Greetings my intrepidarians!

Welcome to my world of science, art and the imagination! In this article I discuss the latest Farscape episodes I’ve watched and what I think of Rockne S. O’Bannon’s endearing sci-fi project.

So, in season four episode 11 John Crichton finds himself exploring a wormhole in nothing but his spacesuit as he floats through the vacuum of space.

Really? Not smart, dude! It amazes me how this guy can have such moments of genius and lack so much common sense in the same episode.

Nonetheless, he is sucked into a purgatory-like state where an alien in a human suit and tie questions his motives and knowledge concerning wormholes atop a melting iceberg. The iceberg represents the state’s stability. John spends most of his time in this episode arguing with the alien and fading in and out of reality into possible realities.

One such reality reveals a hybrid being of D’Argo and Jool complete with massive height, facial hair and a large feminine bust. Gross. Almost as gross was the appearance of Scorpius as John’s father.

This episode was hard to get through because despite being richly conceptual in its treatment of time travel it kept bobbing back and forth between what could be and what would be. The continual dips into different realities seemed more like a bad nightmare or bad LSD trip rather than a logical explanation of cause and effect. How, for example, does Crichton emerging from a wormhole too early merge Zhaan and Noranti in two people? This seemed more silly than philosophical at this point.

Crichton, finally after much repetition, sets out to return a little later then he entered. He is successful and returns to normal space.

Not surprisingly by episode twelve Crichton is released from the wormhole and is transported to Earth! This one’s trippy because John finds himself able to communicate with Moya, which shouldn’t be possible since they are billions of light years away!

The Moya crew minus Pilot, Scorpius and Sikozu come to his aid. At John’s behest the crew stealthily land on Earth. Crichton and co land in Florida near Crichton’s house. Crichton woefully finds out that his father, Jack, is about to board a doomed NASA rocket. The team sets out immediately to get his life back on track.

A few disturbing things happen: Chiana has sex with a young Crichton(this show continues to push the envelope), present-day Crichton haunts his mother with bad news and Rygel scares children for their candy. Once their mission is a success (in a messed up way) the team leave Florida and return to orbit where they find Moya in orbit. However, a very unlikely surprise awaits them all.

Beginning in episode thirteen we discover that Moya has been in orbit around Earth for forty-two days, which has allowed humans to discover her presence and board. Among the brave astronauts is John’s father Jack. John, startled to death like I was, is beside himself. He sets down to Earth with his friends to a warmer reception than in the episode A Human Reaction. Humans love the aliens and the crew gladly accustom themselves to Earth-culture.

However, the United States government seeks to gain exclusive access to Moya’s technology while John insists that other nations should also be able to view their technology. Jack is of a different persuasion, which sets the two Crichtons at odds. Meanwhile Aeryn processes her feelings for John; does he really love her or does he love Earth? Which would he choose?

All the inner conflict and sightseeing comes to an end when an alien assassin attacks Crichton in his home. The ensuing battle was intense! (Good job O’Bannon!) Through a combined effort of Crichton, Aeryn and D’Argo’s ship Lo’Laan the creature is destroyed (a puzzled Braca is left stunned and exhausted without explanation). The creature’s attack convinces John to wrap up things on Earth and leave once more.

I felt very sorry for John. He was forced to leave his home yet again. This time he was forced to leave by choice. After all, aliens would come seeking Earth for Crichton and his knowledge of wormholes.

I relate to having to make hard choices that I don’t want to. Aye, seeing his dad weep as he left Earth made me feel deeply sorry for Crichton and gave me yet more respect for his character. Such emotional decisions are key tenets of good storytelling.

I highly enjoyed this trilogy of episodes and I hope you, the reader, can do the same!