Moya's crew struggle against unhelpful rulers and a Peacekeeper squad led by none other than Aeryn's mother.
Written by Clayvon C. Harris
Directed by Ian Barry
Hmm. Aeryn had a good stab at saving the day in the closing moments of this episode, but her recognising how improbable the situation was did not patch up all the coincidences.
We spent much of the episode being dubious about how it happens to be her mother leading the Peacekeepers and Aeryn becoming dubious too didn’t answer the other huge coincidence of Crais having found out about it.
Peacekeepers do keep very thorough video records of their officers’ childhoods, don’t they? And you’ve got to give credit to Oil of Ulay: Aeryn’s mother hasn’t added a wrinkle in all of Aeryn’s life.
But then women in SF do seem to have abilities that men don’t: Jool’s handy ability to become a doctor overnight, for instance. Dramatic and plot-convenient career changes have happened to women in shows from Battlestar Galactica to Star Trek but you don’t expect it from Farscape.
Perhaps that’s why a handful of dodgy moments was enough to sour an episode that was actually right up there with usual Farscape fare for its pace, its twists and its dialogue. And the splitting of Crichton into two is an excellent idea that’s been done very well and promises a lot for the future.
Review by William Gallagher
