Farscape S01E06-07, "Thank God It's Friday, Again" and "PK Tech Girl"

[kate_nepveu]

The world's slowest Farscape watch continues. Slowly.

S01E06, "Thank God It's Friday, Again"

The one with the brainwashing/explosive plants.

Hey, Crichton got snaked! Well, wormed, okay, and for much less sinister reason, but still.

I watched this over three different very late nights, so it might just be me, but when the reveal came that the plants were being harvested for the Peacekeepers, I thought it meant that they were also using it for mind control purposes, or at least planning to. The weapons thing was a surprise, though in retrospect I can see how Rygel's difficulties were meant to signpost that. It will be interesting to see what long-term consequences there are from this.

Aww, Aeryn, baby scientist!

Also, I liked that they ultimately talked their way out of the problem with honesty. (I thought that they were going to hack into the PA system and change the brainwashng message.) IIRC this also features in "Exodus from Genesis" and "Throne for a Loss," and this is a good theme to have.

S01E07, "PK Tech Girl"

The one that's a horror flick on a derelict spaceship.

I liked this a lot, though I admit Rygel's bit felt somewhat disconnected from the rest. I liked the title character, Gilina, and while her & Crichton's connection was a little fast in the TV-necessary way, it also made more emotional sense than usual for such things. Also, Aeryn, you adorable spacetoaster, you, far more comfortable facing down a literal fire-breather than confessing to once finding someone attractive!

(I think I'm calling him Crichton and her Aeryn because John is so nonspecific a name to me and also because of the disconnect between the way Sun is spelled and pronounced. (If IMDB can be trusted Zhaan and D'Argo are both last names.) I may change this merely because I find Crichton absurdly difficult to type.)

I don't know if I only noticed it in this episode, but there were a lot of camera angles that subtly tilted side-to-side, which did a very effective job of giving an off-balance feel. But the shot of Crichton standing alone outside the closed door after Gilina left was too much, the black door closing between them should have been the last visual there.

Also, eyebrow kisses, sure, why not. (Actually I thought that was a kind of a great little detail.)

Spoil me and have your rest day taken away.

Comments

[abigail_n.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's ever explicitly stated, but I'm pretty sure Luxans put the surname first. At any rate, it is confirmed that D'argo is a first name. My sense has always been that Zhaan was a last name, but that's not as clear. I call them Crichton and Aeryn too, simply because that's how everyone on the ship calls them (at least until "John" starts creeping in in later seasons when it's already too late, and as you say, a little too generic).

[kate_nepveu]

Huh. I could have sworn someone called him "John" in this episode, and possibly in others, which is why I bothered to explain myself! (I hated seeing all the old SGA stories labeled Shepperd and McKay but Ronon and Teyla.) Oh well.

[veejane]

Yeah, the fandom called them Crichton and Aeryn for at least the first two years, most of three. (It's what the characters call each other!) So you're in line with common practice.

(Although the explanation for why Aeryn is not called Sun doesn't really wash in comparison with Crais. Crais is his family name. I mean, he's a villain, but.)

[oracne]

Maybe "Sun" is like "Smith"? So they went with the first name?

[veejane]

They do call her Officer Sun at first. I think it's a personalization, a shedding of the Officer-ness as she goes into exile, that turns her into Aeryn.

[oracne]

That makes more sense, actually.

[kate_nepveu]

Either I'm not remembering this explanation--totally possible, given the mostly-in-the-middle-of-the-night status of my watch--or we haven't got there yet!

[veejane]

I phrased it with intentional vagueness so that if you hadn't gotten to those details yet (I can't remember whether it's mentioned in the pilot or not, but it's certainly mentioned later), I would not be giving anything specific away!

[kate_nepveu]

For which I thank you!

[marycontrary]

I love the camera work on that show -- I watched it back-to-back with a late season Star Trek show, and the difference was painful.

[kate_nepveu]

I don't usually notice stuff like that, so I was proud of myself! The AV Club's reviews sometimes mention it for my edification, however.

[cofax7]

You are far from the first person to have trouble spelling Crichton. It's damned annoying.

[kate_nepveu]

I actually managed to spell it wrong throughout the first draft of the second episode comments, despite having spelled it correctly _right above_. It was kind of remarkable.