In the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of Farscape, Chiana’s sense of empathy gets the crew in trouble when she takes a passenger on board who is not who they think she is. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Farscape.
Trigger Warning: For body horror, arachnophobia, queerbaiting, and talk of race/representation.
Let me say this before I get to two tiny nitpicks first: I really liked this episode. It’s a terrifying bottle episode that relies on recent characterization to make us squirm and shout at the screen, and the plot flew by. I could not believe how quickly that 45-minute mark came up on me. It was such a breathless experience that I quietly wondered if this was shorter than most Farscape episodes, but nope. JUST COMPLETELY HORRIFYING.
There’s just two things that sort of… well, they rubbed me the wrong way. Not gamechangers, not breaking points, just things I’d like from the show at this point. We’re four seasons into a show that purports to show the diversity of life in the galaxy, and yet there is not a single canon example of any sexuality aside from heterosexuality. It’s just weird at this point. And while I do totally regret saying I ship Chiana and Telikaa (I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT SHE WAS, OH MY GOD, I HAD NO IDEA), I do feel a bit cheated by this episode. It could have been so easy to confirm Chiana as bisexual or pansexual, but instead, the show teases us with the idea all as a clue towards Telikaa’s true nature. At best, I can have a headcanon, and that’s it.
On top of that, I think it’s a little unfortunate that the show has finally cast a woman of color in a role that’s more than just a few lines onscreen, and then she’s oversexualized and an unsympathetic villain all at once. That’s not to ignore Paula Arundell’s great performance, nor is it meant to suggest that women of color shouldn’t be cast in roles like this. But I’ve come to accept that Farscape is a fairly white show in terms of casting. When one of the few non-white actors in this show’s history appears in a significant role, it means that any of the tropes usually applied to their characters are all the more obvious and grating.
At the same time, I appreciate that Telikaa is such a brutal character. (Which does confuse me. Did the traders know what she was? Did they trade her to the Moya crew on purpose? I had a headcanon explanation for this: They realized Rygel cheated them almost immediately, so as punishment, they cheated Rygel in return and sold Telikaa to them. Of course, this isn’t the best headcanon because if they knew what she was, why would they give her up before finding the energy orbs?) She has to be within this story for it to come across as urgently as it does. That sense of remorseless violence pervades “Twice Shy.” She attacks these characters with no hesitation, and she doesn’t care that she’s destroying them. They’re food, she needs to survive, and that’s how she views the world.
It’s through this that the writers can explore what it would be like if each of Moya’s crew had their personalities altered in significant ways. Initially, that’s through exaggeration; Telikaa’s poison infects them in a way that causes their most prominent trait to spill out, so D’Argo is quicker to anger. Chiana’s sex drive is out of control. Aeryn’s Peacekeeper training kicks in and she closes herself off to Crichton. Crichton is… deliriously positive??? It’s kind of cute! But once Telikaa is able to feed, she removes that trait, and all of these characters become almost unrecognizable. Aeryn lacks focus, Rygel is altruistic, D’Argo is calm and peaceful, AND EVERYTHING IS SO WEIRD.
But holy shit, Scorpius. Amidst this cat-and-mouse game (which this show has had a lot of, admittedly, but goddamn, this one was so scary), we get to see Scorpius’s Scarran side come through. AND IT’S SO UNCOMFORTABLE. Obviously, Scorpius values his Sebacean side over his Scarran one, and we know he’s worked his whole life to make sure he opposes the Scarrans in every way imaginable. So it’s both embarrassing frightening that he has to show this part of his nature to Sikozu. And how about that relationship, y’all? I’m so fascinated by it! I suppose it’s also worth stating that it’s so surreal that Scorpius is now free to roam Moya and no one is bothered by it. (Sort of. WE’LL GET TO THAT.) I can barely remember a time when Scorpius was… well, the guy who tortured people with the Aurora Chair. That seems like eons ago!
I think I also need to state that Noranti is INCREDIBLE here. The narrative makes it easy to assume she’s just a background character or that she’s here for comic relief. But here, she’s the sole force to inspire Crichton to fight for Aeryn after the Wolaxian arachnid steals his will to fight and live. It’s fascinating to me because she’s the same person who gave Crichton the root to help him forget Aeryn, but now she’s encouraging him to refuse to give up. Why the change? For survival, sure, but Noranti seems to want the best for Crichton, even if she’s misguided at times. So I wonder if she regrets what she’s done or if she’s merely altered her perception.
It’s hard to tell, and all of the Aeryn/Crichton development in this episode is incredibly complex. The two cannot seem to agree on anything, obviously, and Aeryn is justifiably furious that while she’s been trying to find a way to work things out with Crichton, he’s been busy trying to forget her. But narrowing this down to a single motivation or explanation is dangerously reductive; the show makes it clear that these characters are dealing with four years of angst and mistakes and drama and IT’S ALL SO DEEPLY COMPLICATED. It’s also not lost on me that I’ve been begging Aeryn and Crichton to please sit down and have a conversation, and “Twice Shy” finally reveals why they can’t do that: SCORPIUS HAS BEEN SPYING ON THE TWO OF THEM THIS ENTIRE TIME.
I don’t know when Crichton suspected this; I’m sure he knew that Aeryn was the key to his destruction, but couldn’t he have written this down? Told her earlier? Prevented a whole lot of angst and anger? DONE ANYTHING TO LET HER KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING? I don’t exactly understand the timeline, but guess what? Crichton and Aeryn kissed and she smiled and IT LOOKS LIKE THEY ACTUALLYÂ ARE GOING TO FINE. So I accept this plot development, explanations be damned.
The video for “Twice Shy” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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