I've always appreciated how well Farscape balances plot-driving, character-developing episodes with light but necessary stand-alone stories. Too much of the former and it would be an overly dense slog through a complicated meta-plot, too much of the latter and it would be as inconsequential as a comic strip. From a larger perspective, those monster of the week and science of the strange episodes serve to make the world our protagonists inhabit seem appropriately large and complex. If Moya and her crew ceased to be, the rest of the Farscape universe would keep clicking along.

The Way We Weren't

The innovation of combining marionettes with puppets isn't what cemented the Jim Henson Company as the gold standard of creature creation. JH has always imbued its muppets with a sublime amount of character such that they are every bit as compelling as their fleshy counterparts. So, it was only a matter of time before Pilot got to be the center of an episode. "The Way We Weren't" describes how Pilot came to inhabit Moya. His story has just as much darkness as the rest of the characters' origins.

The whole thing starts with a hidden recording Chiana finds in an oft-neglected section of Moya. The recording shows a squad of Peacekeepers boarding Moya and executing her original Pilot. The big soap opera twist is that one of the soldiers is none other than (former) Officer Aeryn Sun.

Understandably, the current Pilot flips out and tries to kill Aeyrn. As the tension among the crew simmers, we get to see flashbacks of the intertwining stories of Aeryn and Pilot. Aeryn used to be lovers with a Peacekeeper scientist who oversaw portions of the Leviathan breeding program. He was the same scientist who convinced Pilot to take over for the one executed in the recording. So, while Aeryn is no saint, Pilot has a dark history, too. This makes him fit nicely into the group of convicts and misfits that live on his ship.

Home on the Remains

The next two episodes are fairly light and fun. "Home on the Remains" mixes a nifty sci-fi conceit with a monster. The starving crew of Moya land on a dead Budong, a gigantic space-dwelling creature where scavengers set up colonies. Hey, no bacteria in the vacuum of space, so decomposition is slow. Also, Budongs produce valuable crystals. Chiana has some old friends on this particular creature, but it's not long before a mysterious monster starts killing people in the mines. Meanwhile, Zhaan is stuck on Moya because her hunger is bringing out a beastly side of Delvian biology. She needs meat and until she gets it, she's gonna be crazy.

After a romp in the mines and a not unpredictable bad guy reveal, the crew is back on Moya eating barbecued monster. Chiana and D'Argo share their first romantic moment, which is a bit out of nowhere even if their pairing makes more sense as the series progresses. All in all, a good if relatively thin episode.

Out of Their Minds

Oh, a trading places episode. Every speculative show has to have one and it's always at least mildly comic. Farscape's version involves a weird interaction between an alien weapon and Moya's defense shield. Confusion, hilarity and a lot of adolescent (but unfortunately inevitable) sexual tomfoolery ensues. Of course our two quasi-romantic couples get to spend some time in their would-be lovers' bodies. You'd have to be made of wood, or just exceptionally grown up, to not giggle along with all of the body-play.

On another level, this episode allows our characters to gain a unique perspective on one another and hopefully bring them closer together. Also, we needed these two stand-alone stories to prepare us for the epic three-part episode I'll be covering next week.