Farscape — 3x08 — Green Eyed Monster
Synopsis
When Talyn is swallowed by a giant space creature, a Budong, Crais's neural connection to Talyn malfunctions, and he asks Aeryn to accept the 'Hand of Friendship' to help him control the hybrid gunship. Warily avoiding the Budong in a Transport Pod, Stark and Rygel come up with a way for Talyn to escape, but Crichton's jealousy complicates the plan...
Filler rating: not filler
This episode resolves the long running plot thread involving Crais pressuring Aeryn to join him in commanding Talyn. There is also a small reference to the events of this episode in a later episode in this season, Fractures.
Remarkable scenes
- John being irritated by one of Talyn's DRDs.
- John: "That's no moon." Ah, the irresistible Star Wars reference.
- Talyn getting swallowed by a Budong.
- John, Aeryn, and Crais anchoring Talyn to the Budong's throat.
- Rygel's and Stark's near miss with the Budong.
- Stark: "You're loose!" Rygel: "Not half as loose as Chiana."
- Crais begging John to kill him because of the pain Talyn is inflicting on him.
- Stark proposing that they make the Budong vomit out Talyn.
- Rygel: "Sebaceans are ugly, not stupid!"
- Stark feeding the Budong ice from the gas giant's rings.
- Aeryn sharing her deepest feelings for John with Talyn (and Crais?) just prior to disconnecting herself from Talyn.
- The Budong vomiting out Talyn.
Review
The first episode of Farscape not to feature Moya, Pilot, or D'Argo tells a much different sort of story, fitting for a story in which Talyn is finally a central character rather than merely a minor character at best or a MacGuffin at worst as he's been before. The green eyed monster, a clever Shakespeare reference, isn't just the Budong, it's the jealousy that plagues John, Crais, and even Talyn. It's fascinating how Crais' latent feelings for Aeryn seem to have been twisted into something completely different by Talyn when combined with his own perspective and Peacekeeper programming. Talyn, for better or worse, is his own personality and acts more radically than even Crais would prefer.
It's almost as if Talyn's perspective and demeanor represents what Crais would be with fewer inhibitions. The physical toll Talyn takes on Crais' body when the two of them are not of like mind is a marvelous development and helps to reassure the viewers that the two exist more frequently in a symbiotic and egalitarian fashion rather than the hierarchical fashion that was previously assumed with Crais commanding Talyn unilaterally. This theme is also consistent with Talyn's prior penchant for erratic behavior.
Another nicely done theme was the constant running gag of John trying to open doors aboard Talyn only to be denied entry. This running gag of course culminates into a life threatening situation when Talyn nearly kills John. The Stark and Rygel story was remarkably less satisfying as they were being used as the typical cliched Farscape bickering and panic comic relief. I also could have done without all the misdirection as to who was jealous and plotting against who, but despite these wrinkles this episode ends up being a very strong story.