"Nerve"
Airdate: January 7, 2000
Farscapees, the wait is over. The Powers That Be have finally revealed the candy they've been hiding and I am so glad to see that this episode was worth the wait. "Nerve" is the first of a four episode season finale and starts off with a bang.
Crichton (Ben Browder) discovers that the stab wound Aeryn (Claudia Black) got from intellivirus infected Larraq in "A Bug's Life" has damaged a vital nerve. To get the tissue graft that will save Sun's life, he must play Peacekeeper again. In a surprising move, Chiana (Gigi Edgely) insists on going along to the nearby Peacekeeper stronghold, Gammak base, in order to help acquire the necessary transplant materials. Once there the two meet old and new friends... and enemies...
A chief complaint is the long stretch between "A Bug's Life" and "Nerve." But the anticipation built up over five months is worth it. Other complaints include a couple predictability factors: One just knows that Moya's crew will pull together for Sun's sake. Crichton's Kirk-like disregard for the consequences of his ill thought out actions -- he leaps before he looks and presumes that his crewmates to bail his impetuous ass out -- is another gripe. And, as usual, Crichton takes the lead leaving not much screen time for Pilot, Zhaan, and the others. Even more irritatingly still is his continued use of Earth-y pop culture wisecracks that go over everyone's head.
However that's not to say there aren't some fine points in the episode.
Chiana, thanks to Gigi Edgely's talents continues to surprise us by showing an altruistic side to the Nebari waif. She's not quite the brat Zhaan proclaimed her to be; she aids Crichton, and mercifully lies to Gilina about Crichton. On the other hand don't think ever for a hot minute she's gone soft; she torches Commander Jaddio without an eye blink's worth of hesitation.
Another unexpected treat comes in the form of Crichton's old friend Gilina ("PK Tech Girl") playing the femme ex machina that saves our dude in distress. Gilina's Mary-suing made me feel sorry for her but Alyssa Jane Cook did a good job of it.
On the darker front, Scorpius, the most sinister villain in the Farscape universe since Maldis and Namtar, makes Crais pale in comparison. He's educated, disciplined, calculating and ruthless. The old question of Kafkaesque vs. cardboard villain comes up -- is Scorpius merely a loyal Peacekeeper doing his bit for ruler and nation or is he getting his bad-ass ya-yas out? The casting director made a good call picking Wayne Pygram.
Crais (Lani John Tupu) gets little screen time here, but I enjoyed his cat-eyeing-the-canary performance. He wants Crichton so much he's salivating. Although compared to Scorpius' cool calm serenely evil unruffled superiority, the revenge-rabid Crais just doesn't seem as bad as he did before.
Then there was the intriguing enigma that appeared in the form of Crichton's crazy cellmate. You can't help but wonder if the man is as insane as he seems. His seeming love of Scorpius' Aurora Chair leads one to believe that there is more to him than meets the eye.
The rest of Moya's crew turned in strong, albeit short performances. Aeryn Sun, when she wasn't near death, kicked ass. She continues on in the tradition of the few, the proud, the asswhoopers like Ripley, Vansen, and Connor. Zhaan (Virginia Hey) played doctor with usual grace and compassion and skill. D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe) shows uncharacteristic tenderness for Sun beyond the mutual warrior respect society which makes one wonder if he's experiencing flashbacks to his relationship with his late wife, also a Peacekeeper. Pilot and Moya, as usual get the shortest end of the screen time stick but they're heroes in my book giving of themselves to help Aeryn survive. And while the others do their part for their shipmate, Rygel does little more than float about and act like a grave robber or the slug who would be king in turns. He is so incredibly easy to dislike most of the time; he retains his Imperial snottiness and doesn't show much character growth... yet.
Of note was how a nice piece of continuity was effected using Crichton's torture scene in the Aurora Chair. Flashes of his memories from "A Human Reaction", "A Bug's Life", "PK Tech Girl", and "Durka Returns" allowed newcomers to catch up without the usual, long, drawn out exposition scenes that inevitably annoy loyal viewers.
Overall "Nerve" lives up to its title... Because the thing that got to my nerves the most was the line "To Be Continued".
-- Vivian E. Lee
Farscape airs at 8pm EST, Fridays on The Sci Fi Channel.
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