Brief synopsis:
Scorpius has what he wants, as he now possesses the chip with the wormhole knowledge from Crichton's mind, but he is having difficulty escaping. Not only is Moya's crew still around, but more worryingly for Scorpius, so is Crais, aboard Talyn. John meanwhile tries to get his mind fixed, but discovers a residual Scorpius still remains hidden in his brain. Mixing things up even more is a Scarren, released by Grunchlk, who is in search of both Crichton and Scorpius. Eventually though, it turns out to be Zhaan and Crais who have a massive influence on the future.

The Main Story:
The crew of Moya, D'Argo, Zhaan, Chiana, Jothee, Rygel and everybody else all check in with Pilot to ask if there is any news of Crichton's condition, frustrating the normally placid being who is as sad as anyone about Aeryn's loss. Meanwhile, on the ice planet, Braca holds Grunchlk captive, and the two argue over why he hid, as perhaps it was just a precaution. Grunchlk claims he is still allied with Scorpius, after all, he alterted them to Crichton's arrival. Scorpius arrives, and immediately gets to the point - does Grunchlk still serve a purpose? Grunchlk attempts to prove he does, by offering secret accomodation as currently Scorpius has no real protection if Crais and Talyn are made aware of his presence.

The room is a successful idea as the carrier is delayed from a battle, and will be 5 arns late. Even the top pilot they have with them wouldn't get them out of range of Talyn quickly enough. Rygel meanwhile stumbles across the Tocot, unconscious next to the operating table with Crichton it. He quickly calls for Zhaan's help, and follows her CPR instructions to keep Tocot alive as long as possible. Scorpius covers his back more solidly by creating a neural link with Grunchlk. Using an implant in the back of Grunchlk's neck, Scorpius overwhelms his mind and gains total control. Meanwhile, Zhaan, D'Argo and Stark arrive on a pod and complete Tocot's revival. However, they now know of Scorpius's presence, and also that the command carrier is nowhere near. This means he arrived on a stealth trajectory.

Grunchlk then plays his part, shooting himself in the arm, and claiming that Scorpius nearly got him. He goes to the crew and starts to help with the donar situation. Zhaan attempts unity with Crichton to make sure that the Scorpius clone has been removed, but is shocked to discover that the evil is still there. The diagnosan explains that after such a long time there could easily be an imprint left in Crichton's head but that this will not have the chip's strength, it will be merely a wraith in comparison. With Grunchlk backing her up, Zhaan decides the torture is too great and that Crichton must be killed. She moves to do so, but luckily Stark and D'Argo stop her. Stark says he has an idea, and after D'Argo gets Zhaan and Grunchlk to leave, Stark will convince Crichton to fight the wraith, to use positive thoughts to overwhelm it.

Before this he must get Crichton's speech back with the help of the diagnosan. Crichton didn't want to harm any donars, but Stark proves a point by opening one of the storage chambers and killing an Interon, claiming that he can here them screaming out to him, wanting to die. He says Crichton should accept the gift as those in storage need release. Tocot conducts the necessary surgery and Crichton's speech soon returns. He then follows Stark's advice and overcomes Harvey within his mind. The two wrestle, but now its Crichton who has the strength reserves, and he ends up throwing Harvey into a dumpster.

Grunchlk meanwhile uses Zhaan's comm to try and pursuade Crais to leave as he has nothing more to do here, obviously getting him out of the way for Scorpius, but has no luck as Crais will wait for the remains of Aeryn Sun. Later Grunchlk returns to Scorpius, but gets a call from Tocot reporting a cryogenic release. Grunchlk forcefully tries to stop Tocot investigating, but has no luck, and Tocot is first to see why Grunchlk was so worried. A Scarren bursts out of the chamber and knocks the diagnosan down. Scorpius of course, is keen to know why, and questions Grunchlk. After having been forced to bite his own finger off, Grunchlk says it was insurance, in case Scorpius's intentions weren't all that kind. Now Plonek is loose and looking for him.

On Moya, things are far less tense as Jothee and Chiana get very close (annoyingly so for D'Argo) as their cookery gets not only their food hot and steamy, but their relationship. Rygel discovers this, but isn't too suspicious yet, despite his swift decision to escape from detonating crockery. Scorpius has a plan to stop Plonek, and sends Grunchlk out to intercept. He finds the Scarren and claims that it isn't Scorpius who is hear but instead Crichton, who Grunchlk thought Plonek would find equally interesting. Plonek agrees, locks Grunchlk in a cryo chamber and heads off after Crichton. Meanwhile Zhaan and Stark discover Aeryn, frozen in a cryo chamber, possibly intended to be used as a donar by Grunchlk. They realise it has preserved her until now, and Zhaan seems keen to try something. Stark tries to stop her, saying it is too dangerous, but Zhaan wants to go ahead anyway.

Zhaan knocks out Stark, and using the power from under his mask, and her own through unity, she goes to communicate with Aeryn's spirit. Meanwhile, Plonek reaches surgery, forcing Crichton and D'Argo to run out into the cold, fleeing from a strong opponent. D'Argo fends him Plonek off as the two escape outside, and draw the Scarren (a creature keen on heat) out into the icy cold. Meanwhile, Scorpy plans an assault strike against Zhaan and Stark as they are the only two blocking his escape path back to the Marauder. Zhaan however, busy in unity, meets with Aeryn, and the two share minds. Aeryn remembers who she is, and soon after says that she knows who Zhaan is also, and more importantly what the cost is of what Zhaan plans to do. She resists, not accepting Zhaan's gift, whatever it may be, and Zhaan is hurled away from the cryochamber.

As this happens, the commandos arrive to take out Zhaan and Stark, not a difficult task as the two are unconscious on the floor, but they have an unexpected enemy. Aeryn, armed with D'Argo's Qualta blade bursts out of the cryo chamber and takes out both of the commandos swiftly. This blocks Scorpius who decides that it is time for his pilot, Officer Kobrin, to put his skills to the test. Meanwhile, Plonek catches up with D'Argo and Crichton. D'Argo tries stabbing him with his knife, but it shatters against the Scarren's hard skin. Just as it seems the Scarren will win, they hear a Qualta blade shot, and the Scarren is hit by several blasts. A tear forms in his skin, and Crichton manages to stab Plonek with an icicle.

Crichton is happy at winning, but stunned by what he sees next, Aeryn walking towards him. Having had so many visions in his head lately he doesn't believe it at first, but when Aeryn holds him, he realises the truth, and he is completely overcome by emotion, his love for Aeryn Sun, and happiness that she has returned. Crais meanwhile doesn't know about this, but what he does know is that Scorpius is trying to flee from the planet, and that Talyn has the power to catch the ship and destroy it. Despite warnings that the approaching carrier will destroy Talyn, Crais and Talyn agree with eachother and shoot down Scorpius's ship, and evade the carrier escaping into space. With the enemy gone, Crichton's head repaired, and Aeryn revived, the crew prepare to leave. Stark reports that Tocot is dead, and that Grunchlk is "as good as dead" having got trapped in one of his own Cryogenic freezing chambers.

Returning to Moya, Crichton feels heowes a debt to the Interons, and also thinks they may be somehow related and have some knowledge of Earth, so he brings the two surviving specimens aboard, still in storage. Scorpius though, is of course, to smart to have been shot down. He is revealed to be still on the ice planet, simply observing that perhaps his ace pilot wasn't as good as he claimed. Scorpius can now leave to examine his wormhole knowledge carefully. Rygel and D'Argo seem completely content, eating the food created by Jothee and Chiana, but the other crew are less relaxed. Crichton and Aeryn talk, and then kiss, admitting their love for eachother, but Aeryn stops it, saying that she doesn't want attachments to grow too much, that she doesn't want somebody else sacrificing themselves for her.

Crichton realises what this means, that whatever Zhaan did, it had cost her dearly. He goes to her, finding her lying down, weakened, but resting on Stark's lap, and is lost for words. She insists he accept the gift, despite Stark's sadness, and asks that Crichton and Aeryn live for eachother, and for their futures. She explains it was a gift of spiritual energy that revived Aeryn, but took away from Zhaan herself, with little chance of a cure.

Trivia Quiz:

Continuity:

D'Argo: "Woah, woah woah! I have the cold."
Crichton: "Freeze or fry?."

Don't forget the Scarrens have immense heat producing glands capable of dealing out powerful heat waves. Staying to fight the Scarren would be be like walking into a frying pan.

D'Argo: "That's my Qualta blade."
Crichton: "It can't be. You left it in the coffin. Hey horseface!"

In Die Me Dichotomy D'Argo placed his Qualta blade in Aeryn's coffin, probably his most treasured possession. As for horseface, that's the name for Scarrens these days thanks to their long faces.

Crais: "You consider one sebacean that died at your hands - Officer Aeryn Sun. Yes Talyn I see it. Command carrier."

Crais is out for revenge over Scorpiius, but did Scorpius really do it? Hell yes. His neural clone took over Crichton and it was his hands that held the controls.

• Clicking noise - There is also a familiar clicking noise at points on Moya during the episode. Familiar because we may have heard them before in the episode Through The Looking Glass.

References:

Harvey: "Death is the only sensible course John. For everything there is a season, a time to be born, and-"
Crichton: "A time to die. Yes, the devil quotes scripture. I thought you were put in here to protect me."

The devil quotes scripture, Matthew 4:5-7, attempting to lure Jesus into temptation.

Aeryn: "Officer Aeryn Sun, special Peacekeeper commando, Icarian company, Pleisar regiment. Have you come to re-assign me?"

Yes! She's back! This is a reference to her exact rank held when she first met the crew of Moya. It would have been engraved on her mind as a Peacekeeper, and was the first thing that came out - her identification.

Funny or interesting quotes:

Crichton: "You should be gone. How come you're not?"
Scorpius: "I don't know. This, this is intolerable - for both of us. End it John. Free us from one another. Scorpius has beaten you. Aeryn Sun is dead, your power of speech is gone. The only one you'll ever talk to again is me. Is that how you want to live? End it John. Do it!"

A fine example of a moment when you shouldn't take Harvey's advice. He may have been right in Won't Get Fooled Again, but this time, he's way off the mark.

Stark: "Why is Scorpius still in Crichton's mind?"
Tocot: "(Speaks)"
Grunchlk: "Well, the doc figures its like a neural bleed. The clone personality has been in there so long that his consciousness has like, merged with Crichton's. (Scorpius link give away) How interesting..."

Now we know, well, kind of. Harvey is quite possibly there to stay, though see below to see how their positions change.

Harvey: "Now John, you listen to me."
Crichton: "Not this time Scorp, this brain ain't big enough for the two of us."
Harvey: "Look Crichton, I'm warning you!"
Crichton: "Ah, I'm sorry sweetheart. Come on Scorpy, c'mon man, show me that ugly grin!"
Harvey: "I'm warning you Crichton, now you stop!"
Crichton: "Oh no, no, no. I don't think so, remember: out with the old, in with the new. Can I get a hell yeah?!"
Imaginary Audience: "Hell Yeah!"

Crichton, with the help of Stark, makes a great deal of progress when he discovers that Harvey is powerless without the chip's batteries behind it.

Crichton: "No sign of the Scarren. You think he's following?" D'Argo: "I kinda hope he is." Crichton: "Sounds like you've got a plan." D'Argo: "We're gonna bring him out here, and see how he likes being in the cold." Crichton: "What if he likes it?!" D'Argo: "Look. One plan! At a time!" Crichton and D'Argo, working well together, and keeping up the humour despite the massive threat of the approaching Scarren. Perhaps they should start taking the giant assassin a little more seriously.

Aeryn: "Zhaan brought me back, she did a unity thing."

Aeryn's back! Back to Crichton, back to her friends, back to beating up the bad guys, and more importantly, back to putting in those cracking lines.

Scorpius: "Crais. You destroy this ship; my command carrier will destroy you."
Crais: "Possibly. Talyn, are we in agreement? (Pause) Fire!!"

How cool is that! Crais, on the bridge of Talyn, issues the command to blow up Scorpius's Marauder, a fantasticly powerful moment.

Writer:

Teaming up with director Ian Watson for the first time, a successful partnership was formed for Richard Manning, which led to the pair working together on two more episodes in season 3, Incubator and Lambs To The Slaughter. Each of these episodes feature a large number of scenes involving Wayne Pygram's character, Scorpius. Lambs To The Slaughter probably has the most in common with this episide, Season Of Death.

Richard Manning wrote a total of 10 Farscape episodes. Most of these were spectacular episodes, especially in seasons 3 and 4 as the Farscape project really hit its stride. Perhaps his most notable episode though is season 2's Won't Get Fooled Again which despite its dark theme, contained some of the funniest moments in the Farscape story. The list of other episodes written by Richard Manning follows:

Director:

Ian Watson was responsible for directing a total of 15 Farscape episodes, which with the possible exception of Jeremiah Crichton, were all massive hits. Particular gems include Crackers Don't Matter and Out Of Their Minds for their comedy value, and also Icarus Abides for providing one of the most moving moments in the Farscape story. The other episodes directed by Ian Watson are:

Main Cast: Ben Browder as a newly chipless John Crichton. Claudia Black returning as Aeryn Sun. Anthony Simcoe as happy father Ka D'Argo. Gigi Edgley as the flirtatious Chiana. Jonathan Hardy as the voice of paramedic Rygel.

Claudia Black

• Virginia Hey as upset Priestess Zhaan.
• Pual Goddard as the insane spiritual being Stark.
• Lani Tupu as the vengeful captain Bialar Crais.
• Lani Tupu as the voice of overseer Pilot.
• Wayne Pygram as relentless pusuer Scorpius.

Guest Stars: Hugh Keays-Byrne as Grunchlk. Thomas Holesgrove as Tocot. Matt Newton as Jothee. David Franklin as Lieutenant Braca. Thomas Holesgrove as Plonek. Aaron Catalan as Officer Kobrin.

Tocot

Thomas Holesgrove, who played two parts in this episode, is a regular guest cast member, playing many important costume roles, including Cargn back in I Do, I Think.

New Aliens:

Interons

Little is known about this species at the moment, though they are similar to humans (though Grunchlk's criteria for this feat were as simple as organs internal, bipedal and a few other traits that seemed to be shared amongst almost all of the crew). The ones in this episode were frozen, donars held in stasis moments before their deaths so that the "past lasts longer". Stark kills one of them by opening the door, claiming that it was what they wanted.

Technology:

Neural Link

Scorpius uses a device to link his brain to that of Grunchlk. He is then able to overwhelm Grunchlk and control him using the connection formed. It appears to work by implanting a chip into the spine of the victim, allowing the user to control the victim via a headset linked to the user's mind.

Cryogenic Chambers

Freeze chambers used to keep near death beings alive, making the "past last longer". There body is kept alive, so that when a donar is needed, the parts are still "fresh". Plonek proves that this device can also be used to simply stay in wait without having to actually pass the time.

Farewell to:

Tocot		Killed by Plonek as the Scarren was released.		Grunchlk
Grunchlk		Frozen and left in a cryogenic chamber by Plonek.
Plonek		Shot by Aeryn, and finished by Crichton's icicle.
Officer Kobrin		Shot down by Talyn's powerful cannon whilst approaching the Command Carrier.

Personal Opinion:

Plot openers are always difficult, especially when you have somebody as brilliant as David Kemper leaving massive cliffhangers at the end of the previous season, but this episode handles it brilliantly, bringing us back into Farscape with a real bang. After months of worrying about Aeryn, we finally get to find out what happens, and in a stroke of genius, the writers avoid the rounded happy ending, and demonstrate that *everything* has a price. Aeryn may be back, but Zhaan is the cost.

After this careful balancing, the most ominous thing about the episode is that Scorpius now has what he wants. After an entire season pursuing Crichton for the knowledge, he can now go away and test it, but we only have some clues as to what he will use it for so far. He seems to want to help the Peacekeepers fight the Scarrens, moving entire armies across the universe, but surely it wouldn't stop there. Even if Scorpius only wanted that much, the Peacekeepers themselves would go on to use the power for far greater purposes.

Though the crew may not yet know it, perhaps the largest threat in the episode was Plonek, the Scarren warrior hiding at the facility, awaiting Scorpius's return. He demonstrates just what lengths the Scarrens are willing to go to in order to gain an edge over Scorpius. Clearly a major conflict is brewing in this area, and looking at what an individual Scarren can do, you'd have to say the Peacekeepers should be worried. The species is also ruthless, more so than the Peacekeepers, which Plonek shows when he needlessly kills Tocot.

Plonek

Overall, Season Of Death is a fantastic episode, bringing the plot massive steps forward, and setting things up for a fantastic third season. I'm personally very glad to see Aeryn back on the team. I don't think the series would have been anywhere near as good without her, if in fact any series could have been made at all. The only problem I can see now is that this episode is going to be extremely difficult to top!

Overall Score: