Farscape: Look At the Princess, Part 1
Jun. 13th, 2007 07:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieYeah, I know I am spamming.
Having restarted my Farscape rewatch, the episode next on my list was the start of one of my favorite multi-parters, Look at the Princess trilogy of episodes.
I have one watched the first one so far, but this is going to reference them all, of course. And also the whole show, so behind the cut so as not to spoil those only partway through.
I think LATP is classic Farscape: taking the scifi trope and remaking it into something uniquely Farscapian. On the surface, the set-up is something that has been done before, not just in scifi but in adventure lit of Victorian era: our brave Earthling (or Big Game Hunter, or Aristocratic Englishman) ends up having to pretend/be the groom of local royalty. Because he is so awesomely superior and attractive, of course.
But this is Farscape, so this is not the case at all (I keep thinking of the fact that when Farscape finally decided to do the good old ‘hero must have more than one woman’ thing, they had Crichton raped. But then again, what kind of traditional scifi is so dedicated to one woman, the way John is to Aeryn?)
Here, the ‘other culture’ is far superior to the Earth one in its advancement, it’s powerful and needs no favors from anyone. Moreover, there is no ‘love’ or ‘he is so attractive’ on the part of the ‘natives.’ The reason Crichton works is, precisely, because in this world he is the genetic screw-up so he works as a mate for Katralla whose DNA has been messed with.
Nor is John someone who falls for the exotic Princess, or heroically rushes to the rescue of the kingdom out of noblesse oblige. He fights being married tooth and nail and then ‘unheroically’ surrenders to it when faced with threat of being turned over to Scorpius, and then saves everything only out of desperation and at the end, he is confronted with loss: his inability to kill Scorpius, the fact that he will never see his future child.
You know, I’ve forgotten how sharp the dialogue in Farscape is and how easily is can alternate between heart-breaking and completely funny. I keep thinking of the scene with John and D’Argo where John talks to D’Argo about hope and how “I have hope or I have nothing” etc etc and my eyes get moist, but then there is the bit of cultural misunderstanding about what ‘best man’ means and I am giggling.
D is a really good friend to John in this. They’ve come a long way since s1. Only a good friend would tolerate being constantly interrupted in his activities with Chiana (I love that John is so freaked by his future he merely registers her there and continues talking).
John needs a friend badly at LATP. He doesn’t know it, but his insanity breakdown has began for real (he tells Aeryn he hears Scorpy in his head and she shrugs it off as paranoia. It must be pretty awful for John to have the one person you fear and hate the most always present). He is trapped by the Empress (whom I loathe. I understand the necessity, but people who have no problems using other people as pawns disgust me. And the whole setup is seriously proof as to why monarchy is a bad form of government). And then there is Scorpy. I love that John’s reaction to Scorpy is purely visceral, unreasoning. He is terrified and the way he uncontrollably flashbacks to his torture is evident on his face, and he tries to jest and put bravado but it all falls hollow. He cannot control himself (I don’t think anyone else, not even Grayza, comes close to eliciting such a reaction out of him. Grayza raped his body, Scorpius raped his mind).
And now, I want to discuss my favorite stuff: John and Aeryn. I find myself both very frustrated with Aeryn through these eps (until the end of ep 3) and understanding completely where she comes from. She might deny that her wanting this marriage off is jealousy but Chiana can see it. I think in a way Crichton can too, but he needs her to give him something, anything to indicate reciprocity, that she would one day want to have something with him. The worst is when she says she won’t come to the wedding. She pushes a lot and wants a lot but tries to give nothing in return and that is very unfair. But OTOH she is terrified, being with John would be the first real relationship she would have and she cannot handle the exposure, not yet.
Her ambivalence is totally encapsulated in the first scene: she scents her hair so John would notice and tells him so later but when he does, she freaks and pulls away. He leans in for a kiss and she kisses him back but then breaks off. No wonder John is going insane. I always die a little of swoon when they discuss the hair oil and she says that she will tell Zhaan he found her oils pleasing and he responds, both frustrated and trying to convince her desperately: ‘It’s you I find pleasing. Oh boy.
She desperately needs to make it all about sex (something she is used to and familiar with). Crichton only wants her for sex, he is a walking horndog on legs etc etc, because she wants to deny any of her own feelings and any of his. But of course these eps do end up bringing them closer together.
After having seen the entirety of Farscape including PKW, I melt a little when she sees Crichton interact with the simulacrum of his child and she realizes that he would want a child, that children are important to him.
P.S. Rygel/Aeryn kiss will never cease being funny.
Having restarted my Farscape rewatch, the episode next on my list was the start of one of my favorite multi-parters, Look at the Princess trilogy of episodes.
I have one watched the first one so far, but this is going to reference them all, of course. And also the whole show, so behind the cut so as not to spoil those only partway through.
I think LATP is classic Farscape: taking the scifi trope and remaking it into something uniquely Farscapian. On the surface, the set-up is something that has been done before, not just in scifi but in adventure lit of Victorian era: our brave Earthling (or Big Game Hunter, or Aristocratic Englishman) ends up having to pretend/be the groom of local royalty. Because he is so awesomely superior and attractive, of course.
But this is Farscape, so this is not the case at all (I keep thinking of the fact that when Farscape finally decided to do the good old ‘hero must have more than one woman’ thing, they had Crichton raped. But then again, what kind of traditional scifi is so dedicated to one woman, the way John is to Aeryn?)
Here, the ‘other culture’ is far superior to the Earth one in its advancement, it’s powerful and needs no favors from anyone. Moreover, there is no ‘love’ or ‘he is so attractive’ on the part of the ‘natives.’ The reason Crichton works is, precisely, because in this world he is the genetic screw-up so he works as a mate for Katralla whose DNA has been messed with.
Nor is John someone who falls for the exotic Princess, or heroically rushes to the rescue of the kingdom out of noblesse oblige. He fights being married tooth and nail and then ‘unheroically’ surrenders to it when faced with threat of being turned over to Scorpius, and then saves everything only out of desperation and at the end, he is confronted with loss: his inability to kill Scorpius, the fact that he will never see his future child.
You know, I’ve forgotten how sharp the dialogue in Farscape is and how easily is can alternate between heart-breaking and completely funny. I keep thinking of the scene with John and D’Argo where John talks to D’Argo about hope and how “I have hope or I have nothing” etc etc and my eyes get moist, but then there is the bit of cultural misunderstanding about what ‘best man’ means and I am giggling.
D is a really good friend to John in this. They’ve come a long way since s1. Only a good friend would tolerate being constantly interrupted in his activities with Chiana (I love that John is so freaked by his future he merely registers her there and continues talking).
John needs a friend badly at LATP. He doesn’t know it, but his insanity breakdown has began for real (he tells Aeryn he hears Scorpy in his head and she shrugs it off as paranoia. It must be pretty awful for John to have the one person you fear and hate the most always present). He is trapped by the Empress (whom I loathe. I understand the necessity, but people who have no problems using other people as pawns disgust me. And the whole setup is seriously proof as to why monarchy is a bad form of government). And then there is Scorpy. I love that John’s reaction to Scorpy is purely visceral, unreasoning. He is terrified and the way he uncontrollably flashbacks to his torture is evident on his face, and he tries to jest and put bravado but it all falls hollow. He cannot control himself (I don’t think anyone else, not even Grayza, comes close to eliciting such a reaction out of him. Grayza raped his body, Scorpius raped his mind).
And now, I want to discuss my favorite stuff: John and Aeryn. I find myself both very frustrated with Aeryn through these eps (until the end of ep 3) and understanding completely where she comes from. She might deny that her wanting this marriage off is jealousy but Chiana can see it. I think in a way Crichton can too, but he needs her to give him something, anything to indicate reciprocity, that she would one day want to have something with him. The worst is when she says she won’t come to the wedding. She pushes a lot and wants a lot but tries to give nothing in return and that is very unfair. But OTOH she is terrified, being with John would be the first real relationship she would have and she cannot handle the exposure, not yet.
Her ambivalence is totally encapsulated in the first scene: she scents her hair so John would notice and tells him so later but when he does, she freaks and pulls away. He leans in for a kiss and she kisses him back but then breaks off. No wonder John is going insane. I always die a little of swoon when they discuss the hair oil and she says that she will tell Zhaan he found her oils pleasing and he responds, both frustrated and trying to convince her desperately: ‘It’s you I find pleasing. Oh boy.
She desperately needs to make it all about sex (something she is used to and familiar with). Crichton only wants her for sex, he is a walking horndog on legs etc etc, because she wants to deny any of her own feelings and any of his. But of course these eps do end up bringing them closer together.
After having seen the entirety of Farscape including PKW, I melt a little when she sees Crichton interact with the simulacrum of his child and she realizes that he would want a child, that children are important to him.
P.S. Rygel/Aeryn kiss will never cease being funny.
