Icarus Abides

Hi everyone!

Well I’m back from my Convention Adventure just in time to review Icarus Abides, quite possibly one of the saddest endings in the history of Farscape. Let’s not cry, just get straight to the review, that as always contains HUGE HONKIN’ spoilers for that eppy. All ideas are my own...I didn’t need my Dad to unlock any knowledge in me.

Icarus and Daedalus: A Greek myth tells the story of Daedalus, a talented Athenian artisan and inventor and his son Icarus. They were imprisoned in the Labyrinth Daedalus had created for the Minotaur after he revealed the secrets so Theseus could slay it. Daedalus constructed wings of wax and feathers so he and his son could escape, but warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sea or the wings would get wet, nor too high or the sun would melt the wax. Icarus was so enamored with flying that he disregarded his fathers advice and flew too high, melting his wings and falling to his death. Daedalus flew on to Sicily, while Icarus’ body was discovered by Hercules and buried.

Overall:

• I was disappointed with the death of TalynCricthon, mostly because it was so expected. I kept hoping that I was wrong, that the Farscape people would surprise us by at least having TalynCrichton die in an unusual way, or even keeping both around. But unfortunately for all the plot reasons TalynCrichton had to die; he knows how to make wormholes, has had sex with Aeryn, and is essentially the happiest he’s ever been in his life.

• Ten bucks says that MoyaCrichton will find out and celebrate being once again the only Crichton, Aeryn will be pissed that he’d be so callus and angrily declare that MoyaCrichton must not be the real one if he’d act that way about someone’s death, and their relationship will go back to square one. TalynCrichton has been turned into a whipping boy anyway, pretty much getting nothing but derogatory remarks from everyone else on the ship, so it’d be only natural for the Talyn crew to join in the fun. I wasn’t going to make this bet before because it was TOO predictable, but unfortunately Farscape hasn’t been surprising me lately.

And Crichton:

• Briefly taken over by NeuroScorpy, smacked around a bit by Aeryn, given a lethal dose of radiation, and death. Now cracks a noble heart. Goodnight sweet prince; and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

For obvious reasons, this is a WACKer episode, and gets a One Down One to Go rating.

The Good:

• I’m constantly amazed at the ability Ben has to play Scorpious...especially when put in the full Scorpy costume Ben is as much Scorpy as Wayne is!

• There’s a glorious moment when Crichton returns and realizes that NeuroScorpy is finally gone...he looks ready to cry he’s so happy, and Aeryn just wants to touch him as if they’re finally alone together.

• Watching the relationship between Stark and Crais develop has been very interesting...they both have shared a deep communication with Talyn and do work well together when they’re not trying to kill each other. I think Stark might really have wanted the Scarran to kill Crais at the beginning, but settles for helping him in the end.

• Gotta love John’s reaction to realizing the wormhole knowledge is starting to unlock, "That’s cool!"

• Only Rygel would request a snack while injured and holding an army at bay!!

• John and Jack have a wonderful moment when John finally asks the Ancient how far he’ll go to keep the wormhole knowledge a secret. The staredown between the two is a tremendously tense moment to watch, and you can almost feel John sigh in relief when Jack says neither he nor Aeryn will have to die.

• The Evolution of Aeryn Part 1: This episode is almost more about Aeryn’s growth then Crichton. It displays a lot of the changes she’s gone through as a person...the first major one being how she deals with Crichton. Sure she loves him, but beyond that she’s always demanded of him. But slowly she’s beginning to take a more gentle approach. Notice how she softens her tone after John admits he may not know how to finish Jack’s device, "Well you HAVE to...I...I thought that the knowledge was starting to open up in you."

• "Is it always about the money?"
  "Is there anything else? I mean how much sex can you have?"
  "I don’t know, I haven’t maxed out yet."

• There’s a great few moments in the car chase as Aeryn tells John she’d wants to go to Earth with him. John gives her a grin that’s clearly half "WHAT?!" and half "WOW! YES!!"

• ...then a few minute later ya gotta love Aeryn calling out "I love you!" as she dives out of the car...as if she’s going off to work instead of trying to kill the Charrid. Crichton’s reply of "I love you too!" while giving her a good smack on the butt was fun as well!

• The Evolution of Aeryn Part 2: She gives the Charrid time to flee...even suggests it several times...and only fires when she has too. Scorpious was wrong, sometimes it pays to be cautious, and while in this case it doesn’t matter in the end, it does show how Aeryn now is more willing to let beings live rather then always shoot first.

• "Always be the one to walk away while the hero dies."

• The look on John’s face when he gets hit by the radiation is just gutwrenching...he knows he’s doomed and can’t even get off his knees till Aeryn arrives.

• Another great little moment passes between Aeryn and John when he finally admits to dying. Both Ben and Claudia really shine here as their characters struggle with what they have to do versus what they want to do, and in the end Crichton’s conscious wins.

• Gotta love Crais bluffing the Scarran’s with his PK demands to lure them in. Stark’s response of "They must be terrified." is hard to read, you can see it either as serious or a joke, but either way it works!

• There’s a shot of Rygel looking up into the sky, his jaw dropping and his face turning to shock...it’s not clear, but it’s safe to assume he can see the wormhole forming. I just love the look on his face at that moment!

• The FX of the wormhole sucking the Dreadnaught into the sun was just amazing!!

• The Perfect Delivery Award goes to Stark for "I have no prayer for that." after the Dreadnaught is destroyed. It’s an amazing moment, no background music, no sound effects...just horrified silence at the power and destruction they’ve just witnessed and then that line.

• Great Scene 1: The Death of John "Talyn" Crichton. Yes it’s a cliché hero’s death, and yes it’s even a bit smarmy with each character saying goodbye and John handing out pardons, thanks and advice, and yes it’s completely played for tears...but damnit it’s so beautifully acted by everyone involved that you just can’t help but be moved. So despite the predictability, it’s a beautiful death sequence...and all the applause go to Ben, Claudia, Lani, Paul, and the team behind Rygel.

The Bad:

• Why the HELL is there absolutely no mention of MoyaCrichton at all?! You figure TalynCrichton would bring him up to Jack (either so Jack knows there’s another Crichton out there looking for wormholes, or perhaps in an effort for Jack to help THAT Crichton get rid of his NeuroScorpy!), or at one point SOMEONE would make a mention of there being a backup on Moya! A joke by Rygel, or even by Crichton as he’s dying...or even Crichton trying to tell Aeryn some vital piece of the wormhole puzzle to give to his double. I can’t believe Crichton hates his double so much as to deny him that!

• Why does Jack just calmly turn his back on Furlow when it’s obvious she’s gonna kill him? I almost expected the gun to not work on him, or at least for him to magically escape or something. Instead he just lets Furlow shoot and kill him?!

The Nitpicky:

• So this is the second time this season Rygel’s gotten stabbed in the gut and recovered. The first time it took some fancy sewing by Stark...this time apparently food plugged the hole.

• Why did they keep showing shots of the Dreadnaught approaching, especially early on? They felt like establishing shots, as if we were going to go ON the ship to see what was going on...so it was disconcerting to keep seeing the same few shots of the ship fly by, then get pulled back to the planet.

• Anyone else think of "Mad Max" during the desert chase scene?

• So there is now a perfect copy of Farscape 1 sitting in Talyn’s docking bay...complete with all the technology needed to make a wormhole. I wonder if that’ll come in handy in the future...

"They say it’s a lucky or an unambitious man who goes when he’s ready. That said...Scorpious is gone, I’m at peace, I don’t hurt. I...I did some good things, I’m proud of my life, and I’m with you. Don’t worry about me, I’ve never felt better."
-The last words of TalynCrichton, spoken to Aeryn

Lauren (OboeCrazy)
SACCer #1: The Most Vocal Defender
...who’s actually very excited about seeing D’Argo as a CARTOON! :-)