beaded threads adorning the entrance. “Aloo-i-masata,” John offers to the dude who is obviously chief of the tribe. The chief is impressed that John is assimilating; John says their cultures aren’t too different. (Really? I thought Texans were more into football than tribal life. :P If anything, the planet from “I, E.T.” is probably closest to home for him.) Chief Kato-Re invites the human to sit beside him, but John hesitates since this is a spot usually reserved for the best hunters. “By refusing, you dishonor me,” Kato-Re points out. Caught between a rock and a hard place. :P
Kato-Re wants to discuss “the impulsiveness of my daughter’s heart,” aka Lishala who is right outside and giggling with her girlfriends. John insists he only sees her as a friend, and he wanted to stay on the outskirts of the village so as not to interfere with their customs. Kato-Re points out that in their way is to have females chose their male mates. This guy is just great at entrapment, heh.
Rockon is nearby, watching this exchange with his mother, Neera. Apparently he got his passive aggressive snark from her as she asks him when was the last time Kato-Re invited you to sit beside him? :P The stranger is usurping his rightful place. He’s more than just first hunter. “You are part of the priestan lineage. And someday you could be Grondeer of Acquara. I'm seeing to it. But only if you marry Lishala.” Sounds like a stage mom. :P Rockon, for his part, says he doesn’t want to marry her for his mom’s reasons and he can’t control how the girl feels. Maybe I misjudged him! But Neera puts her foot down. “You will do whatever is necessary to insure that no one stands between you and our family’s destiny.” Quite the villain speech.
Rygel and D’argo have come down to the planet on a transport pod, Rygel complaining of D’s driving skills. Apparently they lost all power close to the ground…and then D’argo’s comms with Pilot fizzles out…and then Rygel’s thronesled crashes to the ground and D’s qualta blade isn’t working! The Luxan realizes that something is draining all of the power and he stalks off to leave Rygel to hobble awkwardly after him. Gotta give props to the crew for that one!
On Moya, Aeryn and Zhaan are arguing how best to deal with the new situation. Zhaan wants to send a rescue down but Aeryn wants more intel first. They debate a little bit until of course Aeryn digs in with how Zhaan gave up her calling, blah blah. What the frell does that even mean? Basically it’s a long exchange where little changes until they agree to try and research what’s going on.
John walks home through the forest until he’s stopped by Rockon and some of his goons. The human claims he doesn’t mean to start any trouble, but the guys are crowding in on him. “Why do you poison Lishala’s heart?” Rockon demands. (I gotta blame the translator microbes for this ep, cos the dialogue kinda sucks. :P) John promises that he’s no threat in the love department, but Rockon’s gotta make sure. Uh oh. Time for D’argo to swoop in to save the day! He quickly dispatches the goons (pretty much using his qualta blade as a sword against Rockon) and sends them fleeing. John, for his part, is irritated and standoffish about D’s sudden reappearance. His friend’s words of greeting are “You look like dren. You smell like dren.” John tells him to back off and attempts to walk away. D is a bit confused by John’s ire: “You’d rather those guys have danced across your face?” “Yeah, I would,” John answers peevishly. Such a mature conversation. :P
Rockon is having his own conversation with Kato-Re in the village while Lishala tends to one of his flesh wounds. He calls D’argo a “man creature” with a powerful blade. Neera steps in, claiming John brings badness upon them. Can’t trust these space travelers! Our ancestors were colonists, too, Kato-Re points out. Neera isn’t mollified. Too much trust with strangers. “Perhaps you will invite [D’argo] to also bed with your daughter?” she snaps, earning harsh reproach from the men and a moment of win from Lishala herself; “She knows nothing of my heart and less of my sleeping habits.” Kato-Re warns Neera that she’s treading on dangerous ground; he’s too powerful for her. “Remember, your office depends on the sanction of mine,” Neera says. …so why not blackmail him into a marriage between their children? Problem solved! Kinda. :P
Rygel is sleeping on John’s folded up IASA jacket when the owner comes home and tosses his shirt onto the hynerian in order to wake him up. :P John wants the boys to pack up and go. “This isn’t the happy reunion I planned on,” Rygel muses. This triggers an argument about how John thinks the crew abandoned him after purposefully starbursting, to which D’argo disagrees. Moya had to starburst after John’s fuel thinger screwed the pooch. How could it be abandonment if they’ve been searching for him for the last quarter of a cycle? “The last three months…you came back. To look for me,” John says wonderingly. Bingo! We can finally move past this snafu. Because there’s a bigger one staring the boys in the face—this power vortex means that they’re stuck. “No power, no comfort, no defenses…sounds like paradise,” Rygel snarks.
Zhaan is chanting when Aeryn stalks in and orders her to “wake up.” Sheesh, first you whine that she’s not acting like a priestess, now you’re whining that she is acting like one…Zhaan just can’t win with these people. Anywho. Aeryn has a topographical bio-map, which shows where the most highly developed organisms on the planet are located. “Well, that rules out the ones we’re looking for,” Aeryn opines, winning her way back into my heart. :P She’s been thinking they need to send down a shielded power source of some kind in a projectile. Now they have the map to locate the guys, at least.
The boys are chilling at John’s place on Acquara. John’s singing this planet’s praises; after half a season of being “beaten, locked up, shanghaied, shot at…I’ve had alien creatures in my face, up my nose, inside my brain, down my pants” this is the first planet that feels peaceful.
Lishala is approaching, but D’argo’s presence shocks her. Why did you bring him here? She demands to John. Rockon accuses him of attack. D’argo gets a bit defensive; they ambushed Crichton! John adopts the saccharine language of Acquara and tells Lishala, “Rockon believes that you’re heart strays in my direction.” “Perhaps he is right,” the girl replies. If that message is too subtle, it’s followed by a kiss on the lips. :P She’s convinced now that D’argo isn’t a threat, and she offers to take them to her father. All seems well and good until Rockon’s men ambush them again, restrain Lishala and throw nets over John and D’argo. D immediately thinks Lishala tricked them, but John, who is still a little flustered by that kiss, says it’s not true. The men, meanwhile, hike back to John’s encampment and gather some of his clothes, including a bag where Rygel is hiding.
John and D’argo are on their knees in the village, arms tied behind their backs. Kato-Re charges them with assaulting his guards. John tries to explain it away as Rockon getting jealous when the chief invited John to sit next to him, which Rockon angrily denies. Kato-Re says what must be my favorite line in the episode: “My daughter’s heart is not an object to be possessed or stolen. She is free to give it as she chooses.” Neera steps in now, claiming to the people that John and D’argo threaten their peace. Kato-Re confirms that the punishment for assault is death. Lishala steps forward to defend them, but apparently her freedom doesn’t extend that far and Daddy angrily sends her back. :P He’s willing to be a little lenient since they’re not totally at fault…how about ten cycles hard labor at the compound Lomata-Kai? :-O Um. Neera’s still gunning for death, but Kato-Re reminds her that he’s in charge of law.
A sudden transition into Star Wars: Return of the Jedi when the party is distracted by Rygel stirring in the bag, and then the villagers get down on one knee and start praying to him! John casts a bewildered eye to the stones above him…from the right vantage point they resemble a hynerian head. :P Oy. “They think you’re a god,”Luke John tells Rygel. “Not a god, but a sovereign!” says an elated Rygel. He perfects a Queen Elizabeth wave for his new subjects, hee.
Being a sovereign apparently has it’s perks for all because the next time we see the boys, they are all free in Kato-Re’s hut. Rygel, in fact, is dressed in woven regalia. He’s figured out the whole situation; the Hynerian empire is vast, so why can’t this be a planet of his subjects? I thought it sounded ridiculous at first, but it turns out I was wrong. :P At least concerning whether or not the Acquarians were once Hynerian subjects. Some ladies come in to “bathe” Rygel, who dismisses the others while starting to chuckle appreciatively. Looks like Rygel stole John’s paradise. :P
On Moya Aeryn has crafted a projectile but can’t figure out how to create a shielded power source. “I can’t believe this, but I need Crichton,” she gripes. Zhaan has an updated map that details the village’s location. Three of the life forms are clearly different from the others, hm. :P It also has a dark area that signifies the power vortex. The girls agree to send down the projectile to point the boys in the right direction.
Rygel is still being served by the ladies, and belches after ingesting too much food. D’argo is back to tell Ryg that the villagers are preparing a festival where he, as the “Masata,” must fulfill a prophecy. What prophecy? Rygel wonders. He’s still insisting that they know he’s a sovereign, not a god. Neera enters and Rygel requests “the sacred text,” which the priestan calls “the Timbala.” Turns out it’s in ancient Hynerian, which Rygel attempts to decipher.
John goes back to his hut with his clothes, only to find a resentful Lishala there. Are you immortal like the Masata? She accuses. The prophecy states that the masata will “lead us to the light,” aka off this planet! John says what has to be my least favorite line in this episode; “your beliefs are wrong,” though in this case they clearly refer to giving supernatural powers to a non-supernatural being named Rygel. :P But as an added caveat, if the masata is found out to be a fake, “he will suffer a torturous death beyond any other,” Lishala promises. “And so will you.” Yikes.
The villagers have donned elaborate costumes and are dancing to drum music as they prepare for the night’s festivities. Rygel is interpreting…Acquarian ancestors were colonists, sent out during the reign of Rygel X…they were meant to expand the empire and then they were abandoned. Now, this to me is the biggest plot hole of the episode. Why would the hynerians send these people off into the uncharted territories just to trap them on a planet? Makes no sense. The isolated villagers building up a religion around this makes a lot more sense. Since they’re preparing not for a worldly king but for a savior, in Rygel’s estimation “we’re frelled.”
John enters with a “hakuna matata masata” and tells Rygel and D’argo information they already know. Well, D’argo knows; Rygel is still clinging to the hope that they view it as a metaphor. John reminds him that these folks are burning their possessions. Some metaphor. They’re expecting you to take them to the heavens, D’argo adds, and then Rygel snaps, claiming he can’t do that before he realizes that Neera is standing in the doorway. The priestan smiles craftily and backs out. Uh oh.
Quick check-in on Moya as Aeryn launches the projectile near the boys. Almost immediately they lose contact because of the power vortex. All they can do now is wait.
On the planet the drums have stopped and Neera is whispering to Kato-Re. Rygel exits the tent, with John and D’argo acting as body guards, and tries, stuttering and unsuccessful, to build up this metaphor idea. “As we embark on this great journey together, which could, uh, take a lot of time…” Neera buts in. No! You gotta lead us to the light now! She leads the people in a chant of “Rise up and lead us to the light!” until Rygel breaks down and admits that he can’t. “False god!” the villagers now take up. Rygel is seized and John and D’argo are thrown out of the way. D’argo conveniently leads John away to where the projectile is falling. D’argo recognizes Moya’s storage casing and John fishes out one of the topographical maps. He realizes they are coordinates.
Back at the village, Rygel is now trying to use contrition to make his point; the Hynerian Empire wronged them, and this god belief is also wrong. Lishala seems to be having second thoughts, despite Rockon saying this is the way it must be. “Why can’t we make our own fate, decide our own rules?” she asks. Enter John and D’argo! John explains that the people have been betrayed by the priestans for generations. He explains that the priestans know about the vortex, which apparently the other villagers had no idea about, despite nothing mechanical working on the planet. Neera, of course, calls this “highest sacrilege,” but sanctimonious Rygel breaks in with “the highest sacrilege is purposely keeping your own people ignorant and subjugated for your own glorification!” Until Rygel the priestans were the only ones who could read the timbala, which states nothing of a masata. Neera’s folks made that part up. Neera demands that her son kill John asap. Instead, a conflicted Rockon asks where the vortex is located. Ah, the missing puzzle piece. Fortunately a fight breaks up and John, knocked to the ground, gets another good look at the Hynerian stones. He yanks up Rygel and forces his hands into the appropriate markings. The stone splits and shiny, blue light—I guess a power source—springs out! Rygel’s thronesled starts working again, and the people go back to kneeling before him and chanting for the masata. So much for enlightenment. :P “The slug who would be king,” John mutters to D’argo.
Later, the old machinery is working again. Kato-Re expresses regret that Rygel is leaving. At least Rygel has smoothed over that if the peacekeepers come calling, the Moyans were never here. Kato-Re makes a gift of some food, Rygel’s favorite. :P
John stands at the waterside with Lishala and Rockon, giving the couple his blessing. Rockon says Neera will survive her “displacement,” whatever that means. Lishala wants John to stay and help them rebuild, but John is back on track here, with his own journey to continue. D’argo leads him away, and John awkwardly states that he has some apologies to make once they get back on board Moya. D’argo says forget about it, and asks if all this was worth the trouble. John’s answer is “let’s hit the road.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Can’t believe I spent so many pages on this lacking episode. Maybe it’s the complaining. :P Or trying to suss through gaping plot holes. Quite the rarity for “Farscape,” this level of incompetence. Luckily the next episode will make up for it and more. :D
___
Upon rewatch of this one, however, I feel little but dislike as well. Too many plot holes and other irritants. The biggest one being the premise of why the people of Acquara were purposefully cut off from the rest of the universe when the whole reason they were sent out to the uncharted territories was to expand an empire. This is also one of the only “Farscape” eps to feature a lot of actors of color (pretty much everyone on the planet, actually,) but they’re painted as stereotypically primitive, if largely a nice group of people. Religion gets a bad wrap, too, which irritates me; someone (John, in this case,) literally telling folks “your beliefs are wrong.” In this instance, it’s tied up to the “priestans” knowingly keeping the rest of the people in the dark, but to what purpose is still a mystery to me! Usually I respect “Farscape”’s take on religion, which largely manifests in Zhaan’s storyline, but I swear, if one more sanctimonious crewmate got in her face grumbling about how much she sucks for giving up the priesthood, I was gonna smack him or her. :P Back the frell off, will you? It’s not your business what she does with her life or how she copes with her past. I swear, Rygel was my favorite non-Zhaan crewmate by default because, due mostly to disinterest, he left Zhaan alone. (Guess Pilot and Moya are ok, too. :P)
For how little good there was this eppy, I did mostly enjoy the girls and their banter on the ship, vs the boys and their banter on the planet. The characters and their reactions to situations are starting to feel three-dimensional. On that note, it’s heartening to think we’ve reached the time in the series when the rest of the crew would spend a quarter of a cycle looking for a lost mate, at risk to their own lives. That, at least, makes me feel feklempt.
The boys repair part of the ship as John complains that he’s always blamed for things around here. D’argo responds that this is because things that go wrong are usually his fault. This blockage was probably caused by John burning the last of his module fuel. “I’m totally dependent on your technology, now,” John grumbles. He stalks off after the argument takes a turn for whose end of the universe they’re living in.
Outside he meets Zhaan who tries to reach out to him. “I’m fed up,” he gripes, launching into a tirade against her confusion about the term; “Is this going to be another translator microbe hiccup? ‘Oh John, you’re fed up, does that mean you’ve had too many food cubes today?’” Zhaan persists in trying to help, but John brushes her off by being the first frellnik who brings up that she’s set aside her priesthood. Obviously this makes her totally useless. >.<
Later, in the hangar bay, he tells Aeryn that he’s going for a drive. “This is hardly the time for human nonsense,” Aeryn lectures predictably, but fed-up John finally wants to stand up for himself. “You are so damn smart. There’s no time for any stupid human anything.” He’s sick of the whole crew—Napoleon, Blue, tentacle boy and the former PK herself. Kinda like D’argo from several episodes back, he’s gotta get out of dodge. He hopes into his module, ignoring D’argo’s command to get back to work, and he flies off.
Moya, however, is in trouble. As the rest of the crew assembles in command, Pilot says she must “decompensate.” Otherwise known as “starburst.” :-O A desperate Zhaan tries to get John on the horn, but it’s too late. We stay with John as he watches the ship prepare to speed away; “you guys bugging out on me?” The starburst blasts his module backwards and then he’s all alone. “I am a dead man,” John realizes.
…or maybe not quite! After the opening credits, we pan down on him chilling shirtless on his module, which is parked by the edge of a river. He’s got an oh-so-fake beard as well. :P There’s a beautiful, huge planet with rings in the sky, but John is more interested in a primitive trap he has set up for fishing. Finally there’s something on the line and John jumps in…hauling out one huge-ass crab! He’s ecstatic, and doesn’t see a young woman, obviously meant to be Sebacean and dressed in a Polynesian style, approaching him. “I wasn’t sure who to bet on—you or the shakloom,” she teases. John offers to share the meat with her, and she responds that on this planet, Acquara, this is a sign that he holds affection for her. So John commits the Aragorn-in-Lord-of-the-Rings-movies mistake. He blatantly ignores custom and leads the young lady on. In Aragorn’s case, it involved taking a cup of wine from Eowyn, even though he was still in love with Arwen. But hey, he knew the rules. :P
The woman, Lishala, has a gift for him…it’s a map of the sky. She wants him to show her where his homeworld is. John spreads the map across a rock in front of the make-shift hut he has set up for himself, and then throws a rock into the water to signify Earth’s location. Yup, that seems about accurate. :P Our human is now in a sour mood and it’s not likely to get better. Rockon, a dark-skinned, shirtless warrior enters the scene and tells Lishala that her father wants her. Lishala says Rockon should learn to be nice…like John. Ooo, burn. Once they’re alone, Rockon implies that John’s shakloom catch is actually pretty unimpressive; a baby. :P He also gripes about how Lishala has never given him a gift. You don’t need a map to find your way home, John points out. Rockon answers that John will never get home from Acquara anyway. Maybe so, says John, but perhaps I can live with it here. Very D’argo-ish in “Thank God It’s Friday, Again.” :P
Speaking of D, let’s check in on him and the rest of the crew! Moya is approaching a green, Earth-like planet. We find out that they’re searching for John, and have in fact been searching for a quarter of a cycle! Pretty significant shift in the overall crew relationship, methinks. Zhaan points out that John is to blame for what happened, but D’argo calls her cold. Cold but practical, Zhaan says. Their changed reactions to John seem a little misplaced. Didn’t Zhaan trust John above all the others? Perhaps she has changed. Or perhaps it’s just inevitable what she’s saying; “we may have to acknowledge that Crichton has met his destiny and we’re just not part of it.” D’argo says it’s up to her, then, when they abandon the search for their friend. Ouch.
In the village on Acquara, a lot of extras are frolicking around. We pan back briefly to see that they’re at the base of a beautiful waterfall. John enters, wearing a purple vest that matches the general color scheme of the villagers. He plays with the kids and then is beckoned into a hut with beaded threads adorning the entrance. “Aloo-i-masata,” John offers to the dude who is obviously chief of the tribe. The chief is impressed that John is assimilating; John says their cultures aren’t too different. (Really? I thought Texans were more into football than tribal life. :P If anything, the planet from “I, E.T.” is probably closest to home for him.) Chief Kato-Re invites the human to sit beside him, but John hesitates since this is a spot usually reserved for the best hunters. “By refusing, you dishonor me,” Kato-Re points out. Caught between a rock and a hard place. :P
Kato-Re wants to discuss “the impulsiveness of my daughter’s heart,” aka Lishala who is right outside and giggling with her girlfriends. John insists he only sees her as a friend, and he wanted to stay on the outskirts of the village so as not to interfere with their customs. Kato-Re points out that in their way is to have females chose their male mates. This guy is just great at entrapment, heh.
Rockon is nearby, watching this exchange with his mother, Neera. Apparently he got his passive aggressive snark from her as she asks him when was the last time Kato-Re invited you to sit beside him? :P The stranger is usurping his rightful place. He’s more than just first hunter. “You are part of the priestan lineage. And someday you could be Grondeer of Acquara. I'm seeing to it. But only if you marry Lishala.” Sounds like a stage mom. :P Rockon, for his part, says he doesn’t want to marry her for his mom’s reasons and he can’t control how the girl feels. Maybe I misjudged him! But Neera puts her foot down. “You will do whatever is necessary to insure that no one stands between you and our family’s destiny.” Quite the villain speech.
Rygel and D’argo have come down to the planet on a transport pod, Rygel complaining of D’s driving skills. Apparently they lost all power close to the ground…and then D’argo’s comms with Pilot fizzles out…and then Rygel’s thronesled crashes to the ground and D’s qualta blade isn’t working! The Luxan realizes that something is draining all of the power and he stalks off to leave Rygel to hobble awkwardly after him. Gotta give props to the crew for that one!
On Moya, Aeryn and Zhaan are arguing how best to deal with the new situation. Zhaan wants to send a rescue down but Aeryn wants more intel first. They debate a little bit until of course Aeryn digs in with how Zhaan gave up her calling, blah blah. What the frell does that even mean? Basically it’s a long exchange where little changes until they agree to try and research what’s going on.
John walks home through the forest until he’s stopped by Rockon and some of his goons. The human claims he doesn’t mean to start any trouble, but the guys are crowding in on him. “Why do you poison Lishala’s heart?” Rockon demands. (I gotta blame the translator microbes for this ep, cos the dialogue kinda sucks. :P) John promises that he’s no threat in the love department, but Rockon’s gotta make sure. Uh oh. Time for D’argo to swoop in to save the day! He quickly dispatches the goons (pretty much using his qualta blade as a sword against Rockon) and sends them fleeing. John, for his part, is irritated and standoffish about D’s sudden reappearance. His friend’s words of greeting are “You look like dren. You smell like dren.” John tells him to back off and attempts to walk away. D is a bit confused by John’s ire: “You’d rather those guys have danced across your face?” “Yeah, I would,” John answers peevishly. Such a mature conversation. :P
Rockon is having his own conversation with Kato-Re in the village while Lishala tends to one of his flesh wounds. He calls D’argo a “man creature” with a powerful blade. Neera steps in, claiming John brings badness upon them. Can’t trust these space travelers! Our ancestors were colonists, too, Kato-Re points out. Neera isn’t mollified. Too much trust with strangers. “Perhaps you will invite [D’argo] to also bed with your daughter?” she snaps, earning harsh reproach from the men and a moment of win from Lishala herself; “She knows nothing of my heart and less of my sleeping habits.” Kato-Re warns Neera that she’s treading on dangerous ground; he’s too powerful for her. “Remember, your office depends on the sanction of mine,” Neera says. …so why not blackmail him into a marriage between their children? Problem solved! Kinda. :P
Rygel is sleeping on John’s folded up IASA jacket when the owner comes home and tosses his shirt onto the hynerian in order to wake him up. :P John wants the boys to pack up and go. “This isn’t the happy reunion I planned on,” Rygel muses. This triggers an argument about how John thinks the crew abandoned him after purposefully starbursting, to which D’argo disagrees. Moya had to starburst after John’s fuel thinger screwed the pooch. How could it be abandonment if they’ve been searching for him for the last quarter of a cycle? “The last three months…you came back. To look for me,” John says wonderingly. Bingo! We can finally move past this snafu. Because there’s a bigger one staring the boys in the face—this power vortex means that they’re stuck. “No power, no comfort, no defenses…sounds like paradise,” Rygel snarks.
Zhaan is chanting when Aeryn stalks in and orders her to “wake up.” Sheesh, first you whine that she’s not acting like a priestess, now you’re whining that she is acting like one…Zhaan just can’t win with these people. Anywho. Aeryn has a topographical bio-map, which shows where the most highly developed organisms on the planet are located. “Well, that rules out the ones we’re looking for,” Aeryn opines, winning her way back into my heart. :P She’s been thinking they need to send down a shielded power source of some kind in a projectile. Now they have the map to locate the guys, at least.
The boys are chilling at John’s place on Acquara. John’s singing this planet’s praises; after half a season of being “beaten, locked up, shanghaied, shot at…I’ve had alien creatures in my face, up my nose, inside my brain, down my pants” this is the first planet that feels peaceful.
Lishala is approaching, but D’argo’s presence shocks her. Why did you bring him here? She demands to John. Rockon accuses him of attack. D’argo gets a bit defensive; they ambushed Crichton! John adopts the saccharine language of Acquara and tells Lishala, “Rockon believes that you’re heart strays in my direction.” “Perhaps he is right,” the girl replies. If that message is too subtle, it’s followed by a kiss on the lips. :P She’s convinced now that D’argo isn’t a threat, and she offers to take them to her father. All seems well and good until Rockon’s men ambush them again, restrain Lishala and throw nets over John and D’argo. D immediately thinks Lishala tricked them, but John, who is still a little flustered by that kiss, says it’s not true. The men, meanwhile, hike back to John’s encampment and gather some of his clothes, including a bag where Rygel is hiding.
John and D’argo are on their knees in the village, arms tied behind their backs. Kato-Re charges them with assaulting his guards. John tries to explain it away as Rockon getting jealous when the chief invited John to sit next to him, which Rockon angrily denies. Kato-Re says what must be my favorite line in the episode: “My daughter’s heart is not an object to be possessed or stolen. She is free to give it as she chooses.” Neera steps in now, claiming to the people that John and D’argo threaten their peace. Kato-Re confirms that the punishment for assault is death. Lishala steps forward to defend them, but apparently her freedom doesn’t extend that far and Daddy angrily sends her back. :P He’s willing to be a little lenient since they’re not totally at fault…how about ten cycles hard labor at the compound Lomata-Kai? :-O Um. Neera’s still gunning for death, but Kato-Re reminds her that he’s in charge of law.
A sudden transition into Star Wars: Return of the Jedi when the party is distracted by Rygel stirring in the bag, and then the villagers get down on one knee and start praying to him! John casts a bewildered eye to the stones above him…from the right vantage point they resemble a hynerian head. :P Oy. “They think you’re a god,”
Being a sovereign apparently has it’s perks for all because the next time we see the boys, they are all free in Kato-Re’s hut. Rygel, in fact, is dressed in woven regalia. He’s figured out the whole situation; the Hynerian empire is vast, so why can’t this be a planet of his subjects? I thought it sounded ridiculous at first, but it turns out I was wrong. :P At least concerning whether or not the Acquarians were once Hynerian subjects. Some ladies come in to “bathe” Rygel, who dismisses the others while starting to chuckle appreciatively. Looks like Rygel stole John’s paradise. :P
On Moya Aeryn has crafted a projectile but can’t figure out how to create a shielded power source. “I can’t believe this, but I need Crichton,” she gripes. Zhaan has an updated map that details the village’s location. Three of the life forms are clearly different from the others, hm. :P It also has a dark area that signifies the power vortex. The girls agree to send down the projectile to point the boys in the right direction.
Rygel is still being served by the ladies, and belches after ingesting too much food. D’argo is back to tell Ryg that the villagers are preparing a festival where he, as the “Masata,” must fulfill a prophecy. What prophecy? Rygel wonders. He’s still insisting that they know he’s a sovereign, not a god. Neera enters and Rygel requests “the sacred text,” which the priestan calls “the Timbala.” Turns out it’s in ancient Hynerian, which Rygel attempts to decipher.
John goes back to his hut with his clothes, only to find a resentful Lishala there. Are you immortal like the Masata? She accuses. The prophecy states that the masata will “lead us to the light,” aka off this planet! John says what has to be my least favorite line in this episode; “your beliefs are wrong,” though in this case they clearly refer to giving supernatural powers to a non-supernatural being named Rygel. :P But as an added caveat, if the masata is found out to be a fake, “he will suffer a torturous death beyond any other,” Lishala promises. “And so will you.” Yikes.
The villagers have donned elaborate costumes and are dancing to drum music as they prepare for the night’s festivities. Rygel is interpreting…Acquarian ancestors were colonists, sent out during the reign of Rygel X…they were meant to expand the empire and then they were abandoned. Now, this to me is the biggest plot hole of the episode. Why would the hynerians send these people off into the uncharted territories just to trap them on a planet? Makes no sense. The isolated villagers building up a religion around this makes a lot more sense. Since they’re preparing not for a worldly king but for a savior, in Rygel’s estimation “we’re frelled.”
John enters with a “hakuna matata masata” and tells Rygel and D’argo information they already know. Well, D’argo knows; Rygel is still clinging to the hope that they view it as a metaphor. John reminds him that these folks are burning their possessions. Some metaphor. They’re expecting you to take them to the heavens, D’argo adds, and then Rygel snaps, claiming he can’t do that before he realizes that Neera is standing in the doorway. The priestan smiles craftily and backs out. Uh oh.
Quick check-in on Moya as Aeryn launches the projectile near the boys. Almost immediately they lose contact because of the power vortex. All they can do now is wait.
On the planet the drums have stopped and Neera is whispering to Kato-Re. Rygel exits the tent, with John and D’argo acting as body guards, and tries, stuttering and unsuccessful, to build up this metaphor idea. “As we embark on this great journey together, which could, uh, take a lot of time…” Neera buts in. No! You gotta lead us to the light now! She leads the people in a chant of “Rise up and lead us to the light!” until Rygel breaks down and admits that he can’t. “False god!” the villagers now take up. Rygel is seized and John and D’argo are thrown out of the way. D’argo conveniently leads John away to where the projectile is falling. D’argo recognizes Moya’s storage casing and John fishes out one of the topographical maps. He realizes they are coordinates.
Back at the village, Rygel is now trying to use contrition to make his point; the Hynerian Empire wronged them, and this god belief is also wrong. Lishala seems to be having second thoughts, despite Rockon saying this is the way it must be. “Why can’t we make our own fate, decide our own rules?” she asks. Enter John and D’argo! John explains that the people have been betrayed by the priestans for generations. He explains that the priestans know about the vortex, which apparently the other villagers had no idea about, despite nothing mechanical working on the planet. Neera, of course, calls this “highest sacrilege,” but sanctimonious Rygel breaks in with “the highest sacrilege is purposely keeping your own people ignorant and subjugated for your own glorification!” Until Rygel the priestans were the only ones who could read the timbala, which states nothing of a masata. Neera’s folks made that part up. Neera demands that her son kill John asap. Instead, a conflicted Rockon asks where the vortex is located. Ah, the missing puzzle piece. Fortunately a fight breaks up and John, knocked to the ground, gets another good look at the Hynerian stones. He yanks up Rygel and forces his hands into the appropriate markings. The stone splits and shiny, blue light—I guess a power source—springs out! Rygel’s thronesled starts working again, and the people go back to kneeling before him and chanting for the masata. So much for enlightenment. :P “The slug who would be king,” John mutters to D’argo.
Later, the old machinery is working again. Kato-Re expresses regret that Rygel is leaving. At least Rygel has smoothed over that if the peacekeepers come calling, the Moyans were never here. Kato-Re makes a gift of some food, Rygel’s favorite. :P
John stands at the waterside with Lishala and Rockon, giving the couple his blessing. Rockon says Neera will survive her “displacement,” whatever that means. Lishala wants John to stay and help them rebuild, but John is back on track here, with his own journey to continue. D’argo leads him away, and John awkwardly states that he has some apologies to make once they get back on board Moya. D’argo says forget about it, and asks if all this was worth the trouble. John’s answer is “let’s hit the road.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Can’t believe I spent so many pages on this lacking episode. Maybe it’s the complaining. :P Or trying to suss through gaping plot holes. Quite the rarity for “Farscape,” this level of incompetence. Luckily the next episode will make up for it and more. :D
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