Each week on a Sunday afternoon, join Alex (of Randomly Yours, Alex) and Katharine (of the unpronounceable Ventureadlaxre), as they re-watch the Australian-American sci-fi show Farscape, notable for the Jim Henson animatronic puppets, the excellent mish-mash of accents, and the best OTP ship of all time.

Season One, Episode Four: Throne for a Loss

Summary: A plan goes wrong and Crichton, Aeryn and D’Argo all have to go rescue the little twerp, Rygel. What a surprise.

K: I do like how to a certain aspect Aeryn lets John waffle on and doesn’t tell him to shut up. And almost tries to understand him half the time.

A: I think John’s habit of just repeating Earth references as if a greater number of exemplar will help an alien understand, for example, Clint Eastwood, is embarrassing and ludicrous.

So Moya is Serenity now? Hauling cargo?

K: Big damn heroes!

A: Big. Damn. Heroes.

The music during this fight scene completely prevents me from taking it seriously. Which is probably not what the creators were hoping for, since our crew is getting beaten up and Rygel is kidnapped (ok, that bit I don’t care about so much).

K: The music was a little more noticeable in this episode, I agree.

So once again Aeryn is right, and everyone should have listened to her in the first place. A deal goes bad when they try to set up a job to haul cargo to earn some credits, and they all end up with shots fired and Rygel stolen from them. To be honest they should cut their loses and leave him, right Alex?

A: Damn straight.

Dargo getting an injection of Aggression Juice is a really, really bad idea.

This is the first time, I think, that we’ve seen Zhaan as a chemist. In the last episode we saw her as a scientist – checking the DNA of the bug – and now she’s cooked up a sleep mist to deal with Dargo. Multi-talented indeed. Pity it doesn’t work because of the Aggression Juice.

K: I do like how handy Zhaan is. Can do science and other things, and then also pretty quick to keep the prisoner under control. And oh joy, John has a plan. Which even Zhaan feels the need to swear about in another language.

A: No one trusts John’s ideas! Even Zhaan rolls her eyes! Has he really earned that yet?

K: Once again John and Aeryn have some cuddle time whilst also acting as though it’s totally normal to throw someone out of the way by also pressing them up against the wall. Kids today.

A: We’re up to three John-holding-Aeryns in this episode and we’re only about ten minutes in! COME ON SHOW TRY SOME SUBTLETY. (By the by, I listened to some of the commentary on this episode because it was done by Claudia Black and Ben Browder. They thought that all the clinches in this scene were hilarious, and of course Black and Browder do them deliberately. Also, she’d only just got back from Pitch Black when they started this show!)

K: It is rather good how they show countless other rulers out there – it certainly helps give a scope to how massive the universe is.

A: Rygel stuffed into mud, and he still manages to keep puffing himself up and talkingtalkingtalking I do not care.

K: And there we have an actual reason to save Rygel. Sigh. I love Aeryn correcting him on pronunciation and stealing John away to do her plan. Why he isn’t more agreeable to try her plan seems a little problematic though. And then John is just in a sulk.

A: Aeryn’s turn to have a plan! And fair enough too!

K: Zhaan is supremely confident and excellent. I don’t personally see him as worth impressing, but whatever floats your boat, Zhaan.

A: Zhaan’s level of patience and forgiveness continues to be amazing. And she manages not to be simpering or too goody-goody, too – I guess because she’s shown to be willing to defend herself, rather than her being a doormat.

The entire Rygel sub-plot is really weird.

K: Still not feeling sorry for Rygel to be honest. I’m more worried for Aeryn overall. Though John’s being a little overprotective, I’d probably agree she needs the gauntlet for a bit longer and worry about getting it off her some other time.

A: The Dargo/Aeryn one-up-manship, and continuing bonding over John’s hopelessness, is so endearing.

Dargo: it is more than just a sword…

K: Aww, D’argo and Aeryn have a good chat. And joke together and D’argo actually shows some weakness. And I keep getting distracted and just watching this episode because the blue trees are too pretty. Yet it turns out that Crichton actually does his job.

A: We now find out about the Luxan physical issues: that if their wounds don’t bleed freely, they die…

K: Nooooooooo D’argo! Aeryn immediately leaps into action to help him

Nooooooo Zhaan, don’t trust the teenager! And once again we have gibberish speak and I love how John admits he has no idea what the heck it means. And now everyone has tried out the gauntlet other than Zhaan who never would.

A: Can’t help but feel like John being so good with the gauntlet is a little bit White Messiah – being better at things than the natives.

K: This is true. I wish they made more of it that like he only got a little of it because the others had used it up or something?

Aeryn shit-talks D’argo into not dying. And I don’t know why John keeps agreeing that he’s been lying each time – each sounded almost as believable as the others. And four throated cat? What?

John saves the day (kinda, he wouldn’t have been able to without the others for sure), and there’s a weird ‘I don’t reconise the truth anymore’ which sounds surprisingly deep for a vicious race.

A: There’s an interesting commentary on drug-addiction here.

K: I do love the falling onto Rygel though he deserves so much worse. Poor Aeryn. Zhaan has a failed project but the kid wasn’t worth it anyway, and it’s good that they all suffered from the effects of the gauntlet – all as weak/strong as each other.

In summary, drugs are bad m’kay?

Number of times Aeryn saves the day: 1

Number of times John saves the day: 3

Times John compares someplace to Earth: 1

References Star Wars: 1

Join us next week for episode five, Back and Back and Back to the Future