Bimo's Farscape Rewatch - Random Observations: 3.16 "Revenging Angel" plus 3.17 "The Choice"

[bimo]

Cavendish and I finished season three today, and strangely enough it turns out that the two episodes I feel I have anything reasonably substantial to say about, are these two.

3.16 "Revenging Angel":
During previous watches I never noticed how incredibly calm and at peace Moya John seems in the life action coma scenes. Almost as if dying at this point wouldn't matter and the big scary traumatizing thing really is to continue living. An impression which is not only created by costuming (Crichton is wearing a civilian outfit, jeans and plaid shirt most of the time), but also by deliberate acting and directing choices. Ben Browder plays Crichton incredibly still in this episode, slower movements, kinetic energy and frantic running almost dimmed down to zero. This lends a very haunting undercurrent to an episode that is otherwise brilliantly funny.

3.17 "The Choice":
Speaking of haunting, apparently I had to watch this episode three different times (2003, 2011 and now) to notice how the episode's soundtrack picks up the death knells we hear ringing for Talyn John two episodes earlier. Also, with its setting mostly reduced to the oddly timeless hotel on Valldon where Aeryn is staying, there is a distinct "staged like a theatre play" vibe to this episode. The ghostly vision of Talyn John, mostly lit in silver and blue, comes across as mirroring Moya John's stillness in "Revenging Angel" while taking it just one tiny step further, into the realm of the dead. Also, civilian clothing again, the exact shirt and jeans John was wearing in 1.16 "A Human Reaction".