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Ratings
1.5 (US)
1.82 (UK)

Tammy MacIntosh............Jool
Rebecca Gibney.............Rinic Sarova
Robert Bruning.............Rinic Pralanoth
Sandy Winton...............Rinic Tolven
Linda Cropper..............Xhalax Sun
Julianne Newbould..........Felor
Hunter Perske..............Bloy

Wassup?

Work now, freak later.

The crew finds that their reputation isn't helping, as they negotiate for medical supplies amidst local political intrigue. But John's dual identity (difficult as it may be for him to endure) proves useful, as they race to to heal Talyn and Crais before a face out of Aeryn's past can catch up to them.

Backstory

Just as Talyn once transfused her, Moya is able to transfuse her offspring with nutrients; however, it drains her own resources.

Not only can Aeryn not distinguish between the two Johns, they themselves can't even come to terms with the fact that both of them are "equal and original".

Talyn is near death, with no functioning propulsion, overrides, weapons, or DRDs. According to Stark, his primary conduit nexus has been overloaded, and Crais' autonomic functions, transmitted through the neural implant, may be the only thing keeping Talyn alive; Crais himself can barely sense Talyn through the connection.

Talyn builds his own DRDs as he grows.

The crew's reputation once again has reached their destination ahead of them: they are considered criminals, who leave a path of destruction behind them.

Jool has "T ratings" in genetics, neuroscience, and xenobiology.

Jool has a sweet tooth.

Rygel keeps a hidden stash of womilyn cake; John knows where it is.

Crais had not heard that Aeryn was alive.

A low planetary orbit of Kanvia places Moya and Talyn in the bonosphere, which has a very high nelvastatic index. They cannot be scanned or directly targeted while in this orbit, although Kanvian probes can detect an "unidentified mass in geosynchronous orbit".

Chromextin has no medical function known to Kanvians, but can power weapons.

Talyn and Crais were ambushed by a Peacekeeper Retrieval Squad as they were attempting to resupply. Initially, four Prowlers attacked, using strike and retreat tactics; Talyn destroyed one, then was surprised by an Immobilizer Pulse from a Pantak Class Vigilante ship, which severely overloaded his systems and dissipated his energy. He was barely able to starburst away, and it took all his remaining energy reserves.

The Retrieval Squad will not relent until they've recaptured Talyn, and they will not hesitate to use Moya as a hostage in that effort, to force Talyn's surrender. Therefor, once he has regained the ability to starburst, Talyn cannot rejoin Moya until the Retrieval Squad has been dealt with.

Pilot can display visually the records from Talyn's logs which Crais pulls up through his neural implant.

D'Argo knows how to disable a transport pod in a manner that Rygel cannot fix.

Talyn was designed with intelligence gathering facilities; he can tap into high level comm channels, and access the central Peacekeeper database.

Crais located a recording of Aeryn's mother visiting her in the creche which confirms Aeryn's memory of the event as described in "Family Ties"; the record is referenced in both Aeryn and her mother's personnel files. According to Xhalax Sun, Aeryn was conceived deliberately, out of Xhalax and Talyn's love for one another, and was not an accident or assigned birthing. She was wanted, and considered special by her parents, even though they were not able or permitted to raise her.

Crais could find no data on Aeryn's father; Aeryn specifically inquires on this subject.

There are gaps in Xhalax Sun's service record, but evidently there is no mention of a court martial. She was recently assigned to an elite battle group, and now commands the Retrieval Squad as "Senior Officer Xhalax Sun".

Jool requires a genetic sample in the form of skin (preferably with minimal exposure to solar radiation) in order to compare the two Johns' genetic profiles.

Talyn hasn't enough energy to fire, but Crais can enable targeting functions through the neural implant.

A strannat senses brainwave patterns and is extremely sensitive to cognitive dissonance; if it detects a lie, it kills. A disciplined mind has managed to fool the strannat, in a few rare cases.

Crais hopes Aeryn's presence on Talyn will provide another option to Talyn and Xhalax causing one another's deaths.

Rain seems to be the norm on Kanvia; everyone has a standard style of raincoat, with the occasional umbrella in evidence.

Someone knew that Sarova and John were meeting, and where. After the explosion, Sarova thought it was her brother; evidently it had assumed Tolven's appearance. She either died in the bomb blast, or was killed shortly thereafter, and her place was taken by an alien with shapeshifting abilities; it was this alien who had planted the bomb in the refreshment house.

Kanvia was a world of warring nation states, until Rinic Pralanoth unified it under a single planetary government. The unification seems less than fully stable; Tolven suggests that the crew was working for an ambitious subcouncilor. Both Rinnic offspring have sworn an oath to co-rule after their father's death. Sarova does not trust her brother to honor that vow.

Per Jool, her blood is incompatible with John's.

Jool detects no differences or degradation when she compares the two Johns' genetic material with one another, and with the original samples taken by Zhaan.

Boosting Talyn's kelvoy levels may be enough to bring him out of paralysis.

According to Crais, Talyn cannot be saved by standard repairs alone. His condition requires six lenarts of chromextin to treat fully, but only two lenarts were obtained at Kanvia. The treatment involves spreading chromextin over his exposed conduits. Chromextin is a stimulant; laced with clorium, an anesthetic for leviathans, it can send a Leviathan into convulsions. The clorium acts as a poison in this combination.

Although she is sensitive to clorium, Moya's mass is large enough to handle filtering it out of the chromextin for Talyn.

The umbilicals connecting Moya and Talyn can be released by either ship; they retract into Moya.

Tolven may not have planted the bomb in the refreshment house, or poisoned the chromextin, but he has not been completely loyal to his father, either; he pays for that disloyalty with his life.

Xhalax Sun and the alien shapeshifter know that Talyn received only two lenarts of chromextin, and that it was laced with clorium. They believe he will remain debilitated for some time, and they have only to find him.

Whatever the shapeshifter's assignment was, it believes it has failed in its duties.

John(M) believes John(T) set him up, so that John(T) could be on Talyn with Aeryn. John(T) took Winona, and his pen and notebook.

Since Talyn's passenger facility isn't fully developed yet, quarters have to be shared, and food will have to be rationed. Stark and Rygel will be sharing quarters, and so, apparently, will John(T) and Aeryn.

Aeryn says she will not let Talyn fall back into Peacekeeper hands, even if it means she has to kill her mother.

Reactions

Questions

1. How did the crew know they needed chromextin in order to heal Talyn? Was this data from Moya and Pilot?
2. Is "Rennic" a title or a family name?
3. Why did Sarova "come on" to John in the refreshment house? Did she think it was necessary in order to secure his cooperation? Or is he getting a Kirk-like reputation?
4. What did the shapeshifter make of Crichton's uninjured appearance? It was there when he was hurt in the bombing, but expresses no shock or surprise in its disguise as Sarova, when John shows up intact in Rinic Pralanoth's offices. Or, as "Inspector 81" wrote in alt.tv.farsape,

   "Although I thought of that, the creature knew Crichton got away. So it's possible he could have been healed on the ship. What I want to know is what the creature thought about John lying with the lobster on his head, and not being killed. That's remarkable."

5. What was the shapeshifter's real mission on Kanvia? To kill John Crichton? If the assignment was to drive Talyn to the Retrieval Squad, why did it bomb the refreshment house? Did it know that Sarova was planning to find an alternate source of (untainted) chromextin?
6. What is Xhalax's real plan? Why did she not kill the shapeshifter when it expected her to?
7. Totally off the wall, don't even know why I'm asking, but: Was the man that the shapeshifter killed in the service corridor a cameo appearance by someone?

Observations

1. Crais sounds genuinely distraught over barely being able to sense Talyn at the other end of their neural link, when he first awakens from his coma.
2. When Crais screams "poison", you can hear the similarity to Pilot's voice, provided by the same actor.
3. John and Crais remain at odds with one another, even while working together. John tells Crais flat out that he doesn't trust him. Crais lets a look of distaste cross his face, when he sees Aeryn bring John aboard Talyn.
4. Whatever else has happened in the past cycle and change, everyone remains loyal to, and supportive of, Talyn and Moya. Crais wanted to leave immediately upon waking, because of the danger to Moya. Aeryn stated flat out that no one was willing to leave Talyn in his current condition.
5. How ironic that Crais, who once declared Aeryn irreversibly contaminated when she tried to "be more", now is encouraging her to help her mother "be more".

Bloopers (none)

Annotations

John: "I know it's not as bad as the last time. It's not the Cro-Magnon copy or the ALIEN NATION reject, but you can tell I'm the original, right?"

John's recalling the two duplicates from "My Three Crichtons", and is likening the bald Future Crichton to the Tenctonese from the movie 1988 film ALIEN NATION (written by FARSCAPE creator Rockne O'Bannon) and its follow-up TV series.

John: "Who did you piss off this time?"
Crais: "Talyn and I were not the aggressors."
John: "Course not, you never are. So, who is it? The Plokavoids? The Skeksis? The Big Bad Wolf?"

"Plokavoids" is the Crichtonism for the Plokavians from episode "The Ugly Truth".

The Skeksis are creatures from the Henson-created film THE DARK CRYSTAL. Many people thought that the Halosians in the FARSCAPE episode "Out of Their Minds" looked much like the Skeksis, and apparently, so did Crichton.

The Big Bad Wolf is, of course, the villain in the fable of "The Three Little Pigs", among others.

Stark: "It's not working, it's not helping, Talyn's dying, not waking up!"
John: "Astro! Work...now...freak...later. Work...now... freak...later..."
Stark: "Oh, yeah. Yes, that's fair."
John: "Good."
Stark: "How much later?"

It's not clear whether John has started calling Stark "Astro" as short for "Astroboy" (see "...Different Destinations") or as a reference to the family dog of the Jetsons.

John: "Aeryn, I'm going to Command. You stay with Captain Crunch."

Captain Crunch is the...ah...spokestoon for Captain Crunch cereal.

John #1: "He's gonna need a comms channel."
John #2: "And I'm gonna need a comms channel. Crais, I want you to find the fattest target you can. Government house, missile site, McDonalds, whatever."

"McDonalds" refers, of course, to the burger franchise.

John: "Who the hell are you?"
Pralanoth: "Rinic Pralanoth, Sovereign of Kanvia."
John: "John Crichton, Wizard of Oz."

Yet Another OZ Reference.

John: "We're here to buy the stuff, and then get the hell out of Dodge."

The meaning of the expression "Get the Hell out of Dodge" is pretty clear. It derives from the need to leave Dodge City (Kansas) before trouble starts -- or after trouble has already started -- and the law steps in.

Dodge City was a crossroad in the history of the American West, and was famed for its roster of lawmen, which includes Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson -- as well as the fictional Matt Dillon, of the TV series GUNSMOKE.

But while everyone seems to know what the expression means, no one (us included) really seems to know whence it originated. Undoubtedly, it's from a film Western, but which one is anybody's guess. The earliest notable film Westerns set in Dodge are 1939's DODGE CITY, with Errol Flynn, 1936's DODGE CITY TRAIL, and a silent film from 1914 also called DODGE CITY TRAIL.

John: "D'Argo filled me in on your adventures with the Gotti Family, but I need some details from you."

The Gotti Family, lead by "The Teflon Don" John Gotti made their name in Organized Crime in the 1980s.

John: "I want an apology."
Tolven: "I want the truth."
John: "You can't handle the...aw, let's cut the crap [...]"

A quote from Rob Reiner's 1992 courtroom drama A FEW GOOD MEN:

Jessup: "You want answers?"
Kaffee: "I want the truth!"
Jessup: "You can't handle the truth!"

John: "Cross my heart, smack me dead, stick a lobster, on my head."

A variation of the children's truth-telling oath (which John used in its original form in "The Ugly Truth"): "Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye."

John: "Who's your daddy? C'mon, you know who your daddy is! Who's your daddy? D'Argo, tell him who his daddy is!"
D'Argo: "I'm your daddy."

The origin of the phrase "Who's your daddy?" seems to be unclear, or at least of multiple possible derivations. There had been some discussion on this point in uk.media.tv.sf.farscape, with some possible sources being given as (a) a song by Duck Sex, and (b) ads for Holsten Pils.

Graham Thurwell suggests, "The reference comes from the film SCUM, which was set in a Borstal [a British reform school for youths between 16 and 22 - ed.]. 'The Daddy' was the dominant prisoner ("I'm the Daddy now"). The film starred Ray Winstone, who is also the guy in the Holsten advert."

The phrase could also be traced back to the hit song by the 1960s rock band, The Zombies, "Time of the Season", which includes the lyrics:

What's your name? (What's your name?)
Who's your daddy? (Who's your daddy?)
Is he rich (is he rich) like me?

More recent usage seems to be from the sports realm, originating from incidents involving U. of Indiana coach Bob Knight.

What they all (except for the Zombies song) seem to have in common is meaning: they're all about establishing a pecking order of worth.

I'm betting on the sports one as the source for Crichton's reference.

Translator Microbe Report

Quotables

"I know it's not as bad as the last time (I mean, it's not the Cro-Magnon copy or the Alien Nation reject), but you can tell I'm the original, right?"
"Wrong, I'm the original."
"Try again, pal. Have you been messing with my stuff?"
"That's my stuff, and you are the clone."
"Aeryn, you can tell the difference--"
"You can see the difference--"
"No, I can't."
- John Crichton, John Crichton, Aeryn Sun

"Why do I have to wear it?"
"Because you're closer."
- John Crichton, Aeryn Sun

"Reputations? Us?" - Rygel

"I tried, I tried not to start any trouble."
"Well, you're not in any trouble."
"Well, you are."
(various oofs and grunts)
"Every frelling planet..."
- Chiana, Tolven, D'Argo

"And why should I do your selfish and unnecessary work?"
"Because I know where Rygel stashes his womilyn cake; it's sweeter than a sweet thing, sweet thing."
- Jool, John Crichton

"There, I woke him up. Now I hope he drops dead!" - Jool

"Who did you piss off this time?"
"Talyn and I were not the aggressors."
"Course not, you never are. So, who is it? Plokavoids, Skeksis, the Big Bad Wolf?"
"Peacekeepers...they want Talyn back."
- John Crichton, Bialar Crais

"You don't believe me, Crichton."
"Only because I know you."
- Bialar Crais, John Crichton

"Aeryn, wake up...wake up, Aeryn. Don't be afraid. My name is Xhalax Sun. I'm your mother, but you mustn't reveal to anyone that I was here, do you understand? I came to tell you something. Aeryn, your life was not an accident, and it wasn't an assigned birthing to fill the ranks. Talyn -- that's your father's name -- he and I chose to have you. You were conceived in love. Our love. I wanted you to know this. It makes you special. We wanted you...and we have you. Go back to sleep now."
- Xhalax Sun

"Remove your lower garments and face away from me."
"What the hell for?"
"You asked me. If you want a genetic comparison, I need a specimen."
"Of WHAT?"
- Jool, John Crichton

"It's not working, it's not helping, Talyn's dying, not waking up!"
"Astro! Work...now...freak...later, work...now...freak...later..."
"Oh...yeah. Yes, that's fair."
"Good."
"How much later?"
- Stark, John Crichton

"Aeryn, I'm going to Command, you stay with Captain Crunch." - John Crichton

"He's going to need a comms channel."
"And I need a comms channel. Crais, I want you to find the fattest target you can. Government house, missile site, MacDonalds, whatever."
- John Crichton, John Crichton

"Hello, morons. You see this ship? Knock off the missile attack or we'll take our shot."
"Prepare another salvo."
"Oh, you might want to check our resume first. We leveled a shadow depository, and we're about to turn your city into glow-in-the-dark sand."
- John Crichton, Tolven

"Who the hell are you?"
"Rinic Pralanoth, Sovereign of Kanvia."
"John Crichton, Wizard of Oz."
- John Crichton, Pralanoth

"Criminal? No, no, no, we're businessmen."
"Lies."
"That's a big word to throw around, son."
- John Crichton, Tolven

"Damn, you people got a funky sense of humor. Get this lobster off my head!" - John Crichton

"Is this a proposition?" - John Crichton

"You know, you really don't want to see what our...gunship...can do." - John Crichton

"I therefor ask for patience."
"I've been nothing but patient, and, uh, I think you need to understand that I'm under a lot of pressure..."
- Sarova, John Crichton

"My blood is donor incompatible."
"Take mine."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I know, he's an ugly, loudmouth son-of-a-bitch, but I can't stand around and watch him die."
"Be better for both of us if you did."
"Yeah, I know. Now shut up."
- Jool, John Crichton, Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

"Well, neither his genetic sample nor yours shows any sign of degradation. You're both perfect -- if that's the right word -- copies of the original Crichton."
"Screw your tests. I'm the original."
"Of course you are. The other guy said the same thing. Why does this bother you? Don't humans have monozygotic double births?"
"This is different. Twins don't start off fully formed, sharing the same life. This sucks."
"It sucks big time. How're you doing?"
"Crappy. On the upside, it's easier to tell us apart, now."
- Jool, John Crichton, John Crichton

"I want an apology."
"I want the truth."
"You can't handle the...aw, let's cut the crap, let's get to the chase, stick this critter on my face. Woah-ohohoh, hey look at the suckers on that boy! Damn, in some parts of the universe this thing would be considered good eatin'!"
- John Crichton, Tolven

"Cross my heart, smack me dead, stick a lobster on my head." - John Crichton

"Rygel, you take the inner hull."
"Do I look like a DRD?"
"Yeah, you do, actually...so make yourself useful, and act like one."
- Chiana, Rygel

"I hate being useful!"
"Yeah. We know."
- Rygel, Chiana

"The retrieval squad are here. They have to be."
"I think you're right."
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

"You been lying to your daddy, boy, and you know you shouldn't lie to your daddy! It's gonna stop. Who's your daddy? C'mon, you know who your daddy is! Who's your daddy? D'Argo, tell him who his daddy is!"
"I'm your daddy."
- John Crichton, D'Argo

"Ain't you just a good and loyal son. [strannat growls] I'm sorry, I didn't hear that. Are you not a good and loyal son?" - John Crichton

"Stark, power is returning. Keep splicing those conduits."
"Splicing splicing fixing fixing splicing splicing fixing fixing splicing..."
- Bialar Crais, Stark

"I failed. Aren't you going to kill me?"
"Come on."
- Shapeshifter, Xhalax Sun

"Oh, come on. Crack a smile, will you? At least he's out of your nose."
"Hair."
"That's what I meant, at least he's out of your nosehair."
- D'Argo, John Crichton

"I just...I just hope he's having a good time...no, forget that, I hope he's having a terrible time. I don't know what I hope. He just better be taking care of her."
"I'm sure he's taking care of her."
"You KNOW what I mean."
- John Crichton, D'Argo

"...you two will have to share accommodation."
"Unacceptable!"
"There'll be my side and your side, my side, your side--"
"Oh, don't start..."
- Bialar Crais, Rygel, Stark

"Look, do you...do you really know what you're in for?"
"Oh, I never do."
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

Comments from Cast & Crew

Anthony Simcoe, May 01, 2001

• Pyrite_tackyfringe: what is it like with 2 crightons?? double the fun. ;)?

  Anthony_Simcoe: No half the fun! Only because of structure that the season takes on...I can't give anything away more then that.

Ben Browder, Mat McCoy (w/Fiona Gentle and Tim Mieville), Lily Taylor, & Richard Manning, July 12, 2001

• Moderator: <Xenajules2> to <Moderator>: Ben, how hard has it been for you, playing two different John Crichtons? Any mishaps?

  Ben Browder: It confuses the hell out of everyone around here
  Ben Browder: We spent months just trying to figure out which one was which
  Ben Browder: "No!... I need the GREEN SHIRT!"

• Moderator: <PhantomComputer> to <Moderator>: Hey, B... do you get paid twice for playing 2 roles?

  Ben Browder: I wish!
  Ben Browder: I could buy drinks all the way round
  Ben Browder: two bowls of the punch of doom
  

• Moderator: <The-Keeper-of-Tears> to <Moderator>: Aside from Rygel and Pilot, what were your favorite Farscape puppets to work on?

  Puppeteering Team: The best is yet to come.
  Puppeteering Team: The strannet was fun. (TFS)

• Moderator: <Gmmas> to <Moderator>: Lily: has it been hard as a writer this season working with two Crichton's, making them the same person, yet different?

  Lily Taylor: Ye and No. Because they went on such different journeys they did start to take on lives of their own.

• Moderator: <CaptainHornblower> to <Moderator>: ricky, who played little Aeryn (from flashback with her mother)? she's not listed on the credits at scifi.com?

  FrooniumRicky: hm, dunno offhand
  FrooniumRicky: typing from home so I can't look it up, alas
  FrooniumRicky: sorry

• Moderator: <Ky> to <Moderator>: why did they decide to give Jool a brain, she was so much fun as a punching bag.

  FrooniumRicky: can't one be Both?
  FrooniumRicky: (haven't you ever been married, for example?)

Farscape Wrap Day Extravaganza, July 26, 2001

• Moderator2: <Scaper1984> to <Moderator2>: HI! Tim, what set are you most proud of?

  TimFerrier: The shadow Depository at the end of Season Two. From this season, the Kanvia Office form Ep. 307