In the fourth episode of the fourth season of Farscape, this is an entire episode devoted to a bathroom break. BLESS THIS SHOW. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Farscape.Â
Trigger Warning: Just in case, for discussion of body fluids and general grossness.
OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS EPISODE SO MUCH. For something that felt largely unconnected to a season arc, it’s a ton of fun, it’s full of some brilliant gags and comedic timing, and, again, it’s an episode centered around the worst bathroom break of all time. Who does this? Farscape does.
Noranti
I love that I am equally irritated by and fascinated with Noranti. It’s a challenge to describe her because this show has never had a character like her. She’s all over the place! At times, she feels like a Trickster god, sowing chaos as often as possible, just to see the results. She’s a rogue variable, and her mere presence in the narrative means that PLOT TWISTS SHALL ABOUND. How much does she affect the story here, y’all? Multiple times! And she moves through it all with an uncaring grace as if it’s physically impossible for her to give a fuck about the world around her. She’s also got elements to her that remind me of actual grandmothers, except in a brilliant twist of that trope, we discover that… well, she’s not bullshitting anyone. She knows what she’s doing most of the time, even if she can’t communicate it well. She’s not lying about her herbs or their affect, and as evidenced by the bellydancing scene, she obviously can help out effectively.
What I appreciate most is how deliberately her character fits into none of the tropes that she references, nor does she fit into the established pattern of the characters who end up on Moya. It’s entirely possible that she’s on the run from something and we just don’t know what that is. She was on the Command Carrier, but beyond that, we know nothing of her past. However, despite that I was kind of irritated by her appearance in “Dog with Two Bones,” I’m coming to enjoy how openly jarring she is within the show. She just showed up, she constantly messes everything up, and then, she actually helps out. Sometimes. She’s like a perpetual ball of bad timing, though, isn’t she? She has no sense for it! She jumps out to identify herself and D’argo and Crichton while they’re hiding; she repeatedly spoils plans; she doesn’t understand that maybe you shouldn’t just give people your “restorative” medicines without access to a bathroom.
She’s not malicious, though, and by the end of “Lava’s a Many Splendored Thing,” we find out that she had every reason to believe that the pirates here were actually the Tarkans. Actually, let’s talk about them!
Tarkans!
Okay , I really like the idea that the good guys all look like Raa’Keel does. It’s a clever twist on the expectations set by the way that this episode frames Raa’Keel. When he’s first introduced, we see him rising out of a pool of lava. He’s intimidating, he’s frightening, and he’s clearly the antagonistic force here. So it was confusing when Noranti was so insistent that these were Tarkans and they were good people and everyone should just stop shooting! Because CLEARLY THAT WAS NOT THE CASE. But Noranti wasn’t wrong! Raa’Keel was a Tarkan, albeit one who had betrayed his race in order to thieve from them. And there are so many tiny details here that make me wish we could have another episode about the Tarkans. They broke a quarantine in order to save lives??? Well, shit, if they’re immune to lava, does that mean they have few weaknesses? Is that why they’re so well-equipped to be an actual peacekeeping and rescue force? Why did they choose to be “heroes” instead of use their skills to gain power? OH GOD, I WANT SO MUCH MORE.
Sikozu / Chiana
I love it when characters who either hate each other or irritate one another learn to work together IT IS SUCH A GREAT TROPE. (Oh god, who started shipping Sikozu and Chiana after this episode? I understand you immensely.) And Chiana and Sikozu often can barely stand one another, except they get to bond over D’Argo’s vomit. Nothing about that sentence is untrue. BLESS THIS SHOW FOR ALLOWING ME TO WRITE THAT. So much of Farscape involves people being forced into hellish situations and having to team together in order to find a way out of said situation, and these two fit that to a T.
“Get your own vomit,” will forever be one of the best lines ever uttered on this show, I swear.
Crichton / D’Argo
Oh my god, watching these two goobers plan out attacks and ambushes is an eternal gift. I love that they’re so comfortable with each other after three seasons that they can have conversation like they do. After one disaster after another, they’re willing to poke fun at each other’s techniques and ideas, and it makes for great comedy. While I wouldn’t say that “Lava’s a Many Splendored Thing” advances the characterization for either person very much, we do get a number of really cool moments for each of them. Like finding out that D’Argo can use his tongue as a rope! Then there’s Crichton’s heroic rescue of Rygel after Rygel is accidentally dropped in a pit of lava. Christ, what a tense scene, y’all. But I love that we’re seeing Crichton in a different place from the one he was in during the premiere of this season. Crichton has a purpose and a goal – to find Aeryn – and it’s given him a renewed energy in these stories. He rescues Rygel at great risk to himself, and it reminded me so much of Crichton in the earlier seasons of this show.
So yeah, this was a whole lot of fun. And the set was incredible! HOW DOES THIS SHOW KEEP CREATING THIS SHIT OUT OF NOWHERE WEEK AFTER WEEK. Magicians, I tell you. Magicians.
The video for “Lava’s a Many Splendored Thing” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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