Aeryn: Oh, just to be in the warm glow of all this testosterone. D'argo [to Chiana]: You are one pain in the hema! . . . But one I have grown toenjoy. Crichton: Well, it's a Jerry Springer kind of family -- but for what it's worth, Zhaan, you are family..

Rygel: And please, whatever your reaction, don't let it include weapons fire. Crichton: We have bogies on the way -- fly faster, Rasta man! Zhaan: You went there to sell us out, Rygel.    More Stories The SPACE.com Guide to Farscape Spoilers: Farscape - 'Family Ties' 'Bone to be Wild' Offers Farscape Fans an Island of Calm Farscape Raises the Stakes to Birth and Death With 'The Hidden Memory'    Multimedia Opening credits sequence    Related Links Farscape Sci-Fi Channel Rygel: You bet your shiny blue ass I did -- but I didn't. So make the most of it now.

Aeryn: So, anything you want to say to me? Crais: I think we covered it all when you left me for dead in the aurora chair. Crichton: You're letting Rygel be your advocate? You're worse off than you look. Crichton: How come I'm not afraid? D'argo: Fear comes with the possibility of death. Calm shepherds its certainty. Crichton: I love hanging with you, man!

Written by Rockne S. O'Bannon and David Kemper
Directed by Tony Tilse

Lani Tupu - Capt. Crais
Wayne Pygram -Scorpius
David Franklin - Lt. Braca

The rest of Moya's crew tries to talk Rygel out of betraying them to the Peacekeepers, but Rygel claims he is "a Dominar of action." Not even D'Argo's threat -- delivered in the original Luxan -- involving his own bodily functions and Rygel's corpse will sway him.

Aboard the command ship, Crais puzzles over the pod's arrival -- why would the Hynerian come to them alone? Scorpius tauntingly suggests that Rygel would like to join Crais' collection of Hynerian heads.

Crais knew D'argo was innocent of the crime of murdering his wife, but did nothing about it.

There have been numerous attempts to breed warship versions of Leviathans, but none have been successful until now.

The baby -- whose name is Talyn -- was designed to not require a Pilot.

Assuming they escape the asteroid field, where will Crais and Talyn go next?

Assuming the moon with the base on it was about the size of Europa -- the smallest of Jupiter's four major moons -- and that the fireball from the explosion spread around the moon in about a minute, then the fireball would have spread at approximately 180,000 miles per hour. That's a little hard to believe.

After a year of pursuit, flight, revenge, hate and torture, John Crichton and Bialar Crais end up face-to-face and alone. What do they do in this potentially gigantic scene of confrontation?

They talk. They don't have cars and football in common, so they talk about the resemblance between humans and Sebaceans. The villain apologizes and the hero . . . cries.

If that doesn't convince you of Farscape's offbeat nature, nothing will.

It's not like Crichton is a particularly sensitive guy, but as he tells Crais, he's been under unrelenting pressure for the last year. He usually pushes it away with anger or a wisecrack, but for a few minutes, he lets his defenses down and lets his former worst enemy see how he really feels.

It's one of a dizzying number of emotional payoffs. "Family Ties" triumphantly caps off an entire season of character development, showing off all the changing relationships while maintaining the action at a screaming pace.

But this is the episode where they openly admit to each other that they're a family.

It's probably a little sappy. But it's poignant because the more the characters open up to each other, the more obvious it becomes that they're sharing a last moment together before a storm drives them apart.

Characters reach out to each other throughout the episode, sharing their feelings with a joke, a statement of affection or a kiss. Nobody has any illusions about the odds against them, and nobody really believes that they're all getting out of this one alive.

They share their feelings today because they're certain one or more of their number will not be there tomorrow.

What gives this episode its power is that they're right. Even though their escape plan goes about as well as could possibly be expected, it still leaves D'argo and Crichton out in space with no chance of being rescued before the command ship cuts off Moya's escape.

For the first time, Moya's family finds itself in a no-win situation, stalemated because nobody is willing to leave any of the others behind.

"I have a job to do, and I am unafraid."
     

Of course, it all comes down to Crichton. He has to do what nobody else will do.

It's not just that he's the star of the show. He's the heart of the family, the glue that bound a selfish, quarreling bunch of escaped prisoners together.

Now he has to break them apart -- knowing that by doing so he's only saving half of them, all the while holding on to someone whose life is slipping away.

It's a heartbreaking moment.

Hopefully, all will be well in another episode or two. D'argo's not dead yet, Aeryn could pull off the rescue, there's the chance of escape if they're captured, and it's hard to believe Moya and the rest of the family won't be riding to the rescue soon.

All shall be well -- that's the promise a good story always holds out. But that won't take anything away from the emotional impact of this episode.

So far, this is Farscape's finest hour.

Farscape returns for a few weeks of reruns after the Sliders finale. The first episode and "PK Tech Girl" will both air February 11, and the second season is slated to begin March 17.