I, ET

Farscape Episode Review

In which John's brain may or may not be melting.

What Happened

A Peacekeeper beacon turns itself on and starts broadcasting Moya's position to anyone and everyone. Crichton suggests muffling the beacon by landing the ship in a swamp, but removing the device is another story.

For one thing, it will require forcing Rygel to do all the delicate work. For another, they must venture out in search of some Clorium to use as an anaesthetic. Their search intersects with the native military, who were attracted by Moya's crash-landing. While Aeryn and D'Argo distract the soldiers, Crichton goes looking for the element.

Worried that they can't wait, Zhaan suggests that she can share Moya's pain while Rygel begins to dismantle the beacon. It is not a pleasant, or entirely successful process, made more difficult by the fact that Moya is not really designed to withstand gravity and is collapsing under her own weight.

John manages to get himself captured by Renea and her son Fostro. She is an UFO tracker with her own radio telescope, reluctantly supported by the military, but she's a little nonplussed by Crichton. He's just (with more drama than really necessary) found some Clorium when her military minders show up and he is forced to hide.

Commander Rymax is suspicious when Renea and Fostro aren't as happy as he expected about her life's work being confirmed in such a way. He loses interest in her, however, when D'Argo is captured. The Luxan's violence upsets Renea and forces John to admit that they are escaped prisoners. She hands over the Clorium and orders him out of her house.

Crichton refuses to leave without D'Argo, so Renea sends Rymax searching in the wrong direction. They get back to Moya just in time to numb the surgical site so that she can take off.

What We Learned

• Aeryn's new to all this escaped prisoner crap.
• Leviathans don't usually land on planets.
• Hynerians are aquatic, so Rygel knows mud.
• The planet is kind of like Louisiana. Or Degobah.
• The Clorium detector is just like a VCR, except easier.
• He's an alien. And she's talking to him. In her kitchen.
• If this is about Rygel climbing around in the ship's entrails, Zhaan can turn around and go away.
• A military is not usually the most compassionate, tolerant group.
• It's a galactic misunderstanding.
• He's altered the perceptions and beliefs of an entire planet.
• Guess that's enough for one day.

Best Lines

John: "It feels like it's melting my brain. It couldn't actually be doing something to my brain could it?"

What Did I Think?

They felt the need to saddle us with the cute little kid, but other than that...