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Shush, Perri. Shush! Pleeeeease shush? (siiiiighhh... attempting something like dignity...)
Yeah, I went non-verbal, so what? Let's move on, shall we? It's not like she was doing much better! Gorgeous guys in leather acting detached have a baaaad effect on her. Between the over-bred accent on Crichton, and His Cuteness Captain Larraq, this was a pretty darn fun ep for fairly easy reasons. So, this review is going to be a tad long.
Ignoring the carbonated hormones.... "A Bug's Life" was good despite plot and story bits we've seen before in "Aliens", "Die Hard 2", and the first-season X-FILES episode "Ice." Not that it mattered; the pacing was fast, and the crew's impersonation of real Peacekeepers and their 'captives' gave the exercise a whole extra layer of deception. Plus, the actors were talented enough to play an enemy virus impersonating themselves, while still letting the audience know the difference between the two. The rattlesnake sound-effect and green-eye flare of the virus were also *really* effectively used to turn the screws on the suspense. I kept wanting to scream warnings at the characters on-screen, and if I want to do that, it doesn't matter to me if I've seen it before.
I've been waiting for John to get sick since he got to the UT; by all
rights, he should be reacting to every bacteria he comes in contact with, if not dead from an exotic infection six months ago. But no, the first time it happens, it's an intellivirus. Boy just can't win. As with the tech in last week's episode, an intelligent virus may or may not be possible, but it works, so you can ignore the impossible in favor of the amusing. Part of the fun here came from the virus's slips and mistakes --- even though the organism obviously had access to all the hosts' memories, it couldn't quite get Chiana and Crichton note-perfect. Especially with John pretending to be someone else half the time (its accent slipped into Southern at the wrong moments...).
The straightforward nastiness of the virus deliberately stabbing Aeryn --- simultaneously hurting Larraq (whatever was left of him in there) and Crichton as much as possible--- gives you a pretty good idea of what a galaxy populated by its spores would be like. Seeing the PK transport go *BOOM* made me darn happy--- although not as happy as John. I don't think he's ever been that grim while dealing with an enemy before, not even Durka, and it's an interesting change. (More on changes in John in a bit, though.)
Our visible guest bad guys were also super; nicely individualized,
consistent with what we know of PK's, and fun to watch. From the first
second of their ultra-cool on-their-feet entrance from the Marauder, they defined menace and posed a believable threat to the crew of Moya. (Major, major kudos to the animation F/X department for that. Space battles are cool, but it's stuff like *this* that shows you what you can really accomplish with today's CGI technology.) Captain Larraq (cool, cute, competent, and nothing like Crais, yay) may not have been a totally bad guy --- for a PK --- but watching him and John try to out-macho each other ("Captain." "Captain.") was both hysterical and a good indicator of how the PK corps work. Do you get the feeling they operate by Klingon promotion methods, or is it just me? Aside from that, his interest in Aeryn seemed to be genuine on both the professional and personal levels, setting up a nice
set of conflicts. Hassan was smart, a little scary, and competent, for as
long as she lasted; and Thonn fulfilled his purpose, which was there to be muscle, of course. The first guy who died seemed to be wearing the aviator's cap from the Sheyang on PK TECH GIRL, and when I looked up his name, it turned out to be Rhed. No, no redshirts here!
Other great character stuff:
Zhaan was clearly picking up on something wrong with Chiana early on, as well as realizing that there was no way John would have hit her that hard, masquerade or no. Having her as the voice of reason during the Mexican Stand-off was a cool reversion to the beginning of this season; while I know she can't be trusted in all situations, it's good to know she can still come through in the crunch.
The Rygel and Chiana Show was a stitch. Neither of those two can *ever* leave well enough alone, whether it's a locked box or pushing their crewmates' buttons. They both paid for their part of the mess: Rygel by being locked in the sauna, and Chiana by stealing Larraq's access key from the virus -- even if the virus made it to the secret PK station, he wouldn't have been able to get aboard. Darnit, I like this girl, and I think it's mostly Gigi Edgely's fault (although Rockne O'Bannon's great writing in this ep couldn't have hurt). Anyway, I hold PK High Command and its stupid orders (they can't have seen "Aliens"--- or they're just twits!) and Thonn, who let that virus grab him when he should know better, much more responsible for the carnage than these two.
D'Argo was dealing with Issues --- and having the reason for those bone rings confirmed kind of mitigates his Attitude through lots of the ep. That, and his utter panic and concern for Aeryn when she gets stabbed. The rest of the crew are truly shipmates to him now, and not just fellow travelers in flight, and it's cool to see that come out. And I gotta say that hearing Pilot call anyone "Captain" is just wrong, allright? Pilot doesn't ever need any kind of Captain! Lani Tupu does an excellent job of infusing his lines with a self-conscious attempt at respect, but I never want to hear Pilot saying that word again, okay? Got it? Good. *shudder*
A few people on the BB were irked with Aeryn. Some seemed to
think that she'd fallen for Larraq, or had big bad second thoughts about being with Moya's crew after contact with the PK's (especially in that last scene). I don't believe it was that simple. All we saw was Aeryn in her natural environment, talking and working with people she understood, enjoying the novel sensation of having their respect again--- all the while painfully realizing it was temporary and a sham. Then she got stabbed, after which life reverted to "all this fugitive crap." Aeryn is not having anything like a Good Day. Claudia Black continues to amaze me and make viscerally hurtful all the shifting emotions inside someone who never, ever talks about this stuff.
Ben Browder--- boy, he definitely got a workout this week, playing Crichton, Crichton-playing-Captain, virus-playing-Crichton, and
virus-playing-Crichton-playing-Captain. Whew. *That's* enough to make my head hurt. The hilarious accent and attitude are typical of the r-dropping superior snootiness found at the 1950's School of Villains, and playing off the more macho Larraq made it even more perfect. (Either Crichton's been chased by Crais for too long, or he's watched a ton of bad scifi flicks. No more MST3K for you, dude.) At the other end of the acting spectrum, there was the lovely, awful stuff that came out of John's genuine guilt and regret over his part in Hassan's death, and his worry, hurt and confusion over the events surrounding Aeryn's stabbing.
Which brings up something that didn't get dealt with in either last week's episode or review. We never got a definitive answer about what happened between them in A Human Reaction, but I'm leaning toward the belief that whatever-it-was didn't go very far. I think their reactions --- either jealousy, guilt, or overt caring --- would have been more intense if they'd gotten together in AHR. I don't have a problem with that. I'm just thrilled and bemused that the writers have managed to keep John and Aeryn on this very tight tightrope for so long; one step forward, a step back, a tiny step forward, balance... So long as they keep moving forward, no matter how slowly, I'll be happy.
Summing up: great suspense, some terrific character stuff, lots of shooting and explosions, enjoyable and three-dimensional (to a point) bad guys, and Crichton giving his impression of a Nazi via the Royal Shakespeare Company. Almost too much for one episode to contain; and while some people found it all too painful, I'm looking forward to where it takes us in the final four eps.
I just wish we were getting them before January!
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Wow. Hamana, hamana, hamana... While I, unlike my partner, am not reduced to 20 minutes of stutturing incoherency at the first sign of a British accent (much less one clad in leather), I will admit that the best part of this episode was the eye candy. Between John in Leather (and where did he get that cheesy 'I would not pronounce the consonant 'r' if my life depended on it' accent?!? Definitely too much Dr. Who) and Captain Larraq (whose name we couldn't remember, so were calling him Captain Cutie-Pie for the entire ep), if you were female, you were pretty much in good shape no matter who was onscreen.
But I digress. I have to agree with Kiki about the stolen plots
-- but they were taking the stolen plot elements (body snatching, 'whose got the bad guy' and Die Hard) and integrating them with the PK masquerade into something uniquely and coherently Farscape. A lesson I wish some other shows (*cough*7Days*cough*) would learn. The 'Virus Among Us' plot was cool and I spent at least as much time shrieking at the screen as Kiki. And the pay-off for it -- that lovely scene with everyone pointing guns -- was worth every second. The image of five people pointing guns at each other and trying to talk while John's cover is blown and he's busy yanking people back on-topic... just lovely. I was torn between collapsing in laughter and biting my fingernails to the quick.
Of course, they were helped by a quite impressive supporting cast. All of the guests were great -- Thonn in particular was a joy to watch, doing the thug routine to the hilt. And Captain Cutie-Pie (eye candy value aside) was great, simultaneously a hard-assed PK captain and a really genuine, cool kind of guy. His interest in Aeryn was beautifully played and when he told her she was wasted where she was, that she belonged in Special Ops, was heartwrenching. And no, I'm not upset that Aeryn was definitely starting to fall for the guy -- I can't blame her. He in essence told her exactly the same thing Crichton did -- "You can be more" -- but said it as a Peacekeeper, a peer, someone who understands where she came from and what
she is in a way John never can. And he meant every word of it. That kind of validation from some one who represents everything was, and wishes she could be again, was bound to hit her hard and deep. 'Shipper though I am, I don't have a problem with that. It doesn't have anything to do with her relationship with John -- only her relationship with herself. And I feel for her in a big, big way.
And so did John. Most of his unhappiness in the tag was a result of
Hassan's death -- and there's no way in hell he's going to get over that one any time soon. He's killed before in self-defense, but he's basically a pacifist, our John (unless really pissed off) and killing in cold blood -- even when he wasn't operating his own body -- is going to mess with his head in a big, big way. But he's not dumb -- he also knew just how much damage Larraq's involuntary betrayal and subsequent death was going to do to Aeryn's still remarkably fragile heart, and he was hurting at least as much for her as for any wounded feelings regarding her that he might have had. I agree with Kiki, by the way -- I'm more sure now than ever that whatever happened in A Human Reaction, it wasn't sex. Aeryn's interactions with Larraq would have been far different if she'd slept with John; I doubt it's something she would do or take lightly.
D'Argo... Man, I understand the Issues thing, seriously, especially now that we know what those rings in your collarbone are for. But you almost blew the whole show and you know it. He covered his refusal to go back in chains well by going for John's throat, but seriously messed with any hopes John had of maintaining a command air. And he knew it, too. Not that anyone was doing a particularly hot job of maintaining their cover -- between Rygel breaking out of his cell every five minutes, D'Argo and Zhaan blithely ignoring their cells and Chiana breaking and entering at every opportunity, it's a wonder they kept the show going as long as they
did. And it wasn't actually a bad plan -- if the Marauder had just needed repairs, it would have worked. Yeah, Aeryn would have done much better as the captain than John -- she's got the mindset and the attitude down much better than he does -- but ultimately, I don't think it would have made much difference in how things shook out.
And Rygel and Chiana are no longer allowed to play together. I don't think I even want those two on the same ship! What trouble one of them doesn't get into, the other does! I suspect Chiana's behavior -- her pickpocketing of Captain Larraq in particular -- is going to have serious ramifications in the upcoming eps, but still... Play nicely, children, or we'll take away your lockpicks.
Best moment (besides the aforementioned "Off topic!") scene? Pilot having to stop before calling John 'Captain'. I missed most of the lines after that because I was giggling so much.
This doesn't quite make it into my list of favorite episodes -- I couldn't
tell you why, but something was just a tad off -- but it's a good, solid
(if largely ripped-off) turn-out for the Farscape team.
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