An encounter with Crais and Talyn goes badly wrong, leaving Crichton and his shipmates in an alien prison cell, from which they are taken one by one to tell their version of events...

John: And that's how I saw it. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.

Farscape does Rashomon. That's the easy and obvious summary of this episode, especially seeing as it's another one of those ideas that has been used on practically every series - and none have ever come close to matching that Kurosawa classic.

But Farscape has a damn good try. As always, several people get to tell their version of an event (in this case Talyn's destruction of a Plokavian vessel), each of which is subtly different. Although, in this case, the fun comes from seeing how each individual sees the other characters; Aeryn sees D'Argo as the aggressor while Zhaan is completely weak; Zhaan sees a cowardly Crichton; D'Argo envisions everyone else deferring to his position and classes Stark as a raving lunatic; the Banek's view seems to have a more reflective point of view, believing that Crais fired the weapon and the others are lying to protect Talyn; Crichton goes as far as to admit they are lying but only because of the confusion over what actually happened.

Each version is staged cleverly: it's an idea that can wear thin very quickly, seeing the same events over and over again but here it is told quite deftly and some of the characterisation of the egos involved is hilarious, particularly the whimpering, indecisive, cowardly Crichton of Zhaan's telling. And I love the way everyone in Crichton's version gets the Plokavians' name wrong. :lol:

I like the set design. For want of a better word, it is "stark". It reminds me very much of a Star Trek TOS episode called The Empath, which used the same kind of simple sets surrounded by blackness. It's quite effective - and probably saved money too. The interrogation chair is quite bizarre, and wouldn't look out of place in a dentist's surgery, although after seeing Aeryn sitting in it I can imagine other much more fun uses for it. :innocent:

The end of the episode manages to be quite sad without us really having had a chance to get to know Stark. The closeness between him and Zhaan after their unity in The Locket is quite touching and it is clear to see the pain of the rest of the crew, particularly D'Argo as he wrestles with his guilt after condemning the Banek.

It's great to finally catch up with Crais and Talyn - I've missed Lani Tupu's presence for most of the season (even if he's there every week as Pilot's voice). He adds a further edge to proceedings, and there is a distinct feeling that the year is beginning to snowball towards its climax. Even I have to admit that it's better late than never for what has been a topsy-turvy, uneven season. Some of the very best stand alone episodes mixed in with some of the weakest (not to mention the outright worst). But it's reassuring, and quite exciting, to think about what's to come at the end of this season and into the third.

And also in Zhaans version the way John seems to keep touching D'Argo.

Weird, and mildly disturbing :blink:

And also the sychophantic way she kept saying how wonderful and peace loving the Plokavian's were. :x :x :x

Don't you mean the Plakovoids? :unsure: :lol:

Of course I did. Sorry. My bad ;) :rolleyes:

mmh, I don't really know what to make of this ep.

It's like an experiment to see how people cope under pressure, and how they remember a certain sequence of events, and then throw in some seriously hideously pus oozing MOTW, ewwhhhh :x

very nicely filmed though, everyone's account either slightly or totally different. It must have been incredibly confusing to film. :blink:

Great to see Crais and Talyn return, and boy hasn't Talyn got big ;)

I'm not sure what to make of Crais anymore. He's certainly not as white as the driven snow, but not quite a bad guy anymore. So I guess that makes him a 'grey hat'

Nice of the writers to give themselves a get out clause concerning Stark's death. Now I know, he 's going to return :lol: :lol:

This is one of the reasons why I never really rated Crais.

First he hates John with a fiery passion. Was obsessed with catching and killing him. Vengeance for the accidental death of his brother. So much so that he was willing to turn his back on his Peacekeeper training. Kill his loyal staff. Ignore direct orders from Peacekeeper command to return :fear:

And then, POOF, it’s all “Sorry John. Bit of a mistake there mate. Came on a bit too strong eh? Oh well, now I’ve been outsmarted by a girly tech, and had my reputation sullied, I’ll just steal the kid and bugger off. No hard feelings?” <_<

Pleeeeease :x

All this “I’ve changed” rubbish. It seems to me that, once the writers came up with the idea of Scorpy as the big bad, they just didn’t know what to do with the wishy-washy, diet coke of evil Crais, so they had him wimp out and try to become one of the “good” guys.

I know, I know. Steve loves the big old rube but I just have to call it as I see it ;)

LOL,

You know Melian, I think you may have a point there. :lol: :lol:

Sorry Steve. :lol:

Sorry? Nah, I think you've both missed the point.

Crais has always been the character who will nail his flag to the pole he thinks will serve him best. As we learned in The Way We Weren't he instigated the programme for creating Leviathan Gunships, of which Talyn is the prototype. Once he realised that Moya had become pregnant, and that Scorpius was on the verge of throwing him to the wolves, he jumped ship, changed sides and gave the impression that he was helping Crichton and co just to get to Talyn.

I don't see where the problem is - he's a great character. :P :lol:

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one Steve ;)

But I would just like to point out that I am right :D

^^ Denial :P

All I would say then, Karen, is that if you are going to say things the way you see them you'd better get your eyes tested first. :P :P :lol:

Don't be mean :o

:innocent:

With my contact lenses in I can see perfectly fine!

I have great eyes. And they're BLUE!!

Okay, well just make sure you've got them in next time :ph43r: :lol: ;)

Anywaaaaay...

At the beginning of the series I didn't think much of Crais cos I thought Lani Tupu was a pretty ropey actor. But as it went on he grew on me more and more and, without being spoilery, he gets better and better from here on in.

Now I will give you that one. He does get better from this point ;)

See. I can be reasonable.

But only when you've got your lenses in, right? :P

OI!! <_<

:) Ah Crais

Personally I love his character and the way its a constant guess as to which side he is going to be on. He has been irreversibly contaminated but its a different journey to Aeyrns. He is no longer in the thrawl of the peacekeepers but he is just as obsessive and more than a little insane.

I think season 3 might change your minds on him so don't write him off just yet.


:thumbsup:

As for the episode itself I've never enjoyed it that much. It is quite clever and insightful as to how the crew see each other but I would have liked to have seen more than the interrogations. Perhaps more a little more action, it just missed something for me.

:)

At last, someone who agrees with me about mah boy Crais! :thumbsup: :lol:

:lol: I don't mean to keep agreeing with you :lol:

We do have differing opinions on Season 2, I think we may have a few different opinions on S4 when we finally get to it but for now :thumbsup: :lol: :lol:

I'll just have to w**k on your opinion of Season 2 won't I :lol: :lol: :evil: :lol:

:lol: Great minds, etc etc, yadda yadda yadda...

You mean because I thought season 2 was uneven? :unsure:

Doesn't mean I didn't like it. There are a handful of episodes that I'm not so keen on, though. :)

:) I just need to push it further up in your estimation.

There is just something about Season 2, the cast, feel of the show and of course the excellent story arc that makes it my favourite. So I've just got to stand up for it :thumbsup:

There are a few duds and I suppose overall Season 3 has the edge on writing however because it has most of my favourite episodes in it comes out on top.

Its very close between 2 & 3 for me don't get me wrong, you'll just have to convince me on S4. :lol: :lol:

I wouldn't dream of trying to convince you. Season 4 was very different. Was it Brian Henson or Rockne O'Bannon who commented about s4 making a departure from how they had envisioned the show? I think the second half of it was very, very good, without going into spoiler territory.

Don't get me wrong, I love season 2. If you've read any of my posts you'll know that it has some of my very favourite episodes. :)

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Yay

Sure about that convincing thing though? ;)



:lol: :lol: :lol:

The rewatch will convince you :lol:

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Always a sucker for a good 'Rashomon' story :thumbsup:

As you've already pointed out most of the highlights come from the differing POVs and how they see each other. In D'Argo's version for example, he postures at the front of the group, saying everything, while John stands just behind him agreeing with every word :lol:

This is one that requires a re-viewing to take it all in.

Sad to see Stark go, but I really don't think we've seen the last of him :thumbsup:

Also, great to see Crais/Talyn back, I've missed that particular story.