Recap / Farscape S 02 E 01 Mind The Baby

Season 2, Episode 1:

Mind the Baby

We drop in in media res, some time after the events of "Family Ties", and things are really going to shit: Moya is under fire from a Sheyang vessel, unable to Starburst, and Zhaan has literally gone insane, calling out for D'Argo, despite Chiana's insistence that D'Argo has not been with them for some time now. D'Argo, apparently dreaming the above event, wakes up on a floor, having been out for days and days. Crichton informs him that, no, they're not dead: Aeryn managed to save them, and now they're hiding out on a barren, abandoned asteroid, waiting for her to come back with food. Elsewhere, Aeryn is talking to Crais (who is still aboard Talyn) about something sneaky he's planning, and some deal she's made. Very foreboding. She's still acting wonky enough upon returning to the asteroid for Crichton and D'Argo to pick up on it; they want to leave, but she refuses them, resulting in an argument.

Up on Moya, the world is ending for Rygel, who can't eat; he's too pissed at Pilot and Moya, who are heading back to the asteroid field to search for Talyn, despite the danger.

Aboard the Command Carrier, Scorpius is having his cooling rod changed- for the very first time on camera. He and Braca, who has apparently been promoted, are discussing the relative merits of allowing Aeryn's Prowler to pick Crichton up, though Scorpius is annoyed that she has managed to evade capture since rescuing his prey. Aeryn herself, meanwhile, is en route to Talyn, where she finds Crais yelling frantically at the poor Leviathan baby. Together, they manage to calm him down enough to learn that he's being agitated by signals broadcast by the Peacekeepers- designed to panic him enough to reveal himself. It soon becomes clear that whatever deal Aeryn has made involves partnering with Crais, and from the way he leans over her and in way too close, it is also clear that he has more than just a platonic partnership in mind. Waiting for Aeryn to come back, Crichton and D'Argo have started a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, and D'Argo just says what no one else wants to acknowledge: why the fuck does paper beat rock, anyway? Once Aeryn's back, Crichton immediately demands to know what she's hiding from them. She says they're not going to like it, that she promised to help Talyn learn to follow Crais's orders in exchange for coordinates to an oxygen rich asteroid. D'Argo's so pissed that he tongues her. After winning at Rock, Paper, Scissors, Crichton is off to Talyn to kick Crais's ass while D'Argo waits for an unconscious Aeryn to wake up.

On Moya, Zhaan is in the middle of some sort of meditation ritual, an attempt to once again become a Pa'u. Chiana asks her for help, but she's completely disconnected herself from the world, and therefore useless. Over on Talyn, Crais reports in to Scorpius, who wants to know what's taking so long; it might be tempting to think that Crais has really been working for the PK's all this time, but no- he's just playing all the angles. He's in the middle of turning Talyn against the PK's so he and Aeryn and Talyn can all be a big, happy ex-PK family, when Crichton comes storming in, loud as usual. After an argument and a short fight, Crichton removes Crais from Talyn at gunpoint. The two return to Moya aboard Aeryn's prowler, say hello to a clearly overjoyed Chiana, and quickly deposit Crais in one of the cells. After saying hello to a whacked out Zhaan, who seems to think he is dead, Crichton hurries off to pick up D'Argo and Aeryn. Just in time, too, because Talyn has finally cracked under the stess and revealed his position to the PK's. Scorpius gives orders to cripple the ship and to capture Crichton alive, noting that he doesn't care if the others live or die.

In spite of the happy reunion aboard Moya, Talyn is still freaking out. In between crises, Aeryn knocks some sense into the blissed out Zhaan, D'Argo has a verbal joust with Crais over their differences, and then the Command Carrier shows up. Finally, Talyn actually fires on Moya, demanding that Crais be sent over to be his Captain. After some more yelling and the defence screen exploding under the barrage, Aeryn agrees to accompany Crais to keep him in line, though neither she nor Crichton are happy about it. Refusing to say goodbye yet again, Crichton and Aeryn link fingers in a decidedly non-platonic manner right in front of Crais, and then she's gone. Once they're aboard the young Leviathan, Aeryn instructs Talyn to move closer to Moya so they'll be carried along in her Starburst, but first, Talyn offers Crais the Hand of Friendship, a painful, direct neural link to Talyn himself. Once he's recovered from the pain of having a cyborg implant rammed into his spine, Crais is essentially Talyn's Pilot now, and both want Aeryn off the ship. Aeryn is reluctant to comply, but it becomes clear that Crais' newfound control over Talyn's security systems make him more than a match for her in combat, and she departs.

As Aeryn reboards Moya, Crais contacts Scorpius to shove everything in his face, but at least he tells Scorpius that Crichton is dead (to piss him off, most likely), and then he and Talyn Starburst away. Moya quickly follows suit. Aeryn’s upset about Talyn running away from home, and Crichton wonders if Crais really can change...

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Tropes present in this episode include:

• Art Evolution: D'Argo's design was heavily reworked during the break between seasons to adjust his skintone and facial structure.
• Asteroid Thicket: Where Aeryn, Crichton, D'Argo, Crais and Talyn are hiding from Scorpius.
• Bait-and-Switch Sentiment: Zhaan greets Aeryn, who she believes is a vision, by telling Aeryn that she loves her. Aeryn is mildly freaked out until Zhaan clarifies that she loves all living beings.
• Bilingual Dialogue: Talyn, who lacks a Pilot to speak for him, communicates through trills and bloop noises.
• Blatant Lies: Chiana and Rygel assure Pilot that they would never consider abandoning ship to save themselves after whispering about doing just that.
• Call-Back: Due to editing in some regions, it wasn't made clear in "A Human Reaction" whether Aeryn and John actually slept together. This episode clarifies that they did (sort of).
  Crichton: How many times have you and I been close?
  Aeryn: (looks awkward for a second) Just the once.
  Crichton: (clears his throat) Uh, no no no, not that kind of close. Friend close.
  • The crew is still getting mileage out of the defense screen they pilfered from The Zelbinion ("PK Tech Girl"). Talyn destroys it with one shot.
    Chiana: THIS pile of dren?!
    • The opening nightmare also shows Moya under threat from Sheeyangs and Zhaan insistent that D'Argo "can talk to them" as he did before.
  • When D'Argo first wakes up, Crichton asks if he remembers who he is - recalling how the big guy lost his memories in "They've Got a Secret."
  • When debating which one of them gets to remove Crais from Talyn, D'Argo says he owes him one. This references what we learned in the previous episode about Crais knowing all along that D'Argo was wrongfully imprisoned.
• Cliffhanger Copout: Season One ended with Crichton and D'Argo adrift in space. D'Argo seems just as jarred as the audience when he awakens on a landing strip. "AM I DEAD?!", he bellows, shaking poor Crichton's head. Crichton assures him that he isn't dead: Aeryn found them, scooped them out of space, brought them to their current location. Once he recovers a bit, he asks why the hell they aren't dead.
  • Zig-Zagged in the following scene, which confirms Crais had a hand in the rescue. Despite appearances to the contrary, it does not contradict Aeryn's actions in "Family Ties", when she claimed she couldn't fetch Crichton and D'Argo because there were too many prowlers around; Talyn, meanwhile, was headed back toward the asteroid field.
  • Out of Order: This episode was originally written as Episode Two in the season, with "Dream a Little Dream" intended as the premiere. See that episode's recap page for the whole score. (Basically, it was too grimdark.)
• Deal with the Devil: Aeryn made one with Crais, who seems to have one with Scorpius.
• Death Faked for You: With Talyn in his possession and Scorpius unable to maintain pursuit, Crais calls him to gloat: "My final progress report." Then he inserts the knife. "And as for Crichton, he is dead. I killed him with my bare hands." Scorpy's not buying it; bitterly, he orders Braca to keep following Moya.
  "Crichton is ALIVE!"
• Didn't See That Coming: Everyone's actions hinge on the belief that Talyn is too young to starburst. He throws them all a curve by doing just that to escape with Crais.
  Chiana: Starburst? I thought Talyn wasn't ready.
  D'Argo: He obviously learns a lot faster than we thought.
• Do You Trust Me?: Crichton asks Aeryn how many times they've saved each other's lives or been close (friend close).
• Double Agent: Crais
• Enemy Mine: Aeryn made a deal with Crais, which enrages Crichton and D'Argo.
• Everyone Has Standards: While discussing the possibility of jumping ship to save themselves, Chiana concedes it would be hypocritical after Pilot and Moya stayed during Zhaan's trial. Rygel says she's right, all while considering this loyalty very stupid and life-threatening.
• Evil Mentor: Crais, to Talyn.
• Fantastic Racism: Crais notes that he finds the idea of D'Argo marrying and mating with a Sebacean disgusting, but he says such thinking was instilled in him by the Peacekeepers and needs to be re-examined.
• The Glomp: Chiana demonstrates her ability to make gravity-defying leaps for the first time when she sees Crichton. D'awww.
• Hammerspace: Scorpius has a cooling rod inside his head. Apparently he doesn't need much of a brain to be smarter that everyone else!
• Hand Wave: D'Argo's appearance changes in this episode. Most notable is his darker face. Makeup artist Dave Elsey justified it as being the result of D'Argo's prolonged exposure to space.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: Crais is still a self-serving manipulator and playing both sides, though he does try to be of some help to Aeryn and Moya's crew in the end.
• I Did What I Had to Do:
  • Aeryn says she took the deal with Crais, as Moya was already gone and Crichton and D'Argo were about to suffocate.
    Aeryn: I didn't have another choice!
    D'Argo: You should've let us die!
    Aeryn: No, I couldn't have!
  • When Crais says the little transmission gambit mucked up his end of their deal, Scorpius says Crais was overdue for a progress report and thus appeared to have been incapacitated.
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Inverted in the third act, as it dawns on Crichton that Crais has less-than-platonic designs on Aeryn. He warns that Crais had better behave himself with Aeryn and (more ominously) Talyn.
  Crichton: Because if you hurt either one of them, I'm going to hunt you down.
  Crais: [amused] That would complete the symmetry nicely, wouldn't it?
  • When Crichton boards Talyn, Crais has the nerve to voice this kind of attitude before Crichton cuts him off.
    "That's a winner, Crais. Do Peacekeepers have a word for 'chutzpah?'"
• In Medias Res: The episode opens with Crichton and D'Argo safe on an asteroid while Moya and the rest of the crew are escaping from somewhere unknown. Where Moya was will eventually be explained later in the season.
• Leave No Survivors: With both Leviathans leaving the asteroid field, Scorpius makes plans to overtake and disable them. He orders Braca to ensure commando units only take Crichton alive.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Talyn reveals his habit of jumping the gun in this episode.
• Loud of War: Scorpius tries to frighten Talyn into a panic by transmitting a cacophony of random noises and interference; it works quite well, even with Aeryn providing comfort to the young Leviathan.

• Mid Life Crisis Car: Crichton draws this metaphor by observing that Crais wants to keep "the supermodel" (Aeryn) and "the Porsche" (Talyn).
• No Party Like a Donner Party: Discussed.
  D'Argo: If I am to die on this asteroid, I would it were sooner than later. Besides, if I die you can eat me.
  Aeryn: You don't look very ripe to me.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • From inside his cell, Crais needles D'Argo about his dead wife and how he threw away a military career to go farming. Crais doesn't disapprove of the latter since he himself grew up in a farming community until the Peacekeepers conscripted him.
  • Crais tries to get on Crichton's good side by reminding him that they both want to keep Talyn safe from Scorpius.
• Parental Substitute: Lampshaded by Crichton sourly calling after Crais, "Your nephew wants to see you!"

• Putting the Band Back Together: "It is good to have you all back aboard."
• The Rival
• Revenge: Before departing, Crais attempts to convince Scorpius that he killed Crichton to both infuriate him and get him to leave Moya alone. Scorpius sees through this, though—noting that Crais's real attempt at revenge would've been to kill Crichton but not tell him, which would've left Scorpy with a pointless search.
• Rock–Paper–Scissors: Crichton first introduces it to D'Argo in this episode. D'Argo (most sensibly) asks why in the hell "paper" beats "rock".
• Slept Through the Apocalypse
• Suddenly Shouting:
  Crais: Here ends my report, Captain.
  Scorpius: FIRE UPON BOTH LEVIATHANS!
• Villainous Demotivator: Once Talyn takes off into space, Scorpius reminds Braca that his tactical expert assured them that Talyn wouldn't be able to starburst "for an arn." Scorpius bends Braca's ear: "Send him to me, so I might educate him." What happens next is not seen, though given that Scorpius prefers not to kill his own officers, it was only extremely painful.
• Wetware CPU
• What the Hell, Hero?: Crichton and D'Argo towards Aeryn for the deal she made with Crais. Being told this deal saved their lives doesn't move them.
• Who Names Their Ship "Dude"?: D'Argo considers "Talyn" to be an awful name in general.
• Worf Had the Flu: Aside from having his own grudge against Crais, Crichton won't let D'Argo try to remove him from Talyn on the grounds he's still recovering from his ordeal.

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