SPOILERS FROM FARSCAPEWORLD.COM
Friday, 31st January 2003 @ 8pm - New Episode!
"Mental as Anything"
Scorpius takes Crichton, D'Argo and Rygel into an advanced training camp where students learn mental discipline. D'Argo is confronted with the arrival of Macton (Blair Venn), the Peacekeeper who murdered his wife, Lo'Laan (Rachel Gordon), then framed him for the crime. When Scorpius forces Crichton into torturous anti-Scarran training, D'Argo must face the demons from his past ... alone.
This was a nice episode. When it started I wasn’t convinced I’d enjoy it but it got better as it went along.
Aeryn and John talk about how she has brought him a TV as a Christmas present. Presumably she’s also bought a video and lots of tapes/DVDs, as I doubt they’ll pick up a signal from Earth at that distance!
With D’Argo and Chiana asking where John and Aeryn are, isn’t it only a matter of time before Scorpius realises that they’re on to him and are talking with comms off?
I wonder if Claudia objected to having to get all made up and dressed for just a cameo appearance?
I did wonder whether we were going to find that D’Argo really did kill Lo’Laan in a fit of hyper-rage. Farscape has the courage to do such a thing and so I had no confidence that there would be a happy ending – and when it looked as if Lo’Laan had killed herself I was appalled but approved of the way the story was progressing. However, it was a nice touch that D’Argo realised that the only reason she could not have killed herself was because she would never have abandoned her son.
The only irritating part of the episode was that once again in an area of space that’s supposed to be huge, all the right people are oh-so-conveniently in the same place at the same time.
I'm still not sure what to make of this ep myself. I found it quite average really...*shrugs*
Spottedkitty: I almost have to agree - the point of this ep seemed more along the lines of exposition (let's set some things up for later) than a story-advancer in and of itself. I don't know if it was because "Master Jedi" (I love using Crichton's nicknames for people) was killed early, but I would think anti-Scarran training would involve a lot more than locking Crichton in isolation and dropping keys to the lock onto burning coals/rocks at random times.
Nice touch by the writers, though, having Crichton whistle the theme to Bridge Over the River Kwai as he's locked in the cell. I love these subtleties, that they don't beat you over the head with but say, "if you know classic cinema/sci-fi/literature/whatever, you'll get this reference..."
Pardon my ignorance, but is this the first mention of hyper-rage? Have we seen D'argo "freak out" before ("le freak/c'est chic")?
I don’t recall him ever going into hyper-rage but it has been mentioned. I remember Zhaan saying that when she was imprisoned on Moya she heard that there was a Luxan aboard and hoping that he’d get free and kill her in a fit of hyper-rage. Someone with a better memory than me will be able to say which episode that conversation took place in.
Dargo went into hyper-rage in that first season episode with the planet full of brainwashed people. The one where John keeps eating the worm and throwing up.
Why didn't D'Argo have his old makeup in the flashbacks?
Perhaps he was only pale in the first season because he'd been locked up inside for so long...