Nerve (Farscape episode)

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“Nerve”
Farscape episode
Image:Farscape season 1 episode 19.jpg
Scorpius on the Gammak Base
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 19
Written by Richard Manning
Directed by Rowan Woods
Original airdate January 7, 2000
Episode chronology
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"A Bug's Life" " The Hidden Memory"
List of Farscape episodes

"Nerve" is the nineteenth episode from the first season of the television series Farscape, written by Richard Manning and directed by Rowan Woods.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Aeryn reveals that she has only days left to live; when she was stabbed in the chest in the previous episode (by an intellent virus in the body of Peacekeeper Captain Larraq), her paraphoral nerve was damaged, and can only be fixed with a tissue transplant from a compatible Sebacean donor. In an ill-conceived plan, Crichton decides he will go to the nearby top-secret Gammak base that Larraq's team was headed for, find a compatible donor, and save Aeryn. In the previous episode, Chiana stole Larraq's PK ID chip, and pleads with Crichton to take her along. He gratefully accedes, and disguises himself as Larraq, with Chiana his mistress, and they head to the base in Aeryn's Prowler.

They are challenged by Javio, the base's commander, but Crichton's bluffing and Larraq's ID chip allow them entry to the base, and Chiana's flirting ensures any attention Crichton might attract is deflected. The plan faces a challenge, however, when the Peacekeepers also demand genetic ID from Crichton. He inexplicably passes the genetic scan; his friend Gilina, from PK Tech Girl, is on the base and altered the computer to approve Crichton. She reveals she had been transferred to the Gammak base. She further aids him by getting the lifesaving injection Aeryn needs while Chiana gets friendly with Javio in the officer's lounge. On Moya, Aeryn's condition is becoming dire, so D'Argo suggests to Zhaan that Moya could help filter out the toxins building up in Aeryn's body. The initially successful process is interrupted when Moya goes into labour, and Aeryn must be separated from her.

Crichton is on the point of escaping when he is stopped by a strange-looking humanoid creature called Scorpius, who correctly identifies him as an impostor and blows Crichton's cover; Crichton manages to hide the medical injection for Aeryn before being dragged off. Scorpius puts Crichton in the "Aurora Chair", a device that painfully extracts its victim's memories and projects them onto a screen. Through this, Scorpius learns of Moya and the other escaped prisoners, and of Crichton's initial run-in with Captain Crais. He also discovers that Crichton has a hidden memory, implanted by the Ancient, Jack, giving Crichton the secret to wormhole technology (in a prior episode, "A Human Reaction"). This is an unfortunate coincidence for Crichton, given that it turns out that the base's purpose is to uncover the secret to wormhole technology. Scorpius believes Crichton is working with someone to spy on his research. In order to get him to talk, Scorpius has Crais' Command Carrier recalled, telling him he has Crichton. Crichton, almost broken from the effects of the torture, is put in a cell with Stark, a Banik slave and Stykera, who has been tortured by Scorpius in the Aurora chair for two years and seems to be mentally unbalanced due to these repeated treatments.

Gilina discovers Crichton's plight, disguises Chiana as a Sebacean tech, and manages to help Crichton again by contacting him in his cell, giving him hope. But she wonders why Crichton is going through so much to save Aeryn, and asks Chiana if Crichton is in love with Aeryn. Chiana lies and tells her no, Crichton loves Gilina. Scorpius and Crais fight over Crichton, with Crais demanding Scopius turn him over, and Scorpius refusing. Crais says he can make Crichton stop resisting the chair so that Scorpius can extract the information he needs.

Crais confronts Crichton in his cell, saying if he doesn't tell them what they want to know, he will kill everyone on Moya, which he has captured. Crichton realises Crais is bluffing, however, when he claims that everyone, including Aeryn, is in perfect health. Gilina creates a diversion to allow Chiana to retrieve the tissue sample Crichton hid and escape back to Moya, but Chiana is stopped by Javio, who sees through her disguise. She is forced to kill him, but she escapes back to Moya with Aeryn's life-saving medicine.

[edit] Guest stars

[edit] Quotes

  • Rygel: [reacting to Crichton's plan] You're not just fahrbot, you're magra-fahrbot!
  • Chiana: [flirting] Males outnumber females here, five to one? What do you poor guys do for fun?
    Heskon: Not very much.
    Chiana: I'd say I got here just in time.
    Javio: [aside] What did you pay for her?
    Crichton: You don't want to know.
    Javio: Does she give good....value?
    Crichton: She has her moments.
  • Scorpius: [Aurora Chair alarms] Malfunction?
    Niem: No, he's put up a neural block.
    Crichton: Wasn't me. Damn, don't you hate it when the batteries go dead?
  • Crichton: I don't want any trouble.
    Stark: [ranting] This is my side, that's your side! This is my side, you stay on your side! My side, your side, my side, your side, my side......your side!
  • Crichton: [collapsing in cell] Danger, Will Robinson, beware the chair....beware the chair.
  • Gilina: This should bypass the grid and hook us directly with main control.
    Chiana: Spare me the technobabble, gadget girl. Let's just get on with it.
  • Gilina: I've programmed a blind-spot into the targeting system. Keep your Prowler on this trajectory and they won't even see it.
    Chiana: How will I know if it works?
    Gilina: You won't get blasted out of the sky.
    Chiana: Great.
  • Aeryn: [after receiving tissue sample] I'm not going to die?
    D'Argo: As you once said to me, you will die, but not today.
    Aeryn: [sees Chiana] Are you sure about that, I'm starting to hallucinate: you make a worse Peacekeeper than Crichton.
    Chiana: Oh, glad to see you're okay.

[edit] Notes

  • Aeryn's paraphoral nerve was cut in episode "A Bug's Life (Farscape episode)": as it regulates toxin-removal functions, Sebaceans can't live without a functioning one.
  • The Ancients implanted a memory for worhmole navigation in Crichton's brain without his knowledge.
  • The Peacekeepers have a wormhole research division.

[edit] External links