A renegade order of Delvians wishes to learn from Zhaan’s inner calm. Unfortunately, they can only do that by taking it away from her.
(Originally aired July 23, 1999)
Story by David Kemper and Ro Hume
Teleplay by David Kemper
Directed by Andrew Prowse
| Religious Retreat |
CRICHTON: It's so perfect my teeth ache.AERYN: Well, that's from all the sincerity. |
AERYN: It amazes me how people mistake theosophy for superiority. |
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GUEST STARS
Kate Raison – Tahleen
Darlene Vogel – Alexandra / Lorana
Max Phipps – Tuzak
Michael Beckley – Hasko
Aaron Cash – P’au Bitaal
Grant Magee – Jothee
Robert Supple – Young Crichton
WHAT HAPPENED
Crichton is making love to his girlfriend, Alexandra O’Connor.
Although she has bad news – she’s taking the Stanford job -- she promises that she'll "always be there" for him. She doesn’t see him hide the engagement ring he was going to give her.
He wakes up aboard Moya, only to discover that the intelligent starship is going through an unusually long starburst. The others report that she thought she heard a pregnant Leviathan in distress. They’ve also been having dreams – both D’Argo and Rygel have been dreaming of their wives.
Zhaan claims she is "unimpressed by your masculine memories," but there’s something odd in her expression.
Moya comes out of starburst, only to receive a signal. A Delvian woman apologizes for deceiving them, but says she wants to meet Zhaan. (spoilers)
ANALYSIS
"Rhapsody in Blue" is a good reminder that Zhaan is more than just a spiritual side. Just like a certain beloved pointy-eared character played by Leonard Nimoy, the Delvian’s cool logic hides a soul in turmoil.
Unfortunately, this episode also reminds us that we haven’t seen much of that soul in Season Two. Zhaan has been pushed into the background, and most of her contributions to the plot have been as a healer or problem-solver.
There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. But Virginia Hey hasn’t had much reason to stretch her acting muscles lately – which is too bad, because she is one of the most skillful actors on the show.
Zhaan has been on a spiritual quest for most of this season, but early Farscape episodes developed this beyond throwaway lines about meditation. It’s time we saw this again.
After all, what’s the point of a quest without obstacles? "Rhapsody in Blue" shows how interesting Zhaan can be when she’s in conflict with herself – let’s hope Farscape’s writers remember this and bring her out of the background soon.
WHAT WE LEARN
Delvians are very sensitive to their mental states. Madness is expressed as a physical infection.
Zhaan was imprisoned after she murdered her teacher, a Delvian leader who was corrupted by his position of power. The darkness of killing P’au Bitaal drove her insane, and it took her 17 cycles to regain her balance.
TUNE IN JANUARY 5
Farscape goes off the air for the fall, but it’ll be back as soon as you recover from your New Year’s hangover!
While Farscape's off the air, we can still chatter about the Uncharted Territories. Up for the task?
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