The crew and the mercenaries put everything they have into saving John. But even with help from an unexpected quarter they may not get there in time to save his sanity...

In a word: stunning.

Crais: How long has Scorpius held Crichton?
Aeryn: Four arns.
Crais: Then I recommend you bring down a basket without any holes so that Crichton's liquid remains are not lost. He's already dead, Aeryn.

Oh, alright, a few more words, then. It's huge, it's epic, it's doom-laden, it's explosive, it's emotional, it's shocking and, above all else, it's a total and complete triumph.

When I first saw this episode I knew instantly that tv sf had never been this good. I still feel that way - the fact that Farscape has matched it on several occasions is an unexpected bonus. A Not So Simple Plan pushed us up the hill, With Friends Like These took us to the edge of the precipice, and Plan B throws us over the edge and waves us goodbye.

Natira: Blue Eyes, look out at that. That is the last sight your eyes will ever see.
John: You are one sick puppy. Scorpius has to kill me and you're still getting your jollies?

It starts with a brilliant and amusing stand-off between the various mercenaries and Moya's remaining crew, accelerates into Stark's insane mission briefing (his insistence that the not-too-bright mercs use a silent count is a moment of comic genius in an otherwise deadly serious affair), snowballs into the execution of the plan, results in the most impressively staged and acted battle ever to grace a tv screen (crowned by the glorious nightvision sequence), and concludes with one of the most harrowing scenes of the series to date.

And even in the midst of all this carnage the writers still manage to light up the screen with some excellent dialogue and character development. D'Argo, Aeryn, Scorpius and Crais all advance considerably in this episode, and the actors look like they're having a whale of a time. Even the guest stars, from Natira to the mercenaries, shine brightly. The mercs, in particular, show levels of heroism you just wouldn't expect. And naturally there is death and self-sacrifice aplenty.

Bekesh: Farewell my friends and thank you for teaching me to kill again. :lol:

And John? He goes to Scorpius because he wants to end it. Even when he is being rescued the presence of Harvey convinces him that Scorpius is the only one who can save him. By the time the credits roll his mind is gone. I don't know any other actor who plays insanity as well as Ben Browder. His performance in this episode is amazing.

On any other series this would have been the season finale. Not here. The ending lets you know that their problems are far from over.

Farscape: the little show that could.

My thoughts.......

Scorpius: You're lying John. I always know. Don't worry. Soon we'll take the pain away.

According to Aeryn, the plan hadn’t changed much. Instead of rescuing Jothee, it’s now John who is in distress. The mercenaries don’t quite see it like that though, especially now there is no money. Cue Stark to be the unlikely hero as his insanity reaches new heights but impresses the hell out of Rorf and Co with his berserker nature.

Meanwhile, back at the depository, John is strapped to what looks like a large metal globe, with ‘Frau Blucher’ crawling on top of him and Scorpy playing ‘Operation’ with his head. The poor guy. He just can’t catch a break.

Stark tries to enthuse the others with his plan but the don’t seem to be talking him seriously. Could it be because of Rygel’s new ‘Head on Stick’ line in accessories?

It seems Jothee is no chip off the old block and is more interested in helping himself than helping his father rescue the man who saved him. D’Argo was more understanding than I thought Jothee deserved, but that’s just me I guess.

I t never rains but it pours. The real Scorpy decided to have a pow-wow with his neural clone and John ends up with both of them in his head. It appears that the clone has found the wormhole knowledge and is ready to leave. Scorpius tells john he intends to remove the chip, which will kill John in the process.

Talyn appears. It seems he heard his mother’s distress call and has come to her aid. Aeryn asks Crais for his help in rescuing John. She offers him anything, even herself. Crais says it is clear how much John means to her. As if there was ever any doubt.

As always on Farscape, the plan goes pear shaped pretty much from the start.
1. It seems that tracking by scent is more the female blood trackers job. That piece of info would have been handy to learn a little earlier. But wait, wasn’t something like that mentioned in TtBRC?
2. Teurac seems to having performance anxiety. Trust Aeryn to have found the only non-fire breathing Sheyang around!!
3. The next hiccup. Rorf is captured and tortured by Scorpy and Natira, who eats one of his eyes! He sings like a bird. Now Scorpy knows the plan……

Not satisfied with her red eye feast, Natira now sets her sights (ha, ha) on John’s beautiful baby blues. She helpfully informs him that Scorpy doesn’t have to kill him to remove the chip, as she moves into striking distance. Moya saves the day with her conveniently timed low atmospheric dive at the depository, a distraction so the others can land and infiltrate.

The following gun battle is just another prime example of why Farscape rocks!!

D’Argo, Aeryn and Bakeesh shoot up half the base whilst Zhaan, Stark and Teurak try to take down the generator. Once again, the Sheyang is unable to perform and Scorpy captures them. But the big lout comes good in the end, shooting himself and blowing up the generator as planned.

Cut to Aeryn, D’Argo and Bakeesh cutting (or is that shooting) a bloody swath down a blacked out corridor. Aeryn’s infrared goggles are not even working!!

John tries to tempt Natira, saying he’ll give her the wormhole tech if she helps him escape. He also tells her that Scorpy is going to kill her, and invites her into his head to ask the clone as proof. She does and the clone confirms John’s words. Why does the clone do that. Surely getting on Natira’s bad side would not be in his best interests? She releases John and they try to escape, but the voice in Johns head is getting worse, he is barely in control of himself anymore.

Predictably, the pirates have double crossed everyone else, and deploy the flax, trapping both Moya and the transport pod meant to retrieve the others. Talyn and Crais ride in to save the day, destroying the flax. Onboard Moya, Chi lets loose a little girl power of her own, killing Zelkin (although for one very long and tense minute it is unclear just who has been shot!!). Phew.

Scorpy catches up with John, Natira and Rorf, who gets shot. John is now unable to resist the Scorpy siren song in his head and it is only the timely arrival of Aeryn, D’Argo and Bakeesh that saves him. But even then he tries to get back to Scorpy and Aeryn has to knock him unconscious.

Aeryn asks Talyn to destroy the depository and they hide in a container to survive the blast. It appears Scorpy may finally be dead.

Later, on Moya, John is seen locked in his quarters, a gibbering wreck. He tells D’Argo that the voice in his head blames him for the death of Scorpy. It’s all too much for him and he begs D’Argo to kill him.

Wow. All action, all the time. To paraphrase another well known TV show, where do they go from here?

I was just wishing Rygel would do a puppet routine with Durkha's head - that would have been priceless :lol:

Great posts guys, I really can't add anything further :)

Karen, I agree totally, about D'argo and Jothee. I know Jothee had had a rough time, but I felt D'argo deserved better from his son :(

ewhh to the little moment between Jothee and Chianna. Is it just me, or was there a spark there :x

anywoo, fantastic stuff, outstanding trilogy, it was tense,dramatic, funny in places, and I concur, I don't think I've ever seen anyone act insane, as well as Ben Browder. He puts Jack Nicholson to shame :o

Just wait till you watch the last episode Lisa!!

I bet BB was having a whale of a time :lol:

Ok, this was impressive, damned impressive, in fact, it's f*ckin' amazing :o

This is the best episode to date. the final 15 minutes of this one are mind boggling. Action does not necessarily make an episode, but it certainly makes this one. The resolution of the trilogy pulls together all the different parts superbly.

I think if you're trying to show someone how great Farscape can be, this episode, more than any other I've seen so far, would get the job done.

Browder's w**k here, and to be fair, throughout the trilogy is fantastic, as you say, I can't really think of anyone this side of looney tunes playing a whacko quite so convincingly.

As I said earlier, I watched this twice in two nights, and could just as easily watch it again right now. The sign of a great episode.

And, much like at the end of The Hidden Memory last year, this could easily have bought the season to a close, but no, and what a deliciously fantastic ending to the episode.

One more thing of note, not necessarily with this episode, but certainly over the trilogy as a whole, the character of Stark has really grown on me, thanks in large to Paul Goddard's performances.

:tear: :tear: :tear:

It is so fabulous both in terms of action and acting.

The return of Tayln & Crais :o

They accomplish their goals but in bloodshed and John's sanity is almost destroyed.

Very true James, I remember a friend at w**k watched these when it first aired and I was trying to get him to give Farscape a go and he was blown away!

There are so many images in this episode that stand out in my mind as FARSCAPE, D'Argo Aeryn & Bekhesh blasting the peacekeepers, Tayln blowing up the shadow depository and the final scene between John & D'Argo.

10/10

Stark at times, is one of my fav characters on the show, he's absolutely suberb at playing mental, on par with some of BBs' performances :)

I loved the whole shootout at the end, Scorpius and co at one end of the corridor, more PKs at the other end, and the gang in the middle just blasting away.

They've been running from the PKs for so long, and it's great to see them give them a good hiding when they finally cross paths :thumbsup:

Another point, the music used in this episode is quite effective, one piece that springs to mind is the one that accompanies the firefight when the main doors open.

One final point, gotta love the bit where Scoprius tries to get John to come to him, only to see him being carried off unconscious over D'Argo's shoulder :lol:

Can't argue with that Lisa :)

Love this scene :thumbsup:




Stark is great in these episodes, Paul Goddard plays it so well with fleeting moments of clear sanity in amongst the crazy :)

At times it's difficult to fathom whether he's a nutter feigning sanity or vice versa :lol:

In the Hidden Memory Stark tells Crichton he's not really crazy he pretends to be so that Scorpius will leave him alone - Yeah right :lol:

I go for the nutter feigning sanity
:lol:

He's a definitly a nutter that has brief moments of clarity :lol: :lol:

Yeah, think I'd agree :lol:

Your side, my side :lol:

I always liked Stark. I know some people weren't so keen, but Paul Goddard's performances always impressed me. What's not commonly noted is that there is great range to his portrayal, he's OTT the whole time :)

It's just an amazing end to the trilogy, and the season (okay, not quite the end). The build up to the big finale is incredibly tense, and Ben's performance is very harrowing. I don't think he's ever been better, although he does hit these heights again at several points later on.

If it wasn't for the next episode, I'd say these were my favourite arc episodes of the whole series. :thumbsup:


Edit: I meant Paul Goddard's not OTT the whole time :rolleyes: :lol:

It was always going to take something special to uphold the standard set by this trilogy. Die Me Dichotomy just about managed it I think.

Sad as I am that Farscape was cancelled I am eternally grateful that it was made in the first place.

It takes massive risks, turning the lead character of the series insane and then leaving him a jibbering wreck at the end and killing off his true love.

Its such a bold risk to take, thankfully they had the guts to do it. Its one of the best things about Farscape that they push edges all the time. :thumbsup:

I remember that was one of things that I mentioned to Lisa when I was trying to convince her to give the series a go. When you consider that they pretty much spent the whole season having Crichton go through a gradual mental breakdown, it was a very bold thing to do. :thumbsup:

Of course, you could argue that the BRB was in effect by the end of 3x01 though. Well, mostly...... :lol:

I would agree with the general sentiment though, it's dark and it takes chances, how is this not a winning formula ?? :thumbsup:

Sorry I can't figure out what BRB stands for :blush:

Big Reset Button :lol:

:lol: oh :lol:

kind of :)

I didn't know either Alex :ermm:

:lol: Thanks not just me then :)