The crew ventures aboard the Command Carrier, where John has pledged to share his wormhole knowledge with Scorpius. While Aeryn and Crais find their old crewmates less than pleased with their return, more disturbing is the Peacekeeper crew's growing animosity for their current commander...animosity which a visitor from High Command is only too happy to employ for her own purposes...

John: "Damn, I gotta stop pointing guns at people."

One thing I always enjoy about Farscape is the pacing of each season. All four started out with a string of standalone episodes, with hints and threads of the major arc, before the big story kicks in at around the halfway point and then snowballs towards the finale.

Lion's Den Part 1 brings all of the elements of season 3 together in terrific fashion: Scorpy's pursuit of the wormhole technology comes to fruition; John's flight from the Peacekeepers comes to an end, whilst Harvey decides to help Crichton evade death due to fear of his own demise; Rygel discovers what has been going on during his absence from Hyneria; D'Argo finds out Macton's whereabouts; Crais strikes a deal to have Talyn's cognitive functions replaced and weapons removed, whilst also discovering how much he is now despised by the Peacekeepers; and Aeryn finally begins to come to terms with Talyn John's death, supporting Crichton every step of the way, and encounters an old friend to whom she admits that she does not want to return to the Peacekeepers, despite the ambiguity of her statement at the end of Choices.

John: "I don't assist."
Scorpius: "John, the intention was to--"
John: "Screw you and your intentions, Scorp. I do not eat at the kiddie table. Now you either give me the big toys or you send me home."

There are crucial scenes for virtually all of the characters in this episode. In fact, it is probably only Pilot who gets shortchanged, as Moya is absent for much of the story.

Pip's precognitive abilities are shown up again, as she predicts the attack on and capture of Moya, an event which heralds the arrival of a character to give Scorpy a run for his money.

I always find Braca's exploits here very entertaining. From the look of shock on his face when Scorpy grants Moya's crew complete immunity and dimplomatic rights, to the slight smile that plays across his face when he hears Crais's demands, to the hilarious look of horror on his face when his former captain compliments him on being a consummate Peacekeeper, this is a brilliant episode for him. He also shows himself to be completely duplicitous, which I absolutely love, and David Franklin is as understated and reliable as always.

Aeryn: "Have you decided on a plan?"
John: "Plan A was to wipe all their data, send 'em back to square one. That would w**k if I could find the erase button."
Aeryn: "Mmhmm."
John: "Plan B, steer them in the wrong direction, 'cept I don't know which way that is."
Aeryn: "Mmhmm."
John: "I'm starting to look at Plan C."
Aeryn: "Which is?"
John: "Forget the whole thing and run like hell before they kill us."

Ultimately it is Crichton's indecision that costs the group. Once Commandant Mele-On Grayza arrives his plan suddenly begins to collapse like a house of cards. Scorpy becomes more frantic in his desire for the wormhole knowledge before Grayza can shut his Gammak operation down.

Aeryn begins to worry about Crichton's indecision, pointing out to him that the other John died in order to stop the information falling into the hands of the Scarrans. Her reaction, when Crichton informs her "It's my shift now", is interesting. It's just a look, but it indicates to me that she is starting to see this John as Crichton again.

Scorpius: "Grayza's arrival drastically changes our timetable."
John: "It is Einstein's timetable. God. It's God's timetable, Scorp. Fix your end, I'm doing my bit."
Scorpius: "Are you?"
John: "Why're you bitchin' at me like we're married, Scorpy Sue?"
Scorpius: "I'd hoped you'd see reason."
John: "What do you think I see? Huh? I'm here. On a big, stinking Command Carrier, Dick Tracy's freakin' neural bracelet linking me to Bram Stoker's nightmare. What more do you want from me?"

And then Scorpy reveals his endgame, telling Crichton that he has triangulated the position of Earth, that it would only take 60 cycles to get there, and threatens to keep John alive long enough to see his home planet completely destroyed, should Crichton betray him.

It's a genuinely chilling moment, and a terrific cliffhanger.

There's intrigue and action aplenty here (the jetpack fight is as amusing as it is exciting), the dialogue crackles as always, and the characterisation and effect the events have on them is very well thought out.

Again, for me, it's a matter of pacing. I've seen a lot of two-parters over the years that throw all their eggs into the basket of the first half, meaning that the opening part is ultimately much tighter and more exciting than the second. Farscape, praise be, never fell into that trap, and this is a superb set up for the concluding episode.

:thumbsup:

Its time to begin the epic Farscape series finale and as ever it is done with total style.


Great review Steve so I am going to pick up on some points you haven't covered yet.

Love the black and white images of John and Harvey world war style going to face the enemy with much protesting from Harvey and later he reveals that he is hiding Johns signature so that Scorpius can't detect his lies nice bit of continuity.

We get another glimpse at peacekeeper life, what happens when they are off duty. The Command Carrier looks fabulous the Peacekeeper reds and blacks sleek and cold in contrast to Moya's earthy warmth.

We see Crais' quarters, the Japanese style compact rooms that we haven't seen since Season 1, a move down for him of course and of course the introduction of Larell. Remembering how ruthless Crais used to be with his crew its a guessing game as to whether she is on his side or not although I always assume from the beginning she is not.

The officers lounge where the crew are obviously not welcome and where Aeryn runs into Henta. I like her addition as it shows Aeryn's past as a peacekeeper subtly and shows how much she has grown. She still manages to fit in despite the fact that she is viewed as a traitor.

The park so the inhabitants don't get claustrophobic I should imagine, growing up and spending their lives aboard the carrier.

I thoroughly enjoyed the crews entrance, the escaped criminals that have evaded the pk all this time coming volountarily. The scene reminded me of Darth Vader arriving on the new Death Star walking through the imperial guards

:)

And the sauna room, the scene for the first fight.

We have red hair Jool, it hasn't changed colour for a while, a tongue lashing and a great fight between D'argo and the Peacekeeper with the chain saw accessory.

D'Argo obviously does not want to be there. Aside from finally having his rings removed and gaining information on Macton he is reminded of his imprisonment at the hands of the peacekeepers.

It is a nice touch getting his rings removed - that are not designed to be removed.

We think the crew is safe back aboard Moya but then a twist its not just Scorpy they are dealing with. Everything is going wrong and they are getting into an impossible situation.

The jet pack fight is funny and heightens the tension, bet John has always wanted one of those. Its an interesting idea, Grayza wants to get rid of John and Scorpy and this is her perfect chance.

Braca is superb at toadying, with the exception of Crais he even toadies up to the crew knowing they will help Scorpy and in turn him.

The appearance of Grayza who out ranks Scorpy, a different kind of threat, she does look fearsome however she does have the respect of the crew and intelligence.

The closing shot of John pinned to the table looking at the holo image of earth is a great one, his worst fears realised. Scorpy has tried being nice, tried to get John to understand him and his reasoning but he is running short of time.

A superb set up for the second part Lambs to the slaughter indeed.

Just have to mention Rygels glee at finding out he could take back the Hynerian throne, they will be shouting " Rygel Rygel" :lmao:

Did I miss that much?? :o :lol:

Guess I did :lmao:

:lol: Mine was a bit long wasn't it :lol:

Yes I think she is finally accepting him in this episode. Its clear that she is not just doing this for the other John's memory :)

Not at all, it's excellent and spot on :thumbsup:

Thanks you covered the main bits so I thought I would add the little extras :lol:

Teamwork :lol:

I knew it reminded me of something :thumbsup:

You know I could probably comment on this and the next one as I've actually seen them. Not many before it, but I've seen this 2 parter :lol:

For what it's worth it was watching these two episodes that convinced me to give the series another go ;)

I was going to start w**king it out for a minute there James, that'd mean you've suddenly watched about 60 episodes to catch up :lol:

You know it's really frustrating me at the moment, because I really do want to catch up, or at the very least make a start on the series. it's just that every time I have some time set aside, something else desperately demands my attention :(

First there was Smallville, and now The XF. The only trouble is, it wasn't too bad with Smallville, as there were that many episodes to get through. I've already got 5 seasons worth of The XF to get through, with another season on the way, and yet another three in March :o

But you've seen all them, you need something new :lol:

I'm currently rewatching this, Smallville, Buffy, plus there's Star Trek TOS and the X Files, and I've just started Xena :lol:

I've got a DS9 rewatch on hiatus after finishing season 1. TOS is on hold mid season 1. I'm trying to catch up with Lost. I've still got a few episodes from last season and all of this from JoA to watch. And, I've still got nearly two season's worth of Dead Like Me to watch.

Not to mention, I was going through some CDs the other night only to discover that I've got all of The Dead Zone's first season as well :thumbsup:

Seriously though, I'll be making time for it soon.

On a different matter, I was trawling TrekBBS earlier and came across the following definition of Farscape by one of the posters on there. he was responding to a query from someone who asked his opinion on B5, Farscape and Andromeda;

Now, to put those comments into context, take a look at the advice regarding Andromeda;

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Muppet, would indeed appear to be the word :rolleyes:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Yes, he's obviously got someone's arm stuck up his arse :lol:

I've got to say the shots of the command carrier, and especially those of the transport pod making its approach, are really spectacular. If it had been in widescreen they would almost (repeat, almost) have rivalled some of the effects shots in Pk Wars. :thumbsup:

:lmao:

Andromeda :lol: great :lol: in the same sentence :lmao:


Seriously James, even if you can't do a rewatch in the near future tune in to the PK wars, it might convince you to push it higher up the list :thumbsup:

This one has a lot to live up to.

In previous seasons we've had Nerve/The Hidden Memory and the Liars, Guns & Money trilogy. So Into the Lion's Den certainly has it's w**k cut out. Beyond that, expectations are also high with this season's 'wormhole' arc being the most profound and consistant story of the three years.

Fortunately, it lives up to the expectations. :thumbsup:

The scenes of the gang coming aboard the Command Carrier under their own fre will is a great scene. Almost a smack in the face for the PKs :lol:

Scorpius appears sincere, but fairly safe to say that that would undoubtedly change if things don't go his way. As with Nerve before it, this one gives you a pretty detailed view of operations aboard a PK installation. A return home for Aeryn, a return to something far more sinister for D'Argo and Rygel. Steve's right, most of the major players get some great scenes in this episode, including Braca. It's also difficult to see just which way Crais is going to go as well.

The conclusion once again provides a powerful cliffhanger with Earth's safety finally bought into question in brutal realisation for Crichton.

Cracking episode.

Love that shot :thumbsup:

Indeed.

There are a couple of stunning visuals spanning the two episodes.