A Not So Simple Plan, pt 1

Farscape Episode Review

In which John tries to rob a bank.

What Happened

There is some serious tension between Zhaan and the others when Zhaan insists that the presumed dead Stark communicated with her through his mask. The side-trip to find him will take three days and D'Argo is worried that he will miss the slave auction where his son will be sold. When Stark reappears, he suggests robbing a so-called Shadow Depository to get the money D'Argo needs to buy the lot of slaves that includes both Jothee and thousand of Banaks, Stark's people.

It's all going to plan (such as it is), until Scorpius arrives. And not the one in John's head; he's here in the flesh.

Zhaan makes a deposit that includes Rygel, hidden in one of the boxes. Then, Rygel gets from her container to the one belonging to Scorpius and Zhaan makes a withdrawal. While they are doing that, John sabotages Scorpius' cooling rods with a goo that reacts explosively to heat.

Scorpius discovers the container switch and realizes that Crichton and the others are in the building. As the plan breaks down, Crichton confides in Aeryn that whatever Scorpius did to him in the Aurora chair is getting worse. Caught by a weakened Scorpius, John battles his compulsion to obey Scorpius' demands that John help him and crawls away.

Back on Moya, the crew counts their ill-gotten gains, then heads for the slave auction, unaware that one of the ingots is a skittering spider creature, now loose on the ship.

What We Learned

• Inquiring minds want to know how Stark got here.
• John will reset Stark's codes.
• They have complete confidence in Rygel, especially where money is concerned.
• Want to guilt trip John, that's fine, but don't lie to him.
• Zhaan knows a functionary when one crawls in front of her.
• You know it's not very nice to whisper.
• Chiana makes for a good flunky.
• No Dominar should have to work this hard.
• Friends support one another unconditionally.
• They also forgive one another.

Best Lines

John: "Have you ever heard of KFC? It is to my knowledge unique in the universe. Now, we have collected all eleven secret ingredients..."

What Did I Think?

Stark would have been more interesting if he hadn't been missing for a great chunk of the season.