A Bug's Life
Teleplay by Stephen Rae
Story by Doug Heyes, Jr.
Directed by Tony Tilse
When I first saw this episode, I caught it fifteen minutes into it. My lovely cable company (thank you Media One!) cut out our service for eight hours and kept us on hold for two hours without even letting anyone report it, so when I finally got to see Farscape, I had no idea what was going on. But I desperately wanted to see the first fifteen minutes, and I loved the first fifteen minutes when I finally got to see them! First Human Reaction, then Through the Looking Glass, now A Bug's Life... Farscape's definitely on a roll.
I loved the opening. I loved seeing John get to play Peacekeeper, and that accent... It wasn't Australian. I don't know what it was. I doubt it was even necessary. But I loved it. Ben Browder just seemed to be having so much fun with it, and it definitely showed. They just cut right to the chase at the beginning, and I love the shots of John and Aeryn getting ready. Just wonderful. Although I am wondering what exactly convinced Zhaan and Rygel and D'Argo to play prisoners...
The acting in this episode was stellar. A big round of applause to everyone involved. Ben Browder and Gigi Edgley were very convincing while playing "infested" characters. We've seen Gigi play PsychoChiana in Durka Returns, but this was just creepy! Then there was John's dead-eyed stare looking down at the Peacekeeper that he killed... And of course, Claudia Black (of course) was amazing in all her scenes, especially the ones with Larraq. The scene where Aeryn is stabbed nearly had me in tears- I knew Aeryn wasn't going to die, but the reactions from Claudia, Ben and Anthony Simcoe were just incredible.
And as much of a John/Aeryn shipper as I am, I really liked Larraq. I would even go so far as to say that if he had shown up before John and Aeryn got together, I'd like to see something between him and Aeryn- as long as she wound up with John in the end, of course. I was sorry that he died, as I was with the other Peacekeepers. We actually got to see some PK's that weren't off their rockers or out for blood. These were simply there to do their job, and they didn't make me hate them.
I also think Larraq added an interesting twist to the John and Aeryn relationship. In the last scene, Aeryn pretty much admitted that she had some kind of feelings for Larraq, which could have some severe ramifications to a new relationship- assuming that from the subtle hints from Through the Looking Glass clue us in to an actual relationship. I also like that she was honest about it, though. And I'm not so sure that Aeryn was attracted to Larraq for who he was. He was a Peacekeeper, and she told him thinks she probably would have not have told John simply because she would have to explain it all first. (We also got a little Aeryn backstory, very nice.) Here was a man she was mutually attracted to, who told her that she was wasting her talents and should have been a Special Officer, and that had to cut into her pretty deep. If any of the characters got the chance to go home, they would probably take it in a second. Aeryn finally got to at least pretend to be a PK again, with other PK's, and that had to be normal and comfortable for her. I think Larraq more represented to her the life that she could have had, rather than the man she could have had. Of course, it also has to say something that he didn't make it through the episode. But it should be interesting to see Aeryn and John work through this.
I'm liking Chiana more and more every episode. When I first saw her in Durka Returns, she annoyed me, and as much as I wanted to like her, I couldn't. It took multiple viewings of that episode, and TtLG, but she grows on you. She also earns major brownie points for that short talk she has with John about the dead Peacekeeper, and then for getting that key away from Larraq as he was escaping. It's nice to finally see her kind of earning her place aboard Moya.
We also now know that the PK's have a base in the Uncharted Territories. Why do I think this is going to play a major part in the season finale?
GRADE: A
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