Dog With Two Bones

Dog With Two Bones
Written by David Kemper
Directed by David Prowse

Original Airdate: April 26, 2002

Plot: The crew of Moya head to a sacred burial ground to lay Tayln's remains to rest. However, a rogue Leviathan refuses to allow them to succeed in their mission and attacks Moya. Meanwhile, the crew prepares to go their separate ways and Crichton experiences a series of visions on what life on Earth might be like with the crew from Moya.

Review

Warning: There are major SPOILERS just ahead for the third-season finale of Farscape, "Dog With Two Bones." Trust me on this one--you probably want to go into this one unaware of what happens. So if you've not seen it, turn back now...

In short: Once again, we frell with Crichton's brain...

Sometimes the worst thing in life that can happen to you is that you get exactly what you want.

Lost astronaut John Crichton has been struggling for three years to get back home to Earth. He's had several instances where he's been taken home and given a picture of what life would be like to come back.

But as Crichton struggled to get home, he did something he never thought he'd do--he built a life in the Uncharted Territories. He made friends, he found a niche in the universe, he built a reputation for himself, he found a woman he loved and he became the hero his father hinted he was capable of being in the pilot episode.

Which brings up the very interesting question--what if you get everything you want in life and then find out it wasn't what you really wanted, after all?

To quote John Lenon, "Life is what happens while you're making other plans."

"Dog With Two Bones" brings this dilemma to life for Cricthon. For three years the one thing he's wanted most is to go home to the friends and family he left behind. But now that he's got the chance to go, he finds himself hesitating. He doesn't want to go.

In order to deal with this, Crichton tries to imagine being the dog with two bones--combining the good elements of his life together in one happy medium. And while at first it seems wonderful--a wedding reception, marriage to the woman he loves, surrounding by his friends and family, the cracks quickly start to show. Aeryn is frustrated that she can't be understood by anyone but Crichton, his father is sleeping with Chiana, D'Argo is displaying his prowess with the women yet again. To top it all off, Aeryn is unhappy and thinking of leaving him--just before his two worlds crash in a violent manner with the Peace Keepers storming his wedding reception and killing all those who matter most to him. Just like the dog in the story, Cricthon imagines having it all only to lose it all.

If anything this year, Farscape has dealt with two possible paths that Cricthon can take. Even something as simple as the opening credits underscores this as we have Cricthon literally talking in two separate trains of thoughts. Crichton is split in two and has the chance for both of him to be happy. One embraces life in the Uncharted Territories and finally has the romantic breakthrough with Aeryn that he's always wanted while the other stayed behind, pining for Aeryn and trying to find a way back to her. One of them died while the other continues to live, seeing that the other got everything he wanted.

And we've been dealing with the fall-out of that ever since.

And, as usual, per Farscape, the ante has been upped in a huge way. Aeryn is now pregnant with the child that is--to all biological intents and purposes--his child. But it was fathered in love by a different man.

The only time we see any real sense of urgency or happiness on Cricthon's face is when he realizes that Aeryn is pregnant with (basically) his child. Instead of following her advice to make a wormhole and go home, he realizes where his place is--with Aeryn. And why she's running from him. And just as this realization hits him, the wormhole opens up and takes him away from his chance to have the happiness he so desires. Which makes Cricthon's final line of the year so hilariously funny but yet so poignant. "You've got to be kidding me!" was the absolute perfect place to leave the storyline. Because even though Crichton has made the decision to stay and is happy to do so, that doesn't mean his friends wish to remain static or will be happy to hang around on Moya with him.

Season three's finale is far more quiet and personal a one than we got last year. Yes, Crichton is in peril--he's running out of fuel and adrift in space. But it's not quite the same sense of having lost everything as we left Crichton with last year. Last year the bad guy had won, beating Crichton down to a point of sheer desperation. It was a dark hour with little light at the end of the tunnel.

There's some light at the end of the tunnel this. It's certainly more conceivable for Crichton to get out of this mess than to get out of the mess David Kemper left him in at the end of last year. And it certainly has left me intrigued by what's to come with season four.

Peppered into Crichton's personal journey and flashbacks, is the ending of one storyline. Moya takes the remains of Talon to be buried in sacred place for Leviathians. But there's a insane ship out there that wants none of it and will take violent measures to insure that its will is enforced. I have to admit that this plotline intrigued me no end. The idea of a Leviathan so driven over the edge by pain that it would kill its own pilot and attack Moya was nicely done. And to see just how much damage it could inflict was a good twist. Just because a leviathan doesn't have weapons doesn't mean it can't hurt you. I just hope that we don't see the damage done here as quickly and easily glossed over as we did the resolution to Moya's being burned last year. (Which it was a huge issue at the end of season two, but it seems as though the extent of the burns would take some time to get over and might be referenced again in season three).

Along the way, we had the plot device woman. Sorry, there's really no other way to look at her. She might as well have carried a big sign that said, "Exposition here!" She served no real purpose other than to make Crichton realize things he couldn't and wouldn't accept. And yet, the crew goes to having Harvey give Cricthon the big news. I'd far rather have seen Harvey and Crichton have yet another battle of wills to end the season as we did to start the season. Instead, we got the clone coming in at just the right time to deliver the information that Cricthon already knew.

"Dog With Two Bones" did a good job of wrapping up some things and reflecting back on season three.

We had haunting echoes of the season.

--Crichton's tearful farewell to dream Aeryn was exactly like what she said as T-John passed away.

--The idea that Aeryn and T-Crichton conceived a child in love echoes her own birth.

--Did anyone else find it interesting how cartoonish D'Argo was in the Earth sequences--such as using the Wile E. Coyote method of fishing by shooting them? I loved that little homage to Revenging Angel.

All in all, I have to admit I liked Dog with Two Bones. It started slowly--especially in the light of other season ending stories. But it did some great character stuff and I have a feeling we'll see more fall-out as season four begins in June. Kemper and company once again have me anxious for new Farscape and June 7 can't get here fast enough for me.

So, that about wraps it up for now, except a few small things...

--Nice to see someone remembers Jool can scream and melt metal. That would have come in handy escaping the PeaceKeeper cages last week. Unless they're scream proof.

--Speaking of Jool, the scene with her and Aeryn was a great one. It's nice to see she's evolving as a character--even if she's still as selfish as Rygel.

--I wish we'd go to see farewells from everyone directly with Crichton.

--Did anyone else think the wrinkled old woman would turn out to be some hallucination. I found myself thinking of the old TNG episode where a crew member suddenly appears from no where and everyone remembers them and tricks the ship into attacking an enemy outpost.

--I love the way that Chianna is stepping into Z'haan's role as the defender for Moya and Pilot.

"Dog With Two Bones" was a nice end to the season. It brought a lot of things full circle and left me ready for more in season four.

See you in a few weeks!

My rating: 9.0 (out of 10.0)

Next up: Season four--and lots of angst, I'd expect.

"You have got to be kidding me!"

--John Crichton.