2.01 - Mind the Baby

John and D'Argo are hiding on an asteroid with Aeryn who has made a deal with Crais for help. Moya returns for Talyn but Scorpius is waiting for all of them.

I would rather go down on a swing. - Ka D'Argo
Swinging. You want to go down swinging. - John Crichton

It's not supposed to be realistic, it's supposed to be entertaining. - John Crichton
My coma was more entertaining. - Ka D'Argo

You look after her while I go and break Crais' neck. - Ka D'Argo
D'Argo, you couldn't break wind right now. - John Crichton

You want to have a mid-life crisis? Fine. Ditch the firm, head off to Maui, shack up with the supermodel. But you do not get to keep the Porsche! - John Crichton

It's been a thrill, your frogness. - Chiana
May your afterlife be almost as pleasant as mine. - Dominar Rygel XVI

Moya is under attack by a Sheyang vessel. Chiana is trying to get Zhaan's attention but Zhaan keeps calling for D'Argo and saying that he will help them. Chiana tries to explain that D'Argo is gone but Zhaan keeps calling for him. The Sheyang vessel fires and everyone is thrown to the ground.

Elsewhere, John is looking at D'Argo who is unconscious. D'Argo suddenly comes to and asks what is happening. John explains that Aeryn finally rescued them but D'Argo has been unconscious for several days.

D'Argo starts to panic saying that he does not recognize where he is and asks if he is dead. John says that they are in an asteroid mining camp that Aeryn was able to find. She is off in her Prowler looking for food and water. He also tells D'Argo that Moya has left and Crais has taken control of Talyn. They both agree that both of them owe thanks to Aeryn.

Aeryn is out in her Prowler and contacts Crais. He wonders why she is late contacting him and she tells him that she has to come up with excuses to get away from John. Crais asks her if she has told John about their arrangement and she says she has not. Crais points out that John will find out at some point and asks when she will tell him.
"Only when it's too late for him to interfere." she replies.

D'Argo is complaining about the name Talyn when Aeryn arrives and tells him she picked out the name. John wants them to leave now that D'Argo is awake but Aeryn tells him that there are still Marauder patrols out from Scorpius' Command Carrier and that this asteroid is the only one that they are safely hidden on. She also points out that Moya is gone and says they will have to wait until Scorpius gives up. John says that he may never give up.

Aeryn tells them that she only found a little water and no food so she will have to go out again. They argue with her a bit more but she leaves anyway.

Back on Moya, Rygel is too upset to even eat. He tells Chiana that Moya is returning to the asteroid field in order to look for Talyn even with the Command Carrier in the area. Chiana says they are defenseless and Rygel reminds them of the defense screen they took from the Zelbinion. Chiana doesn't think it will work and Rygel isn't much more confident but Pilot has several DRDs start working on it.

On the Command Carrier, a technician has opened a panel on Scorpius' head and has removed a rod from inside. She is putting a new rod in its place when Lt. Braca enters and reports that they still cannot find John or Talyn. Scorpius is angry and tells him that it is time for them to try a new tactic.

On Talyn, Crais is arguing while Talyn is powering up his engines and weapons. Crais tries to stop him but Talyn seems intent on leaving the protection of the asteroid field. Aeryn arrives and Crais asks her to talk to him.

Aeryn asks Talyn why he wants to leave and Talyn activates the radio, showing that he is receiving a mix of confusing signals. Aeryn explains that Scorpius is trying to panic him and that he should remain calm. Talyn accepts what she is telling him and shuts down his engines again.

Aeryn tells Crais that D'Argo has regained consciousness and that he and John want to leave. Crais says that they will have to wait because Talyn will not yet obey his commands and Aeryn reminds him that you cannot command a Leviathan, only persuade one. She asks to be able to talk to Talyn alone and Crais refuses, saying he will share command but not relinquish it.

Back on the asteroid, John is teaching D'Argo how to play rock/paper/scissors. D'Argo is losing and is frustrated because he feels the game makes no sense.

Aeryn arrives and D'Argo and John confront her. She tries to avoid them and says that she has to go out again. Both D'Argo and John offer to help her and she refuses. John confronts her and points out that they have all saved each others lives more than once. He then asks her how many times the two of them have been close.
Aeryn looks embarrassed and glances at D'Argo. "Just the once." she whispers.
Now it is John's turn to look embarrassed. "Uh... no, not that kind of close."
"Oh!" she says, brightening. "Friend close!"

John points out that they have all been through enough together that they should be able to trust each other and that he thinks she is holding something back. Aeryn reluctantly confesses to her deal with Crais. By the time she got to John and D'Argo both of them were almost gone from lack of oxygen. Crais told her where the oxygen atmosphere asteroid they are on was. In exchange, she has been helping Crais with Talyn. Talyn quit obeying Crais after Moya Starburst away.

D'Argo and John are both angry that Aeryn is helping Crais gain control of Talyn. She says that they have no other choice but D'Argo disagrees. He uses his tongue strike to knock her out.

Both of them want to go after Crais but John says that one of them needs to stay behind with Aeryn. They play rock/paper/scissors for it and John wins. He grabs Aeryn's pulse pistol and heads for the Prowler.

On Moya, Chiana enters Zhaan's quarters. Zhaan is chanting and doesn't seem to see her at first but finally tells her that she has a brief moment. Chiana rapidly tells Zhaan about Moya's return to the asteroid belt. Zhaan acknowledges that it is dangerous but refuses to do anything about it.

Crais, on Talyn, contacts Scorpius on the Command Carrier. Scorpius wants to know where Crichton is but Crais tells him that Aeryn still does not trust him enough to give him that information. He also asks Scorpius to stop trying to panic Talyn with the radio transmissions. Scorpius tells Crais that if he turns John over to him then he will let Crais have Talyn and leave with him.

Crais ends the transmission and tells Talyn that this shows how untrustworthy Scorpius and the Peacekeepers are and that he is Talyn's only friend. He is interrupted when John enters the bridge. He and John argue for a bit then Crais calls to Talyn that there is an intruder. The door to the bridge closes and several guns protrude from the ceiling. John grabs Crais and points the pulse pistol at his head and Crais orders Talyn to stand down. John then herds Crais out of the bridge.

Rygel is startled by a sudden acceleration of Moya. Pilot reports that Moya has detected a distress call from Talyn and is rushing to him. Chiana enters and they briefly discuss leaving Moya in John's Farscape module. Pilot overhears and says they can leave in a transport pod if they wish. Chiana suddenly changes her tune and says that they would never abandon Moya and she slaps Rygel when he tries to contradict her.

Pilot detects a Prowler moving towards Moya and Chiana and Rygel fear the worst. Pilot then tells them that the Prowler is not reporting their presence and is in fact maneuvering to dock. Chiana leaves Command and runs to the hanger bay where she hides with a pulse rifle in hand.

The Prowler lands and John exits with Crais at gunpoint. Chiana is suspicious at first but John convinces her of who he is and shoves Crais to the floor. Chiana leaps completely across the hanger bay and lands in his arms. John swings her around and a DRD appears and starts ramming into Crais.

John goes with Chiana to see Zhaan who is still meditating. Zhaan apologies to John for something that he knows nothing about and John realizes that she thinks he is dead. He tries to convince her that he is still alive but she resumes her meditating. Chiana tells him that she has resumed the Delvian Seek.

Back on the asteroid, D'Argo is attempting to play rock/paper/scissors with himself. Aeryn has just pointed out that if John is captured then they will die as well when John arrives. He has barely greeted them when Pilot calls and reports that Talyn has panicked and is leaving the asteroid field with Moya in full pursuit.

Lt. Braca reports to Scorpius that both Leviathans are leaving the asteroid belt. He is afraid that they may Starburst away but Scorpius assures him that Talyn is still too young to Starburst and that Moya will not leave him. He orders that both Leviathans be crippled and for assault teams to stand by. They are to take John alive but there are to be no other survivors.

Aeryn, D'Argo and John arrive on Moya and go to Command. Rygel almost stops breathing when he sees them, leading John to ask if he needed a "Hynerian Heimlich". John picks him up and shakes him and Aeryn and D'Argo express surprise that he has any emotions other than greed. Pilot contacts them and says that he is happy to see all of them too.

Pilot also tells them that Talyn is still running away from Moya and that Moya is still trying to chase him. Aeryn tries to contact Talyn to explain that he should not run from them but John says that Talyn is confused because he has been hearing so many things from so many people. Now he will not even acknowledge Moya's or Aeryn's calls.

John goes to Pilot's Den and tries to get Moya to stop chasing Talyn. Pilot says that Moya will not risk losing Talyn again and so continues the chase.

Aeryn gives up on communicating with Talyn and goes to Zhaan's quarters where Zhaan is ringing a bell with a crystal. Zhaan tells Aeryn that she loves her and Aeryn tries to get Zhaan to help them. Zhaan does not listen and says that worldly concerns no longer interest her. This causes Aeryn to become angry.
"Oh, really?" she says. "Well then, don't give me any dren about how much you love me. I'm just an ignorant warrior who believes that love means you're willing to fight and die for your fellow living beings."

Aeryn stalks from the room. Zhaan tries to start ringing the bell again but the sound becomes discordant. She puts down the crystal and sighs.

Crais is once again in a cell and D'Argo is watching him. Crais asks if it is true that he left the military to raise a family on an agricultural planet. D'Argo thinks he disapproves of him but Crais says he does not and says that he was born on an agricultural planet himself.

D'Argo asks Crais if he disapproves of the fact that his wife was Sebacean. Crais admits that he had always been taught that such unions were wrong. But, that was something he learned from the Peacekeepers and he thinks that perhaps he should re-examine it along with everything else they taught him.

D'Argo suggests that a cell is a good place for such examination but Crais says that he cannot stay there because Talyn needs him. He says that he can keep Talyn out of Peacekeeper hands but D'Argo says that he will not be allowed to go back to Talyn. Crais changes the subject and asks D'Argo if he was happy before he was arrested.
"Happier than you can ever imagine." D'Argo tells him.
Crais nods seriously. "Then I envy you."
D'Argo has no reply.

The Command Carrier detects both Leviathans are slowing down. Scorpius orders the Carrier to attack.

Pilot detects the oncoming Command Carrier and everyone rushes to Command. Talyn deploys his main cannon and Rygel is telling him where to aim on the Command Carrier when Talyn suddenly fires upon Moya! Talyn demands that Moya send him a captain and demands that it be Crais.

John orders the defense screen to be turned on but Talyn fires again and the screen is knocked down.

Aeryn says that she will take Crais to Talyn. John tries to argue with her but she says that she will stay on Talyn with Crais to make sure he doesn't do any harm with Talyn. John doesn't think that Crais will let her go along with him but she says that he has already asked her to.

Aeryn and John go to Crais' cell and tell him they are letting him go back to Talyn. Crais asks Aeryn if she has made up her mind and she says yes, she will go with him. Crais is triumphant and tells John that everyone should be happy with this result except for Scorpius. John isn't happy with this result and tells Crais that if anything happens to Talyn or Aeryn, then he will hunt him down.
Crais smiles. "You, hunt me down?" he laughs. "Yes, that would complete the symmetry nicely, wouldn't it?"

All three of them go to the hanger bay. Crais goes to the Prowler but John stops Aeryn. He takes her hand and tells her that the last time they stood there he didn't say goodbye. She says they didn't and it wasn't.
"Here's hoping history repeats itself." he tells her.

She joins Crais and they enter the Prowler. The Prowler exits Moya and heads for Talyn. John remains staring at the hanger door.

Aeryn and Crais enter Talyn's bridge and Aeryn tells him to maneuver close to Moya so her Starburst will carry both of them to safety. Talyn beeps at them and an object rises from the floor. Crais refers to it as "the hand of friendship" and asks who it is for. Talyn beeps and Crais thanks him, then turns his back to the hand and pulls open his uniform.

Aeryn yells but the hand jerks forward and stabs Crais in the back of the neck. When it pulls away, we see a device has been implanted there. Aeryn demands to know what has happened and Crais tells her that it is a neural transponder. Through it, he has contact with Talyn and control of all of his systems. He says he no longer needs Aeryn and tells her to leave.

Aeryn pulls her pulse pistol and demands that he remove the transponder but he refuses. Talyn deploys his guns and, when she turns, Crais knocks the pistol from her hand. The two of them fight but Crais gains the upper hand and throws her to the center of the room where several of Talyn's guns aim at her. She yells that she is not the enemy but Crais tells her to leave. Injured, she staggers up the corridor.
"Good health, officer Sun!" Crais calls after her.

Back on Moya, Pilot reports that the Prowler is returning and that Aeryn is on board.

The Command Carrier approaches and the Frag Cannons deploy. Scorpius orders the assault to begin.

Crais contacts Scorpius and tells him that he has gained control of Talyn. He also tells him that he resigns his Peacekeeper commission and that he has killed John. Talyn then enters Starburst and disappears.

On Moya, everyone is surprised but the Command Carrier continues to approach. With the Prowler back on board, Moya also Starbursts.

Scorpius is angry and orders the technician who claimed Talyn would be unable to Starburst be brought to him. He then orders Lt. Braca to follow Moya. Braca is surprised that Scorpius wants to follow since John is dead but Scorpius says that he knows that Crais was lying when he said he killed John. Scorpius throws a ball he has been playing with to Braca who catches it in surprise and leaves. Scorpius stares angrily out into space.

D'Argo enters Zhaan's cabin and talks to her. Zhaan says that she now realizes that the others still need her and that she will slow down the Seek.
"The next level will always be there." D'Argo tells her. "This one will not."
Zhaan smiles at him. "Then we must cherish it while we have it. And we must cherish each other."
D'Argo smiles and nods back at her.

John is sitting on the floor of Pilot's Den and is leaning back against the console. Aeryn is with him and leaning back against John. She is upset but Pilot tells her that Talyn told Moya that he was going with Crais of his own free will. Talyn said he would stay in contact but John says that he isn't sure.

Aeryn points out that Crais could have killed her or the rest of them and didn't but John says that he may have just needed to save the energy for Starburst. She says that it is possible that Crais has changed.
"You do believe people can change?" she asks. "Don't you John?"
Johh laughs. "Well." he says. "You have." She nods.
"I have." he continues. She nods again.
He looks at her. "But, Crais?"

Aeryn has no reply.

Most events in this episode are direct resolutions of events which started in Family Ties, the first season finale.

The defense screen which the crew attempts to use was acquired from the Zelbinion in PK Tech Girl. This is also the episode where we first meet the Sheyang.

When John asks Aeryn how many times they had been close she responds "Just the once." There are two possible times she could have been referring to here. Either the time they were on the pod in The Flax or the night they spent together while hiding in A Human Reaction.

Zhaan has resumed the Delvian Seek which she gave up in Rhapsody in Blue.

There are some interesting forward references in this episode. Chiana's mention of a trial and Zhaan's comments to John and D'Argo and her resumption of the Delvian Seek all occur in Dream a Little Dream. That episode was originally to be the season opener but it was delayed until eighth, making these comments out of context here.

In the opening teaser Moya is being attacked by a Sheyang vessel. Was this a real event or was it something D'Argo was dreaming while unconscious?

What was the agreement between Aeryn and Crais? Was it only that they would share command of Talyn or was there something more? Was the reason for the agreement only so that Crais would tell her the location of the asteroid?

What will Crais do with Talyn? Why did Talyn choose Crais as his captain anyway?

Welcome back and welcome to the second season of Farscape. Mind the Baby is a pretty straightforward episode and pretty much resolves the plot threads that were left open at the end of the first season. You can think of this episode as being the wrap-up of a five episode arc that started with Nerve.

When we last saw D'Argo and John they were hanging in space and waiting for Aeryn to pick them up. Well, we find out pretty much immediately that she has rescued them. John is fine and D'Argo emerges from his coma almost immediately and pretty much none the worse for the wear.

Of course, we also find out that Aeryn has made some sort of deal with Crais. This seems a bit out of character for Aeryn. When she encountered him back in The Hidden Memory she left him strapped into the Aurora Chair. They did get along for a while in Family Ties but that was before he essentially kidnapped Talyn. She says that she made the deal with him in order to locate the asteroid where D'Argo and John would be safe but given her recent history with Crais it seems odd that she would then work to help him gain more control over Talyn. Especially since she also seems to have a close relationship with Talyn herself.

Which raises another question. Why did Talyn want Crais as his captain instead of Aeryn? We know that Talyn is not getting along well with Crais; that was what he wanted Aeryn to help him with. When Aeryn goes aboard Talyn and Scorpius tries to confuse him with his radio signals, it is Aeryn who is able to calm him down, not Crais. But, when Talyn starts to panic and demands a captain, why did he ask for Crais. Then, when both Aeryn and Crais are on his bridge, why did he decide to offer his "hand of friendship" to Crais instead of Aeryn? Is it possible that Talyn, being a warship, wants a more warlike captain and realized that Crais was a better match in that case than Aeryn?

What is with Crais anyway? He has definitely rejected his Peacekeeper past now. While his resignation of his commission was probably more symbolic than anything else, it was a public acknowledgment that he no longer considers himself a Peacekeeper. Despite what John seems to think, Crais does seem to have changed. Of course, we have yet to see what he has changed into.

Crais does tell Scorpius that John is dead. Scorpius believes that he did so just to get back at him but it may also be that Crais was trying to help John and the others. Maybe it was a small attempt at repayment for what they went through when he was chasing them.

There were some interesting scenes between Aeryn and John as well. Her embarrassment when she misunderstands John's question about the number of times they had been close was amusing. She had to either be referring to the time they were on the pod in The Flax or the night they spent together in A Human Reaction. She was probably referring to the Human Reaction time. (Which blows my theory there even further out of the water.) It is odd that she seemed embarrassed to let D'Argo know that she and John had been intimate. This may possibly be related to the fact that Sebaceans consider relationships outside of their species to be taboo, as was discussed in They've Got a Secret and mentioned again in this episode. This may be one of the reasons why she is moving slowly in opening up to John; she is attracted to him but is having trouble overcoming her own prejudices. Still, she does admit that she considers him to be a friend and at the end when they are in Pilot's Den they seem very comfortable with each other. We will have to see where things proceed from here.

It should also be noted that both Chiana and Rygel are happy when Aeryn, D'Argo and John return. Chiana is especially happy to see John and Rygel is almost overcome with emotion when they reappear. Rygel almost sold the crew out last episode so it was a bit interesting to see his reaction here. Of course he didn't sell them out and he did admit to John that he eventually does the right thing. Maybe Rygel has finally moved a bit more towards the rest of the crew as well.

Zhaan's reaction through much of this episode was odd. She has resumed the Delvian Seek which she had given up but she spent most of the episode in her cabin meditating. She really had little to contribute this time out.

Chiana and Zhaan make some confusing references here. Chiana talks about Zhaan's "trial" and Zhaan talks about yelling at John and D'Argo. These actually refer to events that occur in the episode Dream a Little Dream.

Mind the Baby was originally to be the second episode of the season and the first episode was to be called Re: Union. For some reason, Re: Union was not ready in time and this episode was used instead. A new opening and closing was filmed for Re: Union and it was aired later in the season as Dream a Little Dream.

Overall, I rate this as a fairly good episode but not one of the best. It resolves a lot of hanging plot threads and throws out a few new ones but doesn't really have anything that makes it stand out.