Ratings
1.4 (US)
2.03 (UK)

Matt Day...................Tyno
Wayne Pygram...............Scorpius
Tina Bursill...............Novia
Felix Williamson...........Clavor
Felicity Price.............Princess Katralla
Nicholas McKay.............Voice of Cargn
Bianca Chiminello..........Jenavian Charto
Aaron Cash.................Dregon
Gavin Robins...............Cargn
Francesca Buller...........ro-NA 
John Claridge..............Unspecified

Note: The "Look at the Princess" trilogy was initially intended as a two-parter, carrying the production numbers 210 and 211. When the decision was made to expand it into three parts, it resulted in the middle episode receiving an out-of-sequence production number, 221.

Wassup?

A Royal Mess

Moya visits a Sebacean planet outside of Peacekeeper control, where the heir to the throne, Princess Katralla, is frantically hunting for a genetically compatible mate, so that she can be confirmed as the next ruler. Guess who turns out to be compatible? John's parents always knew that he'd go far. But talk about in-laws...

Backstory

Aeryn has been giving John flying lessons.

Aeryn got something from Zhaan for her hair, which has a scent John likes. Aeryn claimed at first that it was just for her, but later admitted she wanted to see if John would notice.

Chiana and D'Argo are now physically intimate. Apparently, they fit well together.

Even the breakaway colonies of Sebaceans speak with the endearing accent we've all come to know and love.

Scarrans are very large, ugly, and strong aliens, vaguely lizard-like in appearance. They have some kind of mind-control abilities that allow them to extract truthful answers from those they question. The ability causes extreme discomfort to those questioned, and may involve the projection of heat.

Scarrans are mortal enemies of the Peacekeepers.

Zhaan occasionally sings while meditating, which Pilot and Moya thoroughly enjoy.

D'Argo and Chiana are not genetically compatible. Chiana was not especially bothered to discover this, because she looks at her relationship as a game. D'Argo felt otherwise.

John is genetically compatible with at least some Sebaceans.

Scorpius demonstrates that he can be charming when he chooses. He is Scarran on his father's side, and Sebacean on his mother's side.

Moya can make her starbursts short, but there is a limit on how short. Even a short starburst still invalidates all navigation points.

The sight of Scorpius brings John a variety of flashbacks, including one of Scorpius saying, "Something to remember me by...", with a very long needle in his hand.

John quotes Shakespeare with the line, "Better wed than dead."

Chiana thinks that Aeryn only wants "the ones that she can't have".

Moya has eight senses.

The Builders can summon the Leviathans across vast distances.

The Uncharted Territories may be uncharted for Peacekeepers, but the Scarrans feel otherwise.

Clavor poisoned Katralla's DNA so that she would be genetically incompatible with any Sebacean. John is the only person discovered to be genetically compatible with her.

The empire has a machine that can predict what a child will look like, based on the DNA of the parents, and produce a three dimensional simulacrum.

The empire's future rulers are transformed into statues immediately after they are wed, for 80 cycles; the process converts each of their cells into metal on a molecular level. While in a statue form, they are able to see, hear, and think; the intent is for the future rulers to observe and absorb all the facets of government during this time, so that they will rule wisely. For Sebaceans, the statue process is painless and easily reversible.

The Builders manifest themselves as glowing clouds or streams of white energy.

Moya considers the Builders to be gods.

John left a porch light on at home.

Humans have shorter lives than Sebaceans, Hynerians, and Delvians.

John is scared of Scorpius, describing him as "being in his head".

Reactions

Questions (none)

Observations

1. Ben Browder's wife (Francesca Buller) appears in this episode, once again completely covered in makeup.

Bloopers (none)

Annotations

The title comes from the song made popular by the film CASABLANCA (see also http://www.cyberblanca.com/sams.html), "As Time Goes By", as performed by Dooley Wilson:

You must remember this,
A kiss is just a kiss,
A sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by.

It's the "it" of the well-known misquote, "Play it again, Sam".

John: "I am the reverse King Arthur. I'm the one who can put the sword into the stone."

A reference to the story of how the boy Arthur became King of England, by drawing the sword Excalibur from the stone in which it was embedded (in some versions of the legend, Excalibur was a different sword than the one in the stone).

Although it dates back to Geoffrey of Monmouth's HISTORIA REGUM BRITANNIAE, this particular element of the Arthurian legend is best known from T.H. White's novel THE SWORD IN THE STONE, part of his tetralogy THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING.

John: "Better wed than dead."

A play on the phrase "better dead than Red", popular during the Cold War, especially the anti-Communist hysteria of the 1950s.

John: "Well, on Earth we have this queen. She...ah... she's got this wave. I'll do that."

He's referring to Queen Elizabeth II, whose wave is often satirized. As one usenet poster wrote, "She has a knack of waving with her forearm, so her hand and the rest of her body don't have to move. She just flexes her elbow, and that's the wave. I guess it's more energy efficient than shaking your whole arm the way the rest of us do."

John: "Eighty cycles. My college loans will be delinquent. I'll miss the strippers on my hundredth birthday. I'll get a utility bill for three trillion dollars for a single porch light that I left on. And everybody I know will be dead. [...] When I get back...everyone...my dad, D.K., my sisters, Cameron Diaz, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, will be dead."

Cameron Diaz is, of course, the well-known actress. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is, equally of course, the undead-ass-kicker from the show of the same name.

John: "Welcome to Barbie World."

Another reference (see "The Hidden Memory") to the famous doll.

Translator Microbe Report

Quotables

"I will not be a slave to your hormones!"
"My hormones?! Hey, I was lips, you were tongue!"
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

"Want some advice?"
"Not particularly."
"Makes me want to give it to you even more..."
- Chiana, John Crichton

"Go fast with the body...slow with the soul."
- Chiana

"But I am our best negotiator!"
"Our best-self-serving-to-hell-with-everyone-else-iator!"
- Rygel, John Crichton

"How come I'm always the last to know?"
- John Crichton

"That's great, you know. It's a whole world designed for your rutting instincts."
- Aeryn Sun

"You would just have to be on this side of my life to understand how frellin' insane that is!"
- John Crichton

"There's always one in every family."
- John Crichton

"It wasn't my door that he was last seen sniffing under."
"Some women consider that a compliment."
"Some women have to."
- Aeryn Sun, Chiana

"I'm the reverse King Arthur. I'm the one who can put the sword into the stone!"
- John Crichton

"On my planet, we don't marry people we don't love. Unless they're critically ill billionaires."
- John Crichton

"My daughter, or that abomination. Choose."
- Empress Novia

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure."
"Yes, I've heard that about Scarrans."
- Cargn, Aeryn Sun

"Destiny's couple, you are."
- Cargn

"Hope, D'Argo. It's what keeps you going. You're going to see your son. I'm going to get home. Hope. I have hope, or I'm nothing."
- John Crichton

"I don't know what you're talking about, but there's never been anything we couldn't overcome together."
"Except each other."
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

Comments from Cast & Crew

David Kemper, January 27, 2000

• Moderator: <Demosthenes>: I know you're not going to answer everything regarding Leviathan origins, but could you at least tell us if Leviathans are natural space-dwelling creatures engineered for habitation or genetically built from the ground up (assumedly by Pilot's race).
  

  DK: Just wrote the 2 parter on that. Eps. 10 and 11, 2nd season.
  DK: Moya's kind started as a mechanical ship. Then, a race known as The Builders
  DK: tinkered with things and gave Leviathans a soul and sentient intelligence.
  DK: Want to meet a Builder?
  DK: You just might.
  

• Moderator2: <LadyJade> to <Moderator2>: Will there be an episode, on Aeryn Sun. I mean to give us information of her life before she came aboard Moya?
  

  DK: Ep. 2 next year. And 7. And 10. And 11.... You get the idea.
  

• Moderator: <valleyofstags>: Now that you are "Executive Producer" will we be seeing any episodes in Season 2 "written by David Kemper"?
  

  DK: Tech correction: I've been Ex. Prod. since Ep. 7, first season.
  DK: To answer: Just finished writing the ep 10/11 2 parter. Will also script the season-ender.
  

• Moderator: <Circa> : David, does the 2nd season also hold a more developing relationship between John and Aeryn?
  

  DK: As for the J and A relationship....
  DK: I just finished to 2 part episodes for 10/11 and... Yeah, you know what I mean.
  

Richard Manning, June 1, 2000

• Bouncer: a pair for you:
  Bouncer: *dionisio* Will Scorpius be back any time soon? ...
  

  FrooniumRicky: Oh, you can count on Scorpius...
  FrooniumRicky: He's not letting Crichton off THAT easily.
  

• Bouncer: *Elflore* Are there any upcoming eps that shippers in particular should look forward to? (Not that we don't look forward to all of 'em, of course.)

  FrooniumRicky: OOOOhhh, yeah.
  FrooniumRicky: There's a little epic entitled "Look at the Princess" by David "Boom Boom" Kemper himself...
  FrooniumRicky: Where more than ONE relationship on Moya undergoes a bit of a change.

• Bouncer: *DaniRoyer* A question from my mom: Where the titles of the individual "Look at the Princess" episodes inspired from Humphry Bogart [sp?] movies? Or is it a big coincidense?

  FrooniumRicky: Hi, DaniRoyer's Mom!
  FrooniumRicky: I've had a brain freeze and can't even remember what they ARE at the moment...
  FrooniumRicky: Lessee... "I Do, I Think"... that's not a Bogart movie that pops to my mind...
  FrooniumRicky: (but then, nothing IS popping to my mind at the moment...)
  FrooniumRicky: Hang on a second whilst I go jog my memory.
  FrooniumRicky: (Talk quietly amongst yourselves.)

  Bouncer: *Gmmas* A Kiss is but a kiss is one; another is the Maltese Crichton
  

  FrooniumRicky: Oh. (duh!) Thanks. Yeah, I suspect David took a bit of inspiration from two wonderful Bogart films there.
  FrooniumRicky: As you may've noticed from the titles of other eps, we're certainly not above "borrowing" a title here and there...
  FrooniumRicky: or, worse yet, punning on a title.
  

Farscape Season Two Wrap, June 15, 2000

• Moderator: <Enigmatic-Scully> to <Moderator>: Hey David! Now that season 2 is over, what would you say was your favorite moment of the season?

  Kemper: Tricky, tricky, you are. Several per episode. But I will reveal nothing to spoil.
  Kemper: Something in Ep. 10. One big one in 11. End of 11. All of 14. All of 9. 12. Tension in 13. All the sex in... wait I'm not gonna tell you THAT. You have to WATCH.

• Moderator: <RygelThe16th> to <Moderator>: Rygel's been the "Dr. Smith" character in the past few episodes, always snerching things and getting everyone into trouble. Will he have any chance to act like the regal Dominar he is?

  Kemper: Check out the Look at the Princess trilogy, and beyond. Especially look for him in Ep. 14 -- "Won't Get Frelled -- I mean -- Fooled" again.

• Moderator: <AutumnH> to <Moderator>: Which new villian is your favorite? No spoilers, just an episode number will do.

  Kemper: It's a race that makes for great bad guys. Ever hear of "Scarrans" -- the other half of Scorpius?

• Moderator: <PKAce> to <Moderator>: Kemper/Lil, their has been a lot of talk about the Princess trilogy. What sort of things can we expect from those episodes?

  Kemper: Kemper here -- The Princess Trilogy is my love poem to the cast. And I have three words for you: "Jakench cockpit" and "kissing."

• Moderator: <SoozAlpha> to <Moderator>: Ben - have you ever worked with your wife before- and how weird was it having her wanting to EAT you?

  Ben: I have worked with my wife on two previous occaisions... Last time was 9 years ago.
  Ben: I love working with her. She is a stupendous actress and I stand in awe of her.

• Moderator2: <GinnyRED57> to <Moderator2>: Ben - a lot of Farscape jokes have entered our lexicon - like "mippippippi" and "Earpman." Any good new ones you can share (without David hitting you)?

  Ben: it's not the hitting that worries me... pain I can take. I just don't want to get fired... but two words... Jackench Cockpit.

Ben Browder, July 27, 2000

• Moderator: <PhantomComputer> to <Moderator>: Welcome, Mr. Browder... In Look At the Princess, part 1, was that your little boy in a cameo as the holo-child? If not, it was very convincing. Did you draw on your experience as a father for inspiration in that scene?

  Ben: My kids are off topic. no offense I hope.
  Ben: But I vividly remember holding my children and seeing my children for the first time
  Ben: It is an Awe inspiring event.
  Ben: words fail me.

  Moderator: No offense. But a large number of viewers were so moved by that scene that they wondered if the young actor had a personal connection to you.

  Ben: Well... he was very cute.
  Ben: and Funny

• Moderator: <WarriorWoman> to <Moderator>: So was it fun kissing all of those women in "Look at the Princess" and what did your wife think about that?

  Ben: uh...
  Ben: uh...
  Ben: no?
  Ben: My wife came to visit that DAY!!!!
  Ben: wench.
  Ben: so I had a TERRIBLE time.
  Ben: what kinda question WAS THAT?
  Ben: duh...

• Moderator: <jedikatie> to <Moderator>: Can you give us any hints about what we can look forward to coming up later in the season?

  Ben: people die
  Ben: peole kiss
  Ben: damn!!!!!!
  Ben: p
  Ben: e
  Ben: o
  Ben: p
  Ben: l
  Ben: e
  Ben: whew
  Ben: it's wicked the remainder of season two
  Ben: and the CLIFF HANGER...
  Ben: OH
  Ben: MY
  Ben: GOD
  Ben: .

• Moderator: <DJWolfe> to <Moderator>: Hi, Ben. You can be on my radio show any time. In the first segment of "Look at the Princess", when you walked in on Chiana and D'Argo the second time, it didn't look like Gigi was wearing anything resembling a top. Was this reality or television magic?

  Ben: It was MAGIC... if you know what I mean.

David Kemper, with Richard Manning & Ben Browder ("Bruno"), August 17, 2000

• Moderator: <Oochi> to <Moderator>: Hi from Belgium! Is Chiana gonna find happyness with D'Argo and do we get some J/A love scenes?

  Kemper: Hey, Belgium!!
  Kemper: Chiana ALWAYS finds happiness.
  Kemper: It's in her soul. It's her nature.
  Kemper: Think back to the earlier question regarding Wayne and
  Kemper: Scorpius.
  Kemper: Gigi is such a vibrant, wonderful, talented, special, HAPPY
  Kemper: person, Chiana could be nothing but, even if we WROTE
  Kemper: her as miserable.
  Kemper: J/A love scenes...
  Kemper: Sit back people--
  Kemper: Here comes a tiny bit of philosophy...
  Kemper: Everyone is always saying,
  Kemper: "Why doesn't Aeryn do this,
  Kemper: Why doesn't Aeryn do that...
  Kemper: I WOULD."
  Kemper: See -- "you" would.
  Kemper: But Claudia knows Aeryn.
  Kemper: And we know Aeryn.
  Kemper: She is an alien.
  Kemper: A-L-I-E-N.
  Kemper: She does not think like us.
  Kemper: She was raised without parents.
  Kemper: Without love.
  Kemper: Taught to kill at an early age.
  Kemper: Think how those facts would have changed who YOU are.
  Kemper: It will take her some time to understand
  Kemper: and find those other parts of herself.
  Kemper: There will be J/A love scenes when Aeryn
  Kemper: gets to the place where she can trust herself.
  Kemper: She "knows" this human is special.
  Kemper: She does not have a good track record with men
  Kemper: and was not raised to have long-term relationships.
  Kemper: She will not engage this one until she knows it will work.
  Kemper: She does not want to lose him.
  Kemper: And John...
  Kemper: John is smart enough to know that she is going through all\
  Kemper: this.
  Kemper: However...
  Kemper: How long can he wait..........................?

• Moderator: <dw-mckim> to <Moderator>: It was great seeing Francesca again in LATP (+ Angie Millikin in OOTM!) - might she be a "recurring guest actress" in different parts? Any other "past favorite" actors returning in different roles?

  Kemper: Ooooh.
  Kemper: Keep watching.
  Kemper: I love Fran. I love her acting.
  Kemper: I've written for her twice.
  Kemper: I can easily see that happening again.

  Bruno: I love Fran too.

• Moderator: <LittleLeviathan> to <Moderator>: How did Scorpie get so far up in the PK ranks as an abomination? Since his parent races hate each other it surprising he wasn't killed at birth?

  FrooniumRicky: hm, well perhaps there were Special Circumstances surrounding his birth.
  FrooniumRicky: You know very little about Scorpius's back story so far.
  FrooniumRicky: That Will Change.

Guy Gross, May 15, 2001

• Moderator: <Cush> to <Moderator>: Do you assign certain "sounds/scores" the different characters/species?

  Guy: Only scopy
  Guy: he has a weird synth sound
  Guy: it's not even really musical
  Guy: I use is under what ever the score is doing
  Guy: I don't really like using recuring themes in TV work.
  Guy: I find it monotonous
  Guy: each ep has it's own feel whist still staying within that FS sound
  Guy: It's OK for features where you've got 90 mins

  Moderator: (scorpy, he meant....we'll fix that in post.) ;^)

• Moderator: <GutPageant> to <Moderator>: Do you ever shake your head in amused disbelief at some of the scenes you need to score?"Look at the Princess" for example--'Hey! We need some alien lounge music here!'

  Guy: Absolutly!
  Guy: That's the great thing about FS
  Guy: you never know what's next