Family Ties (Farscape episode)

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“Family Ties”
Farscape episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 22
Written by Rockne S. O'Bannon
David Kemper
Directed by Tony Tilse
Original airdate January 28th, 2000
Episode chronology
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"Bone to Be Wild" "Mind the Baby"
List of Farscape episodes

"Family Ties" is the twenty-second episode from the first season of the television series Farscape, written by Rockne S. O'Bannon and David Kemper, and directed by Tony Tilse. It is the season finale.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

When Rygel decides to save himself and sell out the crew of Moya to the Peacekeepers, everyone else must come up with a way to escape. They are further hampered by Moya's baby, who is too young to starburst. When Rygel arrives on the Command Carrier, he discovers that the situation isn't what he had expected: Crais is losing his command to a scheming Scorpius, and Scorpius doesn't care at all about Rygel's information, and will kill him. Crais and Rygel then form an alliance, and they escape to Moya to seek asylum. A traumatized Crichton confronts Crais while demonstrating the after-effects of his torture on the Gammak base. Crais, while imprisoned, finally admits he knew Crichton was not responsible for his brother's death, but couldn't accept it. Crichton soon comes up with a plan to take out the Command Carrier by using a transport pod loaded with explosives. The only problem is, it's a fairly suicidal plan, because someone must be on the transport pod in order to trigger the explosion.

With Crais' help, they decide to take out the nearby Gammak base instead. It is located on an oily moon, so, with the transport pod acting as a flying detonator, they will use this to distract the Command Carrier enough to change course, allowing Moya and her child to starburst away. The transport pod is to be loaded with several inactive materials that, when combined, will explode, but which will appear to be stable and therefore harmless on any scan. But someone must still be on the transport pod to combine the ingredients. Crais comes up with a solution when he points out that there is one thing that Scorpius values even more than his Gammak base: John Crichton.

Meanwhile, on the Peacekeeper Command Carrier, Scorpius relates to Braca, now his second-in-command, why he allowed Crais to leave the carrier. Later Braca informs Scorpius that due to Crais' extended exposure to those aboard Moya, he has been declared irreversibly contaminated, officially confirming Scorpius as the ship's commanding officer. Scorpius plans to cripple Moya to prevent her from escaping, and is solely interested in Crichton, deeming everyone else dispensable.

With Crichton on the transport pod, Scorpius will not destroy it, and D'Argo insists, to Aeryn's annoyance, on the suicidal job of flying the transport pod with Crichton. As Crichton says goodbye, he receives a passionate farewell from Chiana, though he ultimately rejects her advances. He also elicits a shamed apology from Rygel for his earlier betrayal.

Aeryn introduces Crais to Moya's child. Crais shares Aeryn's sense of wonder at the beauty of the newborn gunship, and reveals his knowledge of previous attempts to produce a hybrid Leviathan/Peacekeeper ship, all which failed before now. Aeryn tells him the ship responds to voice commands, and Crais comments that that is by design, as the ship was made to be controlled without a Pilot, the better for peacekeepers to control it in battle. Moya asks Aeryn to select a name for the baby, in appreciation for Aeryn's work in facilitating the bonding between the baby and Moya. The name Aeryn chooses is "Talyn", her father's name. Chiana cooks everyone a last meal as her way of saying goodbye, while Crichton records his own private goodbye to his father via his tape recorder. D'Argo leaves his holo-recording of his wife and child with Zhaan as she blesses their last journey.

As expected, the Command Carrier detects and gives chase to the transport pod; Crichton arms the explosives while D'Argo navigates. Setting a collision course for the moon, Crichton dons a spacesuit, and gives D'Argo his father's lucky ring to hold, before they both exit the ship and float away into space (D'Argo lacks a space suit or oxygen but, as a Luxan, he can survive for a short period of time). The plan is for Aeryn to pick them up in her Prowler. They watch as the pod crashes on the moon and the entire surface is engulfed in flames. John smiles and says in triumph, "John Crichton was here!"

Their plan then goes awry: Aeryn can't retrieve Crichton and D'Argo due to the number of other Peacekeeper ships in the way. Crais unexpectedly boards Talyn and kidnaps the baby Leviathan, transmitting a final goodbye before leaving Moya's side and flying off into the asteroid field. Scorpius' Command Carrier locks onto the remaining Leviathan: Moya, carrying Zhaan, Rygel, and Chiana, is forced to starburst away lest she be captured. D'Argo finally falls unconsciousness due to lack of oxygen, and unwittingly lets go of Jack Crichton's lucky ring. As Farscape's first season ends, Talyn and Crais are missing, D'Argo is unconscious, Crichton is running out of air, and Aeryn is trapped.

[edit] Guest stars

[edit] Quotes

  • Braca: [to Crais and Scorpius] Sirs, this Hynerian royal was along aboard the Leviathan transport.
    Rygel: You want the Leviathan, the Leviathan/Gunship offspring, the other escaped prisoners, the defector Aeryn Sun, and especially, you want the one called Crichton. Well, I want my freedom. Interested?
  • Rygel: [upon his return to Moya] Whatever your reaction, please don't let it include weapons fire.
    [Crais steps slowly aboard]
    Crichton: [hysterial chuckle] My boy Crais!
    Crais: Clearly an awkward situation. However, I have asked Dominar Rygel XVI for asylum, and he has accepted.
    Zhaan: By the Goddess, that's insane.
  • Zhaan: You went there to sell us out.
    Rygel: You bet your shiny blue ass I did. But I didn't. So make the most of it now.
  • Crichton: [about Crais' imprisonment] Kinda makes you feel your mortality, doesn't it? Being in there? That's what it's like for us. Every day, every hour, every minute....every second, with you riding our asses.
    Crais: I understand you didn't mean to kill my brother. It was an accident, I realise that now, as I look back and try to understand it all.
    Crichton: Do you have any idea what you put me through? All of us, through?
    Crais: I thought it was about my brother. It should have been about my brother. Somewhere along the way my priorities decayed. I realised I'd become more concerned about my own image and career.
    Crichton: If you mean to help....now's the time.
  • Aeryn: You know, you amaze me being a priest. To live in such a violent world and yet somehow manage to keep your centre.
    Zhaan: The instant I committed murder I sacrificed my right to exist. Since then I view every microt as a generous yet undeserved gift from the Goddess.
  • Crichton: [as his last recorded message] You did good, Dad: you taught me well. This is John Crichton, somewhere in the universe.
    [Crichton clicks the stop button]
  • Crichton: [about Zhaan's instructions for the explosives] How much time do we have before it starts?
    D'Argo: She was vague to the point that I suspect she doesn't have a clue.
    Crichton: Excellent.
  • Crichton: Hey D'Argo: how come I'm not afraid?
    D'Argo: Fear accompanies the possibility of death. Calm shepherds its certainty.
    Crichton: I love hanging with you, man.

[edit] Notes

  • Crichton and Aeryn talk about Crichton's father Jack, and reference the events of the episode "A Human Reaction", establishing Aeryn's physical presence in that otherwise illusionary world created by the Ancients.
  • Crais is the instigator of many revelations in this episode:
  • he first mentions Scorpius' Scarran ancestry when striking his asylum deal with Rygel, unknown before now;
  • he confirms that D'Argo did not commit the crime he was imprisoned for, that it was indeed his Peacekeeper brother-in-law who killed his mate;
  • he acknowledges to Crichton of his innocence for the death of his brother;
  • he reveals to Aeryn he knew of previous attempts to produce hybrid Leviathan/Peacekeeper ships, all but Talyn ending in death for mother and offspring. He also acknowledges Talyn's ability to harbour a Pilot, later demonstrated in the season 3 episode "Meltdown".
  • Crichton begins to show the mental stress of his torture and other bad experiences, as can be seen by his unbalanced laughter when Crais arrives on Moya, and his tears speaking to an imprisoned Crais later.
  • Crichton and D'Argo's reluctant agreement to be allies (in episode "Till the Blood Runs Clear") has progressed against expectations to a strong friendship.
  • Crichton loses the lucky puzzle ring his father gave to him in episode "Premiere", when D'Argo falls unconscious and lets it go, and Crichton, too absorbed in the events around him, never notices.

[edit] External links