Farscape
"Look At The Princess, Part 1: A Kiss Is But A Kiss"

Airdate: July 21, 2000

Oh hezmana. It just isn't fair what Crichton in leather does to me.

Visiting a planet -- which just happens to be filled with Sebaceans who fled Peacekeeper tyranny -- during its coronation, John is discovered to be genetically compatible with the princess who will ascend to the throne. Her DNA, having been poisoned by her ambitious brother, with the help of the Scarran ambassador, has left her unable to produce a child with any man on her planet. Custom demands that she be married and able to bear children with her husband before her upcoming birthday, lest she lose her chance at the throne.

John, being the good guy that he is, and being that he is obviously in love with Aeryn, tries to deny the honor of being Regent, only there are more than a couple of things standing in his way. The first is that the Empress, Princess Katralla's mother, is quite competent at arranging shotgun weddings. She threatens to turn John over to the recently arrived Scorpius if he doesn't get to the church on time. Accustomed to being caught between a rock and a hard place, you'd think that John would simply tell her to go to frell herself and escape aboard Moya with his friends and reluctant lady-love, Aeryn. Only John's never been the same after his stint in Scorpius' Aurora Chair and Moya has suddenly gone missing.

Unbeknownst to the crew, Moya, Pilot, and Zhaan fled the system in hopes that Scorpius would attempt to pursue. Their plan was to trick him into thinking that everyone was onboard instead of on planet. Only it didn't work and before they can return, Moya is called by her creators to answer for her life.

Who cares if this has nothing to do with the episode?

Once again, used to being left with next to nothing in terms of an escape plan, one would think that John would still be reluctant to be used as a Royal sperm donor. And he would have turned him down. If not for the hard headed stubbornness of one Aeryn Sun. Don't get me wrong, I love Aeryn. As our illustrious webmaster put it, "Aeryn Sun is my hero. She gets to kick ass and shag John Crichton." Truer words were never spoken. However, unlike us, Aeryn doesn't quite see it that way. Trained for battle and not for romance with an "enlightened good ol boy" (Thanks for the term, Carrie!), she sees her burgeoning feelings for Crichton as a liability and puts the brakes on any kind of relationship. Even when he confronts her, begging with his eyes in a pathetically appealing wounded puppy dog way that I personally can't resist (see: Rodney Rowland as Cooper Hawkes in Space: Above and Beyond), she won't give him the one thing that he needs more than anything else: even a hint that she returns his feelings for her. If not for her own fears, John would have certainly told the Empress and Scorpius to eat dren and die. But then that would have been the end of the conflict and episode and we can't have that now, can we?

And so, John, feeling alone and without hope, agrees to marry the princess even as forces around him seek to destroy the Empress' well laid out plans. It's funny how they all involve hurting him, eh?

I don't think there are words descriptive enough to express how much I enjoyed this episode. Court intrigue, relationship issues, that scary-ass Scorpius dude being out bad-assed by the Scarran ambassador, John and Aeryn engaging in some schmenking, Chiana and D'Argo engaging in some shagging that is continually being interrupted by an oblivious John, the same couple conducting their own personal mosh pit in a club, and even Rygel coming into his own amid fellow royals, "A Kiss Is But A Kiss" has it all. The acting was solid, the continuity from all the way back to "Nerve" was in full effect, and we got to see lots and lots of angsty Crichton.

God help me, but I love it when Ben Browder gets all vulnerable.

-- Linda M. Najera

Farscape airs at 9pm EST, Fridays on The Sci Fi Channel.

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