primeideal

All right, it's been a hot...minute, and I probably won't remember what these gibberish phone notes are referring to. (I should probably at least type them up in complete sentences as I go, even if I don't post individually.) The last four episodes of this season include a multi-parter, so my normal "groups of three" premise wasn't really going to work, so I decided to go with fewer spammy posts in a 5/4 division, and then stuff came up. But whatever.

John builds his own chessboard. Does Rygel play?
"Our parasite problems are solved." "So Rygel's leaving, then?" Chiana and Aeryn.
"I hate critters." - John. Same, dude.
"By Kahaylin!" Zhaan's expression of surprise, rather than the usual generic "goddess." Is this maybe related to "kahaynu," the Leviathan deity?
Rygel's grave-robbing is like a running joke by now.
Aeryn wants to kill the creature, John tries language and diplomacy, Pilot can help because he's used to nonverbal communication.
At this point I'm still in suspense about whether the Vork is friend or foe (and we're 33 minutes into the episode!)
Eeeew, critters in Rygel. Do not want.
Another "spot the impostor" social deduction test...but it's a fart joke.
The dramatic music here is better than that back and forth oscillation.
I feel like we've had this episode before (spot the impostor, parasites, etc.) except now there's a hallucination of Scorpius floating around. Although Aeryn's angst over "I misjudged this being, oops" makes it a little more complex. But still.
Awww, John taught Aeryn chess. Cute. Is there fic?!

There's a mini "previously on Farscape..." but not really.
Better walk into the women's restroom and steal a newspaper just to confirm it's not the last simulation
Zhaan: Do you have a problem with people of color? Lol.
D'Argo: Gimme five! In a sort of gay way. (Actually the actual history of the high five is already kinda gay.)
Pilot plays the drums with his claws, cute.
Is John's mom dead in the "real" timeline? John sounded kind of surprised by his dad mentioning her death, but it's not clear.
Oh, now we get the elderly mother dying of cancer.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?" -Fake Crais. "Yeah actually, I'm in a time loop." "Well now you owe us thirty dollars." "Uhhhh."
There's an in-character reason for John sparing Scorpius, hmm.
And here's the "American loses his mind in the Australian BDSM world" montage, but it's too silly for me to care about.
Aeryn: I killed him. So it's a fakeout escapeception, I was wondering!
"There's no chip in your head" -- oof, that's a rough twist.

Stark just shows up like "yo, it's me."
Aeryn needs to chew a special herb for her headache, yeah, relatable.
Chiana: "You're pretty straight, huh." D'Argo: "Yes I am." Unfortunate implications.
Theory is that it's Moya who's frozen and everyone else is aging normally. Which means, as D'Argo points out, Scorpius and Crais and everyone else are 160 years older. Seems unlikely.
"Hope keeps me going after all this time" -- parallels the "frozen as a statue for eighty years" thing.
John was a kid during the moon landing, probably four years old or younger. Gives a rough timeline.
Pilot definitely prays to Kahaynu even after what he did to them.
Zhaan, Stark, and John's links screw around with the space-time continuum, nice.
Time travel!
And the headaches.
Stark has another reason for being here other than "lol guess what guys, it me!"
Jothee!
So Crais just cold calls Moya and she shows up? Lol wut. As I've said before, the in medias res stuff at the beginning could use, like, 60 seconds more exposition.
Rashomon-style retellings.
Can you experiment on a child without getting his consent?
Stark: "I need my mask or else." Very 2022.
Why would D'Argo turn against Stark, last time we heard that Stark thinks he knows where Jothee is.
After this episode tag line ("Talyn destroys a ship and some aliens want to execute Moya's gang"), again, I was bracing for more Crais and Talyn downspiralling, but they actually do seem pretty functional so far.

Aeryn putting Pilot in a collar, yikes.
Flashback to Chiana's brother! Didn't see that coming.
Eye squick, gross :(
"Take my plate" -- only mind-controlled Rygel would ever say this.
Derogative use of "geek," I would think by ~2000s it already had more of a connotation of "technical nerd"?
"I'm nobody's puppet!" -- Rygel, unaware of the fourth-wall irony.
So Nerri is still alive? How did he fake the implant deactivation?
"I'm sick of you selling us out every chance you get!" "Hey, it's not every chance." - John and Rygel. Again, Rygel definitely deserves this treatment, but this seems like an odd time to bring it up, he's been fairly reasonable lately.
This is either a really impressive fakeout (Moya shaking from impacts) or, coincidentally, the real Peacekeepers actually showed up?
Okay, Crais is appearing on a hologram, that can't really be him. I guess Pilot just knows how to fake being shot?

Anyway, now that I'm caught up with this...probably will watch the new Stranger Things. ;)