Farscape Rewatch: DNA Mad Scientist (1.09.)
Wiki summary: In exchange for samples of their DNA, a genetic scientist offers the Moyans star charts to reach their respective homeworlds, but his demands become too extreme when he takes one of Pilot's arms and his experiments result in Aeryn mutating into a Pilot hybrid.
This was my first indication of just how dark Farscape would get. (Not, I'd argue, grimdark. There's a difference.) Back when I first watched the episode, I kept expecting the reveal that Zhaan and D'Argo at least if not Rygel had been influenced by Nam Tar's DNA-Fu. But no, it had all been themselves. On this rewatch, what I find striking is that the episode wastes no time setting this up as a dilemma. You'd think once the demand for Pilot's arm has been made, the next twenty minutes or so would be filled by the characters argueing among themselves about this, but no. A scene later, John is already told by Aeryn that the others will go for it, then we cut to Moya where Zhaan, D'Argo and Rygel all tear at Pilot as if they were in an intergalactic remake of Lord of the Flies in what is truly, even after all these years and knowing all that's to come, one of the most horrible scenes of the show. Precisely because our otherwise sympathetic regulars are doing this (without being magically influenced to do so), and they're doing it to Pilot, one of the kindest, most sympathetic characters in the entire show.
Of course, keeping the entire show in mind I'm also aware that the series is careful not to bring John Crichton into the position where he would have to face doing something like this. I mean, Crichton at this point, still so innocent and idealistic, would never have done it. Even much more battered, jaded and ruthless Crichton several seasons later wouldn't, but: he's not put in the position to. The closest to this is in the s3 finale, when the gentle and innocent fellow scientist he's befriended discovers the secret of wormhole travel. And here, not only can John convince him in record time of the danger to the rest of the galaxy ("it's never just science!"), but the man himself volunteers for Crichton to use the torture device on him which all the way back in s1 Scorpius used on Crichton in order to get rid of that knowledge. The show doesn#t let this be John's idea, or John's decision, but it clearly wanted him to do it to bring things full circle with Scorpius, which I always felt to be a bit narratively dishonest.
Back to this episode. Aeryn taking a stand for Pilot here is fascinating, because while they had a bonding moment several episodes ago when he guided her through operating on Rygel, this is stlil a clear ethical choice. When Zhaan and D'Argo call her out with the obvious Peacekeeper argument, Aeryn retorts that Pilot is a comrade. I.e. you may do this to your enemies and prisoners, but not, in her personal code, to your comrades. Now, we will later find out Aeryn did once sell out someone who trusted her and whom she cared for in order to get something she wanted as badly as Zhaan, D'Argo and Rygel want their way home, so her stand here might be additionally motivated by anger at her past self. Or it could simply be about Pilot, and standing up with a quintessentially helpless (at least in this regard) being who has done nothing but help them so far.
The episode then takes a dive in massive body horror, and becomes also one of the rare times where Aeryn unequivably becomes the damsel in distress saved by John. Possibly because of Aeryn before and after usually being an active character doing much of the saving and fighting, I don't mind this; also, her utter helplessness at the violation of her body changing against her will makes it even more horrible and visceral. And of course, that she goes to Nam Tar in the first place despite her better judgment so she could find a home for herself says something about how isolated she still feels on Moya, and how longing for the community she grew up with despite now increasingly seeing its flaws.
That Nam Tar turns out to have been a former lab rat and his Ygor-like female assistant really the original scientist who started it all by making him more intelligent until he turned the tables and started to experiment on her and her staff is on the one hand a neat narrative twist but on the other on this rewatch felt a bit wasted to me, i.e. if we'd gotten Nam Tar's double perspective as both the scientist and the lab rat, he might have been a more dimensional character instead of an evil (though very effective and chilling) plot device. Also, John making the Mengele comparison was really on the nose; I'd have gotten the idea without that, show. (Then again, John Crichton, pop culture reference addict, would make the comparison at this point, so it's ic.) Note that Mengele never was a lab rat, either.
(BTW: in terms of 1990s sci fi tv, I can't help but thinking that Voyager did both a Mengele avatar - inevitably, it was a Cardassian occupation era doctor, albeit one only present as a hologramm reconstruction - so that the Doctor could reject him, and a Robert Oppenheimer avatar in one of the few really good Neelix episodes where Neelix isn't comic relief but basically a Japanese citizen meeting Oppenheimer a few years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Oppenheimer avatar as an example of a scientist going to far (or not, depending on your pov on scientists in war time) makes for a more interesting story if you want your scientist to be something other than Evil McEvil.)
Then again, as I said: despite the body horror going on with Aeryn, the most terrible scene to me remains not what Nam Tar does but what Zhaan, D'Argo and Rygel do To Pilot. That's the evil that stays with you.
Other than his earlier bonding scene with Aeryn mentioned above, this is also where Pilot for the first time really gets fleshed out as a character, I feel. Not so coincidentally, this is also when we see him most of the time not projected as a hologramm, which was most often the case until know, but physically present in the scene. His conversation with Crichton establishes his deep desire to travel through the stars (important a season later for the big reveal!) and the capacity for forgiveness, but his later scenes also bring out his snark and bitter sarcasm towards all three of his betrayers. Pilot is good, but he's not a saint, which makes his capacity to go on helping the gang all the more remarkable. His final scene with D'Argo, with D'Argo not apologizing but playing for him, has just the right balance.
That there's no such scene with Zhaan contributes to this being possibly the episode - in the entire show - where Zhaan comes across worst. Not just because of her willingness to sacrifice Pilot's arm - that's true for all three - but for not doing anything afterwards to make it up to him, while going as low as trying to manipulate Rygel sexually in order to get her hands on the crystal. (That the manipulation is way too obvious for Rygel not see through immediately doesn't help. Zhaan in light side mode is more clever than Zhaan at her most selfish.) Until this rewatch, though, I had never considered this episode comes right after Zhaan's encounter with Maldis and her Sith training montage, which we were meant to consider as Zhaan reconnecting with her darker impulses.
The Other Days This entry was originally posted at https://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1396348.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
This was my first indication of just how dark Farscape would get. (Not, I'd argue, grimdark. There's a difference.) Back when I first watched the episode, I kept expecting the reveal that Zhaan and D'Argo at least if not Rygel had been influenced by Nam Tar's DNA-Fu. But no, it had all been themselves. On this rewatch, what I find striking is that the episode wastes no time setting this up as a dilemma. You'd think once the demand for Pilot's arm has been made, the next twenty minutes or so would be filled by the characters argueing among themselves about this, but no. A scene later, John is already told by Aeryn that the others will go for it, then we cut to Moya where Zhaan, D'Argo and Rygel all tear at Pilot as if they were in an intergalactic remake of Lord of the Flies in what is truly, even after all these years and knowing all that's to come, one of the most horrible scenes of the show. Precisely because our otherwise sympathetic regulars are doing this (without being magically influenced to do so), and they're doing it to Pilot, one of the kindest, most sympathetic characters in the entire show.
Of course, keeping the entire show in mind I'm also aware that the series is careful not to bring John Crichton into the position where he would have to face doing something like this. I mean, Crichton at this point, still so innocent and idealistic, would never have done it. Even much more battered, jaded and ruthless Crichton several seasons later wouldn't, but: he's not put in the position to. The closest to this is in the s3 finale, when the gentle and innocent fellow scientist he's befriended discovers the secret of wormhole travel. And here, not only can John convince him in record time of the danger to the rest of the galaxy ("it's never just science!"), but the man himself volunteers for Crichton to use the torture device on him which all the way back in s1 Scorpius used on Crichton in order to get rid of that knowledge. The show doesn#t let this be John's idea, or John's decision, but it clearly wanted him to do it to bring things full circle with Scorpius, which I always felt to be a bit narratively dishonest.
Back to this episode. Aeryn taking a stand for Pilot here is fascinating, because while they had a bonding moment several episodes ago when he guided her through operating on Rygel, this is stlil a clear ethical choice. When Zhaan and D'Argo call her out with the obvious Peacekeeper argument, Aeryn retorts that Pilot is a comrade. I.e. you may do this to your enemies and prisoners, but not, in her personal code, to your comrades. Now, we will later find out Aeryn did once sell out someone who trusted her and whom she cared for in order to get something she wanted as badly as Zhaan, D'Argo and Rygel want their way home, so her stand here might be additionally motivated by anger at her past self. Or it could simply be about Pilot, and standing up with a quintessentially helpless (at least in this regard) being who has done nothing but help them so far.
The episode then takes a dive in massive body horror, and becomes also one of the rare times where Aeryn unequivably becomes the damsel in distress saved by John. Possibly because of Aeryn before and after usually being an active character doing much of the saving and fighting, I don't mind this; also, her utter helplessness at the violation of her body changing against her will makes it even more horrible and visceral. And of course, that she goes to Nam Tar in the first place despite her better judgment so she could find a home for herself says something about how isolated she still feels on Moya, and how longing for the community she grew up with despite now increasingly seeing its flaws.
That Nam Tar turns out to have been a former lab rat and his Ygor-like female assistant really the original scientist who started it all by making him more intelligent until he turned the tables and started to experiment on her and her staff is on the one hand a neat narrative twist but on the other on this rewatch felt a bit wasted to me, i.e. if we'd gotten Nam Tar's double perspective as both the scientist and the lab rat, he might have been a more dimensional character instead of an evil (though very effective and chilling) plot device. Also, John making the Mengele comparison was really on the nose; I'd have gotten the idea without that, show. (Then again, John Crichton, pop culture reference addict, would make the comparison at this point, so it's ic.) Note that Mengele never was a lab rat, either.
(BTW: in terms of 1990s sci fi tv, I can't help but thinking that Voyager did both a Mengele avatar - inevitably, it was a Cardassian occupation era doctor, albeit one only present as a hologramm reconstruction - so that the Doctor could reject him, and a Robert Oppenheimer avatar in one of the few really good Neelix episodes where Neelix isn't comic relief but basically a Japanese citizen meeting Oppenheimer a few years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Oppenheimer avatar as an example of a scientist going to far (or not, depending on your pov on scientists in war time) makes for a more interesting story if you want your scientist to be something other than Evil McEvil.)
Then again, as I said: despite the body horror going on with Aeryn, the most terrible scene to me remains not what Nam Tar does but what Zhaan, D'Argo and Rygel do To Pilot. That's the evil that stays with you.
Other than his earlier bonding scene with Aeryn mentioned above, this is also where Pilot for the first time really gets fleshed out as a character, I feel. Not so coincidentally, this is also when we see him most of the time not projected as a hologramm, which was most often the case until know, but physically present in the scene. His conversation with Crichton establishes his deep desire to travel through the stars (important a season later for the big reveal!) and the capacity for forgiveness, but his later scenes also bring out his snark and bitter sarcasm towards all three of his betrayers. Pilot is good, but he's not a saint, which makes his capacity to go on helping the gang all the more remarkable. His final scene with D'Argo, with D'Argo not apologizing but playing for him, has just the right balance.
That there's no such scene with Zhaan contributes to this being possibly the episode - in the entire show - where Zhaan comes across worst. Not just because of her willingness to sacrifice Pilot's arm - that's true for all three - but for not doing anything afterwards to make it up to him, while going as low as trying to manipulate Rygel sexually in order to get her hands on the crystal. (That the manipulation is way too obvious for Rygel not see through immediately doesn't help. Zhaan in light side mode is more clever than Zhaan at her most selfish.) Until this rewatch, though, I had never considered this episode comes right after Zhaan's encounter with Maldis and her Sith training montage, which we were meant to consider as Zhaan reconnecting with her darker impulses.
The Other Days This entry was originally posted at https://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1396348.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.