Season One Episode Reviews

1X22 Family Ties (part 4 of 4) 
Plot:  The gang must find a way to escape Scorpius; Crais defects to Moya.

Well I was expecting an action packed episode and instead I got a slow and emotional episode, but it was still good.  I'd say "Hidden Memory" was a tad better though.  Rigel's betrayal was a tad shocking even if in character, he seems to be the only regular oblivious the 'family ties' they've made.  All of the family scenes were very touching, particularly Kryten and Aeryn talking about parents.  Crais defecting was pretty shocking even though I realized it was happening last episode.  That calm scene between him and Kryten was really stellar, the way Crais admits his errs and Kryten has a tear running down his face.  Best scene of the episode.  The strategizing was interesting but too complicated, for example whatever happened to letting them on board and seeing Chiana a prisoner?  The final manuever was pretty cool especially when the planet went up like a torch while we see Kryten and Dargo in the foreground.  Crais stealing 'Talyn' absolutely blew me away, I couldn't believe it.  I thought he was actually joining them, but he was playing them all along!  Talk about a hanging thread for next season, Crais is out there with 'Talyn' doing god knows what.  Then again we never actually saw them Starburst away so maybe he just took it to Scorpius to make up for his 'contamination'.  As for the 'cliffhanger', I was pretty shocked.  Kryten, Aeryn, and Dargo left behind with Dargo about to die?!  Zhaan, Chiana, Rigel running away in Moya?!  Crais running away in Talyn?!  They had better not kill Dargo however there is just too much story left for him, I think it would be a major mistake.  Little things:  Bone Girl has been taken onto Scorpius' ship, one officer is missing.  Hopefully we'll see her rampage next episode!  Crais calls Scorpius a "Scarran half-breed", is this his species or an insult?  Crais raises the human/Peacekeeper mystery, the "Human Reaction" aliens get another mention.  Crais says there have been many failed attempts to make a Talyn.  Aeryn names Baby Moya after her father, Talyn.  Talyn can take a Pilot but doesn't need one... is Moya going to bite the dust they're leaving an opening for Pilot to survive?  Chiana is a master cook.  Scorpius again reverts to a savage briefly when pissed.  Nits:  Again where the hell is Stark?!  This episode established that in between "Hidden Memory" and "Bone Wild" they didn't even leave the solar system!  There was a disportionate amount of alien speak in this episode before its only been a word or so.  Aeryn has gone back to dressing as Han Solo.  And a nit; Talyn can accompany Moya for a Starburst now, yet in "Hidden Memory" they said they were stuck here because of Talyn's inability to Starburst.

1X21    Bone to be Wild (part 3 of 4) 
Plot:  Hiding in an asteroid field they find two aliens in conflict; Aeryn works with Baby Moya; Crais and Scorpius hunt them.

Of course this episode wasn't as good as the last two, but it was intended to be a bit of breather.  The whole 'bone girl' plot was a bit on the typical but good side, a bit distracting from the much more entertaining subplots.  I really liked the makeup of the two aliens and how the truth about them was constantly shifting; I like how Bone Girl was trying to control herself and agreed to wait for PKs to show up.  I liked the impressive big forest and laboratory sets.  But most of all I loved the hilarious interaction tween Kryten, Zhaan, and Dargo!  Zhaan and Dargo have been neglected lately nice to see them do something.  I really love the revelation that Zhaan is a plant, of course I question why we only learn this now.  She can turn invisable!  Kryten had a ton of classic lines in this, perhaps the topper is the Teaser when he laughs his ass off because Bone Girl is asking THEM for help.  I really liked the Aeryn-Baby Moya plot but it need more screentime; Baby Moya's set was amazing and I love how Aeryn is becoming his pseudo-mother, how Aeryn gets to name Baby Moya.  And we get some great interaction between Scorpius and Crais; Crais continues to become a sympathetic figure and we get a tidbit on Scorpius; when he used his superstrength he seemed to go savage; perhaps he is ashamed of his past as a savage cured by PK tech?  And that gigantic PK set my god!  Obviously Crais is running out of options while Scorpius replaces him; oh dear god don't tell me he's going to join Moya!  No!  I also liked how Bone Girl ran into Scorpius though of course she won't kill him.  On minor notes, I am delighted to see Kryten keeping his PK uniform and Aeryn looked particularly "radiant" this episode for some reason; is her hair growing out?  The CGI images of Moya and the much smaller Baby Moya in the blue tinted asteroid field were absolutely breaktaking.  One last thing:  WHERE THE HELL IS STARK?!  He was on Moya at the end of last ep, and this takes place a few hours later!  Was he just out of sight or something?

1X20    The Hidden Memory (part 2 of 4) 
Plot:  Aeryn leads a mission to rescue Chricton from the Peacekeepers; Moya gives birth.

While this is probably the best episode yet, in retrospect the plot was pretty rushed.  Moya giving birth should really have been its own episode rather than a quick subplot here (though the Chiana and Rigel pairing was interesting, Chiana seemed uncharacteristically caring about others. Nice to hear Pilot actually yelling, but once again I can’t wait till we learn the real deal with Baby Moya.  ‘He’ sure looks cool, and it’s nice they finally have weapons, but I can’t wait to see what ‘his’ personality is).  Once again Kryten in the Chair was absolutely convincing, as was Crais in the Chair.  Really cool seeing Crais getting his just desserts from Scorpius here!  I found it a tad conveinent that Gilina could do whatever she did to the Chair that quickly.  I wish they made it clearer whether Aeryn killed him or not; I’m assuming he’s alive since a) he got some character background here and b) he vowed vengence against Aeryn giving him more motivation.  Aeryn’s speech to him was very touching in that it marks her finally rejecting the PK and choosing Kryten.  Poor Gilina, she was dead meat for the whole episode.  I knew she was dead, but Scorpius killing her was a tad forced (especially the lame way he escaped after that, it’s a little obvious the writers are trying to build him up as a major new villian).  Also, the whole wormhole thread to "Nerve" abruptly disapeered in this episode, hopefully we’ll hear more on this later.  I didn’t realize Stark would be a new major character until he was still on Moya at the end, but in retrospect they gave some blatant introduction to him.  I don’t think I like him; he is too similar to Zhaan.  Also I found Aeryn sneaking in the base was a tad too easy.  That shootout on the surface had to be the coolest ‘mass gunfight’ that I’ve ever seen in sci-fi though!  Course those PKs were ridiculously bad shots…  If they concentrated on the prisoner plot and held off on Baby Moya, this could have been a real classic, but it’s still great.

1X19    Nerve (part 1 of 4)
Plot:  Kryten and Chiana infiltrate a Peacekeeper base to save Aeryn's life and encounter Scorpius.

While perhaps not the BEST episode yet, it is certainly the biggest.  This episode really got me excited about the show, not only this multi-part arc but also the loads and loads of continuity that so wonderfully blended into this episode:  "PK Tech Girl", "That Old Black Magic", "A Human Reaction", "A Bug's Life", etc.  Wow!  We got several recurring characters; Crais, Gilina (who looks to be joining the crew!), the new villian Scorpius (very interesting so far especially the wormhole project but I really hate the whole S&M motif to him and his aide).  Damn!  Areyn's seemingly insignificant wound suddenly becomes fatal, the briefly mentioned secret PK base gets visited,  we see a hidden bit to Kryten's alien encounter in "Human Reaction", Crais returns, etc etc.  The initial bits of Kryten infiltrating the PK base were very suspenseful, especially since I knew at some point he would get captured.  I'm starting to really like Giliana and her crush on Kryten.  I loved how Scorpius casually revealed Kryten's duplicity and the subsequent intense interrogation scenes complete with cool mini-clip shows of the series.  The hidden bit to "Human Reaction" and Scorpius' wormhole project suggests a major arc element to the whole wormhole thing, something I never really considered.  I want to learn more about Scorpius; what he is, his past, his relation to PK, his abilties, etc.  The bad thing is all the S&M crap though, worst of all the prisoner who likes to be tortured.  Add this to Chiana's relentless and annoying 'seduce stupid men!' and this episode had some painful moments.  Crais was nice to see again, but I thought he was so calm around Kryten that he was out of character (think about him in "Black Magic" for god's sake!), but I suppose this is a good thing.  I liked how Chiana torched the PK CO!  The brief 'care for Aeryn' bits were nice, especially D'Argo's quiet concern for her.  However using Moya to help her seemed a bit... out of place.

1X18    A Bug's Life 
Plot:  Kryten bluffs a secret Peacekeeper squad to believe he is commander of Moya, but a deadly virus carried by them escapes and begins possessing the crew to kill the others.

Nothing spectacular, but definetly one of the better episodes.  After last episode’s happy ending with all the characters trusting one another, that trust is now put to the test.  I love Kryten’s bluff, I love his Peacekeeper uniform, his fake sinister English accent, and the trust that D’argo places in him to allow himself to be chained up in front of the Peacekeepers.  Aeryn got to interact with Peacekeepers and we got hints of a Peacekeeper arc; they’re working on secret weapons out in the Uncharted Terrortories (something I’m sure we’ll hear more of later!).  Chiana actually got to do something, I’m still not sure if she’s annoying or not.  The body-jumping ‘virus’ made for some great hunts on the Moya, culminating in a frenzied and hilarious confrontation on the bridge where everybody’s holding a gun on each other and shouting.  I also liked how Aeryn got stabbed with a knife, and Kryten destroyed the virus (in his ship) for it!  Alright Kryten!

1X17    Through the Looking Glass 
Plot:  Moya, anxious to prove her worth to the crew, Starbursts immaturely, leaving the ship trapped in the beyond and splintered into four ships which will eventually be destroyed.  Plus, some extra-dimensional monster appears!

This is the first 'live' Farscape review, I've written.  After seeing two classics I decided it was time to review this already wonderful series.  Farscape is probably the most entertaining sci-fi show out there, but many of the episodes do seem a little mundane.  This episode was wonderfully creepy though, with the three extra Moyas one with harsh light, one with harsh sound, and one with laughing gas.  I love these creepy episodes that makes the usual sets into something unknown and alien!  Even though 6 people live on the ship, the ship suddenly seemed even more empty and creepy!  And that dimension monster was awsome, even better we eventually learn it was a dimension guardian of some sort and a nice guy!  For the first time since her introduction to the crew, Chiana got something to do.  I love the way she has NO say in any matters whatsoever!  As for another great continuity nod, they remember Aeryn has Pilot's DNA ("DNA Mad Scientist") so she can actually pilot Moya!  Awsome!  We also get to see Moya demonstrate caring for the crew and even a willingness to abort the baby to save them!  Wow!  Perhaps the best thing about this episode was how it ended; for the first time in the series, we see Our Heroes eating a table laughing and chatting, like they are truely friends.  This was truely a heart-warming moment, especially since they've been at each other's throats all this time.  Hopefully they will remain close in the episodes to come!

1X16    A Human Reaction 
Plot:  Kryten goes through a wormhole and finds an Earth extremely suspicious of his abscence, and even more suspicious when the others arrive to rescue him.  But all is not as it seems...

Wow.  For the first time, an episode totally delivered and shot above the rest in quality.  Sure the whole time I knew it couldn't be Earth, but the sheer mystery of what it was kept me going.  It great to actually see Earth cities and such, so see Kryten and his dad, the military paranoia, the imprisonment of Dargo, Aeryn, and Rigel.  What I loved about this is suddenly Kryten was no longer the human among a bunch of aliens, but he was one of them surrounded by a bunch of humans.  This was hit home by the way Kryten understood what they said but the other humans didn't (the Babelfish ear implant of course).   And of course, Kryten and Aeryn actually have sex!  Who-hoo!  But wait, they didn't really did they cause this was all in Kryten's mind.  Durn it!  Anyway it showed that now Kryten actually cares more for Aeryn and the gang than he does about Earth, which is very touching.  And plus the ending was really cool; it was just some peaceful weak aliens looking for a planet that wouldn't mind if they live there but instead finding prejudge everywhere.  Nice ending!

1X15    Durka Returns 
Plot: Prison guards carrying their prisoner Chiana come aboard Moya, one of whom is a brainwashed Durka a Peacekeeper who once tormented Rygel.  Chiana joins the crew.

This was on the whole an average episode, only later did I realize that it also introduced a new regular character.  The idea of bringing back Durka was a bit stupid (especially how he was brainwashed at first) but I did like the way Rigel showed he had gotten over his tourture at Durka's hands to help defeat him.  Sure the ending was nice n' exciting with a hostage situation on Moya, and Kryten almost getting sucked out an airlock.  Chiana seems like an interesting but often annoying character, especially the way she occaisonally talks in a high pitched halting tone.  I do like the way her apparant crime was not conforming to a restricted society, but then again she also apparantly murdered her captor without any guilt... not that there's anything wrong with that!  As for her blue-skinner captor, that guy gave a very good performance and the concept of that race is very interesting.  Come to think of it, why does every regular have to be a convict?

1X14    Jeremiah Crichton 
Plot:  Kryten gets stuck on a planet with native people for a long time before Moya comes to find him.

1X13    Rhapsody in Blue 
Plot: A Delvian group betrays Zhaan, steals her sanity and misleads the crew, leaving it up to Kryten to help her.

Not the best, but a great look at Zhaan's past and Delvians.  I really liked the backstory on Delvia; the leaders invited in the Peacekeepers who took out the liberals and Zhaan killed the leader, her lover, and was imprisoned for it.  And now this group seeks ultimate power to reclaim their home.  Wow!  I hope we get to see the liberation of Delvia some day... We also get some cool Delvian mind tricks, most notably with Kryten and his faux-wife Alexandra.  Too bad we didn't see more of this!  Also interesting is Kryten and Zhaan having sex, and again dealing with Zhaan's dark side.  It's a big shame there wasn't more of a conflict with Tahleen though, it could have been cool.  Maybe she'll return.

1X12    The Flax 
Plot:  Kryten and Aeryn become trapped in an invisible net in space by pirates.

This is definitly one of the better episodes.  There's lot of great Kryten-Aeryn interaction here, including them finally displaying their affection in a hilarious furious scene where they jump each other's bones thinking they're about to die, only to be rescued a moment later by D'argo!  Hilarious!  Especially the look on D'argo's face.  Plus, we get D'argo being propositioned by a very male-looking female scavenger!  Hilarious!  Hilarious bits aside, this was a great episode.  Rigel displays his brilliance when he fakes loosing to the pirate captain to send him away, it really saved the character who was slowly becoming just a pompus asshole.  We get D'argo choosing to save Kryten & Aeryn over getting a map home, on board an abanoned Luxan battleship, which looked absolutely beautiful in the Flux junkyard.

1X11    Til the Blood Runs Clear 
Plot: Wolflike bounty hunters approach Kryten and Aeryn as they try to re-create a wormhole.

On the whole the plot itself was lame, but lots of little things made it entertaining.  We see some great Kryten-Aeryn interaction in the beginning, Kryten looking for a way home, Crais making an appearance, Zhaan having 'photogasms' (heh heh), etc.  The most entertaining bit was Kryten blustering and acting like a bounty hutner in front of the two other hunters.  Plus, the Tatooine setting was pretty cool with some amazing looking sets, and the episod ended with a really good shootout.  Plus, this episode marks a turning point in the Kryten-Dargo relationship; D'argo accepts that he trusts Kryten now.  Who hoo!  There were lots of bad things though; Aeryn going blind was stupid, that mechanic shop lady was just annoying.  On a minor note, those flare sunglasses looked SO STUPID.

1X10    They've Got a Secret 
Plot: A search for Peacekeeper devices turns Moya against Pilot and the crew.  An affected D'argo hallucinates the crew are his family and reveals his hidden crime.

Not a very exciting episode, but it was nice and wierd.  The mystery of why Moya was suddenly turning on the crew was good, and it was really creepy seeing all those DRDs with weapons at the ready.  Unfortunately, half way through the season it seems a little late for them to still be running across Peacekeeper devices on Moya.  As for cool images, seeing D'argo get thrown out of Moya into space really ranks up there!  The D'argo plot was a little tedious, but it was interesting to learn his 'crime', loving a Peacekeeper woman and having a mixed son.  But him treating Rigel like an infant son was pretty funny!  In a great bit of continuity, Aeryn can now semi-pilot Moya thanks to recieving Pilot's DNA last episode, this is a really cool ability for her to have.  And of course the best thing of all, we learn Moya is pregnant.  In a touching ending, Kryten realizes this and talks down Moya finally getting through.  I like these endings where only Kryten his with 'alien' reasoning can save the day by talking to their opponent to explain the problem.  I can't wait to hear more about Moya's pregnancy!  On a minor note, this episode began the trend of Aeryn wearing her hair in a ponytail... in my opinion it makes her look like an idiot!

1X9    DNA Mad Scientist 
Plot:  The crew deals with Namtar, a sinister geneticist hoping to find a way home, but they begin to fight amongst themselves.  Namtar implants Pilot's DNA into Aeryn.

This episode just doesn't do it for me, perhaps it is the relentless humorless dark tone, or the infighting between D'argo, Zhaan, and Rigel.  There are some good bits:  Namtar looks absolutely terrifying, some great animatronics there.  Plus, he's got telekinesis and can heal holes in his body!  Pilot, my favorite character, gets some great scenes.  Zhaan and D'argo tear off his arm.  He later tells Kryten how his people aren't space-capable so they trade their freedom to see the stars and readily accept it, but is also very cross with D'argo and Zhaan later.  Good stuff!  Plus, I LOVE how Aeryn got Pilot's DNA because later in the series it lets her fly Moya, but at times it got just a little too wierd here.  Oh and that eye injection thing made me cringe too.  That assistant was stupid.  I didn't like the ending either, where the assistant defeats Namtar not our heroes, and the way that Namtar devolved to a rat looked disgusting.  There was a nice ending though.  Kryten displays his silent affection for Aeryn (and earlier offered to take her to Earth since she has nowhere to go).  Best of all, is D'argo apologizing to Pilot in the Luxan way... by playing some beautiful music for him.  Very touching.

1X8    That Old Black Magic 
Plot: Zhaan must unleash her spiritual powers to save Crichton and Crais from an evil sorcerer.

This was the long expected episode that finally dealed with Crais, who is mentioned in the credit sequence but has thus far only appeared in the pilot!  While it was cool to see Kryten and Crais face off personally, it got WAAAY too repetitive.  Maldis made for a pretty cool villian, though his changing voice was a tad annoying.  The best thing about this episode was the colossal beautiful sets though.  Zhaan also got some major devealopment, as she regresses her 'sprituality' to defeat Maldis, and we see in the end she has lost control of her impressive powers, even attacking Kryten with them out of anger.  Her relationship with the red guy was... okay.  While I think it a little early in the series to fundementally change one of the characters, it was a great move and shows real consequences to the episodes, in the end it didn't really change her characer all that much it only shows up at times which is good.  Oh and Kryten kissing Rigel when he wakes up from Maldis' spell is hilarious!  I also like the Crais devealopment; he'll now chase down Kryten no matter what.  I loved when he calmly snapped the neck of his XO so his crew doesn't learn they were recalled.

1X7    I, E.T. 
Plot: Moya crash lands on a planet, and Kryten befriends an astronomer searching for aliens.

Though I appreciate what they were doing, and they manage to create the awe of a first contact situation, all in all this episode is pretty boring.  The whole believer-military bit was pretty uninteresting.  It's nice to see a PK security device on Moya, though I wonder why it took this long to find it.  Moya crash landing in a swamp is a neat concept and a classic image.  Zhaan taking Moya's pain while Rigel operates with a Luxan, ah, ceremonial life is certainly an interesting visual.

1X6    Thank God It's Friday, Again 
Plot: D'argo becomes a brainwashed field worker and Kryten is recruited into the resistance against the controllers.

This was one of the weaker episodes.  It had a pretty boring and stupid plot, but the episode was saved by hilarious little bits mainly from Kryten.  The main plot was stupid, that white lady was extremely annoying, the Peacekeepers are thrown in then not used, we get a trite resistance vs. controllers thing, ugh.  Then there's the many many funny tidbits:  when Kryten meets white lady he gives her a peace sign and Aeryn says "she gives me a woody".  Man, that was funny!  Kryten keeps calling Rygel spanky.  Rygel pisses fire!  Kryten and Zhaan sleep together and wake up grabbing some good bits.  All classic comedy.  Aeryn learning to be a scientist was a little on the stupid side, but out of it came a great character for my favorite guy Pilot.  Bad plot, good comedy.

1X5    PK Tech Girl 
Plot: Kryten falls for a Peacekeeper techie on an abandoned Peacekeeper ship besieged by scavengers.

A pretty decent episode that excellently handles many plots at once, but the villains are comically stupid.  The Sheyang were lame, but in a good way.  The Kryten-Gilina romance is interesting, mainly in that we see Aeryn has a thing for Kryten.  The Zelbinion shows off some impressive sets, and the Defensive Shield technobabble works pretty well.  D'argo and Zhaan bluffing the Sheyang was pretty funny.  The Rigel sub-subplot was very interesting, and later turns out to foreshadow the reappearance of Durka.  And of course the big mystery of what was so powerful to destroy the Zelbinion is a question to be answered later...  All this offscreen talk of Crais is getting annoying- let's see him!

1X4    Throne for a Loss 
Plot: Rygel is captured by royal kidnappers, and the crew must use an addictive weapon to free him.

A nice action premise gets marred by a horribly moralistic subplot where Zhaan sets out to redeem one of the addicted soliders.  Ugh!  The villians looked awsome, right out of a comic book, and there was a very impressive and large gathering built for them, plus they took to the trouble to coloring thousands of leaves blue for an alien look!  The addicitive weapon gauntlet was a neat idea, Rygel as a prisoner was entertaining.  Plus we learn lots of cool things about D'argo: his sword is also a gun, and when injured he must attack the wound until the blood runs clear, or he will die.  Plus, there's some nice infighting between D'argo, Aeryn, and Kryten.  And for neat little scene, we get Aeryn and Kryten having to take down an enraged D'argo who has taken to kicking DRDs around!

1X3    Back and Back and Back to the Future 
Plot: A sensual alien seduces men to obtain a weapon of mass destruction; Kryten experiences mental flashes of the future.

This is one of the lamer episodes of the series, but still decent.  The Kryten time jumping thing was interesting, but the killer lady and science experiment were on the whole pretty lame.  And the sexual stuff was really dumb with her seducing Dargo and Kryten (an especially hilarious scene is a flash forward where she has sex with Kryten, it just looks ridiculous).  It does Dargo some good material though, and we learn for the first time that he keeps the truth about his true crime from them.  Kryten got to bond a bit with Zhaan which was nice (he needs at least ONE friend here!), and Dargo got to act crazy again and threaten Kryten again.  I like the double ending concept, but the actual ending was a bit lame.  Oh, and the male scientist was so boring he was just an emotionless cypher I don't know if it's the actor's fault or what but I don't like it.  And the female alien sounded like an idiot when she hissed.  Ugh!

1X2    Exodus From Genesis 
Plot: Giant space cockroaches infest Moya; a change in the ship's temperature threatens Aeryn's life.

A pretty good early episode.  The space cockroaches are nice though a bit cheesy, the replicants are kind of dumb though.  I appreciate how Kryten, the alien, tries to talk peace with them.  Also nice is Rigel being the one to actually save the day.  Nice inclusion of the Peacekeepers, against Kryten's bluff/speech saves the day (too bad the next time he ran into Crais there wasn't a mention of this replicant trick).  The Aeryn heat-death thing was interesting, but at this point I didn't really care a great deal about the character, and it seems like we never get continuity of this whenever they're in a hot location.  I like the scene where Zhaan comforts Kryten and tells him to win the respect of D'argo and Aeryn.  There's also a nice bonding scene between Aeryn and Pilot which foreshadows their later relationship.

1X1    The Pilot 
Plot: An astronaut on an experimental mission finds himself in the midst of an intergalactic conflict.