大象传媒

The Origin of Titles: The title of the story is a pun on the term natural selection - coined by naturalist Charles Darwin to explain the forces behind evolution. Those creatures that don't have the qualities needed to keep them alive long enough to breed don't pass on their genes, hence only the fittest survive. Or the luckiest, as in John Crichton's case.

Commanding tones: This week it's the turn of the lovely Claudia Black (Aeryn) to announce "previously on Farscape." Lay your bets for next week - Wayne Pygram maybe?

Play it again D'Argo: The Luxan instrument D'Argo is constructing is a Shilquen, last seen early in season one. It's apparently a traditional instrument, a little similar to the Japanese shamisen in build. D'Argo was building one back in Back and Back and Back to the Future which he later played to Pilot to say sorry for cutting one of his arms off (in DNA Mad Scientist. A planned appearance in season two's Mind the Baby was cut, but appeared as a DVD extra. Since then he's lost that one, but we don't know how. Thanks to Beth for DVD info.

Oh no, not again! The theme of a virulent, hidden infestation threatening an isolated spaceship crew is a common one in sci-fi, probably because it's so potent. Examples include the Borg-beset Enterprise in Star Trek: First Contact, the scuttling space spiders that attacked the Jupiter II in the Lost in Space movie and the swarming aliens of the Alien film franchise. And, of course, the scuttling metal eaters in the Liars, Guns and Money trilogy.

Time for supper: Rygel's first thought when the stars go out is that they've been swallowed by a Budong - again. Huge space-faring creatures, Budongs are quite large enough to gulp down a Leviathan without a second thought, as demonstrated in Green Eyed Monster. If it's not that, he reckons the Flax as the culprit.

It'll be all white on the night: Radiation flashes hold no fears for Chiana - they just bounce off her high-albedo skin. "We don't tan," she tells John, "but we don't burn either."

By the sceptre of Rygel? The atmospheric scrubbing room, with its unnecessarily dangerous-looking great spinning fans, rather calls to mind the 1999 sci-fi spoof Galaxy Quest. In one scene Captain Peter Quincy Taggart and Lieutenant Madison encounter the "chompers" deep inside their ship - huge, unnecessarily dangerous slabs of moving metal. :

The John Crichton guide to pop culture.

Speaka da lingo For some reason, John counts down to the wormhole's appearance in Spanish. Sikozu seems to like it though - looks like the best way to her heart is through her brains.

Sticks and stones: Poor old Noranti never seems to get called by name. Epithets slung at her this week include "Glenda," after the Good Witch of the North in The Wizard of Oz, "School Lunch Lady" and, from Sikozu "this old demon." Being as mad as a box of cakes, she doesn't seem to mind. In her own head, she's the Great Eternal.

Little Wormhole of Horrors: The Leviathan-munching vegetation is dubbed "Audrey" by John, after the carnivorous plant in The Little Shop of Horrors. A story about a shy florist who bonds with his customer-consuming flower, the tale has been filmed twice, in 1960, and as a musical in 1986. The second version features a great cameo from Steve Martin as a sadistic dentist.

Are You Experienced?: John calls the mist from Moya's filter system a purple haze, after the psychedelic sixties song by the late great axeman Jimi Hendrix. The 1967 track, from the Are You Experienced album, became a psychedelic anthem of the sixties due to its rather druggy lyrics ("Excuse me, while I kiss the sky"). Hendrix himself died from choking on his own vomit in 1970.

Under-exposure: As Chiana starts to cover him with an attractive golden goo to ward off radiation, John describes it as one million SPF - SPF standing for sun protection factor. That'd keep even a red-head in the Sahara nicely burn-free.

Educative and entertaining: With Pilot wittering technical language at him, John replies "Yeah, that's all very PBS," referring to the US Public Broadcasting Service. Funded by public money and run on a shoestring budget, American public broadcasting tends towards the worthy and informative.