Recap / Farscape S 01 E 16 A Human Reaction

Season 1, Episode 16:

A Human Reaction

Through sheer happenstance, Moya discovers a wormhole and Crichton sees Earth at the other end. He flies down the wormhole in his module and crashes in Australia, but the homecoming is less than welcoming. The government is suspicious and wants to know everything about Crichton's time on Moya, and even Jack, his own father, seems distant. Things get worse when Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel arrive in a transport pod and are locked in quarantine.

Things reach boiling point when Rygel is killed for the purposes of autopsy and D'Argo disappears entirely. Jack helps John to escape the government lockdown and he reunites with Aeryn, who escaped quarantine when the government came to take her away. They hide out in an old apartment of Jack's, and that night they sleep together. Next morning, Crichton begins to realise that everyone and everything he's seen since coming through the wormhole is based on something from his own memory, including things that couldn't possibly exist anymore: he tests this hypothesis by trying to visit a place he's never been before (the ladies room of a local pool hall), only to meet an energy barrier.

It is revealed that everything was a giant simulation, a test built by aliens known as Ancients, who are trying to find a world where they can settle down. Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel really did come through the wormhole, but the latter two were spirited away from the simulation when required and treated well in the meantime. "Jack" is really one of the Ancients, who wanted to provoke a human reaction from Crichton to determine how the people of Earth would react to the Ancients arrival. Humanity failed the test, being too destructive and suspicious, so the Ancients must continue searching and examining the memories of other races they encounter. Crichton and "Jack" wish each other good luck at finding their home, and the crew of Moya return to their ship.

So, that was the typical Yank the Dog's Chain "fake return home" episode that every Trapped in Another World series does eventually, and nothing in it will have any future relevance after the Reset Button got pressed. OK?

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Tropes present in this episode include:

• Alien Autopsy: John finds Rygel cut open on an autopsy table. The official explanation is he died of an allergic reaction to the Tranquilizer Dart, then they tried open-chest cardiac massage to revive him. When D'Argo asks if he believes this story, John has to admit that he doesn't.
• Artistic License – Military: The Australian military personnel are wearing army greens, which had long been replaced by "Auscam" disruptive pattern camouflage. Cobb is also armed with a Desert Eagle pistol instead of the regulation Browning 9mm.
• Being Watched: After being confined by Wilson and Cobb, John is surprised that his father convinced them to let him out. Jack points out a nearby van, a woman fiddling with her hair and a couple of others who are watching them, then shows (and destroys) a Hidden Wire that Wilson has made him wear.
• Berserk Button: John is disappointed to not be home after all, but he is outright enraged by the deception of the one posing as his father.
  John: [grabbing "Jack"] You made me think YOU WERE MY FATHER!
• Better to Die than Be Killed: After their escape Aeryn says she won't be taken alive, and John makes no effort to talk her out of it.
• Bluff the Impostor: When discussing John's 10th birthday, Jack Crichton talks about how they went fishing at Sawyer’s Mill to find out if he's an alien imposter. John knows the required details, but at the end Jack throws in a trick to see if he'll trip up.
  Jack: You caught the biggest damn bass I'd ever seen!
  John: It was a trout, Dad.
  Jack: It was a trout. (hugs him)
• Brick Joke: At the start of the episode, Rygel wants to go to a commerce planet where they have Hynerian marjools. Turns out the Ancients gave him plenty to keep him happy in confinement.
• Call-Back
  • While saying their goodbyes, Zhaan reminds John that they share a psychic connection from sharing Unity in "Rhapsody in Blue".
  • John hands back the good luck charm that his father gave him in the premiere, noting that while it might not have brought him luck, it did save his ass (by distracting the Peacekeeper guards so he could snatch a pulse pistol off them). Later he apologizes to Aeryn for getting her kicked out of the Peacekeepers in the first place.
• Chekhov's Gunman: After his arrival, John briefly encounters a man and woman on the beach. The morning after hiding out with Aeryn, he bumps into both of them in a marketplace and begins to realize what's really going on.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Crichton attempts to make good on his previous offer to bring Aeryn to Earth with him. She refuses.
  • D'Argo mentions his vow from the first episode not to be taken prisoner again.
• Creator Cameo: The men in the public toilet are played by director Rowan Woods, designer Ricky Eyres, and Anthony Simcoe (D'Argo) with no make-up.
• Deer in the Headlights: John knows this could be his only chance to get home, so risks flying into an unstable wormhole even it could collapse or send him off to another part of the universe. However, when the module is poised above the wormhole and Pilot has cleared him to fly in, he freezes up and the others have to coax him into taking the plunge.
• Did They or Didn't They?: The version of this episode that aired in the US left it ambiguous as to what happened after John and Aeryn kiss in the safehouse. The international and home media audiences got to see a morning after scene of Aeryn wearing John's clothes while he's in a Modesty Bedsheet, making it clear they had sex.
• Dispense with the Pleasantries: When John tries to have a morning after conversation with Aeryn, she says last night was good but they need to focus on where they're going to hide out next.
• Empathic Environment: When he first gets to Earth, John lands on an ocean beach and takes joy in the blue cloudless sky. When they're hiding out in the safehouse after Rygel is killed and D'Argo taken away to an unknown fate, the sky is overcast and thunder rumbles ominously. As they start kissing, the thunder starts to be replaced by the patter of rain and the morning after it's sunny again.
• "Eureka!" Moment: While at the pool hall, John muses about the places he's been and sees nothing new. After opening the door to the men's toilet and remarking he's been in there, it occurs to him how he's never been in the women's toilet.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Aeryn notes that not even the Peacekeepers would be so low as to kill Rygel just so they could open him up for study.
• Fade to White: John after flying down the wormhole. There's another flash of white when Ancient-Jack reveals his true self.
• First Gray Hair: John records a message to his father mentioning that he's found his first gray hair. He doesn't get too long to dwell on it but it's clear the thought of growing old in space is unsettling.
• Foreshadowing:
  • John complains that the magazines in the military base he's confined in are seven months old. At the time he puts this down to Wilson not wanting him to know anything that's happened since he left Earth in case he's spying for the aliens, but he later sees the magazines being sold outside the base are seven months out of date as well.
  • After a scene where it's made clear that Jack doesn't understand what Aeryn is saying in her own language, she says something in Sebacean and he thanks her, causing Aeryn to give Jack a puzzled look. It seems like Jack just guessed the right response until The Reveal.
  • "Maybe we'll meet again someday, John."^note Well, one John anyway
• Gilligan Cut: The episode opens with John saying how nice and quiet it is. Cut to Zhaan doing a Walk and Talk with Chiana, accusing her of stealing stuff from her quarters.
• Humans Are Bastards: Along with everyone else who's worked their way to the top of the food chain.
  Ancient-Jack: It also led us to a familiar conclusion.
  John: Which was?
  Ancient-Jack: That the highest life form on the planet is also the most destructive. Your humans would kill us.
• Humans Are Special: Downplayed. Humans as a race fare badly in the simulation, but Ancient-Jack compliments John for figuring out the deception, saying most others don't manage to.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: John obviously thinks so after they found alien life and killed it for study. Ironically this scene turns out to be based on his own fears.
• If You Die, I Call Your Stuff: Before John sets off into the wormhole he tells Rygel that if he doesn't come back... he wants Aeryn to have his stuff. Rygel is left spluttering in protest before realising he's being trolled, which he finds Actually Pretty Funny.
• I Gave My Word: After Rygel dies in human custody, John angsts over how he gave his friends his word he'd take care of them. Jack says he was naive to think he could protect them from people like Wilson. Then he realises that his son isn't going to let this lie.
  Jack: Son, are you willing to die for those creatures in there?
  John: I gave my word.
• Inhumanable Alien Rights: The heroes, save John, are treated as such. It is notable that it isn't the other aliens doing this, but a reflection of John's own deep fears of how humans would truly react if they were to reach Earth.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: John introduces Aeryn to beer, saying it's just what they need right now.
• Innocuously Important Episode: This episode secretly begins the plot arc that will dominate the entire rest of the show.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Wilson is right to be paranoid about alien microbes in John's head, or that he might be a disguised alien infiltrator, given what the Nebari and Scarrans are later shown to be capable of.
• Mandatory Line:
  • Chiana has one brief scene at the beginning, as this was the first episode made after the decision that she would survive "Durka Returns" and there wasn't time to rewrite it to give her a bigger role.
  • Zhaan's role is similarly limited. (Both did have goodbye dialogue with Crichton, though—limited as they were—were cut for time.)
• Not Quite Dead: The dissected Rygel was just an illusion made by the Ancients, while the real one was off in comfort and being well-fed.
• Portal Door: After being shown the Ancients' hive, John opens the door he came through to reveal the rolling surf of the beach where he landed the module.
• Reality Has No Subtitles: Zigzagged; when the crew of Moya explain why they went after Crichton, they are The Unintelligible for the listening humans, but subtitles are shown initially. After that if John is talking to them in the humans' presence, he speaks English but they continue to be untranslated with no subtitles. If no humans are present except Crichton, the Translator Microbes work for the audience as usual.
• Redundant Rescue: John is determined to save his friends after Rygel's death. He enters the base and walks past a sentry standing in the shadows, but then he finds the unconscious body of the real sentry, whereupon Aeryn walks up behind John and puts the sentry's rifle to John's head. John assures her he's still on her side, but they discover that D'Argo has already been shipped off to a military base in Utah.
• Relationship Upgrade: Downplayed—it's made clear that John and Aeryn have sex in this episode, fearing that they might die, but when they don't it doesn't mark a long-term deepening of their relationship. The original US broadcast even left the relevant scenes out.
• Remonstrating with a Gun: While in a public area, John draws a gun on Aeryn and everyone else once he realises what he's seeing isn't real.
• Riddle for the Ages: Was Aeryn in on the Ancients' deception of John from the start? At one point she has a discussion in Sebacean with "Jack" that is left conspicuously untranslated. At any rate, the slight consent issues that would be raised if this were true might be why John and Aeryn having sex in this ep rarely gets brought up again.
• Robotic Reveal: A variation; after finding out Jack isn't his father, John angrily throws him against the wall only for Jack's chest to come away in his hands, revealing a glistening red fibrous tissue. John backs off in shock while "Jack" continues speaking unabashed.
• Scared of What's Behind You: John walks up to a woman on the beach and asks if he's landed in Australia. Understandably she stares at him...then John realises she's staring past him and turns to see a squad of soldiers and a Blackhawk helicopter come over the sandbank, followed by Wilson who shoots John with a Tranquilizer Dart.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Aeryn does a Sexy Shirt Switch the morning after sleeping with John, but his clothes are much too big for her so John puts her in a form-fitting floral dress instead. Then she wonders why everyone is looking at her.
• Shout-Out:
  • John's joyful "Hello sky!" when he lands on the beach is a reference to molesworth.
  • Wilson starts demanding "WHO IS IT?" when they pick up another spacecraft coming out of the wormhole. John shouts back: "Who's on first?, what's on second—I don't know!"
• Skeleton Key Card: As well as his pistol, John helps himself to Cobb's ID card. It looks like he wants it to get into somewhere secret, but instead he uses it to break into a house so they can hide out.
• Something Only They Would Say: Jack Crichton asks his son to tell him details about his childhood to prove that he's the real John Crichton. Of course, it eventually turns out Jack is the impostor and only knows these things because his people scanned John's memory.
• Spotting the Thread: After escaping with Aeryn, John sees the same woman he saw when he first arrived in Australia, and also realises she's a girl he knew in school. The man running the newstand is the same guy he saw at the beach with Jack, and would you believe it he knows him from his past as well, not to mention that the magazines he's selling are seven months out of date. Then John realises that everything and everyone he's seen since coming back to Earth is something or someone he remembers from his past.
• Sufficiently Advanced Alien: Zig Zagged; the Ancients have the tech to make a detailed false world from John's memories, as well as full mastery of wormholes. However they are few in number at the moment, so they need to replenish and recover. They also only have enough power left to transport what's left of their race one last time, so they have to be this pragmatic in their actions.
• Title Drop: "We needed a human reaction, John—your reaction."
• Transformation Discretion Shot: The finale features the Ancient who's been impersonating Jack Crichton reverting to his true form so that he can have a heart-to-heart with John Crichton in person; however, the transformation is hidden by a flash of light, with Jack being fully human in one shot and a Starfish Alien created by the Jim Henson Creature Shop in the next.
• Translator Microbes:
  • One of Wilson's concerns about John is how he has "foreign microbes" that human scientists have no context for. Evidently John did explain what they do, as a sequence shows him being told to explain what a Ghanaian man (speaking the Fante language) is saying. According to John this is actually the twelfth guy they've had him translate, so he feels they really should've gotten the point by now.
  • When Aeryn, D'Argo and Rygel show up they can't communicate with anyone but John as he's the only one with Translator Microbes. When a scene includes a character without the microbes we get to hear unstranslated Sebacean^note Which is actually Claudia Black speaking English backwards, Luxan and Hynerian.
• Virtual-Reality Interrogation: A particularly long and complicated one, although justified by the fact that the aliens were looking for a detailed experience of Earth culture rather than any specific information.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: The running theme of the episode. After Rygel "dies", D'Argo bitterly asks John whether he or Aeryn will be next, obviously believing that Aeryn being a Human Alien will be spared. The whole trip was a test by the Ancients to determine if their species would be welcomed on Earth. They conclude, and John agrees, that they probably won't be.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Ancient-Jack notes Earth could've been a welcoming place to the Ancients had more humans been like Crichton.
• Wondrous Ladies Room: Used as a plot point! Upon realising that everything and everyone he sees is drawn from his memories, John kicks open the door to the pool hall's Ladies Room as it's somewhere he's never been and thus has no reference for them to use. Behind the door is a giant, swirling vortex of orange-brown energy. It's every bit as weird as it sounds.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: John thought he made it home. Not this time.
• You ALL Look Familiar: Invoked. The Ancients recreated everything from John's memory, so the phony Earth is full of various people he's met throughout his life. People he's worked directly with (like Wilson and Cobb) fulfill the same functions, but casual acquaintances make up the various extras (such as the newsstand guy being an old neighbor).
• You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Cobb to John after he's disarmed. John doesn't, but Pistol Whips him unconscious, then gives him an extra kick when he's down "for Rygel".