1.14 - Jeremiah Crichton

While out in the Farscape 1, John is left behind when Moya unexpectedly Starbursts. Months later, the crew finds him on an Earth-like planet whose inhabitants want to execute D'Argo and worship Rygel as a god.

Oh, god, that is it. You are so damn smart. There's no time for stupid human anything. And I'm sick of it, Aeryn. I'm sick of Napoleon XVI. I'm sick of blue. I'm sick of tentacle boy. And guess what? I'm sick of you. I'm sick of this whole turd-burp end of the universe. - John Crichton

They think... they think... you're a god? - John Crichton
No, not a god. A sovereign! - Domniar Rygel XVI

How did you know about the sacred text? - Ka D'Argo
Where were you brought up? Every religion has got one. - Domniar Rygel XVI

No. Cease. I command it. I have not risen. I am not a deity. I am but a worthy being like yourselves. But, I am your sovereign. - Rygel XVI
The slug who would be king. - John Crichton

D'Argo and John are working on Moya's amnexus system trying to relieve a pressure buildup. D'Argo suggests that the problem may have been caused by John's Farscape 1 module. John says that he no longer has any fuel for the Farscape 1 and that he is dependent on their technology now.

D'Argo continues to argue with him and John finally has enough. He is tired of being blamed for everything, tired of being the stupid Earthman and tired of not fitting in. He heads for the Farscape 1, snapping at Zhaan and Aeryn along the way. He gets in his module and flies off to be alone for a while.

Pilot suddenly announces that Moya is about to go into Starburst in order to relieve the pressure. There is no time to retrieve the Farscape 1 and Moya Starbursts, leaving John hanging alone in space.
"Oh, god." says John. "I am a dead man."

We flash forward three months. John is on the planet Acquarra. The Farscape 1 is sitting beside a lake. John, with a beard and wearing a ragged flight suit, is fishing from the front of the module.

A native woman, Lishala, appears. John offers her some fish and she tells him that a man offering food to a woman shows his affection for her. She gives him a map of the stars and asks him to show him where he came from. He looks at the map and throws a rock into the lake to show the relative distance to Earth.

Moya enters a solar system and starts scanning the planets looking for John. They have been searching for him since the Starburst. Zhaan is ready to give up the search but Aeryn and D'Argo want to continue. Zhaan leaves and Aeryn tells him that at some point they will have to give up. D'Argo says he will not until she does.

Back on the planet, John enters the village and goes to meet their leader, Kato-Re. Kato-Re invites John to sit beside him, a great honor. He tells John that Lishala is interested in him and that in their culture it is the woman who chooses her mate. John is surprised.

Outside of the leader's hut, the high priest Neera is talking to her son Rokon. She says that John has taken Rokon's place beside the leader and that he has stolen Lishala's love from Rokon as well. Rokon is upset with being pressured by Neera but she tells him he will not abandon his family's destiny. Rokon stalks off.

One of Moya's transport pods has landed on the planet and D'Argo and Rygel exit. Rygel complains about the landing and D'Argo tells him that they lost power. They contact Pilot and report that they saw John's module then the comms fail, followed quickly by Rygel's thronesled and D'Argo's Qualta Blade. D'Argo realizes that something is draining all the power from the area.

Up on Moya, Zhaan wants to send down a rescue mission but Aeryn insists that they need to find out what happened first. They argue a bit and Zhaan agrees to wait.

John is returning to his camp when he is intercepted by Rokon and several of his hunters. Rokon accuses John of stealing Lishala and corrupting their ways. John claims that Rokon has nothing to worry about from him. Rokon won't listen and the hunters start beating John. They are interrupted when D'Argo suddenly appears on the scene and chases them off with his Qualta Blade.

John is less than happy with D'Argo's arrival and tells him to leave. D'Argo tells John that they have come back for him but John is still angry at being left behind.

In the village, Kato-Re, Lishala, Neera and Rokon are in Kato-Re's hut. Rokon was injured by D'Argo and Lishala is treating his wound. Rokon tells what happened and Neera blames John for bringing evil into their midst. Kato-Re reminds them that they were once space travelers too and are only colonists on the planet themselves. Neera threatens to use her office against Kato-Re unless he supports her.

John and D'Argo arrive back at John's camp and find Rygel. John is still angry with them but Rygel manages to convince John that they did not intentionally leave him behind and have spent the past quarter cycle looking for him. John finally calms down and accepts what happened. He points out that they will all be stuck on the planet unless they can find the cause of the power drain.

Lishala arrives at John's camp and tells John that Rokon has told Kato-Re that D'Argo attacked him and his men. D'Argo says that he only attacked to protect John and John tells Lishala that Rokon is jealous because he feels that she is interested in John and not him. Lishala says that Rokon is correct, to John's discomfort.

Lishala wants John and D'Argo to come to the village to talk to Kato-Re. They start to but are attacked by more of Rokon's men and captured. Rygel hides in a bag while the other hunters search John's camp.

John and D'Argo are brought before Kato-Re who accuses them of attacking his personal guards. John tries to explain what is going on but Kato-Re will not listen. He sentences John and D'Argo to a work camp.

Neera starts to argue with Kato-Re for a more severe sentence when Rygel makes a noise and someone pulls him from the bag. Immediately all the villages kneel and start chanting to him.
"They think... they think... you're god?" stutters John.
"No, not a god." Rygel corrects him. "A sovereign!"

Rygel is given Kato-Re's hut and he tells D'Argo and John that he will order that no other action be taken against him. He speculates that this planet is a colony of the Hynerian Empire. A villager enters to give Rygel a bath, to his delight. D'Argo and John roll their eyes and leave.

Up on Moya, Aeryn is working on a rocket she can send to the planet. She had been hoping to put a shielded power source in it but does not know how to build one.
"I can't believe this," she says "but I need Crichton."

Zhaan gives Aeryn a printout showing the village on the planet. Pilot has managed to locate D'Argo, John and Rygel and also the source of the power drain. Aeryn tells her that she cannot build the shielded power source but Zhaan says that they can at least tell the others where the power drain is coming from.

D'Argo enters Kato-Re's hut and tells Rygel that the villagers think he is the fulfillment of a prophecy. Rygel keeps insisting that he is a Dominar, not a god, but D'Argo tells him the villagers don't belive that.

Neera enters and tells Rygel that she is preparing for the ceremony. Rygel says that he needs the sacred text for his part of the ceremony and she takes out a book and hands it to him. She leaves.
"How did you know about the sacred text?" D'Argo asks.
"Where were you brought up?" Rygel replies. "Every religion has got one."

Rygel reports that the book is written in ancient Hynerian. He starts reading it to try to determine what the villagers are expecting from him.

John is back at the Farscape 1 and Lishala approaches. She asks if he is immortal like Rygel and John tries to explain that Rygel is not a god. Lishala becomes angry and tells him that they have waited for their savior for generations and that he will "rise up and lead us to the light". She tells him that if he does not then Rygel will be killed, along with D'Argo and John.

Rygel has finished reading the book and tells D'Argo that the Acquarrans were colonists sent out by Rygel X. But Rygel X also planted a power drain device on the planet so that the Acquarrans would never be able to leave and would remain loyal subjects. The priests elevated Rygel and his ancestors to gods to increase their own power. The book does say that he will lead them to the light but it was intended as a metaphor for leading them to a better life. Unfortunately, the villagers now take it literally.

Rygel says that he cannot rise up and take them to the light and that he will explain to them what is going on. Neera, who has been listening outside the hut, leaves.

Aeryn and Zhaan have determined the location of the power drain. They put the information in Aeryn's rocket and launch it towards the planet. It enters the power drain field and they lose contact but Zhaan says it was on course.

The ceremony begins and Rygel tries to explain what has happened. Neera yells that he is a false god and Kato-Re orders him to be captured. The villagers grab Rygel while D'Argo and John hide.

The rocket crashes into the lake and D'Argo and John retrieve it. They realize that the source of the power drain is somewhere in the village and return there. The villagers are about to burn Rygel alive when John interrupts and tells them that they have been lied to by the priests. Neera pushes Rokon towards John and tells him to kill him while Lishala tells him not to. Rokon finally attacks John and knocks him to the ground but D'Argo defends him.

From the ground, John notices that the Hynerian idol in the village has two hand-shaped marks on its base. Getting an idea he grabs Rygel and shoves Rygel's hands against the marks. The idol splits open and an energy beam exits the top. The power returns and various devices around the village activate, including Rygel's thronesled which lifts him up.

The villagers suddenly stop fighting and bow before Rygel, chanting. Rygel stops them.
"No." he tells them. "Cease. I command it. I have not risen. I am not a deity. I am but a worthy being like yourselves."
"But," he adds. "I am your sovereign."
John shakes his head in disbelief. "The slug who would be king."

Later, the villagers have given Rygel a large pile of food which they are planning to take back to Moya. Kato-Re thanks Rygel and says that if the Peacekeepers arrive they will not mention they were here.

John says goodbye to Lishala and Rokon, now together. Rokon says that his mother will recover from losing her position. Lishala asks John to stay and help them rebuild but John says he has to go. D'Argo calls to him and he leaves.

John and D'Argo are standing outside of the transport pod and John is uncomfortable.
"Guess I got some apologies to make up on the ship." He says. "Zhaan... Aeryn... you."
D'Argo waves him off. "Forget about that." He stops for a moment, then continues. "Was it worth the trouble, human?"
John smiles. "Hah! What trouble?" He looks around one last time. "Let's hit the road."

It is first revealed that John is modifying the Farscape 1 with bio-mechanoid technology in Till the Blood Runs Clear.

Zhaan abandoned the Delvian Seek in Rhapsody in Blue.

For Farscape, Jeremiah Crichton is definitely a below average episode. There is really nothing bad about the episode but there isn't really anything to make it stand out either.

The basic plot, that of the colonists reverting to a primitive state and being oppressed by their priests, is a cliche in science fiction that has been done dozens of times. Unfortunately, this episode really doesn't add anything new to that cliche so we are left to simply watch the plot unfold and follow the numbers. There are never really any surprises.

Only a few points are of note here. It is now definitely established that John is a part of the crew. They go out of their way for months to try and find him again. Interestingly enough, it is Zhaan who is the first one to suggest abandoning the search and D'Argo who is John's strongest supporter. D'Argo even admits that they probably drove John to leave by their behavior towards him, indicating that everyone may be a bit more supportive of John in the future.

The other point is that we get to see a bit more of Rygel's true self. He typically comes off as obnoxious and uncaring, but in this case he seemed to be truly offended by what his ancestor had done to the colonists and repeatedly said that he would tell them he was not a god. While he certainly expected his due respect as a Dominar, he also told the Acquarrans that he was nothing but a worthy life form like them. There really is a caring ruler (somewhere) inside there.

Other than that though, there is really nothing to recommend this episode. Since it is a standalone episode and doesn't seem to add anything to any of the story arcs there is no reason to go out of your way to see it. While I wouldn't turn the TV off it this episode came on, I wouldn't go out of my way to try to catch it either.