Crichton Kicks
Abbreviations: CK
Alternate Titles: (none)
Wassup?
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Wassup?
My name is John Crichton. An astronaut. Three years ago, I got shot through a wormhole. I'm in a distant part of the universe, aboard this living ship of escaped prisoners...my friends. I've made enemies...powerful, dangerous. Now all I want is to find a way home, to warn Earth. Look upward -- and share -- the wonders I've seen.
Mad scientists, pirates, critters, secret formulas, shootouts, musical DRDs, mystic powers, graffiti, hitchhikers with weird hair, and of course lots of gooey stuff (although not necessarily the romantic kind): it's just another typical day in the Uncharted Territories for our favorite stranded human. Or it would be, if he had any idea where Moya and gang were, and a way to get there...
Backstory
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Reactions
Questions
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Observations
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Bloopers
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Annotations
John had taught one of Elack's DRDs -- dubbed "1812" -- the "1812 Overture in E Flat Major, Opus 49" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). The overture -- probably Tchaikovsky's best known composition, but one he wasn't at all fond of himself -- was written in 1880 as part of a consecration of the Cathedral of the Redeemer in Moscow, built to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon at Borodino in 1812.
John: "Besides, I've almost cracked 'Wormholes for Dummies'."
As noted in the annotations for "The Way We Weren't", this refers to the popular series of helpful guides on various subjects.
Sikozu: "This is a dying ship. There shouldn't be anyone on board a dying ship."
John: "Absolutely correct, Tinkerbell. Okay, my turn. Who, what, when, where, why, and how?"
Tinkerbell is the fairy companion of Peter Pan in the 1904 play PETER PAN by J.M. Barrie, as well as the novel version, originally published in 1911 as PETER AND WENDY, and the various films adapted from it, mostly notably the 1953 animated feature film from Walt Disney, and Steven Spielberg's 1991 film, HOOK.
"Who, What, When, Where, Why, and hoW" are often referred to as "The Six W's": the basic questions that all journalists are traditionally expected to ask -- and answer -- in their stories. No one seems to know the origin of The Six W's. (They are sometimes referred to as The Five W's, with "how" being left off.)
Sikozu: "Your alphabet...in order."
John: [laughs] "God, I haven't done this in a long time."
John then proceeds to sing "The Alphabet Song", the traditional ditty that children are taught in order to learn the English alphabet. The origin of the song and its tune (which is the same as that of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep") can be found at The Straight Dope.
John: "So, you...Jacques Cousteau your way upstream to where they die."
Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997) was a French oceanographer who has probably done more than anyone else to popularize exploration of Earth's oceans.
John: "Hey, man, you don't like the BAYWATCH thing, head inland."
Another reference (see the annotations for "Liars, Guns and Money, Part One: A Not So Simple Plan") to the TV series about lifeguards on the beaches of California.
Elack's Pilot: "We are old. We must accept our time is soon anyway. Perhaps in passing we can serve some purpose for others."
John: "She's Mother Teresa of the Uncharted Territories."
Mother Teresa (1910-1997 -- interestingly enough, the same birth and death years as Jacques Cousteau) is a Roman Catholic nun who from 1928 until her death was involved in missionary and charity work in India and elsewhere. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
John speaks an "alien tongue" to the Grudeks, then says to Sikozu: "You didn't get that one, did you? 'Cause it's Klingon."
Yet another reference to the warrior race from Star Trek.
John: "Sputnik, we don't work together, we die. That's all the need-to-know I need to know."
John is probably likening Sikozu's hairdo to the antennae on Sputnik, the first space satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957.
John: "We get outta here, we find someone to fix it. Before then, we gotta find a way to screw the pooch."
As noted in the annotations for "A Clockwork Nebari", the expression "screw the pooch" is a phrase used by test pilots to refer to accidents which result in destruction of the aircraft, and/or death of the pilot. Its use came into popularity with the publication of Tom Wolfe's THE RIGHT STUFF. Here, John is using it in a more literal sense of dealing with the Grudeks' Brindz Hound.
John: "You guys go find the Slaughterhouse Five. Make sure we're ready to move."
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE is the title of a 1969 SF novel by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., adapted into a movie by George Roy Hill in 1972. John is being a bit metaphoric in using the phrase to describe the Grudeks' harvesting of organic material from Leviathans.
John: [to 1812] "It's beautiful. You're Picasso."
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) is the Spaniard who's considered one of the most notable artists of the 20th Century. He's primarily known for developing the art style known as Cubism.
John: "What's the matter? You not hungry? Red Rover, Red Rover, send Cujo right over."
Red Rover is a children's game, in which one side chants "Red Rover, Red Rover, send _____ right over." The named person on the other team then has to break through the barrier formed by the first team.
Cujo is the rabid St. Bernard from the 1981 Stephen King novel -- and its 1983 film version. In the time since the novel's publication, "Cujo" has become virtually a generic name for any mad dog.
John: "All right...here's the deal. We're gonna be really, really quiet so the Pirates of the Caribbean don't hear us. Okay?"
One of the better known of the amusement park rides found at Disneyland, the Pirates of the Caribbean is obviously based on the long history of piracy in the Caribbean Sea.
John moving about in the muck, with just his eyes (and above) remaining unsubmerged is a visual reference to the finale of Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film, APOCALYPSE NOW in which Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) slips through the water in the same manner while on his way to terminate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando).
Translator Microbe Report
Brindz hound |
blood-tracking animal used by Grudeks |
Brontium |
pressurized, powers jackhammer used in toubray harvesting |
Crindars |
unit of currency (Scarran) |
Currency pledges |
Grayza offers a reward in currency pledges for the capture of our crew |
Electrostatic membrane |
in essence, a force-field that can hold atmosphere in (or out) |
Flight racer |
a type of personal ship used by Grudeks |
Freaky |
Chiana's nickname for Sikozu |
Grudeks |
species that mines Leviathans for toubray tissue |
Hydrex gland |
part of Pilot physiology: "Just boost fluid to her hydrex gland." |
Hydrogen drixoride, frozen |
substance used in toubray harvesting |
Kalish |
Sikozu's species |
Krillian-alloy ore |
processed and reduced, can be used as fuel for the Farscape 1 module |
Miss Booksmart |
Crichton's nickname for Sikozu |
Nebular pod |
a component of a flight racer |
Psycho-zoo |
Chiana's nickname for Sikozu |
Rajnot |
personal slur: "Oh, you rajnot!" |
Sputnik |
Crichton's nickname for Sikozu |
Tinkerbell |
Crichton's nickname for Sikozu |
Toubray tissue |
Leviathan neural cluster tissue, consumed in some cultures to enhance higher brain function |
Your Ladyship |
Crichton's nickname for Elack and/or her pilot |
Y'tal Cavity |
the very first neural cell, where the most prized toubray tissue is located on a Leviathan |
Quotables
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Comments from Cast & Crew
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