Paranoia infects the crew when an alien offers to build stealth technology for Moya.
(Originally aired April 7, 2000)
Written by Justin Monjo
Directed by Ian Watson
GUEST STARS
Danny Adcock -- T’raltixx
Wayne Pygram -- Scorpius
WHAT HAPPENED
D’Argo has brought aboard T’raltixx, a blind alien who claims he can adjust Moya’s electromagnetic system and prevent her from being traced. Crichton's frightened that T’raltixx will be like "those mechanics" whose frauds get exposed on 60 Minutes.
Meanwhile, Scorpius, still
hot on Moya’s trail, has been distributing "wanted" posters in the form of communications beacons.
Chiana and Aeryn have just made an abortive attempt to buy supplies -- bringing back nothing but boxes and boxes of crackers -- and Moya’s family needs an edge.
Aeryn grabs one of the wanted beacons and is trying to use it to locate Scorpius so that Moya can go the opposite direction.
Zhaan, meanwhile, decides to test the stealth system prototype on Crichton's shuttle, Farscape One.
Crichton worries that "something funky" will happen to his craft, especially when his friends warn him to use the stealth system for only ten seconds, lest it explode. Regardless, he climbs in the ship and starts it up.
The test works perfectly. Everything seems to be going well for once . . . (more
spoilers)
ANALYSIS
The first half of "Crackers Don’t Matter" is a little slow, but the payoff more than makes up for it. Crichton’s battle outfit, Scorpius in a Hawaiian shirt, and the indiscriminate destruction of crackers are all very funny.
So is the mock-heroic final battle between Crichton and T’raltixx. It’s no accident this week’s villain looks like he stepped out of a '60s comic book -- his look and over-the-top dialogue coupled with Crichton’s bulky fashion statement turn the entire affair into an outrageous farce.
Even the reason for putting Crichton on the spot fits the comic tone-- he saves the day not because he’s heroic, but because his vision is inadequate by the standards of the Uncharted Territories.
When the laughter's over
For all the fun, though, there are some serious consequences. Almost everyone says or does horrible things to everyone else, and the characters that are closest -- Crichton and Aeryn -- hurt each other the most.
To its credit, Farscape doesn’t pretend that everything can be papered over in the tag. Moya’s family will forgive each other, but not immediately.
Later episodes probably won't reference this episode explicitly -- nothing of importance happens and the tone is a bit wacky for "serious" arc-oriented drama -- but look for some residual tension between the characters in the next few shows.
And don’t expect Crichton and Aeryn to be snuggling in front of Pilot’s console again anytime soon.
WHAT WE LEARN
According to Crichton,
Rygel eats and excretes his own body weight twice a day.
Ice cream has not been discovered in the Uncharted Territories -- or if it has, it’s so obscure that even a gourmand like Rygel has never heard of it.
Delvians, Luxans, Sebeaceans, Nebari and Hynerians can all see much better than humans.
REALITY CHECK
Ignoring the unlikelihood of encountering five
pulsars in close proximity, what we see on the screen doesn’t even look right. The stars are much too large -- most neutron stars are only 10-20 kilometers in diameter -- and there’s no sign of fast rotation or beams of synchroton radiation from the poles.
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK WHEN
A recording of the murder of a previous Pilot aboard Moya opens old wounds for Aeryn and threatens Pilot's bond with the Leviathan in "The Way We Weren’t".
What do you think? Send your comments to the
editor.
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