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[farscape-list] Different Destinations -- some spoilage

Michael Martinez
Sat, 14 Apr 2001 18:14:22 -0700

Don't read if you don't want to know.

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Well, most of the episode sort of made sense.  They accidentally went back 
in time, altered the timeline for a relatively obscure planet, and then 
restored most of it.  Of course, they didn't explain how the Peacekeepers 
happened to be in that part of the Uncharted Territories 500 years in the 
past, and why they weren't hanging around in the present.

But the biggest logical problem for me was Crichton's unbelievable 
behavior.  The timeline was altered when John, Aeryn, and D'Argo defended 
themselves against a race called Venics who were attacking a monastery.  A 
group of nurses and some peacekeepers had retreated to the monastery.  In 
the original timeline, all the Peacekeepers were wiped out, but the last 
one gave his life to establish a truce.  In the altered timeline, the 
general who persuaded the Venics to declare the truce was accidentally 
wounded and captured.

Aeryn decided the best thing to do was to kill as many as Venics as 
possible.  John wanted to restore the timeline.  Every time they tried to 
do something, things got worse in the present (ultimately resulting in the 
complete disappearance of the planet).  But John convinced the general that 
he (Crichton) was sincere and only wanted peace.  The general made John 
swear that the soldiers would leave the monastery.  John agreed without 
consulting anyone.  Then he tried to sneak the general out of the monastery 
without consulting anyone.  One of the nurses killed the general and John 
ended up on everyone's hit list.

The episode ends very tragically, and about the only clich they avoided was 
in resolving a bit of hero-worship for Aeryn.  The Peacekeeper she thought 
of as a hero really WAS a hero, even though he didn't know it.

Of course, the point of the story, hammered home in nearly every scene, is 
that we are ultimately responsible for our own actions and decisions, and 
we must accept the consequences of those actions.  The grief experienced by 
Moya's crew at the end of the episode, however, leads me to conclude that 
they won't rightfully place the blame for what happened in all the right 
places.  They hold some of the blame, but not all of it.  And I think they 
feel completely responsible for what happened.



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  • [farscape-list] Different Destinations -- some spoilage Michael Martinez