Unrealized Realities

Unrealized Realitties
Written by David Kemper
Directed by Andrew Prowse

Original Airdate: August 23, 2002

Plot: Crichton is sucked into a wormhole and comes to rest in a strange crossroads between two realities. There he finds a stranger from another universe who wants to kill him rather than let his knowledge of wormholes be used by other aggressive species.

Review

Warning: The reality is that I am going to be giving away huge SPOILERS for the latest episode of Farscape "Unrealized Realities." If you've not yet seen the last new episode of Farscape for 2002 and want to go in unaware, I strongly suggest you turn back now. There are major SPOILERS just ahead. And trust me on this one--it's gonna be a lot more fun to not know how it all comes out...:-)

In short: Season four gets some focus.

To mangle a good quote from an old Doctor Who story, "Farscape, I take it all back."

After several weeks of loudly complaining to people that season four was lacking in focus, going no where quickly and, in general, circling the shark and getting ready to jump, suddenly the entire series comes back into focus with an episode that, quite frankly, left me wishing that it was January 2003 already.

Thank goodness new episodes of Buffy and Angel start up in the interim to help tide me over until then. (And don't get me started on just how much I'm looking forward to Firefly).

But it will be a long fall and early winter is all I have to say.

One of the big things that "Unrealized Realities" did well is that it took the time to focus on just one main character, instead of trying to be all over the board and feature everyone. I will admit that everyone got a moment or two to shine in the episode and I have a feeling there were some isolated small scenes that will prove of great interest later in the season, but the story's focus on Cricthon worked very well. Also I've got to give producer David Kemper a lot of credit for not only bringing all of season four into a bit more focus, but in bringing into focus a storyline that has been in place since the show's beginning and may be going somewhere new and totally unexpected as we round the turn into the rest of season four.

For all of season four, we've seen Cricthon trying to alter the reality he's been given. The end of season three saw Crichton having everything he thought he wanted, but not sure if that was what he really wanted it. In season four, we've seen Cricthon trying to get back to making the situation he's in the reality he wants it to be--even to the point of taking mind-altering drugs to dull the pain he feels over his and Aeryn's relationship--or lack thereof.

To suddenly find himself thrust into a place where he can choose another reality is an interesting character choice. Indeed, seeing Cricthon go back to his first days on Moya presents him with an interesting choice. Seeing him go through the motions of his first day on Moya was fun because of his attitude. He almost seemed like a fan of the show would in re-watching a certain episode for the umpteenth time. Now, D'Argo will use his tongue to knock me out, know I'll be locked in with Aeryn, etc. To go back to a simpler time about Moya--before Zhaan's death, before the complications with Aeryn, before the whole universe seems to be chasing him might seem to be an ideal alternative. Along the way, he might even consider going back to the time before he took off from Earth in the Farscape module and staying at home with the family and friends who appear in the interview segments.

But instead, Cricthon is presented with a lot of realities. Kemper did a lot of interesting things here--from the almost DVD "making of" segment like feel of the episode to the various people who commented on Cricthon's life. (Wasn't it interesting that of all the people who cropped up that his father, a figure who has been central to Crichton's interactions with the Ancients never showed up). It was interesting to hear everyone's reactions to him from Crais's "He made me a better PeaceKeeper" to the ex-girlfriends discussing his prowess in the bedroom. To see Cricthon analyzed from so many different angles was interesting.

And a lot of these realities worked on a "what if" type of level. Seeing the various actors and actresses in different characters and different make-ups all worked extremely well and provided a good deal of amusement. And the idea that Granny might be Zhaan in another dimension was just a bit too much to be believed. Honestly, I had to go back and look at some of these segments to find out who was playing who and to see how it all came together. And there just must be something about having Anthony Simcoe act like girlish because the writers seem to do this a lot. And let's face it, he is very good at it. You've got wonder how much extra budget went to this episode just for the augmenting of the Muppets and the different character make-up.

It was also interesting how much cutting between realities there was. Seeing the flashes and fast clips of the various realities--as well as the continually playing flashes of Richton's relationship with Aeryn, all lent a different feel to the episode. And all of it worked very well and established the overall tone of the show. A big thumbs up has to go to the crew who edited the show together because it all worked seamlessly.

But in the end, Cricthon is forced to make a choice--and the choice is the same one Dorothy made, to go home. It's interesting how the entire episode focused on his time on Moya but on some deep level, Cricthon really wanted to go home to Earth. Indeed, this reflects what David Kemper said at the start of season three in his on-line chats about the Essential Farscape episodes--that deep down, what Cricthon wants most in the universe is to go back to Earth. And he does in the end, choosing to end up at the exact same place he started his journey. Of course, the question now is when did he arrive--how long after his trip into the wormhole and will anyone follow him?

And it was also interesting that we may have a preview of what could be because he chose to go home with his conversation with his dad. (And that scene made me wonder--was that really his father or was that another manifestation of Harvey made to look like his dad?) The idea that the Scarrans would not only follow him to Earth but also conquer it was interesting. And I have to wonder if that might not be an incentive to bring Cricthon back to the Uncharted Territories to try and defeat them once and for all. After all, as Scorpius said last year, it's only 80 cycles to Earth.

But the thing that impressed me most about the script was the scale of it. At long last, we got some long-term answers to long-term questions. We finally found out what happened to Moya and Pilot and why they refused to talk about it. We also got some big throwbacks to last year's wormhole plotline and it even brought a new light to what could have been considered a stand-alone episode from last season with "Different Destinations." This is exactly the kind of thing that makes Farscape so unique and works so well. It also makes it rewarding to see old episodes again in a new light. Indeed, season four has been trying to do that too hard this year and it felt like it was working too hard at times. Here it all felt natural and it really worked because it was a bringing together of various things into a new focus and taking them in a new direction.

A direction I can't wait to see once season four continues in January.

But it also introduced some new plotlines for the rest of the season...

--We now have a new alliance between Scorpius and Sikozu. Interesting to see in the other reality we saw that she was still not trustworthy. I get the feeling that no matter where you are in reality, she will play one side--her own. She is going to do what is best for her.

--D'Argo now knows of Crichton's addiction. What will he do about it to help his friend? And will his new found role as captain put him in a position to make Cricthon deal with the addiction?

--Aeryn is working hard to learn English. Interesting to see where this will go.

But the big question we all have to examine is--is Crichton really home? We've seen him go home twice before--both with varying results. And how long will be happy at home? And just how is he going to get from floating in space to down on Earth?

The cliffhanger left a lot of questions out there--both those as to the immediate fate of Crichton and those that affect the long term development of the show. And it made sure that January can't come soon enough for this fan....

My rating: 10.0 (out of 10.0) (First one in a long while...)

Next up: Well, for the Farscape reviews, we're off of new episodes until January. I may try to catch up on seasons 1-3 in that time thanks to the DVD releases. As for Buffy and Angel, the new seasons are only a few weeks ago, so look for new reviews of those coming soon. And, yes, I have decided to turn the critical eye to Joss's new creation Firefly. So, it should be a busy fall. I hope to see y'all around the Net, very soon. (As for the wrap-up reviews for Buffy and Angel, I had the best of intentions on those, but once again life made other plans for me...I'm working on them and we'll see what happens).

"Oops"
--John Cricthon