Recap / Farscape S 03 E 20 Into The Lions Den Lambs To The Slaughter

Season 3, Episode 20:

Into the Lion's Den, part 1: Lambs to the Slaughter

As Moya and Talyn hide behind a moon several arns away, the crew board Scorpius' command carrier and, in keeping with their agreement, are granted full diplomatic rights and immunities. Crais asks that an addendum be added to their agreement so that Talyn can be brought aboard for his cognitive replacement, and Scorpius agrees. The situation is troubling for all the crew, but particularly Aeryn, who finds herself among former friends and comrades that now think she's a traitor. But despite the reluctance of Peacekeepers to harbour criminals, they give the crew what they want: D'Argo receives surgery to remove the chain links from his time in prison, and learns the location of his wife's murderer; Rygel gets intelligence reports on the Hynerian political situation, allowing him to plan a return to power. Meanwhile, Crichton goes to work for Scorpius, examining their wormhole research. Crichton gives assurances that he's really trying to work out the Peacekeeper's problems with liquefaction and the like, but Scorpius suggests that Crichton is subconsciously holding back.

Things quickly go pear-shaped. Some disgruntled Peacekeepers attempt to goad D'Argo into breaking the terms of the diplomatic agreement, and he, Chiana, Jool and Rygel decide to return to Moya. However, Moya is soon attacked and captured by a different group of Peacekeepers under the command of Commandant Grayza, who has come to relieve Scorpius of his command and finally capture the infamous crew of Moya. Grayza confirms that the Luxans have signed an agreement with the Peacekeepers as part of a strategy to secure a peace treaty with the Scarrans, something that Scorpius' wormhole research threatens. Scorpius forces Grayza to back down and leave, but she promises to return with backup from Peacekeeper High Command. Moya and the crew are freed, but Scorpius begs Crichton to help him finish the wormhole research before Grayza can take it out of their hands.

Grayza contacts some Peacekeeper officers aboard the command carrier and asks for their help in removing Scorpius from power. They hit upon the idea of killing the less-well-defended Crichton, and because of the I-Yensch bracelet, this would kill Scorpius as well. They attack Crichton and Aeryn in the bowels of the ship, but Scorpius quickly realises what's going on and dispatches Braca and a security force to help. Once safe, Crichton angrily goes after Scorpius and his claims of diplomatic immunity and freedom, but Scorpius still thinks Crichton is stalling, and he's prepared an ace in the hole: Earth. Scorpius knows its location and he's dispatched a Peacekeeper fleet, even though it will take them 60 cycles to arrive. He gives Crichton an ultimatum, a choice between helping Scorpius finish the research or witnessing the destruction of his homeworld...

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Tropes present in this episode include:

• Attack Backfire: The assassins sent after Crichton take him on hand-to-hand, which only tips off Scorpius as to what's happening when he suddenly finds himself throwing punches. The reason why is shown when one of them loses patience and fires a pulse weapon near the Perilous Power Source, which stops the bolt in midair and then flings it back at him. The assassin is blasted back into the glowing energy ball thingy which turns him into a scorched black spot.
• Armor-Piercing Question
  Aeryn: Aren't you ever worried that you might be fighting for the wrong cause?
  Henta: (coldly) No. Never.
  Aeryn: What about the wrong leaders?
  (Henta stares at Scorpius, who has just entered the room.)
• "Awkward Silence" Entrance: Lieutenant Reljik is venting loudly about how they should be executing these criminals instead of giving them immunity, when the people in question walk into the room. Naturally this trope ensues.
• The Baroness: Commandant Grayza flaunts her power and sexuality. She wears a Custom Uniform of Sexy with Navel-Deep Neckline, and is a rival to Scorpius with connections to the Peacekeeper Council and the ruthlessness to take direct action to remove him from the picture.
• Better the Devil You Know: The Luxans prefer the Peacekeepers to the Scarrans.
• Big Brother Is Watching You: Everyone's paranoid about listening devices, through Braca sneers at Crais when he searches his allocated quarters, saying he's not important enough. John and Aeryn have their private conversations in a medical restorative chamber, because the anesthetic gasses would prevent listening devices from working effectively.
• Body Horror: When D'Argo gets a PK surgeon to remove the attachment rings embedded in his chest, the surgeon tells him they were designed to be permanent. Fortunately, he's still able to remove them.
• Call-Back: Crichton recalls Linfer from "Incubator" in discussions with her former work colleague. Scorpius reveals the same information on his Dark and Troubled Past he gave the Crichton neural clone in that episode, to try and persuade Crichton likewise.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Introducing next season's Big Bad, Commandant Mele-On Grayza.
• Deadly Disc: D'Argo is attacked by a PK officer with a buzzsaw attachment on his arm. He ends up landing on it.
• Flaw Exploitation: Grayza wants Scorpius assassinated and secretly contacts Lieutenant Reljik to do the job. Reljik says that Scorpius is too well-guarded but the solution is obvious—kill Crichton and Scorpius dies as well. Given that Grayza is already pissed at Crichton for having the effrontery to point a gun at her, she has no problem with this plan.
• Foreshadowing
  • Larell tries to persuade Crais to ally with Scorpius. "Give him what he wants from Crichton. Show Scorpius you're not his enemy."
  • As his part of the deal, D'Argo gets information on the current whereabouts of Macton.
• Handshake of Doom: The episode kicks off with Crichton and Scorpius shaking hands on a deal: in exchange for his friends being pardoned and granted boons of their choosing, Crichton will help Scorpius unlock the final secrets of wormhole physics (all while planning to sabotage the wormhole project from within). As a result, Crichton is subjected to obstruction, assassination attempts by mutinous crewmembers, interference from Peacekeeper higher-ups, and a good deal of suspicion from Scorpius himself as his patience runs thin. The episode ends with Scorpius finally dropping his Affably Evil demeanour and threatening to destroy Earth if Crichton doesn't cooperate.
• Imagine Spot: The episode opens with Harvey and Crichton in a scratchy black & white American war movie, as they sally forth to take on Scorpius together, with Crichton as a gum chewing Sergeant Rock bucking up a nervous Private Harvey.
• I Have Your Homeworld: Scorpius reveals he has pinpointed Earth's location and will use this knowledge to force Crichton's cooperation.
  Scorpius: (slams Crichton down on a table displaying a hologram of Earth) Even without wormholes, Earth is reachable. At top speed, just over 60 cycles. You give me what I want or I swear, I will keep you alive so that you can witness your home world's destruction!
• Interesting Situation Duel: The generator room fight with martial arts, quarterstaffs and jetpacks, in the midst of power orbs that will disintegrate anyone who touches them and are in danger of exploding.
• Jet Pack: The engine room of a Peacekeeper Command Carrier is so large it requires jetpacks to conduct routine maintenance. This leads to a mid-air jetpack fight between Crichton and a would-be assassin.
• Like an Old Married Couple: Lampshaded by Crichton. "Why are you bitchin' at me like we're married, Scorpy-Sue? Just tell me what's on your mind."
• Living Lie Detector: Though the series previously established this ability, Scorpius can't tell when Crichton is lying to his face. This is because Harvey found a way to mask Crichton's heat signature.
• Make It Look Like a Struggle: Seemingly angry over Reljik questioning her order to release the prisoners, Grayza slams him against a wall whilst slipping a Comm Link down the back of his jacket.
• Not Me This Time: Crichton and Aeryn think Scorpius has gone back on his word when Moya and her crew is detained, but it turns out there's a new player on the scene.
• Omnicidal Maniac: After getting Scorpy's backstory and being told Scarrans are a threat to all sentient species, Crichton asks Harvey if this is true. Saying he can be objective since he lacks any emotional bias, Harvey believes it is true.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Harvey has changed his mind about dying, so much so that he's willing to help Crichton fool Scorpius so he won't get killed, which would mean the end of Harvey as well.
• Remember the New Guy?: Crais' New Old Flame, Larell. It is stated they were involved during Season 1, but this is the first we've ever heard of her.
• Roll Out the Red Carpet: Scorpius literally has a red carpet laid out for our heroes, plus a guard of honor. No-one feels honored on either side. When Aeryn twists Crichton's thumb to test the I-Yensch bracelet and Scorpius snarls in pain, half the assembled troops point their guns at them until their officer gestures for them to cool it.
• Shout-Out:
  • Grayza was inspired by Servalan, the Big Bad of Blake's 7.
  • Crichton gripes about "Dick Tracy's freakin' neural bracelet linking me to Bram Stoker's nightmare."
• A Simple Plan: Plan A was to erase Scorpius' data, but Crichton doesn't know how to do that. Plan B is to steer Scorpius' research in the wrong direction. Plan C is Run or Die, though Crichton admits he's joking about the last one...but they need to be ready to do it anyway.
• Spanner in the Works: After Scorpius agrees to let D'Argo, Chiana and Jool go back to Moya, Commandant Grayza turns up, captures the lot of them and hauls them back to the Command Carrier. Then she informs Scorpius that the Peacekeepers are seeking to form an alliance with the independent systems against the Scarran threat; not for a potential war but to present a united front for peace negotiations. Scorpius of course is strongly opposed to this idea and thinks they're just hastening the inevitable conflict, especially as Grayza wants to shut down his research to avoid provoking the Scarrans. Scorpius orders the prisoners released and has Grayza removed under escort, but she makes it clear she's not taking that lying down.
• Synchronization: During the assassination attempt on Crichton, Scorpius finds himself throwing punches and being tossed about, then he grabs Bracca and starts choking him as Crichton does the same to his would-be assassin. Later when Crichton pulls a gun on him, Scorpius stabs his own hand to make Crichton drop it.
• Standard Female Grab Area: Averted; D'Argo tries to haul off Chiana when she gets in the face of a hostile PK officer, but she immediately shrugs him off.
• Stealth Insult: After a number of insults from him, Crais tells Braca he predicted his rise and dubs him a "consummate Peacekeeper". Braca pulls a sour look and storms off.
• Starship Luxurious: The Command Carrier has a large park (or "planetary terrain reconstruction" for combat training)—Aeryn mentions there's around forty of them. There's also a generator room so vast you need jetpacks to get about.
• Tastes Like Friendship: Averted. Scorpius invites Crichton to join him in the officer's mess, but Crichton says he'd rather get to work. Scorpius snarks: "For me or against me?" Meanwhile Aeryn offers to drink with Henta, a former fellow PK soldier, only to get it tossed in her face.
• Weaponized Exhaust: John picks up a Jet Pack and uses it to blast an assassin into a generator orb so he will be disintegrated.
• We ARE Struggling Together: The Peacekeepers barely conceal their disdain for our heroes, so much so there's an unauthorized assassination attempt even before Commandant Grayza gets involved. Scorpius suspects (quite accurately) that Crichton is conspiring against him, while at the same time he has Grayza trying to shut down his project and then murder him when he obstructs her.
• We Used to Be Friends: Aeryn's scenes with Yal Henta, who used to serve with her in the Peacekeepers.
• Wham Shot: Scorpius's holographic image of Earth.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Even Crichton starts to wonder if he should mislead Scorpius in the face of the Scarran threat. Aeryn is not impressed with his indecisiveness and tells him he needs to make a decision either way.