A meeting with Crais turns into disaster. What happened?

(First aired September 8, 2000)

Written by Gabrielle Stanton and Harry Werksman, Jr.
Directed by Tony Tilse

Living Down a Bad Rep

CRAIS: I'm a man of my word.    More Stories The SPACE.com Guide to Farscape Farscape - 'The Ugly Truth' (spoilers) Farscape - 'The Locket' Farscape - 'Won't Be Fooled Again'    Related Links Farscape Sci-Fi Channel CRICHTON: Oh, yeah? When did that start?

CRICHTON: Sooner or later one of us is going to have to find a bathroom. D'ARGO: I really wish you hadn't said that.

GUEST STARS

Lani Tupu – Bialar Crais
Paul Goddard – Stark
Linda Cropper -- Fento
Peter Carroll -- Gahv

 WHAT HAPPENED

Former Peacekeeper Captain Bialar Crais has asked to rendezvous with Moya. Most of the crew takes a transport pod over to his gunship Talyn, but only Aeryn boards the ship.

To prove his good intentions, Crais removes his neural link to Talyn and places the ship under manual control. Only somewhat reassured, Crichton, D’Argo, Zhaan and Stark join Crais and Aeryn.

Crais tells the others he needs their help with Talyn, who is becoming dangerously aggressive. "You must help me disarm him," he says.

Aboard Moya, Rygel and Chiana wait for the others. They become worried when a Plokavian ship arrives – and are shocked when Talyn’s main gun obliterates it.

As a second Plokavian ship approaches, Moya’s transport pod begins to return. Talyn starbursts out of the system, but the Plokavian ship catches up with the transport pod.

The ship seizes the pod with tentacles. Moments later, everyone aboard the transport pod is unconscious. (spoilers)

 ANALYSIS

"Rashomon" stories -- in which we see the same event from several different perspectives – have become a staple of drama. This one is particularly effective.

Most of its power comes from the characters themselves. After a year and a half of careful development, Crichton and the gang are such strong personalities that it’s easy to construct five wildly different viewpoints on a simple scene.

D’Argo and Zhaan provide the most extreme viewpoints, but each the characters hears different lines, sees themselves in different positions and relationships with each other.

More power comes from the execution of those perspectives. Director Tony Tilse goes beyond the lines and blocking, using the camera to express the characters.

Zhaan’s version of events relies heavily on close-ups, on paying careful attention to each character’s expressions and reactions. When D’Argo looks at Crais, the camera sometimes stands back a little, making him look smaller and emphasizing his separation from the others.

Last but not least, the Farscape crew understands the value of restraint – in storytelling, that is; the gross aliens and body function jokes are still ably represented. The story is revealed in layers, with each telling adding a few crucial details.

Aeryn and Zhaan skip over Stark’s reaction to Crais’ mention the Plokavians, but that reaction is crucial to the plot. At the same time, Crichton’s balanced perspective is signaled by the way his version uses lines and camera shots from all of the other four versions.

The script also avoids a trap common to this kind of story: repeating too much. Each version repeats only what it has to repeat, and the story keeps up the pace by making each tale more focused than the last.

 WHAT WE LEARN

Talyn has grown, and so have his weapons. Crais is worried that the baby gunship's increasingly aggressive nature will lead to disaster.

Stark’s people were enslaved by the Plokavians, a vicious race of arms dealers.

 UNANSWERED QUESTION

Will Stark return again?

Can Talyn’s aggressions be curbed?

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK

We meet some more Nebari, and discover that they’re even punkier than Chiana in "A Clockwork Nebari".