Written by David Kemper and Rockne S. O'Bannon
Directed by Andrew Prowse

Lani Tupu - Capt. Crais
Wayne Pygram - Scorpius
Francesca Buller - M'Lee
Martin Csokas - Br'nee

Moya and her baby are in an asteroid field, hiding from Crais' command ship. She has shut down nearly all of her systems to prevent the Peacekeepers from detecting her, so it's very cold on board.

While the crew waits for Crais to give up the search, Pilot picks up a weak distress signal. An alien woman, trapped on an asteroid, is begging for help. Ominously, she notes that most of her family has been "eaten."

Once they're sure it's not a Peacekeeper trick, a rescue attempt seems obligatory, but Chiana finds the idea of "a distress signal -- directed at us" amusing.

Near the end of "Bone to be Wild," Zhaan observes, "There is much cruelty in the universe." It's an apt statement of this episode's theme.

Despite their cute, friendly names, Br'nee and M'Lee are both monsters. One is a remorseless killer, while the other is completely amoral.

What's surprising is that one monster survives. Most TV shows would feel compelled to prove good wins out over evil, probably by having the monsters destroy each other, but Farscape manages to break the mold.

The asteroid isn't the only place where we found the universe's bountiful cruelty this episode. Scorpius and Crais play a minor role in the plot, but we get a good look at how Crais' fortunes have sunk and how nasty a villain Scorpius really is.

Structurally, this episode is a bit odd, especially when you consider it as the next-to-last episode of the season.

On the other hand, the episode features several character developments crucial to Farscape's overall story -- Scorpius' power play against Crais is likely to play a prominent role in next week's season finale, as will the growing emotional bond between Moya, her baby and Aeryn.

It seems likely that Kemper and series creator O'Bannon developed these subplots, then fit the main plot of Br'nee and M'Lee around them. The main plot keeps viewers who might not be interested in character development from nodding off while the quieter subplots work out.

If that's the case, then everything should be in place for a rip-roaring season finale next week.

Delvians are sentient plant life. Zhaan has cartilaginous fibers instead of bone, as well as cellulose tissue and a regenerative facial membrane. Her blue skin is due to photosynthetic chloroplasts and the yellow highlights are stomata for the transpiration of water.

How long has it been since last week's episode? Is Moya still in the system with the Peacekeeper base?

What happened to Stark?

Zhaan said she felt weird after being reassembled. Could she have absorbed some of Br'nee when he fell into the miniaturizer's beam?

How many of Crais' men will M'Lee eat before Scorpius figures out what's going on and stops her?

What's the baby's name?

Zhaan's biological features are fairly reasonable as described, but Earth plants don't have a very efficient muscular or nervous system, to put it mildly.

It's hard to imagine how Delvian biology solves this problem -- perhaps Zhaan is descended from the equivalent of a Venus flytrap?

The asteroid field Moya hides in is one of those asteroid fields you find only in movies and TV -- in the real world, asteroids aren't packed nearly so close together.

Scorpius and Crais stage a full attack, forcing Moya's passengers to fight for their lives in "Family Ties", the climactic season finale.