1.22 - Family Ties

Rygel attempts to sell out Moya and her crew but Scorpius isn't buying and he has to flee back to Moya, accompanied by Crais who is asking for asylum. Meanwhile, the crew comes up with a plan to destroy the Gammak Base

What the hell did he just say? - John Crichton
Something about his corpse and a... body function. - Chiana
Oh, that'll help. - John Crichton

Ugh. Just to be in the warm glow of all this testosterone... - Aeryn Sun

Hey, D'Argo. How come I'm not afraid? - John Crichton
Fear accompanies the possibility of death. Calm shepherds its certainty. - Ka D'Argo
I love hanging with you, man. - John Crichton

Rygel has suddenly left Moya in a transport pod and is heading for Crais' Command Carrier. The others attempt to call him back but he refuses to do so, even when D'Argo threatens him. Aeryn suggests having Moya's baby fire on him but he is already out of range.

On the Command Carrier, Crais and Scorpius attempt to determine why Rygel is flying towards them. Crais mentions the alien woman that Scorpius "adopted" and Scorpius asks if Crais has found out what happened to the security guard assigned to her.

They are interrupted by the arrival of Lt. Braca with Rygel in tow.
"You want the Leviathan." Rygel tells them. "The Leviathan gunship offspring, the other escaped prisoners, the defector Aeryn Sun and, especially, the one called Crichton. Well, I want my freedom. Interested?"

Back on Moya, Aeryn, D'Argo and John are discussing their options. Thanks to the navigation charts they have obtained they have been able to plot a course for a Starburst away from the asteroid belt. But the baby is still too young to Starburst and Moya will not abandon him.

John says that he will not be taken alive because he will not be put in the Aurora Chair again. D'Argo backs him up and both of them agree to go down fighting. John suggests loading another transport pod with explosives then flying it into the Command Carrier. He asks if that would buy enough time for the rest of them to get away.

Rygel is eating with Crais and Scorpius looking on. Crais wants to start questioning Rygel but Rygel continues to eat. Scorpius suggests putting Rygel in the Aurora Chair but Crais says that Rygel would not be able to survive the experience.

Scorpius decides that Rygel cannot help them and is about to order him thrown into a cell when Rygel says that John will never be taken alive. Scorpius asks Rygel if he is willing to help them capture John. We do not see Rygel's answer.

On Moya, D'Argo gives a pair of handcuffs to Chiana and tells her to put them on and lock herself into a cell. Then, when the Peacekeepers arrive, she is to tell them that they forced her to help them. He thinks she might be able to survive this way. She gets angry and refuses to do so and D'Argo tells her that she is a pain but one that he has come to enjoy.

John is with Zhaan who is making up some explosives. Zhaan tells him that she is sad because she feels as if she has found a new family on Moya and that now the family is coming to an end.
"Well..." John tells her. "It's a Jerry Springer kind of family. But for what's it's worth Zhaan, you are family."

Later, John is recording another message for his father but stops when he realizes that he may be leaving a final message. Aeryn appears and asks him if the being she met was like his father. He says it was a bit idealized but otherwise was like him.

Aeryn tells him that he is lucky for knowing his father. She says that once when she was young a woman appeared to her and said she was her mother. Her mother told her that she and her father had Aeryn because they loved each other, not because she was an accident or because they needed a replacement Peacekeeper. She never knew her father.
John hands her his tape recorder. "Leave him a message." he says. "You never know, he might get it."

Back on the Command Carrier, Rygel is taking a bath. Crais appears and tells him that Scorpius has already ordered that Rygel is to be killed after John is in custody. He at first threatens Rygel then tells Rygel that he too has nothing to look forward to except a court martial and execution. He offers to help Rygel and says he has a plan.

The transport pod returns to Moya and the crew meets it with weapons ready. Rygel exits the pod and says he can't wait on their reaction. Crais then exits the pod, to everyone's surprise. Crais says that he has asked Rygel for asylum and that Rygel has given it to him.

D'Argo puts down his Qualta Blade then goes up to Crais and knocks him to the ground. He starts kicking Crais until Crais admits that he knew D'Argo was innocent of killing his wife and that a Peacekeeper was the one responsible. Even though he knew, he says he couldn't free D'Argo without orders from High Command.

John accuses Crais of taking the easy way out and Crais responds that life is unfair. John agrees, saying that if life were fair then Crais would be dead.

Aeryn and John lock Crais in a cell and Aeryn leaves to check the pod for tracking devices. John asks Crais to explain what is going on but Crais says that he will let Rygel talk for him.

Rygel is talking to Chiana and Zhaan and is telling them of the situation on the Command Carrier. He believes that Crais really has lost all power on his own ship and that Scorpius is now in charge. Crais escaped with him because he had no other choice. They told Scorpius that they would be able to convince the others to surrender. Zhaan points out that Rygel went to the Carrier to sell them out and Rygel admits that he did originally but points out that he didn't.

John is still talking to Crais and asks how he is doing. He says that he is homesick looking at Crais and that he misses a human male-to-male conversation but that discussing football is probably out of the question. Crais wonders about how similar Humans and Sebaceans are and says he will miss solving that mystery. He also admits to John that he now knows that John didn't mean to kill his brother, that it was really an accident. He says that he had become more interested in his own image than anything else and that his priorities had changed. John says that if Crais wants to help them, then now is the time.

Everyone meets in the hanger bay where the explosives are being loaded onto the transport pod. Crais says that their plan for flying it into the Command Carrier will fail because the explosives will be detected and it will be destroyed at long range.

D'Argo has a better idea. The moon on which the Gammak Base is built has an oil-covered surface. They will fly the transport into the moon and destroy the base. While Scorpius is chasing the transport, Moya will get the baby to move in close and will Starburst both of them to safety.

Crais says that this plan will not work either because there is one thing that Scorpius wants more than his Gammak Base. He turns and looks significantly at John.

Aeryn and D'Argo start arguing. D'Argo says he will fly the pod and Aeryn is upset because she thought they were going to draw lots for it. D'Argo insists and Aeryn goes to help Zhaan with the explosives.

Chiana finds John and offers to thank him in the best way she knows how; by sleeping with him. He turns her down, saying never before the big game. She says she still needs to thank him for saving her life and he tells her to pass it on by helping someone else when they need it. He kisses her and leaves.

Scorpius receives word that Crais has now been declared irreversibly contaminated and that he is now in charge of the Command Carrier. He orders Braca to narrow the search for the Leviathans.

Aeryn has taken Crais over to the baby and he declares it to be the crowning glory of Peacekeeper technology. He admits that there had been many previous attempts to create a Leviathan warship but all had failed. Aeryn realizes that this was because the other Leviathans all were wearing control collars and Crais agrees. He tells her that the baby can support a pilot but does not need one, it responds directly to the voice commands of its captain. He also says that the baby is too immature to help them so they cannot include it in their escape plans.

John is in his quarters and is packing up most of his things. He sees Rygel and tells him that if Rygel survives and he doesn't then Rygel can have all of his possessions. He tells Rygel that he knows Scorpius wouldn't buy what Rygel was telling him and Rygel admits that he also realized that once he turned the others in then he would be next. He admits that he is selfish but that given the chance he will usually do the right thing. John points out that the right thing should be the first thing you do, not what you do after you get caught. John starts to leave.
"Thank you." says Rygel. John looks back at him.
Rygel is suddenly embarrassed. "For the possessions!" he says quickly, then leaves.

Chiana leads Aeryn, D'Argo and Zhaan into the galley. She says that she wanted to thank all of them for what they have done for her and so she has fixed a meal for them with all of their favorite dishes.

Later, everyone is in the galley eating except for John. He is sitting with a DRD which has been repaired with tape and is leaving a final message for his father.
"One other thing, Dad. You remember the day I left? You told me that every man has a chance to become his own kind of hero. Well, I don't think I'm ever coming home so I won't get that ticker tape parade, and I doubt that I'm ever gonna have kids so I won't get the chance to be a hero to them. But I think I know what you meant. I've got a strange life here dad. It's different, but it's my own."
He pauses for a moment, then continues. "I have people who rely on me, people I care about, people who mystify me and people who have become allies and friends. People who teach me patience and people who teach me other things. Well, you said the time would come and I think it has. I have a job to do and I am unafraid. That's what you said when they asked you what it was like to walk on the moon. You did good, Dad. You taught me well. This is John Crichton, somewhere in the Universe."

Everyone is in the hanger bay to see D'Argo and John off. Zhaan says a prayer for them, Chiana tells them to come back and Crais gives them some last minute advice. D'Argo gives the hologram of his wife and son to Zhaan and tells her to make sure he remembers him.

D'Argo enters the pod and everyone leaves except Aeryn and John.
"I wasn't going to say goodbye." he tells her.
"Neither was I." she responds.
John enters the pod and the doors close behind him.

The pod leaves Moya and heads towards the Gammak base. John starts priming the explosives while D'Argo flies the pod. The Command Carrier detects the pod but ignores it until Braca tells Scorpius that John is on board. Scorpius then orders the Carrier to move to capture the pod. He orders interceptors to be launched and insists that John must be taken alive.

On Moya, everyone is ready to leave but they are waiting to give D'Argo and John one chance. Pilot contacts Aeryn, who is out in her Prowler, and says that the baby is not responding to Moya. Aeryn tells him to call the baby by its name. She has named it Talyn, after her father.

John has finished arming the explosives. He closes the helmet on his suit and gives D'Argo his father's puzzle ring for good luck, then opens the airlock on the pod. He and D'Argo are sucked into space. Pilot detects them and tells Aeryn to go pick them up.

The pod hits the moon. There is an enormous explosion and the entire surface of the moon bursts into flames.
John looks at the moon. "Hey, you bastards." he says. "John Crichton was here."

Pilot reports that someone has boarded Talyn and Rygel says that it is Crais. Crais takes command of Talyn and orders him to fly deeper into the asteroid belt where the Carrier will not be able to detect them. Aeryn and Pilot argue with Crais but he cuts them off and Talyn leaves.

The Carrier turns back towards Moya and begins an intercept. Moya refuses to leave without Talyn and so Aeryn asks Pilot to let her talk directly to Moya. Aeryn tells Moya that they have done everything they have to save Moya and Talyn but now Moya must save herself so that she will be able to help Talyn later. Moya apparently listens to her as she breaks off her pursuit of Talyn and Starbursts away.

Aeryn tells John that she cannot get to him and D'Argo since there are many other Prowlers around. If she moves to pick them up they will be detected. John says it may not matter anymore as D'Argo is unconscious. D'Argo's hand opens and John's father's puzzle ring drifts away.

The last thing we see are D'Argo and John, floating in space and silhouetted against the burning moon.

John was put in the Aurora Chair in Nerve.

John first recorded a message for his father in Premiere and also left a message in A Human Reaction. This is also the episode in which Aeryn meets the being who was pretending to be John's father.

The DRD which is patched with tape was fixed by John in Premiere.

We learn that D'Argo was falsely imprisoned for killing his wife in They've Got a Secret. This is also the episode in which we see the hologram he carries of his wife and son and where we learn that Luxans can survive for short periods of time unprotected in space.

We first learn that Crais blames John for his brother's death in Premiere and it is discussed in detail in That Old Black Magic.

Aeryn was declared "irreversibly contaminated", as Crais is in this episode, in Premiere.

The woman that Crais says that Scorpius has "adopted" is M'Lee, the calcivore from Bone to be Wild. The crew gets the navigation charts from the botanist Br'Nee in that same episode.

What will Crais do with Talyn?

What will happen to D'Argo and John?

Now that his base is destroyed, how will Scorpius react?

Scorpius mentions that the security guard he had assigned to M'Lee is missing. We assume M'Lee killed him. Where is she going and how many other Peacekeepers will she kill along the way?

What happened to the Translator Microbes in this episode? When D'Argo threatens Rygel early in the episode it is untranslated even though Chiana seemed to understand him. When Crais boards Talyn for the first time he says something that is untranslated and later when Zhaan is praying for D'Argo and John her prayers are also not translated. The prayer may have been a ritual chant with no meaning (sort of like a mantra) but why weren't the other two cases translated? Another TMI? (Translator Microbe Inconsistancy)

Family Ties is the final episode for the first season of Farscape and you can say they literally went out with a bang. This is also their first season-ending cliffhanger. There was a lot of activity in this episode but there was also a lot of interesting character bits as well.

The first thing we can look at is Rygel. Yes, we have always known that Rygel is self-serving and opportunistic but did we ever think that he would really sell out the crew? Actually, yes. We have seen enough before to make us realize that Rygel will put his own agenda ahead of the others. This is most clearly seen in DNA Mad Scientist where he manages to get D'Argo and Zhaan locked into a cell while he plans to use the data crystal to return to his own home world. Another example could be Throne for a Loss where he endangers Moya by taking the computer component he uses to decorate his scepter. Yes, he has done things to help our crew before. In fact, the original escape of the prisoners on Moya was engineered by him. But, in every case when he has had the opportunity to advance himself he has, even if it has endangered the rest of the crew. No surprises here.

Crais is more interesting. He has been the relentless pursuer of our crew all season and now he suddenly appears to help them. For a while anyway. It also seems that he finally believes John when he tells him that the death of his brother was an accident. Was there anything that could have caused this change in Crais?

Again, yes. In The Hidden Memory, Aeryn finds Crais sitting in the Aurora Chair. She says that she will give him his life, turns the machine on full, then leaves. We don't know how long Crais was in the Chair, but it is safe to assume that he was forced to look at his life without holding anything back. It is the purpose of the Chair, after all.

Crais tells John "I understand you didn't mean to kill my brother. It was an accident. I realize that now, as I look back and try to understand it all." and later says "I thought it was about my brother. It should have been about my brother. Somewhere along the way my priorities... decayed. I realized I'd became more concerned with my own image and career."

Crais was forced to reevaluate his own life and apparently has found parts of it he doesn't like. True, he is still Crais. He stole Talyn and flies off in it. But, he does not seem to actually desire harm to our crew anymore. He may not be an ally, but at least he no longer seems to be an enemy.

Actually, Crais may feel some paternal pride in Talyn. He seems to have been involved with the Leviathan warship breeding program. Perhaps, in a sense, Talyn is his "son".

Aeryn tells us that she never knew her father and apparently only met her mother once. From previous episodes, we know that Crais was taken from his family at an early age. In this episode, when Aeryn confronts Crais with taking Talyn from his mother, Crais responds that it was done with both of them. Obviously Crais does feel somewhat angered by that.

Look at how Crais has responded whenever his father appears. In That Old Black Magic and The Hidden Memory he sees his father. In both cases (especially in That Old Black Magic) he becomes quite angry and tells Maldis or Scorpius not to bring him into this. Crais is upset and angered that he was taken from his father and apparently still feels respect towards him.

Given this, if Crais really does think of himself as a father for Talyn, his taking of Talyn makes more sense. Yes, the Peacekeepers took him and Aeryn from their families but he will not let the Peacekeepers get Talyn and will not let them take Talyn away from Talyn's father; himself. Perhaps that is why he steals Talyn. He may really have Talyn's best interests in mind.

Speaking of fathers, I have to follow up on an earlier commentary of mine. In A Human Reaction, I raised the question of whether or not it was the real Aeryn who was in the test that the Ancients had set up with John. There, I said that I thought that it was not the real Aeryn and gave my reasons why.

Well, here we find that Aeryn did meet the Ancient who was playing the part of John's father. Which means it was the real Aeryn. At least part of the time, anyway. So much for my analysis.

I have also previously spoken of how the crew of Moya has become a family. Zhaan explicitly states that in this episode and John echoes it. At least I got that one right.

Of course, this episode ends with the family in trouble and divided. Crais has run off with Talyn. Moya and Pilot are forced to Starburst away with Chiana, Rygel and Zhaan. Aeryn is out searching for D'Argo and John but can't get to them and D'Argo seems to be in trouble. Things are not looking good.

Still, it is a great note on which to end the season. We started out the season with our misplaced Human on a ship with a group of untrusting escaped prisoners and a hostile Peacekeeper. Now, we have a family which is forced to separate while the ex-Peacekeeper tries to rescue two of their own. John has gone from the person who couldn't open a door to the one they turn to for leadership. Aeryn is no longer someone who once imprisoned them, she is their protector. And, they have gone from being a group of people thrown together by chance and necessity to being friends, allies... and family. We have watched them grow together and we feel their pain as they are forced apart. And, we share their hope that they will be together again.

It's been a great first season. This isn't an episode you want to start with but when you get here you will know that is has been worth the ride.

See you next season.