Brief synopsis:
Whilst visiting a trading planet, Aeryn and Rygel are drugged by a Nebari woman and temporarily cleansed of all evil thoughts, and changed into tools of the Nebari society. They come aboard and do the same to D'Argo, Crichton and Zhaan, allowing them to capture their prize, Chiana, a relation of the Nebari resistance leader. However, thanks to Scorpius in Crichton's head, Rygel's quick metabolism and a resistance fighter Nebari, Chiana isn't alone as she attempts to escape.

The Main Story:

Trivia Quiz:

References and continuity:

Chiana: "You're just crying because Winona jammed."
Crichton: "Hey! Winona has been very reliable. Its not her fault she jammed!"

One to remember, that's the name for Crichton's favourite pulse pistol. Its best to keep track of that because he occasionally uses the name whilst not holding the gun, which could confuse more than just the guest cast.

Crichton: "Chiana. Let me ask you a question - when you first came on board, Elvis had you in cuffs, draggin you back to Nebari Prime. Now we get Deborah Harry doing the same thing. Why are your people so jazzed about getting you home?"

First off, Elvis, not much to add here, except that obviously Salis looked and acted a little like "The King", without even knowing it. Which brings me to point two, Salis. He came aboard Moya in Durka Returns with Chiana as a prisoner, determined to get her to Nebari Prime. His crash with Moya and the subsequent events resulted in Chiana's escape.

Now though, another pursuer is after Chiana, Varla, who Crichton describes as looking like Deborah Harry, a famous musician who led the group Blondie in the 70s and 80s, responsible for hits such as Rapture. This is supposedly a group that a 'cultured' music appreciator would be familiar with.

Crichton: "Nebari Prime Directive..."

A slight reference to Star Trek this one. They had a policy that the members of Starfleet would not interfere with the internal matters of other planets unless threatened themselves. The Nebari Prime Directive is something entirely different though, as they quest to take over all other worlds, sticking their noses, and viruses, into other planetary systems.

Crichton: "You can kiss, kick and cry your way out of any situation..."

Crichton reminds Chiana of her exact words in the episode Through The Looking Glass when Chiana first realises just what a dangerous place to be Moya is.

• Why does Chiana think Nerri is dead? In Taking The Stone the life disk, representing Nerri, held inside Chiana, stopped working, implying Nerri's end. Chiana spent the episode confronting her grief.
• Crichton asks how Aeryn and Rygel were cleansed so quickly. In Durka Returns they are told it takes 100 cycles to mind cleanse a person, but Chiana tells him of the drug induced and temporary version.
• Chiana mentions that Salis kept asking about the resistance back in Durka Returns, a useful fact as we were never told the full truth about Chiana's imprisonment at that stage. That's the great thing about Farscape, it constantly creates exciting blank spaces to fill, and isn't afraid to fill them with crazy ideas.

Chiana: "Something's not right... Aeryn doesn't even shower without a pulse pistol."

Obviously just an exaggerated expression, but has Chiana perhaps spied Aeryn in the shower? I'll keep my thoughts to myself.

Crichton: "Pilot, I'm here to tell you that the Nebari are a bunch of *geeks*, and their damn mind cleansing doesn't work on mamma Crichton's baby boy. John Crichton, astronaut, master of the universe. Bah! Pilot, its me!"
Pilot: "But how?"
Crichton: "I dunno, they gave me the full Monty, and it was working, and I got this, this, this flash, and it was like it was soaking up the drug - I snapped out of it!"

Thanks to the Scorpius chip, which we know about, but Crichton doesn't officially, Crichton is able to overcome the drug, much to Pilot's surprise.

Rygel: "I'm nobody's puppet!!" An excellent line that, and its often easy to forget that a puppet is exactly what Rygel is. I like this quote! Crichton: "Oh Rygel-l! Where are you my little husky-y? I have a stick for you-u..." Crichton treating Rygel like a pet - great stuff! I loved those scenes where Rygel had no idea what Crichton was up to in his apparently unc

Crichton: "Your brother's alive... he's alive. Take that. Its more than you had yesterday."
Chiana: "I wanna go to him."
Crichton: "I know, but since when do people like us get what we want."

A sad ending for Chiana it may seem, but Crichton's absolutely right, at least she knows her brother is in fact alive.

Writer:

Writer Lily Taylor, who also played a massive role in Farscape production and editing, managed to write another episode in season 3, and its quite an interesting episode too, causing it to be shown at nearly midnight on BBC television, unannounced to regular viewers:

Director:

The director of this episode was Rowan Woods, who also directed:

New Aliens:

More Nebari		We now learn that the Nebari deliberately released their unwanted citizens so as to spread a disease, weakening any systems they may wish to invade later. Chiana and Nerri were such victims, and they played their part, transmitting the disease sexually. Nerri now leads a resistance movement amongst the Nebari.
		Another thing to notice is that with three male specimens and two female Nebari to see, we can now propose that male Nebari have bluer skin, where as the females are all grey. Hair colour also varies, with males having dark hair, females grey/white. An interesting difference.

Farewell to:

Varla

Shot by Meelak, actually a resistance member.

Guest Stars:

• Skye Wansey as Varla.
• Simon Bossell as Nerri.
• Malcolm Kennard as Meelak.

Personal Opinion:

Good stuff this episode, giving more importance to the third of the major powers in the Uncharted Territories. Its not just going to be about Peacekeepers and Scarrens, but also Nebari. I wonder perhaps that they are waiting to pick up the pieces after a full scale war between Peacekeepers and Scarrens, it'll be interesting to follow. However, with Nerri leaving that resistance, perhaps their threat will be crushed from within. One to watch for sure!

As for the episode itself, it was quite impressive. It had the comedy - Aeryn and D'Argo changing personalities, but more impressively, the interaction between Crichton and Rygel (a top episode from the puppeteers) - and it had action, thanks to the Nebari threat and the rather impressive attack show at the end of the episode. I'm not sure exactly what Zhaan did during the episode, but wasn't too bothered really as it was so much fun watching Crichton pretend to be high!

	Good news for Chiana, and a good episode leading into the final four.		8/10