Dream a Little Dream
Teleplay by Steven Rae
Directed by Ian Watson
REVIEW
Reluctantly, it must be said that the Farscape team were right to drop this episode back to the middle of the run. For while it was fun and had great moments, it wouldn't have been a strong enough start to the season.
Yet it really would have been fun and would have fitted Farscape's way of taking science fiction cliches and standing them on their head, this time mocking the obligatory season-bridging cliffhanger and resolution.
As planned right the way through filming, this story would have all but ignored the first season cliffhanger and prolonged the agony well. Just imagine if you had seen this first: the many scenes with D'Argo, Aeryn and Crichton's phantoms telling Zhaan she'd have to do without them would have been a treat as they teased us about these characters' fate.
As it is, someone made the decision to leap straight into episode 2, 'Mind the Baby', for a more ordinary resolution. But since the team could hardly throw the footage away, we now get this, a flashback episode prompted by a dream and it was the weaker for it. In any episode you do know that the characters will survive, this is series television after all, but somehow making it a flashback lessened the tension.
Equally, there was perhaps just too much convenience in how some of the problems were resolved – that Bluffer's Guide to Litigaran Law, for instance. Also, Zhaan's concern for the others did seem too much, too soon.
But the over-legal society of this planet was well done and the effects of the streets were exceptional. Best of all, the pressure from Moya to leave was natural and genuine so it made delays on the planet nicely tense.
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