Farscape - Flying too Close to the Sun
Oct. 23rd, 2004 09:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatYes, I'm still ga-ga over Farscape. Just finished watching the season 4 opener, after completing the 3rd season.
The writers do an interesting thing here - they split their lead into two people. Each exactly the same. Same DNA. Basically doubled. He gets split in an episode entitled "Eat Me", where John Crichton, D'Argo, and Chiana land their pod on a ship filled with canbalistic creatures - whom they learn later used to be ordinary people, Peace-Keepers, but a prisoner/mad scientist on the ship has the ability to double people and each time these people got doubled, they lost more and more of themselves. Cricton, D'Argo and Chiana all get doubled - yet D'Argo and Chiana's doubles die on the ship. Crichton and his other self leave. The question then becomes in our minds - which is the true Cricton. And here, the writers make an interesting choice - they state both are. They never tell us that one is a copy. Both are Crichton.
Here is where the story breaks into two parallel roads - Talon, a living ship and gunship arrives in trouble, asking our heroes for help with his commander, Crais - the ex-military commander who had at one time been chasing them. Aeryn Sun (who named the ship after her dead father, whom she never met) decides to help Talon. Aeryn in some respects is a second mother to the ship - which was the violent child of the living ship (Moya) Crichton, Aeryn, Chian, D'argo, and Rygel all inhabit. Talon it appears is being chased by a Peacekeeper Retrieval Squad (think military hit squad) and the head of the squad is Aeryn's mother, Solex Zphen. Accompaning Aeryn are Rygel (for his diplomatic abilities) and Crichton2, Crichton 1 stays aboard Moya with D'Argo, Chiana,
new member Jool. The group on Talon experience a more or less straightly told romantic tale of sacrifice and tragedy. The group on Moya experience an increasingly surreal at times comedic psychological landscape. Visually the Talon experience is in tones of red, black, and yellow. The Moya one is in calmer colors or more varied - blues, purples, reds, golds, etc.
On Talon, John Crichton2 solves all his problems. Perfectly. He and Aeryn talk, they realize they love each other because they never give up and always fight and their courage - they are each other's guiding light. She comes to terms more or less with her mother - who had given up on love and became a remorseless killer (what Aeryn in her head may have become without John Crichton). Crais appears to kill her mother and she resolves this problem.
Choosing Crichton over her mother's path. They are all happy. Then along comes the alien species that two years before inserted worm-hole technology inside Crichton's head - the technology that sent Scorpius after him and is why Scorpius, his nemesis, inserted a neural chip in Crichton's head - a neural chip that has since been removed, but left behind an imprint of Scorpius in Crichton's mind. This imprint Crichton calls "Harvey" - it is in many ways his scientific alter-ego. The cold, calculating, rational mind. Whose only passion is vengence or discovery for his own ends. Scorpius is the opposite of Crichton. In looks, demeanor, actions - yet he echoes Crichton's own worse
attributes and fears. Crichton2 can't deal with Scorpi in his brain and resists him - sees him as a liability. Meanwhile Crichton1 - is assisted in his adventures by the alter-ego, and in one episode Incubator, Scorpius inserts the neural chip taken from Crichton into his head and Crichton becomes Scorpius' alter-ego. In that episode Scorpius explains why he needs the wormhole technology (in order to make weapons, not travel to worlds) - we learn about the evil Scarrans who tortured Scorpius and destroyed his mother's family. He is no longer such a black and white villian (the character literally is dressed in black and white by the way).
The ancient alien species tells Crichton that the technology they gave him, locked in his head where he can eventually figured it out on his own but can't easily access (he hasn't figured it out yet - it is basically a series of mathematical equations - Scorpius who extracted this information can't figure it out either at the moment), is being used by another race. A horrible race that is seen traveling through a wormhole to the ancient alien species new home. The ancient takes the form of Crichton's Dad Jack. This is incredibly important from a psychological aspect - it is Crichton's father who worked with Crichton on the Farscape Project. The project that causes Crichton to fall down a wormhole into this distant universe. Crichton's father, much like the Greek Dedalus created wings for his son to fly close to the Sun, testing
the affect of solar flares. The result is the loss of the son to another world.
Here, the ancient Jack requests the same thing. This time, he suggests unlocking the wormhole knowledge in Crichton's head in order to have Crichton help him create a device that will take out the horrible race (Scarrans and their accomplices) that has managed to get hold of the technology from another source. (The other source is a mechanic named Furlough who in Season One forced Crichton to give her the data he'd (independently of the alien species) collected on the wormhole phenemona in exchange for a way for him and Aeryn to get off the planet.). In order to do this, Ancient Jack has to first remove Scorpius from Crichton's head. He does so. Crichton almost dies. He and Aeryn are reunited. He helps Jack create the technology to take out the Scarran ship that contains the data, Furlough sold them. Furlough unfortunately kills Jack before they activate the weapon and takes off with it. Crichton and Aeryn follow. As they do, Aeryn reiterates her feelings for Crichton2 and how once this is all over, she will help him find a wormhole and go with him to Earth.
Unfortunately, it is not to be - Crichton instead is forced to expose himself to a massive dose of radiation to shut off the device Furlough accidently activates. They destroy the Scarran ship, but Crichton2 dies in Aeryn's arms, happy, no more pain. Problems solved. Aeryn grief-stricken journey's to a planet where the dead can be contacted. Here she deals with a series of ghosts.
The ghost of Crichton2 - who she accuses of playing hero and leaving her alone, her father - who claims he is still alive, but is in reality an alien posing as her father in the pay of Solex Zhphen (her mother, whom Crais did not actually kill - but made a deal with - a deal where Solex would tell high command that they were dead in exchange for her life.). Solex wants Aeryn to pay - the reason? Years ago Solex had to make a choice - between her child Aeryn and her lover (Aeryn's father) Talon. She had to kill one. She killed Talon. In doing so, part of her died. She was a pilot. Now she is a killer.
But she can't kill Aeryn, and is killed by Crais, in attempt to save Aeryn.
Aeryn leaves the planet on Talon, deciding to become the cold Peace-Keeper again, what she was bred to be. Crichton2 could have made her a better person,
but he is gone.
This group returns to Moya and is reunited with Crichton1. Crichton1 doesn't have it as easy as Crichton2. Aeryn sees him as the copy. There appears to be no way in. She has already done the I love you routine with Crichton2. He's the copy in her eyes. Crichton2 also leaves a difficult task for him - with no nice ancient alien's along for help - Crichton must get the wormhole technology away from Scorpius. It's no longer the easy task of defeating and removing the Scorpius in his head - it's the more complex one - defeating the real Scorpius. And to do so, he doesn't get to die a hero in the arms of his lover. Nor does he save lives, so much as take them. Several thousand are killed. Nor is his decision a clear one - he is left uncertain whether it is the right choice. Perhaps Scorpius is right the wormhole technology, capable of both leading him to his home world and destroying a world, is the only way to defeat the Scarrans from destroying the universe. So he sets in motion a plan that does destroy Scorpius' ship - but this time it is Crais and the ship Talon that die heroically to do so. And he doesn't get to unlock all the technology, just a part of it and he does it himself - writing out and figuring the equations - no friendly alien to unlock it for him and give him the knowledge. Nor does he get the girl, she takes off, preferring to leave then deal with the pain of seeing him die in her arms again. The end? He is alone in his module in a ship graveyard. His friends taking off on their seperate paths, Aeryn (who he just learned may be pregnant with his or rather Crichton2's child) gone. Yet he finds a way to survive...he gets aboard an old dying ship and whistling the tune of the War of 1812 (which is a Texas anthem and associated with the space program on Cape Canerveral), he begins to unlock the technology. The old ship teaches him that no dream is guaranteed and we have to accept what we have in life and make the most of it.
One story is the idealized version - the dream. One is the reality. One is easier. One harder. One black and white and one very gray. In one the hero dies surrounded by friends, in the other the hero survives, his friends leaving him alone in empty space and he has to find his own way back to them, he has to unlock the knowledge in his brain and not depend on a friendly Dedalus to help him do it.
The writers do an interesting thing here - they split their lead into two people. Each exactly the same. Same DNA. Basically doubled. He gets split in an episode entitled "Eat Me", where John Crichton, D'Argo, and Chiana land their pod on a ship filled with canbalistic creatures - whom they learn later used to be ordinary people, Peace-Keepers, but a prisoner/mad scientist on the ship has the ability to double people and each time these people got doubled, they lost more and more of themselves. Cricton, D'Argo and Chiana all get doubled - yet D'Argo and Chiana's doubles die on the ship. Crichton and his other self leave. The question then becomes in our minds - which is the true Cricton. And here, the writers make an interesting choice - they state both are. They never tell us that one is a copy. Both are Crichton.
Here is where the story breaks into two parallel roads - Talon, a living ship and gunship arrives in trouble, asking our heroes for help with his commander, Crais - the ex-military commander who had at one time been chasing them. Aeryn Sun (who named the ship after her dead father, whom she never met) decides to help Talon. Aeryn in some respects is a second mother to the ship - which was the violent child of the living ship (Moya) Crichton, Aeryn, Chian, D'argo, and Rygel all inhabit. Talon it appears is being chased by a Peacekeeper Retrieval Squad (think military hit squad) and the head of the squad is Aeryn's mother, Solex Zphen. Accompaning Aeryn are Rygel (for his diplomatic abilities) and Crichton2, Crichton 1 stays aboard Moya with D'Argo, Chiana,
new member Jool. The group on Talon experience a more or less straightly told romantic tale of sacrifice and tragedy. The group on Moya experience an increasingly surreal at times comedic psychological landscape. Visually the Talon experience is in tones of red, black, and yellow. The Moya one is in calmer colors or more varied - blues, purples, reds, golds, etc.
On Talon, John Crichton2 solves all his problems. Perfectly. He and Aeryn talk, they realize they love each other because they never give up and always fight and their courage - they are each other's guiding light. She comes to terms more or less with her mother - who had given up on love and became a remorseless killer (what Aeryn in her head may have become without John Crichton). Crais appears to kill her mother and she resolves this problem.
Choosing Crichton over her mother's path. They are all happy. Then along comes the alien species that two years before inserted worm-hole technology inside Crichton's head - the technology that sent Scorpius after him and is why Scorpius, his nemesis, inserted a neural chip in Crichton's head - a neural chip that has since been removed, but left behind an imprint of Scorpius in Crichton's mind. This imprint Crichton calls "Harvey" - it is in many ways his scientific alter-ego. The cold, calculating, rational mind. Whose only passion is vengence or discovery for his own ends. Scorpius is the opposite of Crichton. In looks, demeanor, actions - yet he echoes Crichton's own worse
attributes and fears. Crichton2 can't deal with Scorpi in his brain and resists him - sees him as a liability. Meanwhile Crichton1 - is assisted in his adventures by the alter-ego, and in one episode Incubator, Scorpius inserts the neural chip taken from Crichton into his head and Crichton becomes Scorpius' alter-ego. In that episode Scorpius explains why he needs the wormhole technology (in order to make weapons, not travel to worlds) - we learn about the evil Scarrans who tortured Scorpius and destroyed his mother's family. He is no longer such a black and white villian (the character literally is dressed in black and white by the way).
The ancient alien species tells Crichton that the technology they gave him, locked in his head where he can eventually figured it out on his own but can't easily access (he hasn't figured it out yet - it is basically a series of mathematical equations - Scorpius who extracted this information can't figure it out either at the moment), is being used by another race. A horrible race that is seen traveling through a wormhole to the ancient alien species new home. The ancient takes the form of Crichton's Dad Jack. This is incredibly important from a psychological aspect - it is Crichton's father who worked with Crichton on the Farscape Project. The project that causes Crichton to fall down a wormhole into this distant universe. Crichton's father, much like the Greek Dedalus created wings for his son to fly close to the Sun, testing
the affect of solar flares. The result is the loss of the son to another world.
Here, the ancient Jack requests the same thing. This time, he suggests unlocking the wormhole knowledge in Crichton's head in order to have Crichton help him create a device that will take out the horrible race (Scarrans and their accomplices) that has managed to get hold of the technology from another source. (The other source is a mechanic named Furlough who in Season One forced Crichton to give her the data he'd (independently of the alien species) collected on the wormhole phenemona in exchange for a way for him and Aeryn to get off the planet.). In order to do this, Ancient Jack has to first remove Scorpius from Crichton's head. He does so. Crichton almost dies. He and Aeryn are reunited. He helps Jack create the technology to take out the Scarran ship that contains the data, Furlough sold them. Furlough unfortunately kills Jack before they activate the weapon and takes off with it. Crichton and Aeryn follow. As they do, Aeryn reiterates her feelings for Crichton2 and how once this is all over, she will help him find a wormhole and go with him to Earth.
Unfortunately, it is not to be - Crichton instead is forced to expose himself to a massive dose of radiation to shut off the device Furlough accidently activates. They destroy the Scarran ship, but Crichton2 dies in Aeryn's arms, happy, no more pain. Problems solved. Aeryn grief-stricken journey's to a planet where the dead can be contacted. Here she deals with a series of ghosts.
The ghost of Crichton2 - who she accuses of playing hero and leaving her alone, her father - who claims he is still alive, but is in reality an alien posing as her father in the pay of Solex Zhphen (her mother, whom Crais did not actually kill - but made a deal with - a deal where Solex would tell high command that they were dead in exchange for her life.). Solex wants Aeryn to pay - the reason? Years ago Solex had to make a choice - between her child Aeryn and her lover (Aeryn's father) Talon. She had to kill one. She killed Talon. In doing so, part of her died. She was a pilot. Now she is a killer.
But she can't kill Aeryn, and is killed by Crais, in attempt to save Aeryn.
Aeryn leaves the planet on Talon, deciding to become the cold Peace-Keeper again, what she was bred to be. Crichton2 could have made her a better person,
but he is gone.
This group returns to Moya and is reunited with Crichton1. Crichton1 doesn't have it as easy as Crichton2. Aeryn sees him as the copy. There appears to be no way in. She has already done the I love you routine with Crichton2. He's the copy in her eyes. Crichton2 also leaves a difficult task for him - with no nice ancient alien's along for help - Crichton must get the wormhole technology away from Scorpius. It's no longer the easy task of defeating and removing the Scorpius in his head - it's the more complex one - defeating the real Scorpius. And to do so, he doesn't get to die a hero in the arms of his lover. Nor does he save lives, so much as take them. Several thousand are killed. Nor is his decision a clear one - he is left uncertain whether it is the right choice. Perhaps Scorpius is right the wormhole technology, capable of both leading him to his home world and destroying a world, is the only way to defeat the Scarrans from destroying the universe. So he sets in motion a plan that does destroy Scorpius' ship - but this time it is Crais and the ship Talon that die heroically to do so. And he doesn't get to unlock all the technology, just a part of it and he does it himself - writing out and figuring the equations - no friendly alien to unlock it for him and give him the knowledge. Nor does he get the girl, she takes off, preferring to leave then deal with the pain of seeing him die in her arms again. The end? He is alone in his module in a ship graveyard. His friends taking off on their seperate paths, Aeryn (who he just learned may be pregnant with his or rather Crichton2's child) gone. Yet he finds a way to survive...he gets aboard an old dying ship and whistling the tune of the War of 1812 (which is a Texas anthem and associated with the space program on Cape Canerveral), he begins to unlock the technology. The old ship teaches him that no dream is guaranteed and we have to accept what we have in life and make the most of it.
One story is the idealized version - the dream. One is the reality. One is easier. One harder. One black and white and one very gray. In one the hero dies surrounded by friends, in the other the hero survives, his friends leaving him alone in empty space and he has to find his own way back to them, he has to unlock the knowledge in his brain and not depend on a friendly Dedalus to help him do it.
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no subject
Date: 2004-10-23 07:55 am (UTC)I think my favorite aspect of The Choice, which again shows what an incredibly complex, multi-layered show Farscape is, is when the old Crichton from The Locket appears to Aeryn. She does not remember him, but he is another version of Crichton, a third version how how he and Aeryn's lives may have played out. In this one, they were in love for years and years and yet never acted on it.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-23 08:04 am (UTC)It's funny, the only time I came close to crying was in a scene in Fractures, between Crichton1 and D'Argo. D'Argo tells Crichton he is jealous of the other him. The one who got to play out that dance with Aeryn. And the worst part is now Aeryn sees Crichton as the copy.
It's more gut-wrenching to have to come back and face the double of the man you loved. He is the same.
They both share the same memories, the same DNA. But,
for one thing, the one who died shares the memories of your time with him on Talon - your love affair, when you declared your love. The one who lives, does not. He's him but not him at the same time. It is why she goes to the planet and doesn't want to return to Moya at first and it is why she eventually leaves. Crichton meanwhile, has to deal with an Aeryn who fell for the other him - the him who went aboard Talon, who stands as a ghost between them.
Amazingly complex. It makes complete sense why these two aren't together. In fact, at this point in the series, I have difficulty seeing how they can ever be together - the other Crichton really is a huge obstacle to overcome and an ironic one. The person who cost you your lover is wait, yourself.