2.08 - Dream a Little Dream
(aka Re:Union)

While searching for John and D'Argo, Chiana, Rygel and Zhaan find themselves on the planet Litigara when Zhaan is arrested for jaywalking. When the charge is changed to murder, Chiana and Rygel try to help her. But, on a planet of lawyers, who can they trust?

Damn, Zhaan! That is where heart attacks come from! - John Crichton
My circulatory organ does not seize up. - Zotoh Zhaan
Mine does! - John Crichton

I am guilty of so many evils, your Honor. But, of this infraction I must protest my innocence. - Zotoh Zhaan

We haven't lied yet. Of course, the trial's only been on for a few microts. - Dominar Rygel XVI

You little toad! Why did you have to go fart helium now? - Chiana
I'm nervous. It happens. We're in court, so sue me! - Dominar Rygel XVI

Trust me. I'm a lawyer. - Ja Rhumann

I think I may have a way. It's chancy and will require lashings of deception and trickery. - Dominar Rygel XVI
Finally, you and I get to play to our strengths! - Chiana

We see D'Argo and John floating in space. John is in his spacesuit but D'Argo is not and seems to be unconscious.

Aeryn is nearby in her Prowler and tells them she cannot get to them. Suddenly, several other Prowlers and Marauders appear. She tries to escape but her Prowler explodes.

Zhaan suddenly jumps awake, startling John. They are in a transport pod and John is working on the console. He tells Zhaan that she nearly gave him a heart attack and she says she keeps having bad dreams. He offers to talk to her about it but she doesn't want to.

John continues to work on the console, only to find that someone, presumably Rygel, had hidden some of the barbecue Keedva in the console. It is damaged and they will have to wait until Moya returns to rescue them.

While they wait, Zhaan admits that she keeps having dreams from the time they were looking for Aeryn, D'Argo and John after the destruction of the Gammak base. She asks John if the others have told him what happened on Litigara and he says no, they told him to talk to her.

Zhaan finally decides to tell him the story. She says that after starbursting away they assumed D'Argo and John had escaped with Aeryn in her Prowler. They were checking all of the planets within range of the Prowler and the last one they visited was Litigara.

Chiana, Rygel and Zhaan are in a bar. Zhaan is asking the bartender if he has seen a Luxan and two Sebaceans (not trying to explain that John isn't Sebacean). The bartender says that he doesn't even know what a Luxan is and brushes her off.

She returns to their table where Rygel is getting drunk. She tells him getting drunk isn't helping then grabs him and Chiana. They leave the bar but are watched by a hooded figure. The figure tells someone over a radio that she may have found someone.

The other three stop on the sidewalk and Zhaan contacts Pilot. Pilot says that Moya wants to leave to search for Talyn and demands that they return. Chiana and Rygel are upset but Zhaan says they will.

Zhaan starts to leave and cross the street but a light flashes and a voice tells her to stop. The figure from the bar, who has followed them, points a device at the light and it changes color and the voice tells her she can cross.

She starts across the street but a vehicle appears and hits her with a glancing blow. She falls to the ground and Chiana and Rygel rush to her. They try to help her to her feet but several police appear and grab Zhaan. They take her away, saying that she will have to pay for her crime. The figure from the bar smiles and leaves.

Later, Chiana is in a police station and is talking to Pilot on the comm. Pilot says that Moya is about to leave them to go look for Talyn and Chiana tries to convince him to stay.

Chiana finds Zhaan in a cell and starts talking to her but Zhaan says that she and Rygel should leave. Another person appears and introduces himself as Dersch, saying that he is her "Public Counselor". He tells Zhaan that she is charged with failing to heed a pedestrian crossing signal but that he can probably get her off with only ten days in jail.

Dersch leaves, talking to someone on his comm. Chiana threatens to get another lawyer and Dersch tells her that 90% of their population are lawyers. Zhaan says she needs to tell him something and, when he approaches, she grabs him and starts strangling him.

Several police charge into the cell and she attacks them as well. They are finally forced to stun her in order to free Dersch, who leaves shaken. Zhaan tells Chiana that she doesn't know what is happening to her.

Elsewhere, Ja Rhumann is watching Zhaan on a monitor and talking to someone on the comm. The person on the comm says that it is dangerous for him to be out at night but Rhumann insists that he must meet him. He ends the call and looks at the woman from the bar, who is also in the room. He tells her that she has done well.

Zhaan is still in her cell and sees Aeryn, D'Argo and John walking towards her down the corridor. She is glad to see them and they tell her they will explain once they get her out. D'Argo points his Qualta Blade at the lock to her cell, then pauses. Zhaan keeps telling him to fire but the three simply stare at her. A few seconds later they fade away.

Zhaan begins to cry and John reappears inside of her cell. Zhaan says that she wishes he was really there and John points out that she knew she might never see them again after Moya starbursted away. She says she doesn't want to be alone and John reminds her that she is with Chiana and Rygel. Zhaan replies that they are simply children and that she can't take care of them as well as Pilot and Moya. She also says that she drew her strength from John and the others.

John fades away and the woman from the bar appears outside of the cell. She offers to help Zhaan escape and uses a device to melt the bars on her cell. Zhaan asks why she is helping her but the woman simply gives her a map and tells her she doesn't have time to explain. Zhaan runs off.

Zhaan is in an alley and sees Chiana and Rygel ahead of her. She calls to them then stumbles over a body lying on the ground. Suddenly, lights come on and the map she is carrying bursts into flames. Police arrive and attack her. Chiana tries to join in the fray but is pushed aside and the police manage to subdue Zhaan. They tell her she is under arrest for murder.

Zhaan is back in her cell with Dersch and Chiana outside. Dersch tells her she is now charged with the murder of Wesley Kenn, an equal rights advocate for the Utilities, the ten percent of the Litigara population who are not lawyers. He tells her that most of the lawyers are glad he is dead but that she will still be executed in three days.

Zhaan insists that she is innocent and that she was set up. Dersch says he cannot do anything and tells Chiana that under their law if he puts on a false defense of her then he will suffer the same punishment as her. He plans to plead guilty.

The next day, Zhaan is in court with Chiana and Rygel among the onlookers. Rygel tells Chiana that he has learned that Litigara does not have monarchs or political parties. Instead, they have ruling law firms. Ja Rhumann is the senior partner of the currently ruling firm.

The judge asks for Zhaan's plea and Dersch tries to enter one of guilty but Zhaan continues to protest her innocence. The judge says she will have to take Zhaan's lawyer's plea unless someone else will defend her. Chiana leaps forward and says that she and Rygel will defend Zhaan. Zhaan protests but the judge accepts them as her new counsel.

Later, Zhaan is back in her cell and Chiana is bringing in a load of legal tomes. Rygel wants to lie to save Zhaan but Chiana tells him that if they do then they will be executed along with her. They will have to win the case honestly or they will all suffer the same fate.

Chiana and Rygel go back to the bar and start studying the law books. There, they see a lawyer bump into one of the waitresses then complain about her. Chiana asks the bartender and he tells her that the lawyers have all of the rights and Utilities like him have almost none. That is why what Wesley Kenn was trying to do was so important.

Chiana assures him that Zhaan didn't murder Kenn and the bartender asks if she can prove it under Litigaran law. Rygel asks why the law is so complicated and the bartender produces a small book which he calls the Axiom. He says that the Axiom was the original law but that as more and more people became lawyers the law had to get more and more complex in order to justify them. He tells them that the Axiom is all they really need to know about.

Zhaan, in her cell, sees a vision of Aeryn. Aeryn asks why Zhaan left them; if she had stayed just a few more minutes then all of them would have been safe. Zhaan says that Aeryn told them to leave and the vision fades away.

The next day, in court, Zhaan says she does not want Chiana and Rygel to die with her and tries to enter a plea of guilty. Chiana tells the judge that they do not agree with her plea and will not accept it. Zhaan continues to protest and Chiana has a guard gag her.

The witnesses start to be called. A forensics expert testifies as to the time of death. Rygel starts to try to trip him up and Chiana has to hit him to remind him that he cannot lie. Later, one of the guards testifies that Zhaan looked desperate to leave with the others and that she escaped during a changing of the guards.

The last witness is Koff, one of the policemen. His face appears to be sunburned on one side but he testifies that he saw Zhaan running down the alley and found her kneeling over the victim.

Later, Chiana and Rygel are back in the bar. Chiana is arguing with Pilot, who says that Moya wants to leave without them. She convinces him to stay one more day.

Koff enters the bar and China and Rygel ask the bartender about the burn on his face. The bartender tells them that Litigarans who have blue eyes get burned if they go out at night when there are two full moons in the sky. Chiana goes over and starts flirting with Koff, who tries to ignore her until she tells him the trial is over and they plan to plead guilty. They wind up becoming very friendly.

Rygel starts asking the bartender about the Axiom and something called "the light of truth" which the bartender says is a torch which glows brighter if someone lies. Rygel says he wants something that will let him lie, a little.

Rygel suddenly gets an idea and starts looking through a stack of papers until he finds a photograph. The bartender confirms that it is of Wesley Kenn and we see that Kenn has blue eyes.

The next morning, Chiana is obviously hung-over but Rygel wakes her up and says he has an idea. He gives her some pills to help with her hangover and they go to court.

Chiana takes all three pills and becomes very hyperactive but manages to question the three witnesses again. She talks to the guard to narrow down the exact time of the escape then talks to the forensics expert to confirm that there was a double full moon at that time. Then, she calls Koff and points out that he got burned by the moons but that the victim, who also had blue eyes, did not. She also points out that he used to be a security guard at Ja Rhumann's law firm.

Later, Chiana is again arguing with Pilot, who says that Moya is about to leave without them. Chiana is going to the transport pod to go talk to Moya herself when she is caught in some sort of electric field. The woman from the bar appears and takes her to Rhumann.

Rhumann congratulates her on raising doubts on Zhaan's guilt but tells her that she and Rygel must lose their case and Zhaan must be executed. He tells her that Kenn was working to get more rights for Utilities but he feels that the Utilities have too many rights as it is. He tells her that if she and Rygel do not agree then they will be arrested on false charges and imprisoned. He also takes her comm away from her so she cannot communicate with Moya.

Zhaan is being escorted by two guards when a vision of D'Argo appears. D'Argo tells him that he, Aeryn and John cannot help her and that she must be strong. She says she is not strong enough but D'Argo disagrees.
"I have known thousands of warriors on countless worlds." he tells her. "But you, Zotoh Zhaan, are the strongest individual I have ever known."

Chiana returns to Zhaan's cell to find her chanting, to Rygel's annoyance. She gets Rygel's comm and calls Moya. Pilot responds and says that Chiana's comm was open the entire time she was talking to Rhumann and that Moya could not leave her like that. He also asks if the two of them will be able to help Zhaan. Rygel says he has a plan, but "It's chancy and will require lashings of deception and trickery."
Chiana seems happy at that. "Finally," she says. "you and I get to play to our strengths."

Everyone is back in court and Chiana calls Rhumann as a witness. She asks a few questions then breaks the leg off of a chair. Everyone is surprised but Chiana tells them she will use the chair leg as the light of truth. Rhumann insists that the light of truth is a parable but the judge tells her to proceed. Chiana lights the chair leg to use as a torch.

She asks Rhumann several more questions about how his firm may have benefited from Kenn's death. She then starts asking specific questions about the murder, asking if Kenn was killed elsewhere then dumped into the alley, if Rhumann had someone free Zhaan and if he arranged things so that Zhaan would be found over the body and if he was actually responsible for the murder himself.

Rygel calls Moya and a beam of light comes from Moya and fills the courtroom. Rhumann denies what Chiana is saying but with each of his protests the light gets brighter and brighter. Rygel asks the judge if she is going to believe Rhumann or the symbol of their law. The judge orders Zhaan freed and that Rhumann be arrested.

Zhaan finishes her story and we are back in the pod with her and John. John asks if Rhumann was found guilty but Zhaan admits that they left immediately and don't know. She also says that she keeps having nightmares, thinking that she failed Aeryn, D'Argo and John.

John says that they are all alive but Zhaan says she feels that it meant that her spirituality was lacking so she has resumed the Delvian Seek.

They receive a call from Aeryn who wants to know what has happened and John tells her about the barbecue in the console. She laughs and says they will come and pick them up. John and Zhaan settle down to wait.

"You okay?" John asks her.
"I think so." she replies and leans her head on John's shoulder. "Thank you for your compassion."
John smiles and shakes his head. "No." he tells her. "Thank you for yours."

The events Zhaan describes in this episode occur between Family Ties and Mind the Baby. The scenes where Zhaan sees Aeryn, D'Argo and John being killed result from the ending of Family Ties and her behavior in Mind the Baby results from the events here.

Zhaan previously abandoned the Delvian Seek in Rhapsody in Blue.

The Keedva Barbecue that Rygel hides in the pod appeared in Home on the Remains.

This episode was originally supposed to be the season opener and was to be titled Re:Union. For various reasons it was delayed until later in the season.

Was Rhumann found guilty?

What were John and Zhaan doing out in that transport pod anyway?

Hmmm... Think someone at Farscape doesn't like lawyers?

Dream a Little Dream is an interesting episode. Normally, the plot is dominated by John and, to a lesser extent, Aeryn and D'Argo. Here, Chiana and Rygel finally get an episode of their own.

We can see how far Chiana has come. She is now ready to risk her life for Zhaan, which shows how close she now feels to the rest of the crew. Rygel does the same, a bit reluctantly at first, but he comes though with the key information at the end.

It is interesting to note that even though Rhumann was focusing on Chiana it was actually Rygel who saves the day. He was the one who made the connection between Kenn's blue eyes, the double full moon and the lack of moonburn. He was also the one who learned about the Light of Truth and apparently the one who came up with the plan to use it to their advantage. Once again we see how easy it is to underestimate our favorite Hynerian. Yes, he did have to resort to trickery in the end but he was playing his strengths, after all.

It would be interesting to know if he and Chiana could have legitimately pulled off the defense of Zhaan. They had already put a great deal of doubt into the prosecution's story; enough that Rhumann felt the need to threaten Chiana. Would they have been able to complete their case without invoking the Light of Truth?

How did the Litigarans fall for that particular trick anyway? They are obviously familiar with space travel, no one seems to take Chiana, Rygel or Zhaan as being out of the ordinary anyway, but no one notices when Moya does her light tricks. It seems a bit odd.

Especially considering that Rhumann essentially gave away his entire plan on an open communication circuit. Did Moya or Pilot think to record what he was saying? It seems that simply playing that recording back at the trial would have been a lot more effective than trying tricks involving the Light of Truth. Even if Litigaran law would not allow the recording to be used as evidence, simply threatening to make it public should have been enough to get Rhumann to back down.

Or, would that have been the Star Trek approach? Tricking Rhumann into revealing himself would be the typical Star Trek way of doing things. Of course, they would also have worked for equal rights for Utilities and the bartender would probably have wound up as the new president or whatever.

On Farscape, our heroes "play to their strengths" of "deception and trickery", rescue Zhaan and escape, leaving Litigara to its own fate. The Utilities plight is unimportant, except for its effect on our crew. Then again, that's Farscape.

All in all, a nice episode for Chiana and Rygel. One of Farscape's reoccurring themes is "everyone gets to be their own kind of hero" and this was Chiana and Rygel's turn.

There was some interesting development for Zhaan this time out too. We learn that she considers Chiana and Rygel to be "children" and feel that she needs to take care of them. In fact, she feels responsible for the entire crew and blames herself for what she feels was Aeryn's, D'Argo's and John's deaths. She also admits that she draws her strength mostly from John, which shows how important he has become to the "family" as well.

Overall this was an above average episode. Nothing exceptional but nothing wrong either. Catch it when it comes by.