Stark has a bad reaction to a tear in time, turning a simple tourist stop into an up-close-and-personal encounter with a planet's bloody past. In an Uncharted Territories version of the Alamo, the crew discovers that legendary history is a very tenuous thing...

John: I'm in a hell of a slump here. Everything I do just makes things worse.
Harvey: Well then, do better.

I make no bones about it: this is one of my absolute favourite episodes, not just of Farscape but of any series. It's wrong, I know. On the face of it there's a fair portion of it that doesn't make a lot of sense, but the drama, the action, the acting and the dialogue all rock. Big time.

Crichton's line of dialogue that I put at the top of this post is a reflection of not only this episode but also the previous couple. At the moment every single decision he makes is going horribly wrong. You have to feel sorry for the guy: he's doing everything with the best of intentions, thinking everything he does is for the right reasons, but sooner or later it all goes tits up anyway. You get the feeling that the John Crichton at the end of this episode is a very different person from the one at the start of it. Riddled with guilt he just cannot begin to understand where he has gone so wrong, leaving himself to second guess each of his plans.

But it's not like any of the others come up with anything themselves. Aeryn's only solution seems to be to use force (a natural reaction), whilst D'Argo flits around in the background not doing much at all. Stark, wallowing in grief, is the source of all the trouble anyway, as his power somehow interacts with the peace memorial and sends them all back in time in the first place. And Jool...

Jool: I got shot at a peace memorial!

Bless her. Nothing goes right for her either. This was the episode where I actually started to like her. Practically every humiliation you could wish on her actually does happen to her in this episode: she gets an arrow through the arm, D'Argo hurls her forcibly into a stone wall (his "Well, that was obviously wrong" as Jool lies flat out on the floor is absolutely priceless :lmao: ), when he does get her through the time tear she lands head first in the biggest puddle of mud you could possibly ask for (Kathleen Turner in The Man With Two Brains springs to mind - "Into the mud, scum queen!" :lol: ), and - best of all - she unwittingly drinks Fellip urine, a powerful anaesthetic which immediately gets her drunk. And then of course Chiana's got it in for her as well...

The main story is another fairly standard piece of sci fi fare, in that our heroes go back in time, unwittingly change history and then have to put things right. As usual, Farscape puts so many spins on that hoary old idea that you almost get dizzy thinking about it. For starters, it's refreshing that all the main protagonists know exactly what has happened to them as soon as the time switch occurs and immediately determine not to change anything. D'oh!

Then there's Aeryn's almost hero-worship of the Peacekeeper she has been taught about called Sub-Officer Dacon - who turns out to be the platoon's chef, not the all-seeing, all-doing warrior that the history texts speak of. Once she learns this she is unprepared to let him die, yet his refusal to let her hurl the message beyond the wall makes for a very emotional and wonderfully doom-laden sequence.

D'Argo's befriending of Kelsa's daughter, Cyntrina, is very touchingly done, and resonates to the final shot.

Best of all, perhaps, is Venek General Grynes, who leads the attack on the monastery at the outset. In an episode where practically all of the characters are sympathetic, he is the shining light, the one who is striving for peace. The fact that Crichton manages to broker that peace with him and then, within moments, lead him to his death is simply indicative of John's bad luck. Every time, since the first, that I have watched ...Different Destinations I have spent that scene wondering why Crichton feels the need to stop Grynes and talk to him after he has climbed up onto the wall. The fact that he disguised the General in one of the nurse's clothes doesn't even become obvious until later, when the Venek Horde send their own message saying that they can accept their General's death, but it is the humilation of sending him out in women's clothing that is the final nail in the coffin of the peace deal.

Moya, still circling the planet, encounters phenomena, some of which make sense, some of which don't (the planet disappearing entirely and then returning is never explained). Rygel and Chi contemplate looting Zhaan's possessions, but neither of them can bring themselves to do it - a nice touch.

Ultimately they have to resort to Aeryn's plan, and they defend the monastery with their pulse weapons and fight off the horde. They assume that the timeline has been put right because the tear reappears, and off they go, after Crichton reassures Kelsa that peace will now be forthcoming, that the Veneks will not kill any more Jocaceans. The final revelation of what happened to the women and children after Crichton and co return to the present is one of the most shocking moments of the series, especially when we find out that the nurses were put to death because they could not tell the Horde where our protagonists had gone.

But I can't finish this without a mention for what is possibly my favourite moment in all of Farscape, not because it's emotional or dramatic or exciting, but just because it perfectly sums up the inventiveness, the originality and the downright lunatic humour of everyone involved with this series: Harvey, sitting with his feet propped up on Crichton's lap, wearing cowboy boots (which, quite brilliantly, have the name "Andy" written in felt pen on each sole - also my favourite pop culture reference in the whole series :lol: ) and playing Home on the Range on a harmonica. It just doesn't get any crazier or funnier than that.

A marvellous, marvellous episode.



Stark: Zhaan bought these. Bought them for me.
John: I know, and you look great. You look like Astroboy.

Aeryn: You know, if we did change things it is possible that we could improve the future.
John: With our track record you think that's going to happen?
Aeryn: I guess not.

Jool: You made me drink piss?

Stark: We must do it here now. As Zhaan always says "do right by the wrong, goddess helps us all along".
Aeryn: Feeling left out D'Argo? We're the only ones that don't have voices in our heads.

John: If Grynes lives he's a hero who averts a war, dead he's just another guy in the Laura Ashley spring collection.

Stark: When you shot the general how did you feel?
Kelsa: I felt hatred, fear.
Stark: Fear is good, keep that but travel light, forget hate.

Kelsa: If we die, will I be with my daughter, after?
Stark: Different beliefs, different destinations. I cannot tell before the end. Should the worst befall, you will not be alone.

:thumbsup: Great review of this episode. I have to agree:)

I love with Farscape that it does what so many shows are afraid to and doesn't give the expected neatly tied up happy ending, no such thing on this show. I think its certainly a turning point for John, I'm going to rewatch again to give more views:)

Where is everybody? :tumbleweed:

:lol: :lol:

Right I'll put it on now:)

Yay! :thumbsup:

This is me cracking the whip at Karen's request. Oh look, Karen hasn't posted yet. Pull yer finger out, slacker! :P :lol: :lol: ;)

<_< No good I keep being interupted. Interesting though, I watched the first part and the dialogue that stood out were the lines you quoted :D

Except for Jool to Chi 'monochromatic b**** :D

I really like their cat fights. :lol:

By who? :unsure:

Tell 'em to get a life :01: :lol: ;)

I'll try and rewatch this ep before work. I know it's only being a month, but I can barely remember it, except that it was stunning, and like I said in a year one post, one of those eps, not totally original, but with a Farscapy twist to it, making it totally fresh.

Will post comments after rewatching :)

:lol: My young lad, he's only 3 and a half, he has insisted on cartoons instead :angry:

Have to wait til he's asleep :)

Busted! I just got caught by my boss! :lol: :lol: <_<

:D Ooops :lol:

Ditto :lol: :lol: :lol:

awwwh, Steve, I hope you're not in trouble :o

Nah, he's so old he doesn't know what the internet is. He's had a pc sitting on his desk for about two years and I don't even think he knows how to turn it on yet. :lol:

:lmao: :lmao:

:lol: :lol:

:lol:

Not much to add to Steve's cracking review again.

I love the look of this ep. It's beautifully shot, and the feel of the planet is gorgeous, both before and after the time tear. I know funeral planets are not a new concept for Farscape, but this is much more how I'd imagine one to look like, rather than the one in Taking the Stone :)

See, i knew Stark would go mad. Too much grief already, and then losing Zhaan, can't say i wasn't expecting him to go a bit mental.

A bit of a crushing ep for Aeryn too. One of her idols exposed for what he really was. Shocking outcome, all those women and children dying, cos Stark couldn't hold it together. :(

Definitly a lesson in not rewriting history, it doesn't necessarily make things better, and in this case, made it a hell of a lot worse. Stunning episode, one of my favs so far I think :)

:thumbsup: This is one of my favourites of the whole series, too.

:thumbsup: Its got everything hasn't it. Great sets, action, comedy, tragedy and of course the usual Farscape twist.

Somehow you know things aren't going to turn out right for them.

Its good to see Aeryn re evaluating her PeaceKeeper ideals again and also comments a lot on modern history, its so true that the whole story doesn't often come out and that people are held up as heros for propoganda purposes.

Sorry but in these episodes Jool deserves everything she gets :lol: :lol: :lol: well and truely knocked off her high horse :lol:

I have to say, if there is one thing I would change about this episode it is the order of the final two shots - have D'Argo find the little girl's inscription first, then end on the shot of John and Aeryn, because it is just heartbreaking.

:) Yes, I can see why they did it though but your way does sound better

Ok. Ok!

3.5 Different Destinations

So. Putting the goggles on Stark. Not the BEST idea John ever had ;)

I always think I dislike this episode but then I really enjoy it when I watch it. Not sure why.

I guess most of you have already watched this episode so no need to review it as such so I’ll just throw down a few things that I noticed and then wondered about, such as why do the nurses not remove Jools arm band/sleeve thingy when they dress her wound?

Another thing. Why do they not release John when the communication from the Venek confirms his story about trying to get peace? For that matter, why didn’t John tell Aeryn or D’Argo that they had the general there all along?

And I’m sure someone has already mentioned this, but why does reality not change on Moya as it does on the planet (the rest of the universe is not mentioned). I think they mention that only the planet went through the changes but why was never explained or even hypothosised.

Finally, I think my fav line has to be from Aeryn.

“Well, keep firing... running backwards and forwards... and pretend you're an army!”

Well, thats about it for me atm, but I promise I'll have another 4 or 5 reviews ready to post on Monday or Tuesday. I have been watching Farscape, honest. I just haven't had chance to get online :cry:

I have always thought that the changes made in the timeline would be localised to the planet only because of the accidental opening caused by the mixture of Starks Stykera energy for the dead and the holo imagary of the glasses.

Because Starks energy was linked only to the events of the battle that maybe why I think it doesn't affect the rest of the universe. Thats my theory though never explained.
The others I don't know and bad choice by John.

I am the same I never expect to enjoy it as much as I do :)

As good an arc episode as Liars, Guns & Money Part 3 is, this one is equally as good a standalone.

The impressive thing again is that at one point this looks to be going down the tried and tested Trek route, in fact I even remember a similar episode. However, there's a unique Farscape spin on it that gives the episode a freshness that Trek hasn't been able to buy over the past 5 years.

One of the things I'm enjoying at the moment is the fact that characters in Farscape do regularly screw up, and at the moment Crichton seems to be getting in his fair share in one huge go. The last few scenes are some of the most powerful I've seen in television this year, outstanding. Action and consequence.

There's some great humour here as well, Jool seemingly at the heart of it, whether it be being slung into a wall :lol: or the realisation that she's really drinking something she wouldn't want to :lol: Then there's the scene with Harvey's harmonica :lol:

This episode has pretty much everything; drama, action, pathos and a fantastic ongoing examination of different characters. I loved this episode.

Vic picked up on that as soon as he strapped the goggles to his head as well :lol:

:thumbsup: is Vic enjoying them too :thumbsup:

Thats what I love about Farscape too, they don't always make the right choices, or save the day at the last minute, they make some royal frell ups :thumbsup:

I probably wouldn't say she loves it, but I'm sure her opinion of the show's improved. She's missed a lot of episodes, she just tends to watch occasionally when I have it on.

:thumbsup: One of my favourite moments in the whole series: when you first hear it playing you think it's just incidental music, then his boots come into view... :lmao:

Spot on, it had me fooled. But soon as his boots come into view...... :lol: