Zhaan tells Crichton what happened to her, Chiana, and Rygel after the destruction of the Peacekeeper base in last season’s finale.
(Originally aired on June 23, 2000)
| Rygel for the Defense |
RYGEL [to Chiana]: I thought we could pull this off - but you and me not lying? Are you mad? |
RYGEL: We haven't lied yet. Of course, the trial's only gone on for a few microts. |
CRICHTON: You're a tenth-level P'au. You get to eleven and we'll get a TV ministry.
ZHAAN: If I may be honest, John, most of the time I have no idea what you're saying. |
 |
 |
 |  | More Stories |
| |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
|  | Related Links |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
 |
Written by Steven Rae
Directed by Ian Watson
GUEST STARS
Steve Jacobs -- Ja Rhumann
Sandy Gore -- Judge
Peter Kowitz -- Finzii
Jeremy Callaghan -- Dersh
Marin Mimica -- Tarr
Simone Kessell -- Smiling Woman
WHAT HAPPENED
Moya vanishes into starburst. In a recap of the
first season cliffhanger, D’Argo and Crichton are drifting in space.
As D’Argo falls unconscious,
Aeryn reports that she’s been spotted by the Peacekeepers. They pursue and destroy her Prowler.
Crichton’s faceplate cracks. He undergoes explosive decompression – and
Zhaan sits up with a shriek, thoroughly startling the very alive Crichton working next to her. (more spoilers)
ANALYSIS
Eight weeks into the season, we finally see Farscape’s original
season premiere, which would have been titled "Re: Union". It’s an exciting story, but in retrospect it’s easy to see why it was moved back in the lineup.
The fate of Moya’s missing crew isn’t just unresolved – as far as Zhaan is concerned, they’re almost certainly dead. This story is about Zhaan’s failure of hope, and it’s unusual in that no redeeming message of "everything’s all right after all" is presented.
Farscape’s producers rightly feared that such a downer of an episode would keep their viewers from tuning in next week. Sure, Crichton and the gang are still featured in the opening credits, but the average viewer doesn’t know that this means they’re coming back for the season.
Even viewers familiar with the quirks of actor’s guild rules about screen credits could be forgiven for wondering how long it would take to find Crichton, D’Argo and Aeryn, and tuning out at the prospect of several weeks of dreary searching. Zhaan,
Chiana and Rygel are all great characters, but they’re only half of what makes Farscape so appealing.
There’s one more complication: "Dream a Little Dream" is a courtroom drama, another variation from Farscape's usual action-adventure approach. Consider all these factors together and it’s easy to see some executive shaking his head and asking, "What were you guys thinking?"
Scheduling conflicts
After taking all these factors into consideration, though – and taking nothing away from "
Mind the Baby", which is a fine episode – moving "Dream a Little Dream" was a mistake.
Sure, the show breaks the Farscape format. Sure, a courtroom drama and character piece would have been a shock to viewers expecting a triumphant resolution to the "
Family Ties" cliffhanger ending.
But moving the episode does drastic harm to a very nice character arc. Told two months later, the impact of Zhaan’s brush with madness is gone, and her subplot in "Mind the Baby" made almost no sense without this episode setting it up.
That’s too bad, because Zhaan doesn’t get the center stage very often. Despite a number of spiritual and physiological crises, she’s usually too calm to be the focus of an intense character story.
Watching Zhaan face the guilt of losing her companions without the comforting knowledge that "it all turned out okay two months ago" would have put us viewers right in the story with her. Her inability to recognize her friends’ return a week later would have been chilling rather than bewildering.
Farscape's producers took the safe route when they pushed this episode back in the schedule. It wasn’t a bad choice – they had a good season premiere in their second episode – but they missed an opportunity to be great.
WHAT WE LEARN
Some planets are afflicted with even more lawyers than Earth is. A full 90 percent of the population of Litigara is lawyers.
REALITY CHECK
Zhaan refers to "solar days" as a measure of time. A solar day is one rotation of a sun – but which sun is the measure here?
TUNE IN TWO WEEKS FROM NOW
No Farscape next week so the SCIFI Channel can bring you an evening of space rocks attacking. After that, get ready for body-switching fun when Moya is attacked by a Halosian ship in "Out of Their Minds".
What do you think? Send your comments to the
editor.
advertisement
