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Jeremiah Crichton
by Doug Heyes, Jr.
Directed by Ian Watson

DID YOU NOTICE?

Crichton says that he's used up the last of his fuel and is now totally dependent on the technology in this part of the universe – but then immediately flies off in his ship, Farscape 1.

Farscape 1 is so close to Moya when she goes into starburst that it's spun by the effect. Crichton is at least as close to Moya as Aeryn was in her Prowler during the pilot episode but he gets left behind while she got dragged along.

What powers the device that stops all powered devices working on the planet?

Why did Rygel's predecessors go to great lengths to send these people out across the galaxy only to go to greater lengths to keep them there? If the tribe is supposed to be spreading the empire, why curtail it?

Our heroes being threatened with death only for Rygel to appear as a deity is similar to the 'Star Wars' movie 'Return of the Jedi'. C3PO is worshipped by the Ewoks partly because Luke Skywalker makes his chair float in the air – just as Rygel does here.

The title, Jeremiah Crichton, nods to the Bible ("every religion has one") where in Jeremiah chapter 7, verse 7, it says: "Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever". A rather stronger allusion is to the 1972 Robert Redford film Jeremiah Johnson. The story of a man who wants to be a hermit, it even features a very similar beard to Crichton's.

Stranding Crichton on a primitive world for several months is very similar to what happens to Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek episode The Paradise Syndrome.

The "Let's hit the road!" ending is reminiscent of countless drama series such as The Fugitive, The Incredible Hulk and even The Littlest Hobo as the heroes leave a better world only to stride out to new adventures.

We don't see what becomes of Crichton's ship Farscape 1, last seen by the river. We can't assume that it's out of fuel because that hasn't stopped it before, but did Crichton take it back to Moya or didn't he?

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