While posting in the Newbie section, I decided I'd put together a summary of each of the epys from this season. I don't promise everything will be here, but at least new viewers (SciFi Channel?) and newbies can get an ideal of what the epys were about (note the first 5 epys appear to have been shown in a different order depending upon what country you viewed in). Here goes . . .
1:01: Premier.
Astro(nut) John Crichton, actually a scientist at that point but got into NASA/IASA because his dad is a famous astronaut. While testing the "Farscape 1" (his ship), he was sucked into a wormhole, and was thrown into a different area of space. When Crichton is thrown into the other area of space, he glanced off a prowler (another small ship) which was being flown by a Peacekeeper, who was killed. Crais, a Peacekeeper commander, is the brother of the killed pilot, and spends most of Season 1 going out of his way to track down Crichton at all costs in order to kill him. [Peacekeepers as keepers of the peace is about equal to Hitler being a keeper of the peace. They are born and bred as soldiers.]
Crichton was brought aboard a living ship, a "Leviathan", called Moya, where he finds D'Argo (a Luxon warrior); Zhaan (blue, priestess, formerly a very bad girl - "I've kicked more ass than you've sat on"); Rygel XVI (a muppet, but it doesn't take long to see him as the pompous former ruler of 6 billion subjects; overthrown by his brother who turned him over to the Peacekeepers to get rid of him); and Pilot, (creatures who are bonded to Leviathans for life). All but Pilot were prisoners of the Peacekeepers, who had Moya. They ran into Aeryn Sun, also a Peacekeeper, who, in epy 1, was deemed by Crais as irreversably tainted after the (very short) time she had spent with the other lifeforms aboard Moya. (Peacekeepers are pretty stuffy. The do not taint their race with other lifeforms. They breed on command to make more Peacekeepers; they are soldiers at all times). When they escaped, Aeryn (a soldier/pilot who was born on a Peacekeeper ship and knew nothing else) was now forced to go along with the "little mutiny" aboard Moya, or face being put to death by Crais.
1:02: I, ET.
In order to find a chemical to heal Moya, the crew lands on a planet where Crichton meets a mother and her son - and finds himself as the alien. The chemical Moya needs turns out to be, for this species, table salt. The epy was great in that it wasn't handled tongue in cheek. The woman John met is a scientist who is trying to keep her grant to continue her research - to prove there is life on other planets. And TPTB was not particularly interested in meeting new "neighbors."
1:03: Exodus from Genesis.
While the crew is trying to avoid a Peacekeeper scout ship ("Crais' ears and claws. Success measured by body count."), a creature, The Monarch, comes aboard to lay her young aboard Moya where it is warm. In order to protect them as they are being laid, she creates replicas of the crew. Rygel XVI becomes the crew's "sovereign," and negotiates for them.
We find out the Peacekeeper's/Sebatian's primary physical weakness is they do not have the proper gland to cool their bodies. If they become too hot, they become vulnerable, eventually entering the "Living Death": they lose long and short term memory, and eventually live on in that state ("It's the only time we kill our own out of sympathy"). Aeryn makes John promise he will kill her and not leave her alive in the Living Death. For those who like John and Aeryn together, this is sad because it becomes clear she probably couldn't exist on Earth in our heat. Aeryn is in pain, her memory was degrading, and yet, when the Peacekeeper commandoes find Moya, she remains stoic as she understands their only choice to get rid of the commandoes is to raise the temperature, which will kill her, too. At the end of the epy, she asks Crichton if he could have kept his promise, and he nods that he would have.
The juxtaposition of elements regarding Rygel were great - the crew holds so little regard for him they don't think twice about sending him alone to negotiate with The Monarch, and scaring the hezmana out of him by pounding the bulkheads (he's inside to get to The Monarch to try and negotiate). It turns out The Monarch respects him, and he does a good job for the crew (even though he complains, as always - "I had blue crud in places you don't want to know about!")
1:04: Throne for a Loss.
Rygel negotiates on behalf of the crew with a race known as the Tavleks. Deciding to look more "royal," Rygel steals one of Moya's synaptic processors, which looks like a large gem, and which he puts atop his "sceptor." All fine and good until Rygel is kidnapped, and the "gem" is needed to keep Moya in orbit. The Tavleks show up with one of their own little weapons . . . an arband that injects a drug into the user that gives him or her increased abilities: speed, strength, and AGRESSIVENESS. When a young Tavlek gets captured aboard Moya, his armband comes off when he is unconscious ("you can be disarmed without being dis-armed"). Our fearless crew, trying to save Rygel (actually the "gem"), each uses the armband which brings out the worst in all of them, except for Crighton who didn't wear it very long since the drug ran out after a few minutes.
The arguements and exclamations made in anger by each crewmember (under the influence of the armband) really showed what the characters feel this early on in the series. D'Argo still thinks of Aeryn as he does all Peacekeepers - savages, who killed his wife (we find out later she was Sebatian). This is exactly how Aeryn characterized Luxans in the Premiere. We also find out that if a Luxon is bleeding a dark color, he will die unless the blood flows more freely, at which time it turns clear.
1:05: Back, And Back and Back to the Future.
D'Argo comed to the aide of two Illanics, "cousins" whose ship is in distress. It turns out their ship is carrying a small black hole which they want to use in a war against their enemy. Crighton goes aboard their ship, comes into contact with the black hole, and starts to have visions of possible futures. The crew decides John (the lesser being in their eyes at this point) is losing his mind. We also get to see a fight among the women: leather/trained killer versus spandex/temptress.
How're we doing so far?
1:01: Premier.
Astro(nut) John Crichton, actually a scientist at that point but got into NASA/IASA because his dad is a famous astronaut. While testing the "Farscape 1" (his ship), he was sucked into a wormhole, and was thrown into a different area of space. When Crichton is thrown into the other area of space, he glanced off a prowler (another small ship) which was being flown by a Peacekeeper, who was killed. Crais, a Peacekeeper commander, is the brother of the killed pilot, and spends most of Season 1 going out of his way to track down Crichton at all costs in order to kill him. [Peacekeepers as keepers of the peace is about equal to Hitler being a keeper of the peace. They are born and bred as soldiers.]
Crichton was brought aboard a living ship, a "Leviathan", called Moya, where he finds D'Argo (a Luxon warrior); Zhaan (blue, priestess, formerly a very bad girl - "I've kicked more ass than you've sat on"); Rygel XVI (a muppet, but it doesn't take long to see him as the pompous former ruler of 6 billion subjects; overthrown by his brother who turned him over to the Peacekeepers to get rid of him); and Pilot, (creatures who are bonded to Leviathans for life). All but Pilot were prisoners of the Peacekeepers, who had Moya. They ran into Aeryn Sun, also a Peacekeeper, who, in epy 1, was deemed by Crais as irreversably tainted after the (very short) time she had spent with the other lifeforms aboard Moya. (Peacekeepers are pretty stuffy. The do not taint their race with other lifeforms. They breed on command to make more Peacekeepers; they are soldiers at all times). When they escaped, Aeryn (a soldier/pilot who was born on a Peacekeeper ship and knew nothing else) was now forced to go along with the "little mutiny" aboard Moya, or face being put to death by Crais.
1:02: I, ET.
In order to find a chemical to heal Moya, the crew lands on a planet where Crichton meets a mother and her son - and finds himself as the alien. The chemical Moya needs turns out to be, for this species, table salt. The epy was great in that it wasn't handled tongue in cheek. The woman John met is a scientist who is trying to keep her grant to continue her research - to prove there is life on other planets. And TPTB was not particularly interested in meeting new "neighbors."
1:03: Exodus from Genesis.
While the crew is trying to avoid a Peacekeeper scout ship ("Crais' ears and claws. Success measured by body count."), a creature, The Monarch, comes aboard to lay her young aboard Moya where it is warm. In order to protect them as they are being laid, she creates replicas of the crew. Rygel XVI becomes the crew's "sovereign," and negotiates for them.
We find out the Peacekeeper's/Sebatian's primary physical weakness is they do not have the proper gland to cool their bodies. If they become too hot, they become vulnerable, eventually entering the "Living Death": they lose long and short term memory, and eventually live on in that state ("It's the only time we kill our own out of sympathy"). Aeryn makes John promise he will kill her and not leave her alive in the Living Death. For those who like John and Aeryn together, this is sad because it becomes clear she probably couldn't exist on Earth in our heat. Aeryn is in pain, her memory was degrading, and yet, when the Peacekeeper commandoes find Moya, she remains stoic as she understands their only choice to get rid of the commandoes is to raise the temperature, which will kill her, too. At the end of the epy, she asks Crichton if he could have kept his promise, and he nods that he would have.
The juxtaposition of elements regarding Rygel were great - the crew holds so little regard for him they don't think twice about sending him alone to negotiate with The Monarch, and scaring the hezmana out of him by pounding the bulkheads (he's inside to get to The Monarch to try and negotiate). It turns out The Monarch respects him, and he does a good job for the crew (even though he complains, as always - "I had blue crud in places you don't want to know about!")
1:04: Throne for a Loss.
Rygel negotiates on behalf of the crew with a race known as the Tavleks. Deciding to look more "royal," Rygel steals one of Moya's synaptic processors, which looks like a large gem, and which he puts atop his "sceptor." All fine and good until Rygel is kidnapped, and the "gem" is needed to keep Moya in orbit. The Tavleks show up with one of their own little weapons . . . an arband that injects a drug into the user that gives him or her increased abilities: speed, strength, and AGRESSIVENESS. When a young Tavlek gets captured aboard Moya, his armband comes off when he is unconscious ("you can be disarmed without being dis-armed"). Our fearless crew, trying to save Rygel (actually the "gem"), each uses the armband which brings out the worst in all of them, except for Crighton who didn't wear it very long since the drug ran out after a few minutes.
The arguements and exclamations made in anger by each crewmember (under the influence of the armband) really showed what the characters feel this early on in the series. D'Argo still thinks of Aeryn as he does all Peacekeepers - savages, who killed his wife (we find out later she was Sebatian). This is exactly how Aeryn characterized Luxans in the Premiere. We also find out that if a Luxon is bleeding a dark color, he will die unless the blood flows more freely, at which time it turns clear.
1:05: Back, And Back and Back to the Future.
D'Argo comed to the aide of two Illanics, "cousins" whose ship is in distress. It turns out their ship is carrying a small black hole which they want to use in a war against their enemy. Crighton goes aboard their ship, comes into contact with the black hole, and starts to have visions of possible futures. The crew decides John (the lesser being in their eyes at this point) is losing his mind. We also get to see a fight among the women: leather/trained killer versus spandex/temptress.
How're we doing so far?
