Farscape Forum

Synopsis of Part 1 (was Re: Missed the episode)

Jim Henson's Farscape

: I missed the ep Princess part 1. Can someone email a synopsis : or guide me to a site with synopsis?

I can give you a brief synopsis.

John and Aeryn are playing pilot in his module (she is supposedly trying to teach him how to maneuver in battle, though the module was not meant for that kind of use). John notices Aeryn has scented her hair, she admits that she got something from Zhaan, he gets turned on, she starts to respond, and then they jump out of the module and have a "You're getting too close!" fight in front of Chiana. After Aeryn storms away Chiana offers John some unasked-for advice (she tells him that Aeryn is afraid).

Then Pilot summons everyone to the command deck (this routine is getting a bit old -- can't Moya have some viewscreens elsewhere?). They've entered a Sebacean system which is loaded with automated defense satellites that are tracking Moya.

The system administrators contact the ship and reveal they are not a Peacekeeper colony, but are neutral. Rygel kicks in with his usual "I am Dominar blah blah blah", they respond with "You're an escaped prisoner", but he wangles an invitation down to the planet for everyone who wants to go.

John tries to invite Aeryn down to the planet, she wants space, so he says, "Fine, take the whole universe!" and tries to invite Chiana to go with him, but he walks in on her and D'Argo having full interspecies communication, so his jealousy game scheme won't work. Eventuallly, D'Argo, Chiana, John, and Aeryn all go down to the planet together (without weapons -- no weapons are allowed). Zhaan stays on board to do a little meditating and Pilot and Moya are pleased she chooses to stay with them because they get off on her singing. D'Argo takes John aside for a brief moment and asks him not to take Chiana away, and John says he won't do that.

Down on the planet, there is a kissing festival. The Sebaceans here have none of those stuffy Peacekeeper traditions. People go around samping each other's DNA with a special taste-enhancing chemical through kisses. A sweet taste says they are compatible and they end up getting married (or, supposedly, that's the idea behind the system -- a lot of the people just seem to enjoy kissing strangers).

But there's some politics involved. The royal princess is under the gun to find a husband before her 21st birthday, but her brother has poisoned her DNA so that she won't be compatible with any Sebacean. He is being manipulated by [a member of the race that Scorpius is half of -- I can't recall the species name, though the creature doesn't look much like Scorpius in my opinion). The prince wants to be emperor and he'll break the 1900-cycle long neutrality by siding with the ugly creatures.

D'Argo and Chiana go off on some tour and find an excuse to engage in further interspecies communication, and Aeryn rebuffs John once again. So, while she fends off attractive (and excited) Sebacean men, he welcomes advances from all the women who come up to him (and cracks that he may never leave the planet).

Suddenly, Scorpius shows up in the system. Pilot and Moya panic and ask Zhaan for advice. She decides they should starburst out of the system in the hope that Scorpius will follow, so off they go, and some nice beauracrat on the planet informs Moya's crew they've been stranded. D'Argo and Chiana, perhaps upset at having their little lovefest interrupted, sort of overreact to the starburst thing (by now you'd think they'd all understand they are not going to leave each other without a reason).

So, as John tries to reassure D'Argo and Chiana, and Aeryn mopes in the background, Scorpius shows up on the planet. He has no interest in Moya. He knows John is down there (he has mind powers, though they are not as strong as the pure creatrue's powers).

John wanders off and the princess comes up, all sad-faced and bleary-eyed, and she persuades John to let her kiss him (he's not in the mood at the moment). Lo! and Behold! The kiss is sweet. Guards immediatly move in on John and he is informed by a councillor that he is the princess' only DNA match. So they march John off to a gilded cage to convince him he should marry the princess.

Scorpius makes contact with Aeryn and offers her a deal. She tells D'Argo and Chiana about the deal and D'Argo almost flies off the handle (love makes him mellow, for a Luxan). Aeryn then seeks out John and finds out what has happened to him. NOW she starts to get jealous. She tells him Scorpius wants him.

In the meantime, the councillor is explaining the real deal to John (or, at least, the next level of the real deal). The empress has ordered a heavy guard on John so her son won't kill him. John doesn't love the princess, the princess doesn't love John, so he doesn't want to marry her. But if he doesn't marry her, her brother will become the next leader, he'll forge an alliance with the spooky creatures, who are the hated enemies of the Peacekeepers (so how did Scorpius come about? There's a story in there), and the Peacekeepers will invade the neutral Sebacean empire.

John undergoes more rigorous DNA testing which confirms that he is compatible with the princess. The prince freaks out.

John still doesn't want to sacrifice himself for the good of millions (or billions or whatever). So now the empress takes a personal hand. She summons John and greets him warmly and tells him to marry her daughter or ELSE. Scorpius then shows up, hugs John, whispers to John to pretend they are old friends or something, and then goes and stands beside the empress. She tells John to either marry her daughter or she'll give him to Scorpius. John freaks out.

John asks the princess to marry him. She's completely up-front with him about not loving him either, but she accepts. For their "first date", she takes him to a special machine where their DNA samples are used to produce holographic projections of potential children. Rygel is MOST IMPRESSED with the technology and implies he has thrown a few undesirable offspring in his time. John goes all googly over seeing his "son".

Aeryn now discovers that the princess is really in love with the councillor, but he is a dutiful politician who would rather see his people live free than suffer while he enjoys a childless marriage with the woman he loves (obviously sperm donations haven't occurred to these people).

The prince has a falling out with the evil creature and he foolishly threatens to reveal their plot to his mother. The evil creature scornfully reminds him (with mental reinforcement) of what will happen to him if the prince spills the beans (Mom will have him executed). Then the evil creature probes the prince's fiance for good measure. He's in full control over the conspiracy.

Finally, John is told that he has to pose for a statue. He starts to say he'll do a "Queen Elizabeth wave" (he doesn't actually mention her name, but he does the wave, so we all know who he's talking about) and the councillor then tells John HE will be the statue and he'll be like that for 80 cycles. John freaks out.

So, John goes and dumps on D'Argo (who has now found a private room with Chiana -- so Chiana has to get up and leave while John and D'Argo do the male-bonding thing -- at least we know where THESE guys' priorities are!).

Somewhere along the way Chiana and Aeryn get into an argument. I don't remember the exact sequence, but Chiana tells Aeryn the whole business is her fault (it is, it isn't). Aeryn then goes to John and it seems she wants to express her feelings but she doesn't. They end up arguing and she says he shouldn't have agreed to marry the princess because THEY always work through things together (a little double entendre here -- I'm sure Aeryn was referring to Moya and her crew on the surface, but really meant she and John were the ones who worked things out).

John storms off and leaves and in comes the evil creature, who has decided that Moya's crew are spies for Scorpius. He tells Aeryn he wants her to give Scorpius a message. Always a good Poker player, Aeryn asks for the message, which is some tripe about not interfering, blah, blah, blah. Aeryn then takes a Tough Peacekeeper attitude and the evil creature provokes her into a fight (or attacks her -- I don't recall which). He beats the tar out of her is just about to clean her clock when the empress walks in and breaks up the fun.

Later, John is getting ready for his 80-cycle pose and Aeryn tries to talk to him (dismissing some little servant girl John has been chatting with) one more time. He's not having any of HER now so she storms off and SUDDENLY the prince comes in and kills John's OTHER attendant (a male, perhaps a guard). The army of guards is no nowhere in sight, and John feebly doesn't yell out for Aeryn at the top of his lungs, so the prince's murderous henchmen come in the back way and grab John. The prince then aims some device at John and starts to kill him.

To be continued next week....