1.08: That Old Black Magic

[Texane]

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An evil sorcerer, Muldis, brings Crighton and the Peacekeeper Crais together for a showdown.

Zhaan's powers are tested, and the crew almost gets put into the mirror permanently.

 

[Texane]

Zhaan was particularly good in this episode. Her point was well taken: who do we fear most, others or ourselves?

 

[Texane]

O.k., admittedly this isn't one of my favorite epys, but did y'all have to leave me here ALONE!

:crying:

 

[pkgrl]

Don't cry, Tex. It takes even me a while to get to all the threads...

It took me a couple viewings to really like this eppy. I think I didn't like the look of things at first. Maldis' other incarnations were quite entertaining, though, and I loved his 'goth' fashion statement.

He also gave us some info about John that we otherwise wouldn't have gotten (in order to convince him that he could help) and it was a dirty, rotten trick, but that's what you gotta expect from vampires. So, John's mom's maiden name was MacDougal, he lost his virginity to Karen Shaw in the back of a four-by, and he skipped the third grade. {I find that last detail siginificant not only because it shows us that John was always smart, but age 8 is about the time we here in the US test IQ for the first time... so was John skipped up because of that or because of grade performance?} Hmmmmm

I like the tag (as usual)... the misunderstandings between Aeryn and Zhaan, and how well D'Argo understands them both. Then there's the whole "Zhaan messes with John" thing again. Since the beginning, John hasn't been able to fully comprehend everything Zhaan can do. From the "cheek kiss" in Premiere, she's been able to mess with him with the barest touch. And he still doesn't get it!

I liked D'Argo's answer to Zhaan's dilemma... which evil should she allow. The one that is already loose? Or unleash another to stop it? "I would chose the lesser evil."

Don't you wish it was always that easy?

 

[Texane]

Sometimes JC is just a . . . well . . . male.

 

[Mysterious Stranger]

I really don't like this episode. Maldis is a horrible villain and the story is pretty weak. The only redeemable moments are Zhaan's fall back to darkness and Crais becoming more obsessive about killing Crichton. Other than that, a some bodily fluid from Rygel (cuz it's always fun when Muppets sneeze and stuff comes out) this episode was mostly filler. It could have truly been about Zhaan and dealing with her past, but that was overshadowed by the Crichton/Crais fight scenes.

I usually come out of an episode thinking what could have been better, but most of the time the good stuff outweighs the not so good. This episode is the exception that proves the rule. There was so much potential here and I think it got lost in trying to do too much in one episode. This should have been split into two episodes - one dealing with Zhaan's past and one with Crais. But a bad episode of Farscape is better than most anything else on TV right now.

 

[pkgrl]

Guess I didn't think it was as weak as you did, MS. I liked that John got a chance to try to reason with Crais, only to come to the conclusion (after much manipulation) that Crais is an "animal". I also liked getting that backstory of Crais' with his dad and bro, so we better understand why he's so obsessed with revenge against John.

I think Maldis is a good baddie, too. He can exist in corporeal and non-corporeal realms, making him a double threat. He can harm YOU and your mind at the same time or one at a time. I never considered Zhaan having mystic powers either, until this ep. Sure, I knew she could do strange things through touch (the "ear kiss", for example) but it never occurred to me that she was even more powerful than that.

I like that the show reveals things like this to us slowly. One bit here, another there, then something else like it from another character.... It's all quite intriguing. And fun.

I also liked how different Maldis is from every other baddie we've met. The jester, the old man, his true self-image... he's got quite a bag of tricks. And his ability to see right into the minds of others. Nothing is secret from him. But for some reason, he's bound to this planet... he's waiting for Crais' ship so he can take it. Why? He's obviously not omnipotant, or he'd just will himself onto Crais' command carrier and take over the entire crew. He can reach out to Crais and bring his essence (his soul?) to the planet, but has to wait for the carrier to come to him before he can take control. This is an interesting detail that I'd like to see explored further.

I don't like Maldis as a person, of course, but as a character that drives the story forward, he's great! BTW, I hate EVERYONE who hurts John for no reason. :angryfire SACCers UNITE!!!

 

[Texane]

well it's three years since my last post, and I still don't like this epy! :dead: