Bad Timing (Farscape episode)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Bad Timing”
Farscape episode

John and Aeryn watch as an enemy craft approaches
Episode no. Season 4
Episode 22
Written by David Kemper
Directed by Andrew Prowse
Guest stars Raelee Hill (Sikozu); Melissa Jaffer (Noranti); Paul Goddard (Stark); David Franklin (Captain Braca); Duncan Young (Emperor Staleek); Francesca Buller (War Minister Ahkna); John Adam (Pennoch); Kent McCord (Jack Crichton)
Original airdate March 21, 2003
Episode chronology
← Previous Next →
"We're So Screwed Part III: La Bomba" "The Peacekeeper Wars Part 1"
List of Farscape episodes

"Bad Timing" is the series finale of the American television series Farscape, written by David Kemper and directed by Andrew Prowse.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

As the episode opens, the Moyans are sending Scorpius to the PK Command Carrier that is now being led by Braca, as Grayza has been confined to quarters. They strap a nuclear bomb to his chest, with the provision that it will explode if the Command Carrier tries to follow Moya. Sikozu elects to go with Scorpius.

The Moyans discover that the Scarrans have sent an attack vessel, commanded by Akhna's lover, to take over earth in order to gain access to the bird of paradise flowers that they need, now that John destroyed their mother plant on Katratzi in We're So Screwed Part III: La Bomba. The PKs offer to destroy the Scarrans, IF John, and by extension Earth, will form an alliance with the Peacekeepers. John says no, and speeds to the wormhole to intercept the Scarrans and figure out a way to stop them.

Harvey then argues with John in John's head, with both of them wearing fluffy pink and white rabbit suits. Harvey convinces John there's no way he can save earth without the help of the PKs, and he's about to concede and talk to them, when Chiana talks him out of it. He begins thinking, and each Moyan suggests to him a way to unblock his mind so he can come up with a plan. Ultimately, John formulates a way to collapse a wormhole, the down side of which is that he will have lost his route to earth. And if he fails, he will be trapped on Earth's side of the wormhole, on an earth being controlled by Scarrans. He decides to try, and Aeryn insists upon going with him--if he is trapped, she will be with him. He, Aeryn, and a temporarily disconnected Pilot take a shuttle to Earth's moon, where John makes an emotional farewell phone call to his father. Then, they successfully collapse the wormhole, and kill the Scarrans. Unfortunately, while Moya waits on the other side, she is attacked by the Scarrans, and is damaged. When John, Aeryn, and Pilot rejoin them, they travel to an unknown water world where Moya can rest and repair.

John and Aeryn row out a little ways from Moya in a dingy, and each tells the other they have something to say. Aeryn goes first telling John she has released the embryo from stasis and the baby is on the way. An ecstatic John then asks her to marry him, and she says yes. They kiss. Then, a flying vessel sees them and hits them with a ray that shatters them into thousands of tiny crystalline balls that collapse into a heap in the boat and the ocean, with the wedding ring John had just placed on Aeryn's finger buried in the pile of shards. The watching Moyans scream. The story is continued in Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, a 2004 miniseries.

[edit] Production

David Kemper has stated that "Bad Timing" was meant to follow up on John Crichton's realization in "Dog with Two Bones" that he must choose between staying with Aeryn and returning to Earth by forcing him to make a definitive choice. John's scene with Noranti in his quarters and his scene with Aeryn in the docking bay were also meant to recall "Dog with Two Bones". The scene with John speaking into the tape recorder was a reference to "Family Ties".[1]

The episode was originally to be titled "No Turning Back" but it was changed to "Bad Timing" after the series was canceled.[2] Ben Browder stated that they realised the "Bad Timing" theme fit the episode well during filming and that it also referred to the untimely cancellation of Farscape as the fifth season was being set up.[1]

The "Previously on Farscape" opening to the episode features four frames (1/2 second) from every previous episode of Farscape, in the viewing order preferred by the producers.[2]

Ben Browder has stated that the cold open from "Bad Timing" is his favorite opening scene from Farscape.[1] David Kemper said that when he originally conceived Farscape with Rockne S. O'Bannon, they wanted it to be Star Trek but with a focus on the mind and emotions. Kemper wanted to leave time travel to his former colleagues Michael Piller and Brannon Braga. But director Andrew Prowse, influenced by Memento, challenged Kemper to utilize nonlinear storytelling, leading him to write the cold open used in "Bad Timing".[1]

Kent McCord filmed his lines as Jack Crichton during the telephone conversation at the same time that "Kansas" and "Terra Firma" were being filmed, three months before Ben Browder's half of the conversation was filmed.[2]

David Kemper stated that the crystal shattering sequence was originally going to serve as the finale to season three.[1]

The final scenes in the boat were shot on location on the water near the studio.[2]

Wayne Pygram and Raelee Hill improvised the sex scene between Scorpius and Sikozu, including the use of S&M elements.[1]

[edit] Reception

"Bad Timing" received universal acclaim from fans, many of whom regard it as the best episode of the series.[3] [4] Critics, too, widely praised the episode.

IGN bestowed an Editor's Choice Award on the episode and gave it a rating of 9 out of 10, offering particular praise for the ending. IGN's review noted, "Fans will feel like they have been kicked in the chest when the credits roll...The final shot in this episode shows why Farscape fans have stuck around for so long – the unexpected is commonplace and the results worth waiting for."[5]

A BBC reviewer called it "a worthy end to a wonderful series"[6] but also noted that while most loose ends are tied up, "a few stray threads left an irritating sense of incompleteness"[6] and that the ending prevented a happy sense of closure that the rest of the episode could have achieved. Nevertheless, the BBC reviewer praised the decision: "No compromise right to the end - how could we not have loved this programme?"[6] and concluded, "Tense, emotional, and conclusive, Bad Timing had everything a finale needs, including a sense of finality."[6]

[edit] Guest stars

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Commentary for BAD TIMING with Ben Browder, Claudia Black, and David Kemper [Farscape Season Four Collection Three DVD release]. ADV Films.
  2. ^ a b c d Cool Farscape Facts [Farscape Season Four Collection Three DVD release]. ADV Films.
  3. ^ GEOS - Farscape - Bad Timing - Statistics. Global Episode Opinion Survey.
  4. ^ Farscape Top Episodes. TV.com.
  5. ^ IGN: Bad Timing Review. IGN.
  6. ^ a b c d BBC - Cult - Farscape - Episode Guide - Bad Timing. BBC.