Farscape: Look at the Princess (Part 3): The Maltese Crichton Rewatch

October 31, 2015 1:47 PM - Season 2, Episode 13

After being transformed into a bronze statue, Crichton is beheaded then found by a Peacekeeper agent. Later, Crichton, D'Argo and even Scorpius must rescue Chiana from a Scarran. Meanwhile, Zhaan and Pilot confront one of Moya's creators.[via]
posted by cshenk (8 comments total)

Sorry for the delayed post! I haven't found the time to comment, but I want to say two things, for now: Aeryn's hair is awesome in this trilogy (well, not the PK braid, but when it's down); and I still don't understand why the writers/producers decided to have Crichton go all Kirk and sleep with Jena.

The last scene is classic Farscape--so much is said without saying a word. Claudia said at a convention that Andrew Prowse (the director) kept saying, "More tongue, I need to see more tongue!"
posted by cshenk at 1:51 PM on October 31, 2015

God, this episode was so fucked up. The logic behind the 80 year pregnant statue thing is just soooooooooooo bad.

Though "Chiana and I are having fantastic sex" is pretty damn good.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:47 PM on November 1, 2015

So we get to our stunning conclusion of the three parter. First, I have to say, I admired the design of the capital city, by far one of the best alien cityscapes created so far - most appear to look like a single mega-city dropped down in the middle of no where.

We get another lesson in how tough Aeryn is, dragging a loser Don Juan through a barren wasteland with a broken leg. DANG. She's not just tough, she's PK tough.

The head cutting was a wonderful shocking introduction (or was that a conclusion to the last episode?). Kudos to the security team for letting a Scarran get in with a freakin' laser bracelet. C'MON. You have the ability to somehow create DNA puppets of children who haven't been born, but you can't detect a friggin' laser?!

The seeds are laid down in this episode for John's Scorpy in the Head Problems, fun!

There's something I adore about space royalty bloodlines including the DNA of humans. Of course, this means there's a chance all future rulers will live much shorter lives than their subjects. Rut roh. Hrm.

I also agree that Crichton sleeping with Jena was kind of overblown. I think it at best can be explained as, "I guess things are off with Aeryn....and I just want some fun." However, the ending was superbly acted. Their two smiles brought a bigger smile to my own face.
posted by Atreides at 6:50 AM on November 2, 2015

Here's my complaint about the Moya's god subplot: so the Builders want to decommission her (kill her) because of Talyn. First, essentially, Moya was raped, she did not have a choice about being impregnated with a hybrid Leviathan/gunship, so what kind of god blames her and says she has to die for it? Second, Zhaan's solution is to try and kill the god by sucking it into an engine? She doesn't succeed, and then the god says, "Good job, you can be Moya's protector." What? Your violent action (BTW, the god is killing Moya over birthing a ship that can kill) proves that you're the right person to be Moya's caretaker? Thematically, I think it would've been much better to have Zhaan show mercy in some way that would influence the Builder to have mercy on Moya. The take-home message here seems to be, "Act irrationally and violently to make your point and we'll reward you!" I just thought it was all a big mess!
posted by cshenk at 10:47 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]

One comment on the previous episode in this trilogy: I love John's rant in the Jakench ship! I'm not sure, but I think I read/heard somewhere that Ben Browder improvised a lot of it. "Kill my sex life!" (Hmm, maybe John and Aeryn aren't recreating yet, but come one, after that compatible kiss, they've go to be, right?)
posted by cshenk at 10:50 PM on November 2, 2015

I completely forgot to comment about the conclusion of Moya's subplot...yeesh. I concur with cshenk's thoughts on the matter. The god acted as if Moya was officially a gunship making machine, wherein it seemed as if the PKs had simply altered leviathan sperm or whatever it was to create Talyn. It's never been implied until now that Moya would be capable of reproducing more gunships. The god's design was a complete send up to Trek with the faux greek/roman diety appearance of a toga and the equivalent of olive leaves headgear.
posted by Atreides at 6:57 AM on November 3, 2015

Kahaynu makes it pretty clear that Moya was never in danger from him and that Zhaan was the one on trial:

Kahaynu: (expansively) Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan.

Zhaan: (disgusted) You live.

Kahaynu: As does Moya. (and with that, lights come on and the sounds of Moya’s biosystems powering up fill the Chamber. Pilot too, blinks and comes slowly to life)

Zhaan: What kind of repellent game is this?

Kahaynu: Upon my first exploration of Moya, I knew the circumstances that produced her gunship offspring. And I knew she was a worthy soul.

Zhaan: Then why did you put her through this?

Kahaynu: To see if you were worthy. These are gentle beasts, who will ultimately follow the directions of those in control. Should you desire it, Priestess, you could produce an army of killing machines.

Pilot: (weakly) But Zhaan would never -

Kahaynu: Of course she wouldn't. We know that now. We are confident that you will protect Moya vigorously against those who seek to exploit her. You are worthy of that responsibility.

As with most entities in Farscape, it's rarely advisable to take them at their first word. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine that Moya would have to also have been altered by the Peacekeepers in order to successfully bear a gunship child, and the implication is that that alteration is permanent.
posted by Errant at 8:17 PM on November 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm rewatching now Farscape is on Amazon Prime (at least in the UK).

This is the episode that got me into Farscape in the first place . I channel hopped into a scene of Aeryn rescuing that guy, with broken leg, even though she clearly disliked him and I was instantly hooked - physically and mentally strong badass who doesn't tolerate shit but sticks to her principles even when it costs her. To this day she's one of my favourite TV characters.

The scene at the end is amazing, so much very complicated emotion portrayed with no words at all.
posted by *becca* at 4:10 AM on June 28, 2019