Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Enemy Of My Enemy Is...
By Couch Baron | Season 1 | Episode 15 | Aired on 08.12.1999
...and then she's telling Durka, who's in the middle of his repairs, that she studied all his achievements at Peacekeeper training, and recounts a couple of them with that "Durka, EEEEE!" voice and expression to which I alluded earlier. At least her smile muscles finally have something to do. But not for very long, as Durka informs her that Rygel's speculation about how he survived was correct, and if they ever make a gag version of this episode, this will be the chance for the Foley guys to match up their loudest glass breaking with the expression on Aeryn's face as she asks, "You deserted your ship?" Durka replies that he's done far worse in his time. Like breaking poor Aeryn's heart, here.
Crichton taps on Chiana's cell door with a tray of food cubes. She's grateful, and as she takes a few bites made a lot more awkward by that fact that her hands are still shackled, she explains that she doesn't respect authority, and she left the "half-dead sanctimoniousness of her planet the first chance [she] got." In addition, she stole food when she was hungry and defended herself when necessary. Chiana's starting to sound like the Jean Valjean of her world here, and I have to admit that this isn't the first thing that's made me think that Farscape was ripe for a musical episode. Crichton asks if she ever killed anyone, to which she answers negatively, and says that she's regarded as so dangerous because on her planet, "you conform," and you don't do the things she did. Crichton has the good grace not to lick his lips here. Chiana emotionally adds that now she'll be undergoing the same treatment as Durka -- "mental cleansing into an obedient zombie." Crichton is surprised that they'll inflict that punishment on their own kind, but Chiana echoes what Salis told Zhaan and D'Argo when she says they think they're doing their victims a favor. She starts to freak out, banging her body against the door as she says she'd rather die than undergo the treatment. Crichton rushes in and holds Chiana, and she begs him not to let them take her. After a moment, he asks if she's all right, and she smiles. That doesn't seem incongruous, given that she's in Crichton's arms, but she does look a bit shiftier than perhaps is necessary.
Crichton is asking Durka whether the mental cleansing is like brainwashing. I do have to point out that perhaps asking the guy whose thought patterns were custom made to the Nebari's liking isn't likely to be the most objective witness in the galaxy, but I guess Crichton's options on the interviewing front are severely limited. Durka says it's more like a correction -- somewhat like the difference between a knife attack and life-saving surgery. And speaking of saving lives, Crichton saves his own and Durka's by noticing the explosive charge that's rolled into the room and tackling Durka, thereby throwing himself out of the way as well. Pilot informs Zhaan of the explosion, and she in turn frantically calls for help. Aeryn instructs her to stay put, and asks for D'Argo to meet her in the maintenance bay...