Durka Returns
Written by Grant McAloon
Directed by Tony Tilse
It took me a while to find an appreciation for this episode. I'd only seen one other episode up to this point and still knew that this was not one of the shining points in this show.
First off, was I the only one that practically got motion sickness from the camera work here? Even when the characters are quietly talking, the camera's moving from side to side... It's enough to make a person seasick. Ug.
And we get our new crew member, Chiana, who the Farscape-shippers list has not-so-affectionately named the Chia Pet. I have to give credit to Gigi Edgley. She's pretty good. Watch the way she can go from pleading and sympathetic to absolutely psycho. But I don't like the character. Zhaan's right, she's a bret. (She said "bret." B-R-E-T. Someone back me up on this!)
And if they're throwing her in there to be a bump in the road for John and Aeryn, good luck. I don't see much chemistry between John and Chiana, and I don't see a purpose to her. As a recurring character I might even like her. But some real work needs to be done on the character if she's staying aboard Moya.
One of the good points is what you get out of the Nebari culture, a society ruled by mind control and conformity. The way Salis moves and talks, the complete lack of emotion... Imagine an entire society like that. Tell me that's not creepy. I can see why Chiana wants so badly to get away from that. And when you take into account that the Nebari were able to take out a Peacekeeper ship and kill its crew, and you're dealing with some dangerous beings. Just look at what they did to Durka.
And of course I have to talk about Durka (who I'm sure missed his calling as a barber). I'm obligated. As a bad guy, he's pretty cool. He's completely unhinged, which makes for a fun villain, even if there is already one crazed madman chasing after them.
And this is the episode where I started to like Rygel. I heard this was a Rygel episode and at first groaned, but decided to watch anyway (I can't *not* watch). By the time he was giving the speech to Durka that more or less saved Aeryn, I was cheering the little guy on. Now I say, more Rygel!
One thing I have a problem with is the underuse of Zhaan. I know Virginia Hey has a lot more talent than they're letting her show off lately. Hopefully the writers will fix this soon, right? Right?
THE BIG QUESTION:
Who dun it?
I don't know. I'm leaning towards Chiana. She had a good enough reason to kill Salis. And she definitely had the opportunity. When Aeryn accused Durka of killing him, he probably would have gloated if he'd done it. But when John asks Chiana where she was when Salis was murdured, at first she looks hurt, then just smiles, and that's kinda creepy. It could mean that she's sorry she did it, or sorry that John found out. So I have no idea for sure. Come to your own conclusion until the writers shove the answer down our throats.
GRADE: C
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