In the seventh episode of the fourth season of Farscape, a seemingly harmless game forces Crichton to examine his relationship with Aeryn.
Trigger Warning: For talk of body horror.
I love this episode so, so much. And I love that it matters, that the story told here means something to Crichton. It is not just a disposable episode or filler or silly for the sake of silliness. Crichton’s wacky and absurdist journey through the landscape of his mind and his past is relevant to what just happened in the last episode! I still think that Crichton needs to be a little more sympathetic towards Aeryn. This story felt like a bridge in their development, given that the entire conflict was rooted in the most important war he’s currently fighting: the one in his heart.
But good god, this is such a fun and bizarre journey to that point. In perfect Farscape fashion, the writers take a concept – Crichton and Chiana get stuck in a video game – a billion times further than anyone else would. Just in terms of logistics, it’s a chance to put all these characters into roles that are hilarious and act as commentary, and I will never, ever, ever get over most of this. Aeryn’s accent? The ogre? Jool with beans for intestines? Harvey as the Butler? D’Argo as part of a Hansel & Gretel nightmare? IT’S ALL TOO MUCH. But it has to be. It has to be utterly ridiculous because it’s Stark’s version of Crichton’s mind. Jesus, that is so disturbing, isn’t it? Stark sold the other Crichton’s memories to construct this game. (Which does confuse me a bit. Did he design the game or not? Did he sell the game or Crichton’s memories? The whole endgame of “John Quixote” seriously suggests that this entire game is Stark’s design. Hmmm.) And so Crichton and Chiana get to experience a seriously warped version of their friends, their past, and their conflicts.
I admit that it’s a bit of a challenge to write about this episode. Part of me doesn’t want to just point out all the weird things and say, “Look at this weird thing!” That’s not really all that rewarding. But I had this whole narrative unfolding in my head that I was prepared to write about because I bought the misdirect. HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER, Y’ALL. And that makes this a little difficult to talk about because much of it didn’t actually happen. Chiana and Crichton don’t escape the game until the final few minutes of this episode. But I don’t think that this makes this journey meaningless by any means. Yes, it’s a lot of fun to see this show thrown into a blender as if David Lynch decided to take a spin as the writer of Farscape. Everyone is in a new role, there’s a lot of irony, and it’s jarring and confusing. But why do these characters manifest in this way? How much of this works as a commentary on the path up to this point?
It’s fascinating to me that the video game initially casts Aeryn in a role that’s in direct contradiction to her role in the series. Aeryn has never been the damsel in distress, and I’d even go so far as to suggest that this is an intentional thing on the part of the writers. Aeryn’s characterization deliberately subverts a number of stereotypes and tropes associated with women in science fiction narratives, and so it’s ironic that she’s cast into this sexist nightmare. She doesn’t fight for herself, she’s purposely objectified, she has none of her ingenuity or drive, and she fits the video game princess trope down to a T. (Oh my god, I could not get the idea that she was meant to be Princess Peach out of my head. ENJOY THAT THOUGHT, Y’ALL.)
So what does it mean for Crichton to fight for the princess, only to find out that’s not really who she is? I think this episode is both dense and ambiguous enough that you could read a lot of things into this. I like the idea that this is a subversive way of reminding Crichton that Aeryn is not a princess to be saved, that he needs to discard this idea that he has to rescue her from herself or her choices. Prior to the big kiss, the game puts Crichton into a situation where he has to question Aeryn’s loyalties. Is she on Scorpius’s side or is she being controlled? So, while I admit that I am projecting my own desires onto this story, I think this episode gives Crichton a chance to reflect on what he wants from Aeryn. (This is bugging me a bit because there’s a point where Crichton realizes that Noranti and Sikozu are not in the game, which validates the idea that Stark used Crichton’s memories prior to his departure from the crew on Talyn to construct this game. So how did this scene end up happening? Stark couldn’t have known about Scorpius being on Moya, and Crichton uses Sikozu’s name at one point, and the “game” D’Argo responds without a beat or any hesitation. Is there an aspect of the game that does read a person’s mind, or am I meant to just assume that this is all part of the unquestionably strange world of this video game?)
Whatever your take is on this plot, I felt a lot more certain about the use of the real Princess in the game. Shit, how many times had Stark said that this was his world and his creation? If that’s the case, then Aeryn never would have been the princess. It had to be Zhaan. So he hid her away within the shell of another version of her, one that was crude and brutal and contained no semblances of her personality. (What a clever misdirect, y’all.) And what she says to Crichton is SO IMPORTANT: Do not waste the deaths before him. Don’t waste sacrifices. Don’t waste what has come before. Crichton needs to figure out what he wants before it’s too late.
That’s not an easy thing, admittedly, and after escaping the game, Crichton clearly hasn’t figured out what he wants. He doesn’t know whether to take the substance Noranti gave him that would help him forget Aeryn for a while, but he also doesn’t choose to have a conversation with Aeryn either. He ignores her, and to me, that’s a sign that he still hasn’t made his mind up. So what’s next for him? What else does he want or need from Aeryn? I still believe he needs to just sit down with her and have a heart-to-heart conversation because this whole moping thing isn’t working out for either of them. Come on, Crichton! Do something!
The video for “John Quixote” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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