Regarding Farscape
Feb. 28th, 2004 10:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shipperxAs things in real life are stressing me out and are no fun, I cling to my fannish pleasures (note I say PLEASURES. Unfortunately, the Whedonverse is big with the pain and stingy on the pleasure. ) With that in mind I turn to the oh-so-totally-rocking Farscape.
"The Way We Weren't." What a lovely, terrible, dark, and moving episode. This is the stuff which makes me love Farscape and roll my eyes at "Joss is God" comments. Joss likes to say he's dark, but the truth is with the exception of what he does to Spike, he only plays with darkness. Looking at the Soul Quest, he doesn't do twists very well. And while he says he loves his flawed heroes, he doesn't seem to realize when he makes them flawed and unlikable. "The Way We Weren't" manages to be dark. Our heroine is . . .terrible. And yet we love her all the more because of who she is. Aeryn, I salute you.
This ep begins with a flashback to pre-series. Aeryn, officer in the Peacekeepers, executes the Moya's original pilot. The present crew of Moya find the security tape, point to Aeryn and call her murderer. Claudia Black is wonderful in the ep. She's heartbroken and ashamed but she's one damn strong woman. "I did it. It's me. There's nothing I can do to change it." And. . .there isn't. The Pilot is 3 years dead. She can't take it back. . .and it's not the worst secret that she's hiding. Chi, wonderfully points out at the truth of the matter "What have you guys been thinking all this time? She was out picking Rossliss Buds while all the other mean Peacekeepers did all the really nasty stuff?"
And, of course it's not just the crew of Moya she's speaking to but we the fans as well. The Aeryn we've known has always been structured, miliaristic, difficult -- and HONORABLE. In this ep we see that she was compromised as well, Aeryn knows it and it haunts her. When she beats the shit out of the boxing back until her knuckles are bloody and she collapses on the floor in sobs... it's gutwrenching. And then Crichton arrives and he's just so wonderful. Sitting on the floor, gathering her into his arms and saying "Talk to me." And you know she doesn't want to. She has to confess something terrible. Aeryn's past is brought into focus for us, and she's no-longer the honorable warrior but the Peacekeeper Nazi-like qualities are brought out making her complicit. They were running medical experiments on other sentient beings, but she didn't see Pilot as a person (ironic now that she is genetically linked to Pilot). In flashback, she walks by Zaahn... who we see as a prisoner on the ship, and we know that somewhere on that ship D'Argo is in chains. Aeryn knows this too. The story of how she had helped install Pilot, the shocking revelation that Pilot--to this day-- lives in constant pain because of the medical experiments. Areyn's knowlege that she had killed a sentient living, feeling creature for no reason than it was orders is awful enough, but we learn as the ep goes on that Aeryn's crime was even more twisted. She had been in love with Volorek. Volorek had been trying to convince her that she could be MORE than just a Peacekeeper/Nazi. Volorek was a rebel it turns out, working against the Peacekeepers. . .and Aeryn betrayed him. She turned him in. For. A. Promotion.
This, Mr. Whedon, is dark, and ugly. And when Crichton asks what happens the sad truth is in her eyes. What does Crichton think happened? Volorek was tortured for information and then put to death. . .and Aeryn has to live with that knowlege. And she is confessing that she did these things to the man she's falling in love with. She has to tell the man of her future how horrifically she had betrayed the man in her past. So much in the Volorek/Aeryn relationship is part of and foreshadows the Crichton/Aeryn relationship. Like Volorek, Crichton sees that Aeryn can be more. On the first day they met, he told her that directly. Maybe it was always a part of Aeryn. Maybe that was why she cares so deeply for these two men. Maybe she really would have been unable to walk away from that life, turn away from the beacon offering her a pardon if she hadn't had the experience with Volorek. Further complicating matters is Pilot's own near suicidal sense of guilt. The original Pilot wouldn't have been killed if our Pilot hadn't agreed to take the old Pilot's place. Pilot, at first displacing his own shame onto Aeryn, nearly killing her, then nearly kills himself in remorse. And Aeryn (how wonderful is she?) heading into Pilot's lair to confront him, not out of a desire to absolve herself, but of helping HIM. I love her saying to him, "Based on my actions back then, I deserve to die. If you wish to kill me, I won't stop you. But, please, spare yourself and the others."(...) Do you remember when you first came on board and Volorek stroked your cheek like this to calm you. Back then, I couldn't imagine why he would do such a thing, and now. . .now I cannot fathom NOT doint it. We've come a long way since then, Pilot. And we still have a long way to go. Take the journey...with me."
And this is what makes Farscape so damn enjoyable even after its tragic end. The characters DID take a journey. They DID grow and. . .become. They did horrible, horrible things but because they feel the shame and SHOW that they feel the shame and try to make restitution, we forgive them. This is why Kemper and O'Bannon are better fantasy/sci-fi writers than Joss
There were a lot of moments that I loved in this ep too. I loved Scorpy grabbing a gun and shooting the flowers while saying "I NEVER lose." And love Crichton though I do, I like how massively he has screwed up. He discovers that the return of Harvey the Neural Clone is because he had chosen to screw Scorp over to his death. I also have to recognize that it is Crichton who made the mistake which leads to his own "death." It is Crichton who oh-so-casually and unknowingly gives the Scarrans cause to attempt to take over earth. He sees the chis-whatever and casually notes to the Scarrans that they grow easily on his planet, his mom had had them in her back garden. It had never struck Crichton that these flowers would be something the Scarrans would go to war over. And I do love the utter logic and the immense complications of the Scarran/Sebacean arms race. I find the whole thing way too fascinating that it's a cold war between two races, both for their own charges. I also wonder if there had been a season 5 if Scorp probably was going to be further validated in his determination to bring down the Scarran empire. I loved Braca seizing command from Grayza. I loved that Grayza went all kamikaze when she realised she had maneuvered herself into an impossible position where she would be treated as a traitor if she returned to the Sebaceans so she decided to go out a "hero" (isn't this roughly the same decision Durka had made?) I loved Crichton and Aeryn kissing as the bomb because if they were going to die, they were going to die kissing. And I loved the end with Crichton so incredibly strung out, tired, and defeated. "I set off a bomb in a field of flowers"... Can you remember the old commercial? I did. And what a perfect selection for a story about two races caught in a cold war. I loved Aeryn -- so adult, so WOMAN not girl-- laying quietly listening to Crichton's angst, no silly platitudes, no empty comforting words that would be meaningless, no talking Crichton out of his pain. Just simple comfort as she stroked his hair, compassion and understanding on her face. Acceptance. Love. Boy, there's a reason I love this couple. They work and they work beautifully.
Sigh... and tomorrow night is "Bad Timing" final, tragic ep for Crichton and Aeryn (well at least until the mini-series). Theirs was a long, arduous journey that apparently ended in death. . .but it in no way felt as empty as the end of "Buffy"
"The Way We Weren't." What a lovely, terrible, dark, and moving episode. This is the stuff which makes me love Farscape and roll my eyes at "Joss is God" comments. Joss likes to say he's dark, but the truth is with the exception of what he does to Spike, he only plays with darkness. Looking at the Soul Quest, he doesn't do twists very well. And while he says he loves his flawed heroes, he doesn't seem to realize when he makes them flawed and unlikable. "The Way We Weren't" manages to be dark. Our heroine is . . .terrible. And yet we love her all the more because of who she is. Aeryn, I salute you.
This ep begins with a flashback to pre-series. Aeryn, officer in the Peacekeepers, executes the Moya's original pilot. The present crew of Moya find the security tape, point to Aeryn and call her murderer. Claudia Black is wonderful in the ep. She's heartbroken and ashamed but she's one damn strong woman. "I did it. It's me. There's nothing I can do to change it." And. . .there isn't. The Pilot is 3 years dead. She can't take it back. . .and it's not the worst secret that she's hiding. Chi, wonderfully points out at the truth of the matter "What have you guys been thinking all this time? She was out picking Rossliss Buds while all the other mean Peacekeepers did all the really nasty stuff?"
And, of course it's not just the crew of Moya she's speaking to but we the fans as well. The Aeryn we've known has always been structured, miliaristic, difficult -- and HONORABLE. In this ep we see that she was compromised as well, Aeryn knows it and it haunts her. When she beats the shit out of the boxing back until her knuckles are bloody and she collapses on the floor in sobs... it's gutwrenching. And then Crichton arrives and he's just so wonderful. Sitting on the floor, gathering her into his arms and saying "Talk to me." And you know she doesn't want to. She has to confess something terrible. Aeryn's past is brought into focus for us, and she's no-longer the honorable warrior but the Peacekeeper Nazi-like qualities are brought out making her complicit. They were running medical experiments on other sentient beings, but she didn't see Pilot as a person (ironic now that she is genetically linked to Pilot). In flashback, she walks by Zaahn... who we see as a prisoner on the ship, and we know that somewhere on that ship D'Argo is in chains. Aeryn knows this too. The story of how she had helped install Pilot, the shocking revelation that Pilot--to this day-- lives in constant pain because of the medical experiments. Areyn's knowlege that she had killed a sentient living, feeling creature for no reason than it was orders is awful enough, but we learn as the ep goes on that Aeryn's crime was even more twisted. She had been in love with Volorek. Volorek had been trying to convince her that she could be MORE than just a Peacekeeper/Nazi. Volorek was a rebel it turns out, working against the Peacekeepers. . .and Aeryn betrayed him. She turned him in. For. A. Promotion.
This, Mr. Whedon, is dark, and ugly. And when Crichton asks what happens the sad truth is in her eyes. What does Crichton think happened? Volorek was tortured for information and then put to death. . .and Aeryn has to live with that knowlege. And she is confessing that she did these things to the man she's falling in love with. She has to tell the man of her future how horrifically she had betrayed the man in her past. So much in the Volorek/Aeryn relationship is part of and foreshadows the Crichton/Aeryn relationship. Like Volorek, Crichton sees that Aeryn can be more. On the first day they met, he told her that directly. Maybe it was always a part of Aeryn. Maybe that was why she cares so deeply for these two men. Maybe she really would have been unable to walk away from that life, turn away from the beacon offering her a pardon if she hadn't had the experience with Volorek. Further complicating matters is Pilot's own near suicidal sense of guilt. The original Pilot wouldn't have been killed if our Pilot hadn't agreed to take the old Pilot's place. Pilot, at first displacing his own shame onto Aeryn, nearly killing her, then nearly kills himself in remorse. And Aeryn (how wonderful is she?) heading into Pilot's lair to confront him, not out of a desire to absolve herself, but of helping HIM. I love her saying to him, "Based on my actions back then, I deserve to die. If you wish to kill me, I won't stop you. But, please, spare yourself and the others."(...) Do you remember when you first came on board and Volorek stroked your cheek like this to calm you. Back then, I couldn't imagine why he would do such a thing, and now. . .now I cannot fathom NOT doint it. We've come a long way since then, Pilot. And we still have a long way to go. Take the journey...with me."
And this is what makes Farscape so damn enjoyable even after its tragic end. The characters DID take a journey. They DID grow and. . .become. They did horrible, horrible things but because they feel the shame and SHOW that they feel the shame and try to make restitution, we forgive them. This is why Kemper and O'Bannon are better fantasy/sci-fi writers than Joss
There were a lot of moments that I loved in this ep too. I loved Scorpy grabbing a gun and shooting the flowers while saying "I NEVER lose." And love Crichton though I do, I like how massively he has screwed up. He discovers that the return of Harvey the Neural Clone is because he had chosen to screw Scorp over to his death. I also have to recognize that it is Crichton who made the mistake which leads to his own "death." It is Crichton who oh-so-casually and unknowingly gives the Scarrans cause to attempt to take over earth. He sees the chis-whatever and casually notes to the Scarrans that they grow easily on his planet, his mom had had them in her back garden. It had never struck Crichton that these flowers would be something the Scarrans would go to war over. And I do love the utter logic and the immense complications of the Scarran/Sebacean arms race. I find the whole thing way too fascinating that it's a cold war between two races, both for their own charges. I also wonder if there had been a season 5 if Scorp probably was going to be further validated in his determination to bring down the Scarran empire. I loved Braca seizing command from Grayza. I loved that Grayza went all kamikaze when she realised she had maneuvered herself into an impossible position where she would be treated as a traitor if she returned to the Sebaceans so she decided to go out a "hero" (isn't this roughly the same decision Durka had made?) I loved Crichton and Aeryn kissing as the bomb because if they were going to die, they were going to die kissing. And I loved the end with Crichton so incredibly strung out, tired, and defeated. "I set off a bomb in a field of flowers"... Can you remember the old commercial? I did. And what a perfect selection for a story about two races caught in a cold war. I loved Aeryn -- so adult, so WOMAN not girl-- laying quietly listening to Crichton's angst, no silly platitudes, no empty comforting words that would be meaningless, no talking Crichton out of his pain. Just simple comfort as she stroked his hair, compassion and understanding on her face. Acceptance. Love. Boy, there's a reason I love this couple. They work and they work beautifully.
Sigh... and tomorrow night is "Bad Timing" final, tragic ep for Crichton and Aeryn (well at least until the mini-series). Theirs was a long, arduous journey that apparently ended in death. . .but it in no way felt as empty as the end of "Buffy"
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Date: 2004-02-29 06:25 am (UTC)No it's not. Those evil programmers at SciFi have decided to make us wait 'til March 14th. Grrrr. I'll be in NM by then and on my way down to Las Cruces to see my parents, so I've put up with their laughter and asked my dad to tape it for me so I don't have to wait 'til I get home the next weekend to see it.
Meanwhile... Total word to everything you said. I cried when I saw "The Way We Weren't" the first time, because both Aeryn and Pilot have such guilt and pain that they'll always have to live with, though I think when Pilot disconnects himself and says in almost awe that there's no pain, I think he's disconnecting from his emotional pain to an extent, too. And Aeryn, though she can't fix the horror of what she did to Valorek, at least gains and grows from it, so that when John asks, "And you say you love this man?" she can honestly answer yes. And that's not (imo, anyway) only because of John himself, but because she's learned from everything in her past and become the "more" Valorek first told her she could be. John is like her second chance, but not in any way that undercuts who he is and what she feels for him, but in the gift-like opportunity he offers her to love and grow.
And as for "La Bomba"? That final scene, of John and Aeryn clinging to each other's hands as he cries for what he did (even though he had no choice and of course knows that), now that's love. And they're not just a man and a woman but two heroes, heroes who haven't had it easy but at last find some respite in each other. *sniff*