Farscape Episode 1.15: “Durka Returns”

[chavalah.livejournal.com]

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

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

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


Moya, once again, is having pregnancy pains. Must be a difficult time to be anyone on that ship. :P A pregnant starburst apparently means a totally blind one. All the other systems are dimmed, too…the crew is just cranky. Pilot is totally Moya-defensive and even Zhaan has something negative to say—“now I know why the Peacekeepers tried to prevent this pregnancy.” Hee. Then, as they exit starburst, they crash into a small ship! Uh oh. After the crew is tossed about like salad, Pilot brings the passengers aboard. Moya is fine, but the other ship suffered major damage. This doesn’t mean the newcomers aren’t a threat, though. John rallies the troops and meets these folks in the docking bay, guns loaded. Quite the nice welcoming party. :P

A tall, black-shrouded figure with long, white hair walks slowly towards them. “I am unarmed,” he says softly but firmly. “But your ship is not,” D’argo points out. Well, it’s powered down right now, the alien says. He goes on to explain that there are two other—unarmed—passengers on his ship as a tardy Rygel floats up, snarking down food. The sound of the stranger’s voice makes Ryg gasp and his puppet eyes go wide with realistic emotion—we flash back to scenes from “PK Tech Girl” as his torturer, Durka, has him aboard the Zelbinion. “You can’t be alive,” Rygel chokes. He—and we again—see his “stinking corpse” from the old episode. Rygel floats up to the stranger and spits goo in his face before John drags him away. No one seems keen to believe his assertion that Durka—who died 100 cycles ago—is standing here now. But the stranger, wiping the gobs off his face, begs to disagree. “I am Durka,” he says evenly. A-WHAAAA??

Tensions don’t die down immediately. Rygel still wants to pummel the guy and weapons are still trained on him. Aeryn is trying to figure this whole thing out, because even if Durka survived the Zelbinion, Sebacean old age would have killed him cycles back. “It was fortunate. We saved him,” says a voice from behind. A new alien is approaching—gray in coloring, with a bland outfit, close-cropped sideburns and a voice that is annoyingly calm and sanctimonious. He introduces himself as Salis, of the Nebari species. He explains, amidst Rygel’s continued rage, that Durka is incapable of violence anymore because “we spent 100 cycles making sure.” A-whaa? Rygel is still incredibly upset, claiming that Durka could never change, and whizzes off once John puts him down. “Your friend will soon understand that he is wrong,” Salis posits blandly. “Might take awhile. Being tortured has that affect,” John says wisely. Followed by some standard conversation about how he’s human, not Sebacean, and the Nebari have never heard of us, either.

Anywho, the important thing is that these beings are expecting to rendezvous with others but since their ship is out of commission, they need “quarters and sustenance” from Moya. Oh, and also a containment cell. They are transporting a “very dangerous criminal,” says Durka. And we get our first look at Chiana! Her hands are cuffed behind her back, and the thick collar glistens at her neck as she looks around, moving almost bent and breathing heavily. John is already moved as the cell doors close in on her. “What’s her crime?” he asks. “Nothing you need concern yourself with,” says Salis. D’argo and Durka exit, leaving the three of them. As the men talk about deceiving appearances, Chiana (soon to be named in a warning tone by Salis,) approaches John, begging for his help. John, visibly uncomfortable, tries to refuse. “They won’t tell you what I’ve done because they’re embarrassed. You wouldn’t consider it a crime,” Chiana tries. “But we do,” Salis says. Chiana continues that Salis and Durka only have a cruel end in mind for her, and perhaps proving that point, Salis touches a button on the side of his head, Chiana’s collar goes off and she drops to the floor, convulsing! John immediately stops the other man, his upset growing. “I don’t give a damn if she was an axe murderer!” he snarls. “She was just talking to me.” “You crippled our ship. Endangered our lives. Disrupted our plans. Are you now the arbiter of our justice system as well?” Salis points out in his annoyingly sanctimonious tone. But touché.

Later, Salis tries his luck with D’argo and Zhaan, but things don’t go much smoother. “The Nebari practice mind control?” Zhaan asks, aghast. The 100 cycles are spent in cryonic suspension while the neurons are realigned to “eliminate” bad thought patterns. Lovely. Zhaan doesn’t think the subjects would agree that this is so great, but of course the procedure leaves them under mind control. :P As for the Zelbinion, they were only able to “save” Durka. But—Salis says with mild regret—“they refused to surrender.” D’argo wants to know how many warships it took to defeat a Peacekeeper command carrier. “We have no war ships,” Salis answers. “One of our standard host vessels engaged the Zelbinion. Much like the one coming for us.” Passive aggressive win. :P

Rygel, safely in his quarters, goes for a knife but Aeryn is right behind him. She scolds him like a child concerning treating the guests with respect and, you know, not killing them for torturing you daily some 100 cycles ago. Then, the conversation takes an interesting turn concerning Captain Durka. Was he a war hero, as Aeryn was taught to believe? Or was he a coward who abandoned his crew to death? Aeryn grabs his knife and leaves, ergo getting the last word.

…or does she? Later, alone with Durka who is repairing his ship, Aeryn hears some hard truths. First of all, he’s all totally pro-Nebari and completely disavows his Peacekeeper background. “I faked my death and left on an escape pod,” he explained without shame. “I have done far worse in my time.” The look on Aeryn’s face suggests maybe not. :P


John approaches Chiana with food cubes. He has to feed her slowly through the bars since her hands are tied. Is it just Gigi, or does Chiana have the tendency to make every scene look sexual? :P She explains her crime as “I don’t respect authority. I do what I want when I want to do it.” Hello, teenager! Specifically, she “left the half-dead sanctimoniousness of my planet the first chance I got. I stole food when I was hungry. Jumped transport without voucher. Defended myself when necessary.” What about killing someone, John presses. Nope, Chiana says, no matter what they say. This, to John’s mind, is the only thing that might justify “the collar and the cuffs.” Nevermind Chiana’s actual punishment—mind cleansing! “They do that to their own kind?” John asks, incredulous. (Hey, like you have room to talk, human. :P) Chiana is getting plenty agitated, kicking the door and such. “They think they’re doing you a favor. Like hell! Not to me they’re not!” John ultimately enters the cell and holds her in his arms, soothing her. Chiana calms down a bit….maybe she has a friend? Or someone to manipulate for her freedom?

In the maintenance bay, John and Durka fight over this mind cleansing thing. Is it brainwashing? Or a course correction? Knife stabbing or life saving surgery? John is still very conflicted…as a metal sphere slowly rolls into the room, then explodes! :-O John pushes Durka down but they both go unconscious. Once the smoke has cleared Rygel rolls in, looking pretty smug about Durka, if guilty about John. But then Durka is awake! And wrapping his fingers around Rygel’s throat! Yikes, guys, does this bode well for Nebari mind cleansing, or for Rygel!

John, coming to as Durka collapses, is also a bit rough with the Hynerian. “He grabbed me! Tried to strangle me!” is Rygel’s defense concerning setting off a bomb in the ship. Aeryn and D’argo quickly arrive, and Crichton wants to put his little buddy in a major time out, like an off the ship time out. Rygel is still talking hysterically about seeing the evil in Durka’s eyes. By this time, Durka himself coming to again, offers to remove himself from Rygel’s presence. D’argo scoops Rygel up and says they can lock him up instead. He’s in no hurry to make enemies with Nebari who destroyed the Zelbinion.

As they pass and argue, Chiana looks out of her cell and asks Salis what’s going on. There was an explosion, Salis explains as he checks her restraints. You know, in case she had anything to do with it. “Remain calm. We will be home soon,” Salis says in a voice that would have me be anything but calm. Chiana seems to agree with me, and she switches to attempting her feminine wiles on her own species. “Don’t you ever wanna travel? See other places? Do other things?” she asks suggestively. Salis shrugs it off; when he was a youngster like her he was focused on fitting in, not standing apart. So there’s Nebari culture in a nutshell…kind of like a perpetual teenage hell.

Chiana suggests that her individuality appealed to him. “I’ve seen the way you look at me,” she purrs. “You want to run your hands around again?” In response, Salis zaps her via control collar. Ouch. “Remain calm,” he says, his voice not changing. “I am calm,” Chiana grunts out when the torture is over.

D’argo, Durka and John are in Rygel’s quarters, looking over the makeshift bomb he was able to create. Luckily the Hynerian got some components wrong, or “we wouldn’t be having this conversation now,” says D’argo. On command, Pilot in his clamshell tells Zhaan and Salis that Moya appears unhurt. What if Rygel tries again? Salis asks. He’s under lock and key, Zhaan assures him. You will hand him over to me when my ship comes, right? Salis presses. “He has serious flaws in his character that must be corrected.” Damn, how pricky. Then again, Rygel did just set off a bomb. :P Now Zhaan is about to set off a proverbial one. She stands up for Rygel, flawed as he is, because no one deserves to be tampered with. “There are many aspects of your character that would benefit from adjustment,” Is Salis’s sanctimonious response. Hate. Him.

Chiana, now alone, has a mirror and is picking at her collar until it comes off. Yay! We then cut to Rygel, tied up in bed. His doors open and he looks around but doesn’t see anyone. Then Chiana is upon him! The Nebari tries to reason with him as she has a pillow pressed to his face—I want off the ship. You want freedom to kill Durka. Sensible allies, yes? Rygel agrees…and then immediately coms the others once his bonds are free. Guess he doesn’t have much faith in this alliance. :P Chiana presses the pillow over him again, but it’s too late.

The crew runs around corridors looking for the escaped Nebari—D’argo plants himself in the maintenance bay so she can’t steal a ship. “Make sure the others know that she is capable of violence,” Salis tells Durka on an open comm.. “So are we,” D’argo answers gruffly. Aeryn and John make it to Rygel’s room where they find him tied up in scarves in the closet. Some people might find this close to real life. :P John separates from Aeryn and Rygel to look for her; everyone is alone and tense in the corridors. Aeryn comes across Chiana’s bonds on the floor. The DRDs search acqueducts. No sign of her on tier three. Aeryn and Rygel are in command when Durka shows up, to Rygel’s dismay. He says Chiana can take over the ship, so people should stay here to guard. “She is capable of anything.” Yikes. This chick is worth a lot of trouble! “There’s movement on your tier!” Pilot tells John. Our human moves slowly…and then eerily comes across Salis’s dead body, eyes glassy and open, and blue blood oozing from a head wound.

Zhaan and Aeryn have joined him and John posits that Chiana must have killed Salis. Zhaan says it’s none too surprising, given Salis’s plans for her. I’m just glad we’re rid of his sanctimonious speeches. :D Everyone else is more worried about any impending Nebari reaction. They split to resume their Chiana-search.

Aeryn and Rygel enter command where they get a not-report from Pilot; “she’s very good at staying hidden,” he says warily. “Shoot to kill!” is D’argo’s instruction. Lovely sentiment. Aeryn oks it, then whirls at movement behind her—turns out to be Durka. He wants to know if Salis is dead…Aeryn says yes, and then goes awkwardly to comfort him as he looks distraught. But…it’s all an act! :-O Durka quickly disarms Aeryn and knocks both crewmembers out. Yikes! He starts playing with the controls…and somewhere in the corridors a door randomly closes on John. WTF. “What do you think you are doing?!” Pilot demands from his clamshell, but Durka just shoots the image. Pilot tries comming the rest of the crew but it seems that trapped John, for one, can’t hear him. It’s a trap!

In command Rygel and Aeryn are unconscious and tied up; Rygel is on the table. Durka approaches with Aeryn’s knife…but instead of going for the Hynerian, he starts snipping his own long hair. Shew. That was really creepy, actually. He’s still there, though, with Zelbinion-cropped hair, when Rygel awakens. Durka explains how Rygel’s bomb undid the mind cleansing (damn, Nebari, you need to work on that.) “Isn’t that the most superb irony?” Aeryn is awake now, too, and struggling to her knees. Cue Durka’s evil montage! When he was cleansed he felt shame over what he’d done; in the present “he has no idea why.” But he does know he’s missed “the simple things,” like emotional torture as he slowly brings the knife to Rygel’s chest before cutting his comms off. He then addresses the rest of the crew, saying he’s now captain, he has hostages and they need to leave asap. Aeryn cuts in quickly to say that Durka killed Salis before her fellow former PK silences her with a backhand. Ouch.

And John is running down corridors, trying to find a door that will open to him or a person who will talk to him. D’argo, in the maintenance bay, is having similar problems, so he snarls and exits. Zhaan has made her way to Pilot’s den, yay! He tells her that Durka is now in control of over half of Moya’s systems. Yikes. He’s a worthy opponent, too, so far able to anticipate any of Pilot’s override measures. Meanwhile, in the corridors, the boys almost run into each other. “Nebari mind cleansing doesn’t get the tough stains out,” Crichtonism ftw. :D And now time for one of “Farscape”’s infamous “plans!” :-/ D’argo gets himself stuck in a hatch that leads directly to command, thanks to Durka’s interference. Yay, plan. At least they get to exchange banter about that time several eps back when D’argo fell out of the ship.

Perhaps elated by his latest capture, Durka goes back to monologuing. “This must be a privilege for you, Officer Sun,” he says smugly. Aeryn just laughs—she takes back what you said before; “you’re a disgrace!” Looks like she’s joined the Rygel camp at last! Pfft, says Durka, I survived, didn’t I? “You ran,” Aeryn taunts him. Hey, you’re not with the Peacekeepers anymore either, Durka reminds her, coming in close with the knife. And for a change of subject, let’s starburst the hell away from the Nebari sector. Might find himself mind frelled again for another 100 cycles.

…but wait, starburst? “I thought we couldn’t starburst!” says a panicked John. And indeed, we can’t. Pilot explains to Zhaan that Moya’s pregnancy means she can’t starburst again for another few arns. Oh dear. And Durka’s getting anxious…he comms the crew and threatens to kill the hostages if they interfere with starburst again.

Meanwhile…hey, Chiana! We’ve spotted our little hider…and so has John. He follows her into a misty room with fog on the floor. He implores her to come out; no time for this game. “Durka’s gone all Hannibal Lecter on us.” Chiana, of course, doesn’t know what that means. :P But, still hiding as John’s eyes dart around the room, she cackles and asks why bother her about it. John says he’s just here to talk…always the mediator. Our Nebari drops behind him, huge hockey stick that’s common aboard Moya in hand. “Turn around!” she commands John, before attacking him! But lucky for John, Chiana is more bark than bite, unlike the other female aliens he has to deal with. :P He pins her to the floor, the mist swirling around them. “Are you finished?” And sure enough, Chiana calms down. They talk about the strangeness of Durka’s reversion, and who’s better for Chiana to side with to get her way. John’s argument against the former PK is pretty compelling: “He’s a psychopath. And nobody knows what 100 years of Happy Meals have done to him.” :P Hee. Chiana is eventually persuaded against her better judgment, where John casts her as bait.

Durka’s having no luck getting the starburst back and the next time he comms the crew, his soft voice has an irritated undertone. Maybe it’s time to “expediate matters” and “leave the channel open” for audio. Uh oh. The others listen as he threatens Aeryn with something most dangerous to Sebaceans—heat. Aeryn looks scared for the first time as he approaches her with a humming screwdriver, yikes!

But lucky for Aeryn she gets an unusual savior…Rygel! Our dominar has finally had enough. He calls Durka pathetic. “You tortured me without mercy, but you never broke me! You only made me stronger!” He proclaims. And even if Durka kills him now, Ryg will get the last laugh thinking of him being mind frelled by the Nebari again. They ain’t going nowhere because Moya be preggo. Aeryn chimes in as Durka looks around desperately, agreeing with Rygel’s assessment. Looks like the underdogs have won.

…or have they? Chiana is now sneaking behind Durka as he prowls the ship, looking for Moya’s baby. He’s going the wrong way, Chiana assures him, posing suggestively and daring him to shoot. Damn. They both want the same thing, Chi reminds him. …well, maybe. :P She leads him back to the misty room where John, with hockey stick in hand, is hidden behind the door. Chiana tries to lure him in, but Durka’s had enough; he shoots her in the leg! :-O Kindhearted John jumps up immediately to shut the door on Durka and assess Chiana’s wound. Chi urges him to catch “the bastard” instead.

John tears after Durka towards the maintenance bay while Pilot wrestles for control of the doors. He’s already in the Nebari ship when our human appears. John reminds him that the ship is damaged, but Durka doesn’t plan to escape; “one shot to Moya’s midsection will solve the starburst problem.” Ouch. Tensions are running high, high, high! Pilot is able to wrest control of the inner doors, though that won’t stop Durka from going out and shooting the baby. But Rygel’s bomb might! :-O John holds it up for Durka to see, then rolls it towards the ship as he runs back behind the inner doors, screaming to Pilot to shut them. And the bomb explodes! The outer doors are open; Durka is sucked into space, away from Moya, and Pilot is able to close the doors just in time for John not to get sucked out too. :P Shew. As Durka comm-promises vengeance on our human, he chuckles; “Get in line, Durka. Besides, I don’t think the Nebari will let you do a lot of hunting.” Owned.

Now free, Aeryn and Rygel patch up some issues. She says he handled himself well under duress. “I did, didn’t I?” Rygel croons. “Beat him at his own game!” But Aeryn gets the last word. Leaning in close, she comments “You just compared yourself…to a Peacekeeper.” Yikes.

Zhaan and Chiana aren’t getting along so well for their first meeting. Chiana is moving around while Zhaan tries to treat her. She calls Chi “a brat” before leaving her with John…she can stay…for now. They’re gathering strength to starburst away from the Nebari. But “we have rules,” John tells her. “When I see any of you following them, so will I,” Chiana croons. John warns her that the others won’t be as forgiving as him, leading her to proclaim then just drop me off at the next planet “where there’s something worth stealing.” John sighs; this isn’t a prison anymore, you can get off when you want.” He leaves her with a parting remark: “Where were you when Salis was murdered?” Chiana smiles cheekily at his grim face. But when he’s gone, her bravado fades.

…so this was a lot longer than usual. Had to give props to my favorite girl, I guess! In one episode, she’s so complicated and intriguing, and keeping her around might have been the best decision in “Farscape” history, imho.

We’re also introduced to the Nebari and a complicated conundrum about free will, big brother and perceptions of good behavior. It’s a shame, really, that Nebari didn’t play a bigger role the show. Like the Peacekeepers, they make for fantastic villains.

To close, I’m going to share a circuitous theory about who really killed Salis, courtesy of one of the major members of the ScapeCast. She posits that it was Zhaan! :-O Salis was found stabbed to death, and Chiana and Durka neither had knives at the time of death. (And from Chiana’s POV, she’s many things but she’s not a killer.) Zhaan, however, had access to knives aplenty, was battling her dark impulses, and was thoroughly disgusted by Nebari mind control and Salis’s sanctimonious defense of it. And it fits as an engaging twist in an engaging episode!

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