4.01 - Crichton Kicks

Stranded and alone on a dying Leviathan, John's final solution to the wormhole equations are destroyed when a ship carrying a single passenger crashes into the Leviathan. When she is followed by a group of pirates out to kill the Leviathan for her neural tissue, John must work with her to save the life of the Leviathan who saved his.

I'm not right for you, John. I was just the best of limited choices. - Aeryn Sun

It's a show of force! It's the only thing that Klingons understand. - John Crichton

This is big. - Sikozu Svala Shanti Sugaysi Shanu
Obviously you need to get out more. - John Crichton

I'm not obsessed. - John Crichton
Oh, wormholes, Aeryn, Earth, Aeryn, Scorpius, Aeryn... I'm out of fingers... - Dominar Rygel XVI

For once, listen. When a woman, whether she's your wife, your lover, or a slave you purchased to be your wife or lover, leaves you repeatedly, take the hint. - Dominar Rygel XVI
Well, that was the plan. But, you know how my plans go. - John Crichton

You might not want to come with us. We are not... the best traveling companions. - John Crichton
I am going to get my life back. I will not... end up like you. - Sikozu Svala Shanti Sugaysi Shanu

No dream is guaranteed, Commander. The grace of age is... we learn to accept. - Pilot

The words Some Time Later appear on the screen and we see John, now with long hair and beard, floating in space in his module. He apologizes for being obsessed of late and asks that he be let back in. When he gets no response he yells louder and we see an old, female Pilot jerk back to wakefulness. She apologizes for falling asleep and John's module is pulled on board what seems to be a very old Leviathan.

John walks through the corridors of the Leviathan, accompanied by a DRD which has been painted red, white and blue and which is playing an electronic rendition of the 1812 Overture. John goes to Pilot's Den to talk to the Pilot there.

We learn that John is on board the Leviathan Elack and that she and her Pilot had decided long ago that when their time came they would travel to the sacred Leviathan Burial Space to die. They arrived some time ago and found John floating in his module. He has been living on board Elack ever since. However, Elack is dying and there is no fuel on board for his module.

The Pilot apologizes but John reminds her that if she and Elack had not arrived he would have died long before. He also says that he has almost solved wormholes and that there is no reason for him to remain alive after that.

Later, John is in what seems to be a cargo bay. Crates are stacked about the room and all of them are covered with equations. There is also a still in the room and John is drinking some of the product from it. The DRD is continuing to play the 1812 Overture and John is writing yet more equations on another crate.

The Pilot comes over the comms and says that an out of control craft is approaching. John does not appear to hear her and the craft crashes into Elack, eventually coming to rest in the chamber John is in, scattering the crates with his equations and destroying his still. He watches, Winona drawn, as a woman exits the craft.

The woman, Sikozu Svala Shanti Sugaysi Shanu, expresses surprise that someone is living on a dying Leviathan and tries to convince him that there is someone behind him but he doesn't fall for it. He then tries to ask her questions but she tells him that her species cannot tolerate translator microbes and that she needs him to talk so she can learn his language. He names several things in the room, recites the alphabet, then tells her briefly about his wormhole research, which she just destroyed.

They are interrupted by the Pilot, who tells them that another, much larger ship is approaching. Sikozu can apparently understand Pilot and tells him that the other ship are Grudeks and that they are here to kill the Leviathan and take its toubray tissue.

The Grudek ship rams Elack and the Pilot screams in agony. Cylinders fall from the ship and a gas is released. Sikozu says that they are fumigating the ship and that they need to get to a sealed area. Both of them climb into the Farscape 1.

John asks what is going on and Sikozu, who can apparently now understand him, says that the Grudek are Toubray hunters. Toubray is Leviathan neural tissue and many cultures believe that consuming it enhances brain function. She says she was hired by the Grudek to find Leviathans for them and, after studying them for a half-cycle, she was able to determine the location of the sacred Leviathan Burial Space. She led the Grudek here because she felt that killing old and dying Leviathans was better than killing healthy ones and everyone on them. Older Toubray tissue is supposedly richer with age so the Grudek were also happy.

Mindscape: John is jogging along a beach with Harvey, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, struggling to keep up with him. Harvey tells him he should stay focused on the things he is able to affect, like his wormhole research. John starts to argue with him but Harvey is distracted by several women in bathing suits walking along the beach. Asking John if he wants a snow-cone, he goes off after the women.

John continues jogging along the beach until he encounters another woman, who tells him that Harvey is right. John comes over to her and we see that the woman is Aeryn, in an advanced state of pregnancy.

John asks her why she left and she says the answer is the same as before. He tells her that "because" is not an answer.

"I'm not right for you, John." she tells him. "I was just the best of limited choices."

John points to her belly and tells her that it is his child. She corrects him by saying it is her child. John looks away.

A group of Grudeks, led by Ilkog, enters the maintenance bay. Ilkog orders the Grudek ship to search for more prey and it leaves. The Grudek see John's module and surround it but when they open the cockpit no one is inside.

Ilkog tells the others he will pay a reward for the first one to find the Toubray cavity and a bigger reward for Sikozu's body. The Grudek cheer.

John and Sikozu are in the Pilot's Den and hear the cheering. John, with some advice from Sikozu, is able to awaken the Pilot but she has almost no control of Elack and is unable to do anything about the Grudek. She tells the two of them to escape and save themselves. John refuses and asks the Pilot if she has any DRDs with weapons available and says that he will fight for them.

He then asks Sikozu if they can negotiate with the Grudek and she says they cannot. Looking down through the Pilot's Den, he sees the Grudeks moving through the neural clusters below.

John yells to them in a strange language and, when Sikozu looks at him in surprise, he tells her it was Klingon. John yells again and tells the Grudek to leave. Ilkog yells back saying he will let them leave safely and, when John refuses, the Grudek open fire.

John and the Grudek exchange fire and John and Sikozu flee, after John fires off one last shot. Ilkog yells for the others to release the Brindz Hound.

John and Sikozu are running through Elack and Sikozu is obviously frightened of the Brindz Hound. John asks about it and she indicates it is a fairly small creature. He seems surprised and starts to go back after it.

Sikozu tries to find a hatch leading to a space between tiers and is frustrated that she cannot find it. John tells her that the hatch is somewhere else but she continues to insist that it should be there according to the schematics.

John suddenly realizes that even though she is an "expert" on Leviathans all of her knowledge is academic and that she has never actually been on one before. She seems embarrassed that he has realized this and with a laugh he leads her to the hatch she is looking for.

While on their way they encounter the Brindz Hound, running along the walls of the corridor. John shoots at it with Winona but misses. The hound runs past again, with much the same result.

To John's surprise, Sikozu walks up the wall of the corridor and onto the ceiling. She yells for him to "shift his gravity center" and follow her. The hound returns and John dives for an access panel but the hound catches him before he can get through and bites his leg.

Later, both are in the maintenance bay and Sikozu is tying a makeshift bandage around John's leg. He asks how bad he is hurt but she simply tells him he is too big to shift his gravity center.

John asks why the Toubray hunters are after her and she tells him that she did her job too well. They thought she would come up with a Leviathan travel route, not the location of the Leviathan Burial Space. They want to kill her so she will not be able to tell anyone else of its location.

The Toubray hunters are continuing to search the ship and Sikozu says they are looking for the Y-Tal Cavity, a Leviathan's first neural cell. They best Toubray supposedly comes from this cell but harvesting it will kill the Leviathan.

John draws Winona and DRD 1812 produces its laser and they prepare to ambush the hunters. Unfortunately, at this point John's comm suddenly activates and Chiana is heard over it asking John where he is. Rygel is also heard and they say they are in the maintenance bay looking at John's module. John manages to get the comm turned off but the hunters have been alerted to their presence.

Sikozu runs out and confronts them and promises Ilkog that if he lets her go she will not tell anyone about the Leviathan Burial Space. Ilkog says he can guarantee that she won't by killing her.

John appears and points Winona at Sikozu. He tells Ilkog that they are taking his offer and leaving and, using Sikozu as a shield, backs away down the corridor. Ilkog yells for the Grudek to fire and John yells for DRD 1812 which opens fire with its laser. One of the Grudek goes down and John and Sikozu flee in different directions.

Unfortunately, Sikozu encounters the Brindz Hound. She attempts to climb the wall to get away from it but it attacks her and tears off her hand.

Some time later, everyone is back in the maintenance bay. John has cut his hair and is shaving off his beard. Chiana and Rygel are also present, both looking somewhat the worse for the wear; they look like they have been in a fight. Sikozu has wrapped a piece of cloth around the stump of her arm and Chiana looks to be searching her luggage.

Chiana is in a bad mood and shows John a wanted beacon. The beacon is for all of them and is from Commandant Grayza. She says they are on every planet and ship around. They had no choice but to come back looking for Moya and the others. She is angry and blames John for their problems. Their pod is damaged and cannot travel any further so they are trapped here along with him.

John says they will have to save Elack and sends Rygel off to find Sikozu's hand. He and Chiana head out to hunt the Brindz Hound.

Once they are alone, John asks Chiana what is wrong with her. She reminds him of the visions she was having. She says she was using her talents to win at a game in a casino. The game is cheatproof but she won seven times in a row. The casino had her arrested, tortured and raped before she finally escaped.

She also says that her visions have "evolved". Instead of seeing events from the future she sees the present, but greatly slowed down. This leaves her with severe headaches and temporary blindness. She wants to find someone who can cure her.

John says that they will, but first he needs "...a rope, a rabbit and a membrane."
"Ropes are mine." says Chiana. "The rest is yours."

Rygel has reached an area where the Toubray hunters are working and cannot get to Sikozu's hand. He stops to wait.

Mindscape: John is on the same beach as before with Aeryn. He has a hand on her belly and is feeling the baby kick. He says it is definitely a "Crichton kick".

Rygel returns with the hand and finds John and DRD 1812 in a room with equations on the walls. He accuses John of still being obsessed but he only asks if Aeryn said anything before she left. Rygel lists some of John's obsessions... Aeryn, Wormholes, Earth... but John only repeats the question. Rygel sighs.

"For once, listen." he tells him. "When a woman, whether she's your wife, your lover, or a slave you purchased to be your wife or lover, leaves you repeatedly... take the hint."
John grins at him. "Well, that was the plan." he says. "But, you know how my plans go..."

Sikozu is with one of the Grudek and is paying him in exchange for a small object. Chiana enters with a pulse rifle and sees this and shoots the Grudek. Sikozu attacks her and knocks the rifle from her. She tries to climb the walls to get away but Chiana grabs her and they fight.

John and Rygel enter and break up the fight, John holding Chiana. Sikozu says that she had paid the Grudek to leave a ship for them when the others left so that they could escape but that the plan was now ruined.

Rygel recognizes the money she paid the Grudek with as being Scarran currency and Sikozu admits that she is from Scarran space but that her people hate the Scarrans. An explosion is heard and she says it means that the hunters have found the Y-Tal Cavity and that the ship will soon be dead. She then politely asks them what their plan is.

Everyone is in a small chamber in one side of which is an opening to space. Sikozu, whose hand is now reattached, says that the Pilot is generating an electrostatic membrane holding the air in. John is tying a rope to himself and tying off the other end. He sends Chiana and Sikozu off to find the Grudek and Rygel off to find the Brindz Hound. Chiana is upset at having to go with Sikozu but John insists and she reluctantly goes off.

Sikozu continues to insist to Chiana that she can go places the others can't but Chiana keeps prodding her with the pulse rifle. Sikozu runs up the wall of the chamber to prove her point.

Rygel finds the Brindz Hound and tries to hide but makes a small noise and the Hound starts chasing him.

John and DRD 1812 are still in the first chamber. DRD 1812 is "painting" over the membrane so that it looks like an ordinary door. When it finishes John sends it on its way.

Rygel appears, with the Brindz hound in hot pursuit. When it sees John it stops its pursuit of Rygel and runs towards him. It jumps at John several times and John is forced to dodge out of its way. John taunts the Hound and it jumps at him again. John dodges and the Hound hits the painted-over membrane, which ruptures. The Hound is sucked out of the ship and only the rope keeps John from following. He pulls himself up the rope and the door closes behind him. DRD 1812 appears and John gives it a thumbs up.
"That" he says "was a plan."

Elsewhere, Sikozu meets with Ilkog. She tells him that her contract prohibits her from telling anyone else about her research and he says that John must not have a very good plan if she came to talk to him. She only says that John will fight to save the Leviathan.

Ilkog says that if she misleads the others then he will take her with them when they leave. She thanks him and leaves.

She is walking through the corridors and examining her newly-reattached hand when John suddenly steps up behind her and grabs her.
"You're not exactly a team player, are you?" he says, angrily. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I told Chiana she could do that."

Later, everyone is in the Pilot's Den. John has Sikozu pinned down on the console while Pilot, Rygel and Chiana watch. The Pilot says she has six children and John tells Sikozu that she is a "mommy-killer". She says that she was only following orders.

"Following orders?" asks John, incredulously. "I thought you were smart. You can't come up with something better than that?"
"I studied harder than you could imagine." she says angrily. "I sacrificed more than you will ever attain. Do not presume to moralize with your narrow perspective."

Chiana tells her to listen to a message they intercepted and puts a set of headphones on Sikozu. She hears Ilkog talking to the rest of the Grudek, who say they have reported Sikozu's death to her employers. Sikozu is outraged at this and to what she sees as an insult to her reputation. John offers to give her another "narrow perspective".

Somewhat later, John and Sikozu are in another chamber. An open shaft in the floor leads a long way down, through the Pilot's Den and all the way down to the lowest level of the Leviathan, where Chiana is waiting.

John asks Chiana if she really wants to do this and she says yes. He passes a rope through a pulley and drops it down the shaft then ties the other end to himself. Chiana picks up the other end of the rope and ties it around her waist.

John points to a large weighted bucket and tells Sikozu to use it once he is down. He then jumps into the shaft and falls. As he does, Chiana is pulled upward by the rope.

The Grudek, in the neural chambers, see John go falling past and call to Ilkog.

John and Chiana pass each other in the Pilot's Den. When she gets to the level of the Grudek, Chiana starts looking and time seems to slow down for her. She carefully looks around the room and observes several pipes leading from the walls.

John lands at the bottom of the shaft and Chiana reaches the top. Now blind, she tells of the three pipes she saw and Sikozu tells John he needs to shoot them in a particular order. She then reaches out to try to pull Chiana in. However, Chiana can't see her and grabs her recently reattached hand, pulling it off.

Sikozu screams and Chiana grabs at her again. Sikozu loses her balance and falls into the shaft, grabbing hold of Chiana. The two of them fall downward and John is snatched upward by the rope.

John yells for DRD 1812 to start cover fire but its laser won't work so it starts playing the 1812 Overture. The Grudek start shooting and one of them hits the rope but John fires as he passes their level, hitting the three pipes. He continues upwards and the Grudeks' level explodes, blowing several of them down the shaft.

John reaches the top of the shaft again and Chiana and Sikozu reach the bottom, Sikozu yelling for her hand. John starts to climb out of the shaft when the rope that was hit breaks and he falls, yelling for Rygel. Rygel half-heartedly moves towards the shaft but stops when John goes screaming past.

"I tried!" he yells after him.

John falls and lands in the bilge, dren splashing everywhere. There is a pause as a final explosion is heard far above. Then, John appears and climbs onto the catwalk, looking at Ilkog's body as it sinks out of sight.

Later, everyone is back in Pilot's Den and Elack is leaving the Leviathan Burial Space. John goes to Sikozu and suggests that she may not want to come with them and she doesn't seem to want to do so.

He then goes to Pilot and says he is sorry that they are doing this but Pilot points out that if they remained then the returning Grudeks would have killed them anyway. She says that they will take John and the others to the planet where he thinks they may find some of the rest of the crew.

Later, John and DRD 1812 are walking along a corridor when John stops.

Mindscape: Once again we are on the beach. Aeryn is here again, except this time she is not pregnant. There is an empty towel nearby. John comes up and kneels next to her.

"Not coming here anymore." he says.
"Why not?" she asks.
"Doesn't change anything." he tells her. "And it makes me sad."

Aeryn asks what he will do now and he says that he will have to recreate his wormhole equations since the "new girl smashed them up"
"New is good." says Aeryn.

Another man appears and offers Aeryn a snow-cone, then asks who John is.
"No one." says John. He takes the man's snow-cone and leaves.

John continues to stare into space and DRD 1812 bumps into him several times. John smiles and starts whistling the 1812 Overture. DRD 1812 joins in and John picks up a paintbrush and starts writing equations on the walls.

The crew went their separate ways, John learns that Aeryn is pregnant and is then left behind in the Leviathan Burial Space after Moya was pulled through a wormhole in Dog With Two Bones.

The crew has previously encountered wanted beacons in Til the Blood Runs Clear and Crackers Don't Matter.

Chiana's abilities appeared as a result of being possessed by an energy parasite in Losing Time.

The "bilge" below Pilot's Den was explained in Revenging Angel.

What has happened to Aeryn, D'Argo, Jool, the Old Woman, Moya and Pilot?

Welcome everyone and welcome to the fourth season of Farscape. The new season is off to an interesting start so let's take a look at it.

First up, the opening credits have changed again. The theme is the same but Crichton's voice-over is new:

My name is John Crichton, an astronaut. Three years ago I got shot through a wormhole. I'm in a distant part of the universe aboard this living ship of escaped prisoners; my friends. I've made enemies. Powerful... Dangerous... Now, all I want is to find a way home to warn Earth. Look upward and share the wonders I've seen.

Notice the changes from last season. John is no longer torn between remaining in the Uncharted Territories and going back to Earth. He has decided to return home. Of course, part of the reason he was thinking of staying was because he wanted to protect Earth and not show anyone we existed. Now, he knows that Scorpius knows of Earth's location and after the visions Noranti gave him in Dog With Two Bones he knows what will happen if Scorpius gets here. He no longer has the option of keeping Earth secret. Now, all he can do is warn us.

In a way though, this is odd considering the ending of Dog With Two Bones. There, he was forced to make a decision between returning to Earth and remaining with his friends; specifically Aeryn. He decided to stay. Of course, Aeryn essentially rejected him so maybe he feels he has no reason to stay anymore.

On the other hand, he does have a reason to stay. Aeryn is pregnant with his child. Yes, it is probably the child of John/Talyn, but it is still "his". John has expressed slight regret before at not having children (in the final message he leaves for his father in Family Ties) and we saw how he reacted upon learning that Katralla was pregnant with his child in Look at the Princess, so it appears that John wants children and wants to be there for them. It is doubtful that he would leave a child of his behind if he could help it.

Of course, he also knows now that Aeryn and his friends would not fit in on Earth, so he cannot take them with him. So, even though the credits imply that his mind is made up it will be interesting to see what will happen if he ever has to choose between his child and Earth.

(We are assuming, of course, that the child is that of one of the Johns. After all, we are talking about Farscape here so making an assumption like that may be a mistake.)

Leaving the new credits, let's move on to the episode itself. Right up front we resolve one of the cliffhangers from the end of last season. John has survived. We knew he would, of course, we just didn't know how. Well, it seems that another Leviathan happened along just in time and was able to rescue him. He's been here a while; it looks like his sanity may be a bit on the edge (so what else is new?) and he's reverted to Jeremiah Crichton mode. On the other hand, he's also solved wormholes!

We also get to see a new character; Sikozu Svala Shanti Sugaysi Shanu (say that five times fast) joins the crew with this episode. Highly intelligent, competent and extremely condescending. Her appearance adds an element of conflict and distrust into the crew that has been missing since the first season. She looks to be an interesting character and it looks like she may be adding a few new wrinkles into the John/Aeryn relationship.

An ongoing arc for most of Farscape to date has been the ongoing and developing relationship between John and Aeryn. I have commented many times on how well this has been handled and how their relationship has developed in a very logical and realistic way. It has been very well done.

But, as of Dog With Two Bones things have changed. Aeryn finally admitted her love of John/Talyn and they finally came together. Then, John/Talyn died. Aeryn grieved. But, now that she is back with John/Moya (now the only John) she does not seem to be able to see him as "her" John. So, she has remained distant from him, left without him and even kept her pregnancy secret from him.

John was obviously hurt by all of this but it seems that he may now be actually moving away from Aeryn himself. Consider the conversation he has with his mental image of Aeryn in his Mindscape. "I'm not right for you, John." she tells him. "I was just the best of limited choices."

As Rygel points out, Aeryn has been one of John's obsessions. (Actually, three of John's obsessions, but who's counting?) Was this because of any actual chemistry between them or simply because she was the only available female on Moya?

After all, John has never hesitated to explore other options when they became available. There was Gilina in PK Tech and Jenavian from Look at the Princess, for example. Also, John's visions in Dog With Two Bones showed him that Aeryn would never be happy on Earth and that they would never be able to have the type of life he wanted. So, perhaps it is time for John to start looking beyond Aeryn.

Also, let us not forget that it was Aeryn who left John. He offered to go with her anywhere she chose to go, offering to give up returning to Earth in order to be with her, and she still left him.

John's final mental image of Aeryn shows her as no longer pregnant and with someone new. She even tells him "new is good". This is, of course, really John talking to himself. Could it be that John is seeing Sikozu as a possibility, or at least an alternative to Aeryn? We shall have to wait and see.

The first of the old crew also returns in this episode. Rygel is back, apparently foiled in his attempt to return to claim his throne by the wanted beacons everyone. He is still his same old self though, as his "efforts" in catching John as he falls illustrate.

Chiana is also back, but she is not her same old self. Several things have happened to our favorite Nebari, and none of them good.

She too has been foiled in her attempts to locate her brother by the wanted beacons. She also seems to want to blame John for this turn of events as she is alternately glad to see him and angry with him.

Part of her behavior is explained by what else has happened to her. Being captured, tortured and raped has definitely affected her, as it would anyone. John once referred to her as "Miss tough chick of the universe" but it now seems that she has had a far nastier experience than anything she has gone through before.

Chiana has always been able to get by before this and that had probably led to her feeling quite confident in her ability to handle anything the universe could throw at her. She may have even gotten a bit overconfident; thinking that no matter what happened she would always be able to get through it.

Well, now something has happened that she couldn't get through. Yes, she escaped, but the scars will remain. Probably for a long time. Chiana had been on her own for a long time but it seems that she has finally lost her innocence. This is a different Chiana from the one we once knew and one that will probably someday be stronger for it but for now she is hurt and needs time to heal.

And to do that, she needs to be with her friends and the people who will support her. This may partially explain why she is so angry with Sikozu for much of the episode. She needs John to be there, for support and as a friend. She may see Sikozu as threatening John or as possibly coming between them. The bond between her and John has grown and she has come to realize more than she ever has before how much he and the others have come to mean to her. The family has grown closer and she is now more ready than she ever was before to defend that family.

Mention must also be made of Elack and her Pilot. I don't know how long they will be with us but they are certainly two interesting characters in their own right. One almost feels sorry for them for leaving the Burial Space in order to help John and the others. Of course, the Pilot has one of the best lines of the episode with "No dream is guaranteed, Commander. The grace of age is... we learn to accept."

Finally, the plot itself was a bit weak this time. It wasn't that it was a bad plot (and it did manage to include a subtle commentary on the whaling issue) but it's primary purpose seemed to be to introduce Sikozu to the show and to clear up the immediate question about John's survival from the end of season three.

One of the things which bothered me about the plot was the introduction of Chiana's new abilities. First, I don't see how they followed from her previous glimpses of the future and they also seemed to be a bit too conveniently contrived to provide a solution to the events of this episode. I wonder if her old glimpses of the future will continue or if her abilities will now consist only of this super slow-down ability.

Still, overall, a fairly good episode with some good interaction between the characters and the introduction of a new one. The fourth season of Farscape has begun. We will have to see where this ride takes us.