"Farscape"
Back and Back and Back to the Future (1999)

Director:

Rowan Woods

Writer:

Babs Greyhosky (writer)

TV Series:

"Farscape" (1999)

Original Air Date:

2 April 1999 (Season 1, Episode 3)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The crew rescues a scientist and his assistant from a disintegrating ship. Crichton starts seeing the future, which holds death for the crew and Moya. He tries to influence the course of events but cannot change the outcome until they all learn what their guests are truly hiding. |

Plot Keywords:

Shipper | Alien Race | Shrinking | Miniaturization | Lost In Space

Cast

Ben Browder	...	John Crichton
Claudia Black	...	Officer Aeryn Sun
Virginia Hey	...	Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan
Anthony Simcoe	...	Ka D'Argo
John Clayton	...	Verell
Lisa Hensley	...	Matala
Jonathan Hardy	...	Dominar Rygel XVI (voice)
Lani John Tupu	...	Capt. Bialar Crais (voice) (as Lani Tupu)

Quotes:

Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan: Crichton says he's experiencing the future.
Aeryn Sun: He can barely function in the present.

Easily the Best of the Early Episodes

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The episodes in the first half of the season one of Farscape, the episodes up until "Durka Returns", are similar in that they bear the usual signs of a sci-fi show's first season. The plots are simple, the sets are unelaborate, and the guest casts are relatively small. You can tell in these early episodes that the show has not been around for long and that the filming crew is still getting the hang of how to properly run the show. "Back and Back and Back to the Future" exhibits some of these qualities; the soundtrack is still experimental and there are only two guest actors. However, "Back and Back and Back to the Future" is an overall exception to the early episode trends in that it has elaborate special effects, an interesting plot line, a dark undertone, good style, and creative execution.

The storyline begins with Moya rescuing two Ilanics, named Matala and Verell, from their exploding ship. Matala quickly seduces D'Argo, turning him against the others, particularly John. John, meanwhile, begins to have strange visions after making contact with a substance in the damaged Ilanic ship. The visions are initially short and disturbing, but they increase in length and intensity as time goes on. Verell claims that he and Matala were conducting simple scientific experiments, but there is something sinister about their work.

The middle portion of the episode is creepy and intriguing. Zhaan notices strange sounds around Moya, and Natala's actions become more and more suspicious. Eventually, the secrets about Natala, Verell, and their experiment are revealed, leading to a truly incredible series of climaxes. Natala is shown to actually be a Scorvion spy, Verell was conducting top-secret military experiments for the Ilanics, and the goal of the experiments was to create a black hole, which Verell appropriately calls "the ultimate weapon".

Crichton's numerous attempts to foil Natala are extremely well-directed. Each of his attempts ends with disaster, but is then revealed to be a vision of the future. Director Rowan Woods successfully convinces the audience that each vision is in fact the real thing. A series of false visions could easily come across as confusing, but Woods pulls it off. The key, I think, to making the final act make sense is the manner in which each false vision ends with a return to the same conversation between John and Zhaan. John's consistent accidental breaking of some sort of mask during this conversation makes for a perfect parallel with the disasters consistently caused by John's attempts at defeating Natala. When his most recent attempt ends with the complete destruction of Moya, a frustrated John steps on the mask willingly, destroying it in one of the best moments in Farscape history.

The actual ending of the episode includes some of the best special effects yet seen on Farscape. Natala escapes, killing Verell, but Verell activates the black hole in Natala's ship with his last breath. This results in an impressive sequence in which both Natala's ship and the Scorvion ship coming to pick her up are destroyed by the black hole while Moya starbursts away.

"Back and Back and Back to the Future" is an excellent episode of Farscape. I may have over-hyped it a bit; it does have some flaws. Some of Crichton's early visions are never explained, and the (thankfully) final appearance of the joystick that Aeryn uses to control Moya is a mere distraction. All in all, however, "Back and Back and Back to the Future" is a must-see episode. 3.5/4