Farscape: Look at the Princess (Part 1): A Kiss Is But a Kiss Rewatch

October 23, 2015 11:47 PM - Season 2, Episode 11

To avoid capture by Scorpius Crichton is forced to propose to a Princess—however there are competitors for the throne and a rival working with a Scarran plans to eliminate Crichton.via
posted by cshenk (6 comments total)

Not that I've been following the series on rewatch, but I feel bad that nobody has responded to cshenk's post.

This is another one those episodes that proves once and again, that John is really, really far from home in a world that he just can't comprehend, and yet in spite of that, he's going to be the good guy and do what is right (even if he is forced into the situation upon pain of death). In contrast, Rygel is in his element, playing politics, which is always fun to watch.
posted by sardonyx at 1:41 PM on October 25, 2015

I like all the multi-part episodes, but this one is really great. One of the things I love about Farscape is that while Crichton usually really is in over his head, people underestimate the crew of Moya and their loyalty towards each other.
posted by ob1quixote at 2:12 PM on October 25, 2015

I've only watched part one so far, but I recall enjoying this three parter for the most part. The will they/won't they of John and Aeryn is a little frustrating at times, simply because we definitely want them, too. Though, given their interactions leading up to this episode, her behavior seems slightly weird (absent some kind of trauma that we haven't been told about - does that guy from a few eps back count?).

Other problem, scarran heat breath. Meh. You would think everyone would know about it, much less not allow themselves to be left alone with a Scarran who could pull it off.

Alas, poor John, I felt terrible for him as he pointed out that humans simply don't live as long as everyone else. If he's gone 70 years, his life back home, his driving impetus to get through every day, is gone. Though, I did love him just walking in on D'argo and Chiana. Not very considerate, John!

Moya's God.
posted by Atreides at 6:42 AM on October 26, 2015

For those who don't know, the Builder Kahaynu (Moya's God) is played by Jonathan Hardy, the voice of Rygel.
posted by Errant at 4:59 PM on October 26, 2015 [2 favorites]

Thanks for the comments--I was feeling a little lonely! There are parts of this trilogy that I love (John and Aeryn, of course) and parts that I fast-forward through (the entire subplot of Moya's God). The opening scene is so good (!) and again supports my theory that there is a relationship going on that we don't get to see on screen most of the time. I'm pretty sure that John and Aeryn are "recreating," and John wants to talk about their relationship and his feelings, while Aeryn is not quite ready to go there.

Anyone watching the "Minority Report" TV show? In one episode, the detective and the pre-cog go to a club where you kiss a piece of film and put it on your wrist (like a bracelet). Then you click it with someone else's bracelet to see if you're compatible genetically. I said to my husband, "Farscape did that first!" (He has yet to become a Scaper so I had to explain the compatibility test in "A Kiss is But a Kiss" to him.)

The boy who plays John's possible son is Ben Browder's son in real life. And the girl who plays his daughter in the last episode of the trilogy is his daughter.

In the companion book, David Kemper says that he structured the whole trilogy around the first scene and the last one (in the third part). I'll talk more about that last scene later! I'll also expand on my dislike of the Moya/Zhaan subplot in the next two episode discussions.
posted by cshenk at 12:12 AM on October 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

I've been re-watching the series in honor of the 20th anniversary. Because I'm keeping the volume low, I've had the subtitles on and I'm constantly amused by the ones that detail the musical cues, e.g., from this episode, "[techno music playing]," or, "[tense music playing]."
posted by ob1quixote at 6:33 PM on April 20, 2019