Farscape — 3x20 — Into the Lion's Den Part I: Lambs to the Slaughter
Synopsis
The crew board Scorpius' Command Carrier under the falsehood that Crichton is there to master wormhole technology. The ex-Peacekeepers Aeryn and Crais are forced to confront their past lives, and D'Argo, Rygel, Chiana, and Jool encounter unhidden hostility from all sides. Talyn is also implicated, brought on board for a cognitive replacement. While Crichton searches for a way to sabotage the Carrier, he is being watched by Scorpius, who is ready to exact deadly retribution if Crichton does not cooperate.
Filler rating: not filler
Numerous major long term plot threads are serviced here.
Remarkable scenes
- Harvey expressing concerns over John's plans to attack Scorpius possibly getting them both killed.
- The arrival at Scorpius' command carrier.
- D'Argo having his restraint rings surgically removed aboard the command carrier.
- The attack on D'Argo and Jool.
- Crais reuniting with his secret lover.
- Harvey revealing that he's masking John's energy signature to prevent Scorpius from detecting that he's lying.
- Moya being attacked.
- Commandant Grayza showing up on Scorpius' command carrier and mucking things up.
- Scorpius sensing that John's under attack due to the bracelets.
- John: "Why are you bitch'n at me like we're married Scorpy-Sue?"
- Scorpius threatening to destroy Earth if John doesn't give him what he wants.
Review
An absolutely fantastic episode that pays off on the prior setup quite well while delivering tantalizing buildup for an inevitable epic climax. The most remarkable aspect of this episode is the amount of depth we get about what life aboard a Peacekeeper command carrier is like. But not just any Peacekeeper command carrier, it's Crais' old ship and Aeryn's former home. The potential for an Aeryn and Crais homecoming is sufficiently well milked, showing us less than smooth reunions between them and their former comrades. Likewise, the addition of Grayza's character adds lovely texture to the nature of Scorpius' motives. His power is not absolute and Peacekeeper politics are far from unified.
Continuing with that theme, I enjoyed the parallel shade of gray that was John's slowly shifting moral center. As the episode went on and like the other John he started to slowly gain access to his wormhole knowledge, he started to sympathize more and more with Scorpius, perhaps with just cause. Scorpius was certainly right to suspect John might be stalling, but the delightful twist at the end of Scorpius telling John that he's located Earth, whether or not it's a bluff, is a great way to throw a wrench into John's loyalties. Finally, I loved the detail of John balking at Aeryn when she tried to appeal to him by pointing out what the other John would do, resenting the comparison.