Farscape
"My Three Crichtons"

Airdate: July 14, 2000

An alien space probe on a scientific mission invades Moya, causing some unexpected side effects for Crichton (Ben Browder) and his crew mates. Namely three men named Crichton. A body could get heart palpitations over such an event.

Mmmm... leather.

Or maybe not.

I had been waiting for something like this since Moya's split-up in season one's "Through the Looking Glass", wondering who was going to get The Whammy. The Arrow of Outrageous Fortune tags our favorite Earthman on the behind this time and we get to see The Three Faces of Crichton: The Original J'ster, the caveman version whom I'll call Atavus-Crichton; and the superevolved version whom I'll call Cerebro-Crichton. I can't imagine even running into a twin much less my Dark Thirds up close and personal. A hairy but lovable knuckledragger and a glacial, self-serving cranium on legs would turn my head on its axis, so I have to either admire or wonder about John for his grace under pressure.

One of the things that I liked about "My Three Crichtons" was the astute costuming choices. Atavus-Crichton picks the Yellow Spaceman Suit that Crichton wore in the beginning of the series reflecting the naive goodness and some of the vulnerability of the Original, and Cerebro-Crichton dons the primal colors of Peacekeeper command reflecting calculated instinct. I could be imagining things, but Cerebro-Crichton's eyes seem bluer than usual. They were definitely not John's sublime Carolina blue, but rather the kind of blue that highlights surgical lasers. Tres creepy. Being somewhere in the middle, John wears the duller Peacekeeper uniform he's been wearing since encountering Larraq in "A Bug's Life" reflecting his growing dual nature.

Some characterization speed bumps took away from the episode; like Aeryn Sun shooting at something without provocation. What's more, since when does she do anything just because Crichton says so? Officer Sun could at least act as if she can think for herself. I liked her better when she butted heads with Crichton all the time. Another detrimental factor was the lack of quality interaction between the crew members and the Three Crichtons. It would have been nice to see Zhaan or D'argo get to know Atavus-Crichton much like Chiana connected with Mr. Atavus.

At the end I knew that someone was going back in the green blob and I knew that someone wasn't going to be the Original Crichton. Frustratingly or thankfully, the story doesn't really make it clear that someone is going to die. We may yet see the crew encounter Atavus-Crichton or Cerebro-Crichton in a future episode.

"My Three Crichtons" evoked the Star Trek: The Original Series episode where Kirk is split in two by the transporter, and for a minute it seemed like this episode would end the same way. It didn't. Thanks to the predictable ending though, and the overused doppelganger theme, "My Three Crichtons" fell flat, an experience much like going to a diner after jonesing for key lime pie for days only to get something that looks like key lime pie but actually tastes like... a lemon.

-- Vivian E. Lee

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

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