The crew is complete at last, but with a pricetag, as Moya once more is asked to grant asylum to a fugitive from the Peacekeepers...

Great start to the episode, loved the first scene where D'Argo tells Moya how beautiful she looks, she does look stunning.

Aeyrn looks fabulous with those hair extensions and great in the coolant suit. Love Claudia's acting in this she is so understated. Love the way she walks over to John and then collapses in his arms trying to smile through the sadness.

Then the revelation of Scorpy.

I don't like Scorpy asking for immunity in the same way as Crais did. Of course they made it so John and the crew have to say yes because Aeryn the only one who can convince them not to kill him on sight asks, interesting dilemma but I think the
idea of Scorpy being on Moya and not being accidently sucked out of the vents isn't a good move for his character.

There are some great moments, Claudia as Scorpy in John's mind, in fact all of John's hallucinations are good. John's had quiet enough of Harvey by now and having Scorpy aboard you have to feel sorry for him not being able to kill him. Loved his imagining of what Scorpy did to her.

Also the competition between Scorpy and Harvey for John's trust.

The fact that Aeryn has done some dubious things during her time away also interesting, so she worked as an assasin what else did she do.

The villain Ullom looks great but not acted brilliantly, it is however more of a subplot the really interesting stuff going on between the crew members. The promises, Aeryn's to the special pk corps, to Scorpy, John's to Aeryn that Scorpy will be granted asylum. None of them are promises they want to make.

I'm not sure on Aeryn's willingness to commit suicide to protect the others in the unit, that seems a bit odd but then again she is pregnant and we don't know the full story of whats happened while she was away.

Again they use the idea of a neural interface running the ship, but I'm still not convinced that Sikozu can learn to operate it within seconds and create a false leviathon signature. That all seemed a bit rushed to me.

Loved the end scene between John and Aeryn, she says she is happy to be there and yet John pulls her up about her keeping her pregnancy a secret from him, she doesn't answer him even though her smile fades. :(

Good episode mainly because of the superb acting by Claudia and Ben

:thumbsup:

This is a welcome return to form. Ricky Manning has been responsible for some terrific episodes (Nerve, Won't Get Fooled Again, Lambs To The Slaughter), and, whilst Promises isn't at that level, it maintains the standard of each season having a cracking fifth episode (of course, we could argue all day about which episode is really the fifth in season 1 :rolleyes: :lol: ).

The first shot of Moya is one of the most evocative shots in the entire series, beautifully picked out against the nebula in the background, it really does feel like coming home. If nothing else, I was getting a bit fed up with the same old shot of Lo'La and Farscape 1 flying past. :lol:

The first scene in the bay, with John, Aeryn and Scorpius is brilliant, with Aeryn held between the two antagonists like some kind of figurative wishbone. It seems that John's happiness will always come with a price, and this time it is to grant Scorpius asylum.

This, again, creates a strange kind of symmetry with previous seasons, as the crew are forced to live and w**k with their greatest enemy. It worked brilliantly with Crais, imo, and it throws a whole new spanner into the works with Scorpius. With Grayza now relentlessly pursuing Crichton and the knowledge in his brain, the half-breed views it as his duty to safeguard John from both the Peacekeepers and the Scarrans. Or does he...?

Whatever, I admire their desire to keep the series fresh. After two whole seasons of having Scorpy pursue John this is an interesting new direction for the character.

He makes an immediate ally in the shape of Sikozu, whose life he saved back in What Was Lost. And she needs an ally as much as he does, especially seeing as she had told the crew that Scorpy was dead in the grave back on Arnessk, a fact that Chi delights in pointing out to her after Sikozu attempts to take over the repairs to Moya without even introducing herself to Pilot.

They are forced to trust her in the end, though, as her knowledge of Leviathans comes to their rescue, although her instant command of an alien neural interface is amusingly convenient.

Still, it is the mystery of what has happened to both Aeryn and Moya that dominates much of the episode. The main story, that of Ullom and the Hokathians pursuing Aeryn, turns out to be more of a side issue and a nice way of escaping the Peacekeeper missile launched by Braca at the climax. The Hokathian ship/hologram idea reminds me waaaaay too much of the Star Trek TOS episode The Corbomite Maneuver, but then imitation is the sincerest form of flattery ( :unsure: ) :lol:

It appears that Aeryn did do some hits as an assassin during her time away, this is never denied. But once again she proves her loyalty, not just to John and the others but also to her accomplices, when she is prepared to take her own life rather than let Ullom harm them as a means of getting the names from her.

Again, there is some nice continuity in John's plan, using the Tarkan shield to protect Aeryn as they take on Ullom in the final stand-off.

I love the scenes between John and Harvey in this episode, kind of Reservoir Dogs-ish in their execution, but without the swearing and the blood - or the severed ears for that matter (although I'm sure they could've worked on that if Harvey had ears). John shoots him in the end, as Scorpy finally removes the neural clone from his head. Kind of a sad moment.

It's nice to know that Grayza is using the Aurora Chair for her own nefarious needs. David Franklyn is, once again, a hoot in this episode.

The final scenes are excellent, with John quietly questioning the imprisoned Scorpius, Chiana's discussion with Pilot (and the request for the crew to choose a captain), and finally John and Aeryn, a beautifully played scene, very quiet but no less emotional for it.

A very good episode. :thumbsup:

Just how wonderful is that first glimpse of Moya, revealed by the blue wispy nebula, against a backdrop of orange, and pink, and lilac with the sun behind her. Beautiful.

Almost as beautiful as the moment that John and Aeryn come face to face aboard Moya. From the look on her face you just know everything is not alright, but you can’t help your heart melting just a little as he looks at her with wonder in his eyes. Then she collapses in his arms, she has heat delirium. And worse? She was saved by Scorpy who now asks for asylum. On the plus side, you have to admit that CB looks a little better in that coolant suit than WP

Speaking of CB, she does an eerily good job of imitating Scorpius here. Very scary :fear:

What do you think Pilot said just before he shut Moya down?

Alls well that ends well, except nothing ever ends well on Farscape. To sum up….
Scorpius is alive and well, and aboard Moya. Aeryn is back. Harvey is dead and gone from Johns mind. Moya and Pilot want a captain. John has let Aeryn know that he knows she is pregnant. What’s next?

And to finish off, some quotes.....

John: What is it... with Peacekeepers. First they hunt us- then they want to move in? W-what, what are we, a bed and breakfast? We have a sign outside that says, 'Free HBO'?

John: Kryptonite. Silver Bullet. Buffy? What's it gonna take, to keep you in the grave?

John: No smokin' in my head!

John: It's just fate... as usual, keeping its bargain and... screwing us in the fine print.

That last one is pretty apt :tear: