Season 3, Episode 6:
Eat Me
Moya encounters a sick, Peacekeeper-controlled Leviathan that houses criminally insane prisoners, and a villain capable of "twinning" people in order to use them as food. The crew manage to escape the Leviathan in time, but thanks to the twinning, Moya now has two completely identical John Crichtons aboard.
Tropes present in this episode include:
- Ambiguous Clone Ending: Discussed at the end when the D'Argo and Chiana who survived wonder whether they are real or copies, and if it matters.
- The twist, as explained by Kaarvok and later explored by the two Crichtons, is that both copies have equal claim to be "the original". The machine doesn't really "clone" a person, it makes one person into two identical people. This is obvious from the special effect which shows the original turned into a ball of light which then divides in two, each side becoming a copy.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Jool tries to shoot herself out of sheer terror. John and Chiana are... dubiously uncaring.
- Brain Food: Kaarvok has a slightly more hi-tech way of doing this.
- Break the Cutie: Neither Chiana nor Jool take their experiences well. At least a little humor is derived from Jool's experience (see Epic Fail), but Chiana's is played completely straight.
- Clone Degradation: The mutants are the result of Kaarvok twinning the Peacekeeper crew too frequently. The clones of D'Argo, Chiana and John are an aversion due to being the first time each of them was "twinned".
- Epic Fail: Jool's never touched a gun before this episode, but that doesn't explain how she's able to miss herself while holding the pulse rifle to her head!
- Episode of the Dead: This episode is an Out-of-Genre Experience into outright horror that has Crichton and friends trapped on a diseased, dying Leviathan full of cannibalistic zombie-like beings. It finally mutates into a Slasher Movie when the real villain behind the situation turns up.
- Expendable Clone: Played with - one Chiana has no hesitation in fleeing while Kaarvok kills the other, but feels guilty about it afterwards. Played straighter when neither John nor Chiana seem to care much about the D'Argo who died after they find the surviving one.
- Fate Worse than Death: Being twinned and repeatedly having one of your duplicates killed and eaten until you're a mindless cannibal. Also, the Pilot having his arms repeatedly chopped off and eaten every time they regrow.
- Faux Affably Evil: Kaarvok is the "prattle casually about the hideous things you're going to do to people" kind of serial killer.
- Foreshadowing:
- Talyn is found adrift and damaged, while Crais is unconscious. Aeryn openly wonders what happened.
- The crew spends most of the episode split up. Those that find Crais and Talyn are Aeryn, Rygel, and Stark, while those away in the transport pod are Crichton, D'Argo, Chiana, and Jool. Barring the extra Crichton, these are how the crew will be split up for half a season after the next episode.
- Genre Blindness: When the group splits up after docking on the Leviathan. While they hadn't seen anyone yet, it takes Kaarvok no time to get to work ensuring the separated pairs get cut off from each other.
- Genre Savvy: After Crichton is left on his own, he knows he can't just make a run for it because there is so much distance between the Pilot's den and the transport pod. He's certain Kaarvok would pick him off quickly, so he focuses on regaining control of the ship.
- Ghost Ship: Rovhu. By the time our crew arrive everyone aboard, save for Kaarvok, is either dead or so corrupted they're basically a zombie.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Kaarvok feeds on those he twins. He's quite content to stay on this damaged Leviathan—having everything he wants and certain more will come to join his "family."
- Jerkass Has a Point: Rygel opposes helping Crais and Talyn, saying that'll just accomplish an unarmed crew encountering whoever inflicted so much damage. He also points out they don't have the resources to even try to help Crais and Talyn recover.
- Karmic Death: As everything starts coming apart, Crichton rams Kaarvok's weapon into a control panel and leaves him stuck. Kaarvok's victims quickly move in to take advantage of this.Crichton: Hey, kids, it's dinner time!
- Late to the Tragedy: The crew arrive on Rovhu long after the crew have been reduced to cannibal zombies and the Pilot is begging for death. In the B-plot, Moya responds to a distress call from Talyn and arrives to find he and Crais badly injured from some as-yet-unknown encounter.
- Mercy Kill: Begged for by Rovhu's Pilot, and finally given to Rovhu by Crichton.
- Not Quite Dead: We learn partway through the episode that Kaarvok twinned D'Argo—killing one and locking the other up.
- Oh, Crap!: When the two Crichtons see each other.
- Our Clones Are Different: The episode introduces a new system of cloning created by cannibalistic scientist Kaarvok; created in a matter of seconds via a gauntlet-like device, the ensuing doppelganger is fully-grown, fully-clothed, and in full possession of the target's personality and memories. Kaarvok himself refuses to call the process "cloning," and instead calls it "twinning", insisting that the twins are both equal and original — and tasty, hence why half the duo is usually eaten immediately after. Kaarvok has long since reduced his jailers to a loyal Cannibal Clan via Clone Degeneration, and over the course of the episode, is able to twin Chiana, D'Argo, and Crichton... resulting in much awkwardness when both Crichtons survive the adventure and are incorporated into the cast from then on. Even after thorough scientific analysis, it's impossible to tell which of them is the original, and the episode ends with the two Crichtons silently playing Rock–Paper–Scissors in an attempt to identify the clone — only to end every single game with a tie.
- Out-of-Genre Experience: This episode is pure horror, and does a sub-GenreShift within that as well - it starts off as a Zombie Apocalypse story and becomes a Slasher Movie when Kaarvok is introduced.
- Reset Button: The two Crichtons' survival is the most triumphant aversion of this in the whole of Farscape.
- Rock–Paper–Scissors: The two Crichtons at the end of the episode, and they keep getting tied.
- Say My Name:
- After being separated, Crichton walks through corridors shouting Chiana's name.
- As the ship comes apart, D'Argo searches for Crichton and screams his name. This is how Crichton learns that D'Argo is still alive.
- Spanner in the Works: This Leviathan was basically a one-man insane asylum to keep Kaarvok locked up. Then the Scarrans attacked their convoy, which freed Kaarvok from imprisonment and left them all adrift in the Uncharted Territories.
- Teach Her Anger: Chiana tries to do this to Jool by Pistol-Whipping her. It doesn't work.
- Twinmaker: Kaarvok is doing this to create more meat for himself.
- Wham Episode: Kaarvok twinning Crichton deeply affects the rest of the series, particularly the relationship with Aeryn.
- Wham Line: Just as Crichton boards the pod, we hear another Crichton shout, "Hold the door!"
- What Does This Button Do?: Jool causing all the episode's problems by messing with the transport pod's controls.
