Farscape — 4x10 — Coup By Clam
Synopsis
While in quarantine high above the patriarchal planet Khurtanan, the crew shares a meal of alien mollusks and almost instantaneously suffers a violent physical reaction. Each crew member becomes bodily linked to one of the others, Crichton to Sikozu, Aeryn to Rygel, and so on. It soon becomes clear they have been deliberately poisoned by the local doctor and are being blackmailed in exchange for the cure.
Filler rating: partial filler
This episode is mostly filler, but one short clip of it is shown briefly in the next episode. The reference is not essential, but it's pretty neat if you've seen this episode.
Remarkable scenes
- The doctor fatally poisoning Moya's crew and demanding money for the cure.
- D'Argo and Noranti sharing the sensation of an orgasm.
- The doctor getting shot.
- John and Rygel flailing about as Aeryn and Sikozu get beat up.
- John and Rygel crossdressing.
- Sikozu getting her finger cut off and John experiencing it.
- Scorpius consuming the poison to lessen the burden on the others.
- Rygel biting off the tip of the doctor's nose.
Review
An episode surprisingly similar to Star Trek DS9's dreadful Profit and Lace episode but far, far better executed. Unlike the DS9 episode, this story's crossdressing is a subplot and the joke subtler rather than overplayed to the point of being embarrassing. Instead, what steals the show in this episode is the poison primary plot, which, while it is complete filler, it is quite funny nevertheless. The success of the comedy is achieved by repeating the very successful gag from season three of having two characters neurologically linked so that they feel each others pain. It was most amusing with Braca and D'Argo and even funnier with John and Scorpius last season and it was nicely used here as well. Overall, while still filler, this episode is much more enjoyable than the last one.