1.16 - A Human Reaction

Moya encounters a wormhole and John is able to return to Earth. Unfortunately, his homecoming is not as welcoming as he might have expected and things only get worse when Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel follow him through the wormhole.

They have worlds out there, people out there, that you would not believe. But they do not have chocolate. - John Crichton

Sorry. - John Crichton
For what? - Aeryn Sun
Everything. What's happened here. Getting you stuck on Moya. If it wasn't for me you'd still be the happy little Peacekeeper, dominating the lesser races. - John Crichton

That's it. Earth. Minus the sunshine. - John Crichton

John is sitting in the maintenance bay and recording another message for his father on his recorder. He is depressed because he has just found his first gray hair and is afraid he is growing old out in space. Pilot calls for him and tells him to go to Command.

As he arrives the engines stop. Rygel and Chiana are annoyed at the delay but John is stunned when he sees a wormhole in front of Moya. Pilot reports that it just appeared and that he is seeing the same sensor readings that he did when John first arrived. John is even more stunned when the view shifts and he sees the Earth through the wormhole.

A bit later, John is wearing his IASA flight suit and is approaching Aeryn, who is sitting and obviously depressed. He asks her again to come to Earth with him and she refuses, saying she wouldn't fit in. Pilot reports that the stability of the wormhole is dropping and he needs to leave. With a last look at Aeryn, John heads for the Farscape 1.

The Farscape 1 launches from Moya and heads towards the wormhole. The rest of the crew assembles on Command and watches as it lines up on an entry vector. John hesitates until D'Argo tells him to go on. He accelerates into the wormhole and vanishes. Pilot reports that John is off the scanners and everyone on Moya is sad.

John finds himself crashed on a beach. He talks to a passing woman long enough to determine he is in Australia when several soldiers and helicopters appear. He is shot with a dart of some type and collapses on the beach, unconscious.

John is taken to a facility where he is given some type of medical exam then placed in a glass-fronted cell where he is interrogated by Wilson. Wilson repeatedly asks John what he is doing there and what his mission is. John realizes that they are not sure who he is and are afraid that he might be an alien. They also do not understand the translator microbes in his system and send people to talk to him in various languages. After someone talks to him in Swahili John gets angry and refuses to cooperate any further.

Later, John is alone in his cell. Cobb is sitting outside and reading a newspaper. John asks him for the paper or for Cobb to give him any news about what is going on but Cobb refuses. He won't even tell John who won the Superbowl.

Elsewhere, Wilson and a sketch artist are looking at a drawing of Rygel. Wilson is incredulous but the artist insists that it is correct. They are interrupted by the arrival of Jack Crichton, John's father, who insists on seeing his son. Wilson at first resists, telling Jack that John has strange microbes in his body and strange technology in the Farscape module, but eventually he relents and lets Jack into the cell.

Jack enters the cell and talks to John, first asking him a question about his tenth birthday, something only he and John would know. When John answers correctly he moves forward and they embrace.
"I missed you, son." Jack tells him.
John is struggling to keep himself in check. "What's going on? I know recovery procedure as well as anyone. This is way beyond routine."
Jack looks at him gravely. "Nothing's been routine since the day you left seven months ago. That wormhole you went through is still there. You opened a door, son. A door to Earth we don't know how to close."

Later, John and Jack are on the beach. John says he is surprised that Wilson let them out and Jack is surprised that John knows Wilson. John admits that he had worked with Wilson previously, as well as Cobb. Jack tells him that Wilson still has him under observation and points out several people on the beach who are keeping them under surveillance. A global alliance has been formed to face any possible threat from the wormhole and Wilson has been put in charge by the Pentagon.

Jack removes his flight wings and throws them into the ocean in disgust. John pulls out the puzzle ring and gives it back to his father. They then return to talk to Wilson.

Back at the installation, Cobb is observing the wormhole on a monitor. John is trying to tell a pair of scientists about his experiences.
"They have worlds out there," he tells them "people out there, that you would not believe. But they do not have chocolate."

He stops to talk to another scientist who is working on his Farscape module. He identifies the part the scientist is examining as part of a hetch drive and starts to walk away then suddenly stops. He turns back to the scientist and asks if they have ever met. The scientist confirms that he met John when he was working with Cobb and John walks off looking thoughtful.

Wilson suddenly calls for John. Something has come through the wormhole and is coming in on the same trajectory the Farscape took. Wilson starts yelling at John and asking him if "they" have come for him. Someone says that F-16s are intercepting the object and John sees on the monitor that it is one of Moya's transport pods. He yells for them not to fire on it and Wilson reluctantly lets it land. We next see Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel being carried in on stretchers.

John is back in his former cell with Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel. Several people are observing them from outside the cell but whenever anyone other than John speaks we only hear them in their native language. Wilson continually yells for John to tell him what is being said.

Aeryn tells John that after he went through the wormhole the Earth vanished from their sensors. The three of them went out in the pod to see if they could find out anything when they got caught by the wormhole and dragged through. D'Argo is angry at being taken prisoner and demands to know what is going on and John tries to explain that everyone is scared of them. Rygel complains of being ill and John goes to try to get some help for him.

John and his father are sitting in a waiting room. John is looking at the magazines and complaining that all of them are seven months old when Cobb enters and asks them to come to the medical lab. There, they find Rygel, dead and cut open on an examination table. Wilson is in the room and John is furious.

John confronts Wilson. "We spent our lives waiting for this moment." he yells at him. "We sent Voyager. We left damn greeting cards on the moon, and as soon as they get here, look at what you're doing!" Wilson is unmoved and insists to John that he knows what he is doing.

John returns to the cell where Aeryn and D'Argo are still confined. He tells them about Rygel and that he supposedly died of an allergic reaction to the tranquilizer but when pressed he admits that he thinks Wilson and his people killed him. D'Argo is angry and refuses to listen to John, telling him that when they come for him he will kill them. Aeryn does not want to talk to him either and tells him that even the Peacekeepers wouldn't kill their prisoners just to study them. She asks him to leave and, dejected, he does.

Back outside, he finds his father and asks him to use every contact he has to try to get Wilson and his men to stop. Jack asks if he really wants to do this and John says that he gave his word to the others, that they are his friends and he will try to help them. Jack agrees to do as he asks and John re-enters the complex.

There, he finds an unconscious guard and when he stops to examine him Aeryn confronts him with a rifle. She asks him which side he is on and he tells her he is on hers. After a moment she lowers the rifle. She tells him that they took D'Argo away and when they came for her she was ready.

The two of them go and confront Cobb. While Aeryn holds the rifle on him John takes his gun and ID badge. He asks Cobb where D'Argo is and Cobb smiles and says that D'Argo has been taken away where John can't find him. John swats him with the pistol and knocks him unconscious. He and Aeryn start to leave when John stops and goes back to Cobb. He kicks him once viciously in the ribs.
"That" he says. "is for Rygel."

Aeryn and John are in a residential neighborhood. It is raining and John is looking for a particular house. He is trying to get Aeryn to hurry but she seems fascinated by the rain and is trying to catch the raindrops on her tongue.
"Rain..." she says. "Is that what you call this? I like it."

John finds the house he is looking for and uses Cobb's ID badge to slip the lock and go in. He tells Aeryn that his father told him about the house. She is concerned that he knows but John tells her that he trusts his father. They go inside.

Aeryn is sitting on the bed looking out at the rain. John joins her and gives her a beer, which she says reminds her of Filip Nectar. She starts to explain what Filip Nectar is but John stops her.
"Sorry." he says, not looking at her.
"For what?" she asks.
"Everything." he sighs. "What's happened here. Getting you stuck on Moya. If it wasn't for me, you'd still be the happy little Peacekeeper dominating the lesser races."
She smiles and looks at him. "Hmmm... I've got a lot to blame you for, John Crichton."

He looks back at her then goes and sits beside her, their shoulders touching. He gestures out the window.
"That's it." he tells her. "Earth. Minus the sunshine."
She looks out for a moment. "You know, you were right. It's actually very beautiful."

They turn and look at each other. She tells him that they will have to kill her before they capture her again and John says he knows. He rests his head on her shoulder for a moment, then looks back up at her. They kiss, then embrace each other.

The next morning, Aeryn is wearing a much too big set of men's clothing and looking over some maps. John is still asleep in bed. She wakes him up and tries to tell him that she has found some places where they may be able to hide out. He tries to talk about "last night" but she says that that isn't important right at the moment. He reluctantly agrees then tells her that she needs to change clothes.

Later, she is wearing a flowered dress and sweater. She is uncertain of it but John insists that she looks good in it. There is a knock at the door and she quickly draws her pistol. John opens it and finds Jack. Aeryn continues to point her gun at him but John eventually convinces her to put it down.

Jack tells them that he called everyone he knew but no one would come to their defense. He says that D'Argo has been taken to a facility in Utah, that the facility they were at has been cleared and that officially there never were any aliens. He also says that Wilson and his people will soon be searching every place that he knows of so Aeryn and John will have to leave. "This time" he says "at least I get to say goodbye."

John leaves and Aeryn follows. She stops and says something to Jack in Sebacean then moves to follow John when Jack replies to her "Thank you, Aeryn Sun." She looks at him in surprise and pauses a moment before following John out.

John and Aeryn are walking down a city street. Aeryn is concerned that everyone is looking at them but John says it is because everyone thinks she looks good. He suddenly sees the woman who was on the beach when he first arrived. He realizes that she is someone he recognizes from school.

They come to a news vendor and John stops to look at the magazines. He discovers that they are all seven months old. He confronts the news vendor about this and suddenly realizes that he recognizes the news vendor too. He starts to yell at the vendor and Aeryn gets between the two of them. She tells John to keep his voice down and tries to get him to leave but John won't listen. He pulls the gun from his bag and points it at her. He yells for her to get away from him then runs off down the street.

John realizes that everyone he meets is someone he knows and every place he goes to is someplace he has been before. He enters a pool hall, still waving the gun, and identifies everyone within it. "Yeah." he says. "I've been here."
He opens the door to the men's restroom and looks inside. "Been in there. Nothing new."
He starts to leave, then suddenly gets an idea. He turns and looks at the door to the women's restroom.
"But I've never been in there..."

He goes to the door of the women's room and pulls it open. Inside, there is nothing but a shimmering orange light.

John walks back to the facility. At the entrance Wilson tries to stop him and demands to know where Aeryn is. John simply gives him his gun and says he is going to go talk to the boss. "The real boss."

Inside, the facility is completely empty except for Jack Crichton sitting in a chair. He compliments John. "You did well." he tells him. "Most species don't do as well."

Jack tells John that everything here is a recreation from John's memory, except for his friends. John sees a nearby holding area containing D'Argo and Rygel. D'Argo is irritated but Rygel is eating a Hynerian delicacy and is quite happy. John is angry at the creature calling itself Jack and grabs the front of its shirt. The shirt tears away, revealing an orange mass behind it. John stands in shock.

"Jack" leads John into the next room where several large hive-like objects hang from the ceiling. Occasionally, eyes can be seen watching them from the hives. John is angry that "Jack" has stolen his memories but "Jack" insists that it was necessary. His species is searching for a new planet. They can create a wormhole to take all of their people there but it would take all of their remaining energy. They need to find a world where they can coexist with the inhabitants and they needed John's memories to determine the "Human Reaction".

John asks to see what the aliens really look like and "Jack" changes into an insectoid alien. The alien says that they had hoped Earth would be a planet they could live on but now they realize that it will not be.
"So what will you do now?" asks John.
"What we've done since before I was hatched." replies the alien "We'll continue searching for a home."
"So will I." whispers John.

He goes to leave but the alien stops him and gives him back the puzzle ring. John goes and opens the door, revealing the beach beyond it.
"Maybe we'll meet again one day, John." the alien calls after him.
"Maybe." says John quietly. He looks out at the beach.

John originally arrived through a wormhole in Premiere. A wormhole was also formed in Till the Blood Runs Clear.

John first asked Aeryn to come to Earth with him in DNA Mad Scientist.

John complained about there being no chocolate in the Uncharted Territories in They've Got a Secret.

It was first mentioned that John is modifying the Farscape 1 module with advanced technology in Till the Blood Runs Clear. He has apparently continued to modify the module since then, as in that episode Furlow mentions that the module has no hetch drive but in this episode he identifies one of the components in it as part of a hetch drive. (Other references: Jeremiah Crichton and The Flax.)

Who were the aliens? What will they do now?

How will Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel react to John now that they have seen what Earth is like?

Was Aeryn really there or was she a construct like Jack? (See my commentary below on this one.)

I have somewhat mixed feelings about A Human Reaction. On one hand, it combines a cliche plot (aliens arrive and we mistreat them) with one of the cheapest cop-out endings around (and it was all a dream!) but, on the other hand, it injects a few new ideas into the story and manages to avoid being a standard follow-the-numbers plot.

There are a few clues even early on that show that things are not what they seem. The flash to white as John enters the wormhole that resolves to the beach is one, as are the seven-month old magazines and the fact that everyone he meets is someone John knows. But these things are introduced subtly enough that they become more obvious after everything is revealed and don't overly stick out before. They are there, they just aren't dominating the plot.

Some interesting character development this time out. John is actually reluctant to leave Moya at first. He has started to feel at home there and, even with Earth visible through the wormhole, hesitates until D'Argo urges him onward. Later, he refers to Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel as his friends and in the end chooses them over his own kind.

For their part, the rest of Moya's crew seems sad that John is leaving them. Later, they even go out in the pod to check on him after he disappears. They too are worried about the man who is now their friend.

There are some very good moments in this episode. One of the best is when John points out the window to "Earth. Minus the sunshine." This is a very good line, since it not only refers to the rainy day outside but to the less-than-happy reception Aeryn and the others have received on Earth.

Now lets talk about Aeryn, the Peacekeeper who wasn't there. Or was she?

One of the interesting games about this episode is to try to figure out what was real and what wasn't. The Ancients created "Earth" from John's memory and brought him there to see if they would be able to share the planet with humans. Apparently this was a real environment they created somewhere, not a mental dreamscape like we encountered in That Old Black Magic. So, everyone and everything there is a construct created from John's memories. We know that "Jack Crichton" was an alien who had made himself look like John's father. We never find out whether everyone else John meets, such as Wilson and Cobb, are aliens in disguise or not but it really doesn't matter. They are somehow creations of the Ancients.

Now, what about Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel. We are told that the Earth disappeared, they went out in a pod to check on it and got sucked through the wormhole. Entirely possible, and a good thing for the Ancients too. After all, they needed D'Argo and Rygel (at least) to show up in their construct to see how the humans will react to aliens appearing among them.

Which raises the question, what would the Ancients have done if the others from Moya hadn't gone out in the pod? Well, they still would have needed to test the human's reaction to aliens appearing among them, so they would have constructed an Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel from John's memories just like they did with Jack, Wilson and Cobb. To John they would have seemed just as convincing.

So, were Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel really there, or were they constructs?

When John returns to the facility and confronts "Jack", he is told that everything was a creation based on his memory. Jack is real, but he isn't John's father. When he asks about his friends he is told "They're real, living matter. They were investigating the wormhole we'd created from your memory, so we decided to use them in our trial." We then see D'Argo and Rygel in a cell. D'Argo is annoyed and Rygel is happily eating a Hynerian delicacy. From this we can assume that D'Argo and Rygel really were there. Significantly, we do not see Aeryn.

So, lets focus on Aeryn. Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel show up and are thrown into the cell. Rygel gets dissected and Aeryn and D'Argo confront John over it. Aeryn even makes a comment that "Peacekeepers wouldn't even kill their prisoners to study them."

Really? So, in Premiere, when Crais tells John "I will personally enjoy pulling you apart to see what you are made of." he wasn't speaking literally? Just a threat? It sure sounded good.

OK, so what happens next. John leaves then comes back to find D'Argo missing and Aeryn free. Note that we never see D'Argo taken away or Aeryn free herself. She is just out. Cobb confirms that D'Argo has been taken but of course he is one of the constructs.

John leaves with Aeryn and they head for the suburbs. Here, we find that Aeryn doesn't know what rain is. All right, we were told in They've Got a Secret that Peacekeepers are born and raised on ships. She may never have seen rain growing up. But it is doubtful that rain is a Peacekeeper secret. Surely the Peacekeepers train their people to operate in all types of environments. It would be most unusual to have as highly a trained group of soldiers as the Peacekeepers are supposed to be that have never trained for combat in adverse weather conditions. A spring shower could break a frontal assault! True, Aeryn is a Prowler pilot and trained for space combat but she at least appears to have some ground training. She didn't seem discomforted by going down to the planet in Throne for a Loss and mentioned that she had applied for a transfer to a Marauder group in Exodus From Genesis. She told us then that Marauder crews have the "Highest level of training." So, if she applied for a Marauder position then it follows that she does have training that must have included adverse weather conditions.

So, Aeryn should know what rain is. Why did she say she didn't?

Next, Aeryn and John hide out in the house. She tells John that Earth is beautiful and the two of them become intimate. Does this seem right?

First, is "beautiful" the word she would use to describe a planet where everyone is trying to kill her? And, under the circumstances, would she go to bed with John given that they are still in what amounts to hostile territory and that she had said only a few minutes ago that she didn't trust John's father who had told them about the house? Or did that beer go to her head that fast?

Yes, you can make the argument that she was stressed out and needed someone to turn to. The relationship between her and John has been developing for some time and one can argue that they had reached the point where it made sense for her to turn to John for comfort.

But there is another possible explanation. The Ancient told John that everything there was created from John's memories. So, if Aeryn is a construct and not real then she was created based on how John perceives her. We know John has been wanting to move forward with their relationship while she seems to have been holding back. Therefore, it only makes sense that an Aeryn-construct would think Earth is beautiful and would sleep with John since that is what John would want her to do.

The next scene of interest is when Aeryn speaks to Jack in Sebacean and he apparently understands her. (At least he responds as if he did.) Now, this is obviously the big clue that Things Are Not What They Seem. Obviously Jack could not have understood her but the Ancient-as-Jack would have been able to. After all, he probably has his own version of translator microbes. But it is an odd slip for him to make since it seems to give away the whole setup.

Unless Aeryn isn't real. Notice that John is outside when Aeryn and Jack talk. John apparently doesn't see the slip. If Aeryn is a construct then it doesn't matter if he reveals himself to her or not. Or, even if it does, the Ancient is more likely to make the slip if he knows only constructs are around instead of being more "in character" as he would be if John or one of the other "real" people were around.

Next, Aeryn and John go down the street and John confronts the news vendor. This is when John finally figures out that something is going on. Notice how Aeryn reacts here. She tries to get between John and the news vendor to keep John from confronting him and then tries to deflect John from his line of thought. She claims it is because he is attracting attention to them, which is a valid point under the circumstances, but it could also be seen as her trying to cover up another slip.

John pulls the gun, points it at her, and runs off. Two points here. First, Aeryn is a highly trained Peacekeeper and John is an astronaut and scientist. She should have been able to get his gun away from him in seconds but didn't for some reason. Second, when he runs off she doesn't follow him. She is alone on a hostile planet, he is the only ally she has, the only one who can help her and she just lets him run away?

She certainly doesn't follow John to the pool hall. After John makes his final discovery she is nowhere to be found. She conveniently vanishes from the scene, just as everyone inside the facility is gone except for the Ancient, D'Argo and Rygel when John returns. The people who are there are real. No one else was.

And that includes Aeryn.

I am taking a contrary position here to most of my fellow Farscape fans here which is why I went into the detail I did. (Well, the shippers disagree with me anyway.) One of the things I like about Farscape is that it is deep enough and consistent enough that it is possible to do this kind of analysis. For the record, in on-line chats and interviews, Justin Monjo (the writer) has said that it was the real Aeryn while Rowan Woods (the director) says it was "deliberately ambiguous". Later episodes also seem to confirm the reality of the situation, but it is extremely odd.

Whatever Aeryn's status, this remains an excellent episode. It marks a transition of sorts in the series in that it is in this episode that the crew of Moya finally seems to have come together. The others now accept John as a shipmate and friend and John now is starting to feel himself closer to the others than he does his own kind. They are his friends now and they will learn to rely on each other more as the series progresses. Catch this one if you can.