The Hidden Memory
Teleplay by David Kemper & Rockne S O'Bannon
Directed by Andrew Prowse
REVIEW
Disappointing. This was the conclusion of Farscape's first official two-part story and as is often the case, part 2 just did not live up to the promise of the opener. Worse, while part 1 took standard SF plots and twisted them into fresh drama, this conclusion just stopped at standard.
Neither was there any of the usual depth of characterisation. What first marked Farscape as being more than an updated Buck Rogers was how Crichton's isolation was conveyed and there was ample opportunity to do that here. Ultimately Crichton has swapped Aeryn's life for Gilina's but we don't get a sense of the enormity of what he's done.
That's because her death was played as handy cop-out rather than adult tragedy and really the whole episode was marred by a sense of plot convenience.
That said, SF's greatest TV cliché of having the hero not kill the baddie was bettered here. Crais got to deliver the blustering, threatening speech of all such baddies (the "I will hunt you down" kind of speech) and Aeryn seemingly killed him. It's a huge shame that we just can't be sure whether he's dead or not, but he should be and that was a refreshing change from the rule that says our heroes have to take the moral high ground.
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FARSCAPE in the UK on 大象传媒2. FARSCAPE © The Jim Henson Company 2001. © Hallmark Entertainment. FARSCAPE and all related characters and elements are trademarks of The Jim Henson Company. All Rights Reserved.
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