Icarus Abides (Infinite Possibilities 2)

Ratings
1.4 (US)
1.84 (UK)

Kent McCord................Jack Crichton
Magda Szubanski............Furlow
Thomas Holesgrove..........Alcar
Noel Hodda.................Charrid Leader 2

Wassup?

"Don't worry 'bout me. I've never felt better."

With Charrids outside, Harvey inside, and the Scarrans' dreadnaught on the way, time is growing short. And while the planetside half of the crew faces a deadly betrayal, those aboard Talyn have troubles of their own: without functioning sensors, there's just no way to keep the riffraff out...

Backstory

It took the last of Harvey's strength to temporarily suppress John's personality.

Talyn has at least two separate docking bays.

The wormhole information in John's mind can be instantly unlocked, but access to it then comes gradually. Jack attributes this to limitations on how many equations John's mind can process at once.

Rygel was able to bandage his own wound and resume firing the turret gun.

Jack considered Aeryn no threat, and had come to trust John's intentions -- but had not yet decided whether he could afford to let Furlow live, with wormhole information in her head.

Scarrans send an advance scout detail ahead of their dreadnaughts. The detail may consist of a one man stealth capsule or full fighter squadron.

Jack says the case (originally constructed by Furlow) could be stronger, but did not have an opportunity to strengthen it before Furlow shot him.

Furlow made and broke allegiances with both the Charrids and Talyn's crew. She would have made an allegiance with the Scarrans if given the opportunity. She had no hesitation in killing Jack, although she seemed to be unwilling to kill John outright.

While Talyn's sensors were out of commission, a Scarran advance scout was able to board.

Crais knew it would take significant firepower to bring down the Scarran.

Both Talyn and Crais are beginning to recover their "sight".

Even without Jack's guidance, John's wormhole information enables him to complete the displacement engine. However, he is taken aback by the power of the device, telling Aeryn that it could destroy a planet.

John believes he can now safely open a wormhole to Earth. Aeryn is ready and eager to go back to Earth with him.

The engine has no emergency shutdown switch; once on, it cannot be deactivated. After 1.4 arns, it will meltdown and be destroyed.

Furlow believes the Scarrans will spare her and "go away", in exchange for the displacement engine.

Aeryn has not lost her soldier's edge; she's able to toss an explosive of some sort on the track behind them, which she can ignite with a pulse pistol shot as the Charrid's vehicle passes over it.

Furlow remains at large, but her lab has been completely destroyed with explosives set by Aeryn.

The engine's nuclear fuel was potent; a flash exposure was fatal dose, which Talyn's emergency radiation treatment packs were insufficient to treat.

John knows how to apply wormhole technology, but he still (apparently) needs a solar flare in order to initiate it.

The displacement engine allows the wormhole to pick up a piece of a star, and expel it through the wormhole as a weapon.

Despite seeming determined to stay at odds with each other, John and Crais are close to a mutual respect. Crais, Stark, and Talyn all refused to leave John, Aeryn, and Rygel behind, on Dam-ba-da. Crais stood ready to support John in any manner necessary during his wormhole mission. And, their final farewells are free of recrimination or acrimony.

John warned Rygel off taking his possessions after his death.

Stark is able to take away John's pain, as he nears death.

John dies at peace, proud of his life, and contented to have Aeryn by his side.

Reactions

Questions

1. Harvey advised Aeryn to be more decisive and shoot more quickly next time. Will we see this advice come into play when Aeryn returns to Moya, where John still has a Harvey?
2. Why did Jack have to rely on the wormhole information in John's mind? Didn't he have the same knowledge himself?
3. Why did Furlow go through the motions of forging a partnership with John, if she was going to immediately take off with the displacement engine? Did she not believe him? Or did she fear he wouldn't trust her enough to leave her alone with the device?
4. After Stark eases John's pain, John pulls Stark's hand back, and puts it back on his (John's) forehead. After a moment, he lets go, and Stark nods slightly. Was this a simple acknowledgement of his appreciation of Stark? Or was there something passed between them -- a memory, a piece of data, a request?

Observations

1. Scorpius claims there's nothing personal in his treatment of John, but Harvey's attempt to get Aeryn to shoot John speaks to the contrary.
2. John believed he could open a wormhole to Earth, and safely take Aeryn with him -- this seems to definitively rule out the possibility that Sebaceans inherently cannot survive wormhole travel.
3. Rygel's bandaging of his own shrapnel wound gave him rather a samurai appearance.
4. Rygel does actually have a sense of honor, however much he usually suppresses it. Even injured, he objectively assesses the situation and determines to stay at his post.
5. The dune buggies were all right-hand drive vehicles.
6. We saw a wonderful depth in John and Aeryn's relationship, in this episode. As John realizes he's free of Harvey, embracing Aeryn is his instinctive reaction, and he and Aeryn can't keep out of one another's arms after that point. Blinded by the flare as Furlow takes off with the displacement engine, John's first response is to call for Aeryn. Seeing John going after Furlow, Aeryn's first response is to jump on board, by his side. Even in the heat of fire, they can tease one another about John's ability to attract trouble. John trusts Aeryn implicitly when she says she has a plan, not even asking for details. The casual but sincere exchange of "I love you" as they part...they are a team, full partners, and two halves of the same soul.
7. Select comments from alt.tv.farscape --

   Nick said:

   "One thing that I noticed this episode was how much she [Aeryn] is turning into John. In the scene with the Charrid in the dune buggy, after she causes him to wreck she talks to herself/him as she walks up telling him to run. According to Xhalax that is totally against PK doctrine. As I watched that scene, it struck me how much she was becoming like him. This isn't the sort of thing that people do intentionally, it comes from spending a lot of time with someone. I thought the writing on that one scene said way more about what they are to one another than is immediately apparent. I was impressed by the depth that that showed."

   Brenda noted:

   "After Crichton takes a dive, shutting off the radiation leak, he comes up, fists full of sand. At that moment the full impact of what he has done hits him. For a few short moments he had it all - he was free of the clone, he had the love of his life, and the means to get them both to Earth - and it all had slipped through his fingers like the sand falling from his fingertips. It was a powerful image."

   And finally, your editor had this to say:

   "My feeling at the end was that it really wasn't about John at all, but about Aeryn. Look at the incredible distance she's come, since the beginning of the show, from a soldier suppressing all emotions and cultures other than her own, to an incredibly warm, openly loving, and mature woman, doing everything and anything she can to ease the passing of her lover and best friend. And it's a tribute to Claudia Black's talent that she made it 100% believable, every step of the way.

   I was weeping during the final scene, but as others have confessed, it was for Aeryn, rather than John. (Not that Ben Browder didn't do fine work. But I don't think that was the point, in that scene.)"

Bloopers (none)

Annotations

Aside from the subtitle's reference to the Greek myth of Daedalus & Icarus (see entry for Part One), there are no pop culture references herein.

Translator Microbe Report

Quotables

"I'm much more reasonable than John is. He didn't want to share his mind with me. But, I'm more than willing to share his body with you."
- Harvey

"Officer Sun...next time...be more decisive. Shoot quicker. A soldier must not be weak. Weakness means defeat."
- Harvey

"But how did you know that?"
"...that's cool."
- Alien Dad, John Crichton

"Here, I'll take over."
"No, no, no, you're still mobile -- I'm not. Just bring me food!"
"You want to eat now?"
"Bring me food and I'll keep going."
- Aeryn Sun, Rygel

"Is this the end, or are you going to try to put all the toothpaste back in the tube?"
- John Crichton

"It's okay, Jack. I'll finish it. We'll keep your Ancients safe and sound."
- John Crichton

"I got it. Aeryn, I got it -- it all fits, everything fits, I know how to do this, I can build this thing, I know what it does."
"Can it destroy the dreadnaught?"
"Um...it could destroy a planet."
- John Crichton, Aeryn Sun

"Furlow, is it always about the money?"
"Is there anything else? I mean, how much sex can you have?"
"I don't know, I haven't maxed out yet."
- John Crichton, Furlow

"You help me, and I will make you Miss 21st Century Wormhole."
"Outstanding."
- John Crichton, Furlow

"I know it looks great on ya, but ah...two fingers, pistol."
- Furlow

"You know this new knowledge you've got in your head?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you use it to get home?"
"Yeah."
"Let's do what we have to do here and then we'll go."
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

"You'll never guess..."
"It doesn't work?"
"Uh huh."
"How the hell can we have the only gun on the planet that doesn't work?"
"It's your fault."
"My fault?"
"Well, you know if I was here on my own it'd be working now."
"Well, I hope you got a plan, baby, 'cause I'm fresh out of ideas."
"Drive straight."
"Straight?"
"It's a plan. He has to follow our tracks. All right, you get Furlow, I'll cover your back. I love you!"
"I love you!"
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

"Run away. Be smart. Run away! ... Should have run."
- Aeryn Sun

"Crais, get down!"
"Thank you."
"It may not happen again."
- Stark, Bialar Crais

"Don't be the hero, John. Always be the one to walk away while the hero dies, that's my motto."
- Furlow

"What is your status?"
"Frelled. Mivonks-on-a-platter frelled."
- Bialar Crais, Rygel

"Ah, dammit Crais, knock it off...you're gonna make me start liking you."
- John Crichton

"So it's your life for everyone else's?"
"And you're different how?"
"I'm different because I love you."
"Then you know I have to do this. ... I'm coming back."
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

"Scarran dreadnaught. This is Captain Bialar Crais, Peacekeeper. Approach any closer, you will be engaged and destroyed."
"They must be terrified."
- Bialar Crais, Stark

"Oh, there's my flare. Mama Crichton's baby boy, makin' wormholes."
- John Crichton

"Okay, Jack, this one's for you."
- John Crichton

"I have no prayer for that."
- Stark

"Your sacrifice...does not go unnoted, Commander."
"Crais...you...find the better part of yourself. You...have to take care of them."
"I will. I hope you can believe that. ... Goodbye, Crichton."
- Bialar Crais, John Crichton

"Hey hey hey, Sparky."
"They say it's not good"
"Sparky, c'mere. My stuff...you can't have it."
"It will be hard, not to think of you."
"I'm gonna miss you, Dominar."
- John Crichton, Rygel

"I'm very angry."
"Me too."
"We had good times."
"I wouldn't change it for the world. You made me...a better person."
"That wasn't hard... I love you, so much."
"I love you."
"I would have gone to Earth."
"I'm sorry you never got to meet my dad -- my real dad, I mean. Sorry I never met your dad. I'm sorry about a lot of things."
"No. Don't be, I don't want you to go like that."
"I won't. ...Huh."
"What?"
"They say it's a lucky or an unambitious man who goes when he's ready. That said... Scorpius is gone. I'm at peace. I don't...hurt. I...I did some good things. I'm proud of my life. And I'm with you. ... Don't worry 'bout me. I've never felt better."
- Aeryn Sun, John Crichton

Comments from Cast & Crew

Anthony Simcoe, May 01, 2001

• Ka_Leo: Anthony, can you tell us how far along you are in filming season 3 and why Sci Fi is taking over a month for new episodes?

  Anthony_Simcoe: A unit starts episode 15 tomorrow. And I am finishing off episode 13 on B unit.
  Anthony_Simcoe: Because Sci-Fi started showing season 3, not long after we started, you now have to wait for our post production team to catch up before we can show any more episodes.
  Anthony_Simcoe: I think they are up to 9 so we need to wait for a bit backlog.

Richard Manning, May 02, 2001

• rainier123: So if you are on the set right now does that mean you are in costume or do you get to hang around all normal for awhile

  Ricky_Manning: I think you are confusing me with an actor.
  Ricky_Manning: (And I have never been so insulted in my life)
  Ricky_Manning: Oddly enough, I am sitting in my office at the studio, but the crew is away on location.
  Ricky_Manning: So there are no cast members here for me to annoy, or vice versa.

Farscape Wrap Day Extravaganza, July 26, 2001

• Moderator: <CraisLover> to <Moderator>: Thanks for coming tonight Claudia. What has been the most difficult scene to get through this season and why?

  ChickWithGun: [...] There is a scene i had to shoot with Ben which will be on air in two weeks time. It speaks for itself. i'm afraid to spoil it so wait and see

• Moderator: Hey, Froon, here's one everyone out there is dying to know: what's the subtitle for 315?

  FrooniumRicky: "Untitled"

  Moderator: Infinite Possibilities Part 2: Untitled?

  FrooniumRicky: Why not?

  Moderator: oooookay.

  FrooniumRicky: Doesn't the ScheduleBot have the full title?
  FrooniumRicky: Tsk

  Moderator: The ScheduleBot only supports so many characters. Much like Talyn.

• Moderator: <Xeddicus> to <Moderator>: Froon: Do you have any inkling what the fans will do to you and other such people high on the totem pole if the Crichton on Talyn get's killed? :)

  FrooniumRicky: As if there's anything we could do about it Now, if that were indeed what we were indeed doing?