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4X22 - Bad Timing

J: We have Braca sitting on our front doorstep.
Braca reminds me of a cross between a weasel and a rat. Frankly, I wouldn't want him anywhere near my doorstep.

J: Miss Britannica, what kind of Scarran ship is following us?
Sk: A Stryker, John. Swift attack.
J: It's gonna beat us to the wormhole?
Sk: Utilizing starburst? Possibly.
J: What about Braca and the Queen Mary?
Sk: No.
The Queen Mary is a luxury ocean liner built in 1936 now retired and permanently berthed in Long Beach harbor. When John calls Sikozu Miss Britannica, I suspect he is referring to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

J: Welcome to the nuclear age.
S: John, see reason.
J: No, I am no longer a chess piece.
Looks like John had not 1, but 2 nuclear bombs. I shudder at the thought. Being a "chess piece" (or more usually someone's "pawn") implies that one has no control over one's life. Others make all the decisions, and you have no choices.

Sk: Crichton, he is not wrong. You must trust him.
J: Goldilocks, it's a bad choice. When you figure that out, call our 800 number for counseling.
Goldilocks is a reference to the children's story of "Goldilocks and the 3 Bears." And I have to agree with John, I can't figure out what the girl sees in Scorpius. Yikes. Now Wayne Pygram, that's another story. Whoo! As for counseling, I need some to work through my trauma over this episode's final scene.

John hands Scorpius a bomb with "Dear John" written on it and sends him and Sikozu out an airlock to Braca.
A "Dear John" letter is a letter a girl would write to her boyfriend in order to assure him that she still loves him, but wants to break up. "Dear John, I really love you, but I'm marrying your older brother. I hope you understand." We also had a site fan write in a tell us that the "Hi there" and "Dear John" that John writes on the bombs is a reference to the Stanley Kubrick movie Dr. Strangelove.

D: I think you should concentrate on your training with Katoya.
J: Katoya was a frelling fruitloop.
D: Focus on your inner strength.
J: It's here. I just can't find the Rosetta Stone.
D: Katoya
J: Fruitloop!
A "fruitloop" is a crazy person. Fruit Loops is a sugary breakfast cereal. The Rosetta Stone was what made the translation of Egyptian hieroglyphics possible. The stone contained the same message in hieroglyphics, Greek, and Demotic. It was found in Rashid, Egypt in 1799 by French soldiers of Napoleon's army.

John (to Aeryn): You have any home remedies for writer's block?
Writer's block is the name given by writers to their condition when they run out of ideas or when they can't seem to get those ideas out on paper. Frankly, I suspect this line was inserted as a joke by the writers of Farscape and ended up getting left in. I must say, if they do get writer's block, they hide it very well. Farscape has most of the best writing I've seen in science fiction television.

J: The wormhole is sealed up forever, closed, finito, road gone.
P: That is brilliant, Commander!
Finally! Someone gets what John is saying and actually manages to appreciate it. I think this is the first time that someone has listened to one of John's plans and not started rolling their eyes or shaking their heads and saying "That'll never work." It's history in the making! "Finito" means at an end or done.

Inside John's head, he and Harvey are dressed in rabbit suits and carrying Easter baskets
Harvey: Curious holiday, Easter. Religious leader dies, comes back from the dead, and you end up like this.
Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates Christ's rising from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. It takes place around the same time as the ancient pagan Spring festival which celebrates fertility. Somehow they've gotten a bit mixed up together in modern America. The rabbits and eggs represent fertility and really have nothing to do with Easter at all, but Eddie Izzard does have a funny comedy bit about it. I suggest you all go out and rent "Dress To Kill" at the video store.

John and Harvey (still in rabbit costume) are now arguing and pummeling each other
J: After all that's happened, how do you expect me to trust you?
Harvey: Well, I think that like religion is an individual choice, either you believe and therefore bunnies are unnecessary, or you don't. In which case, chocolate!
Guys, I can't think of anything witty to say or to explain what's going on in this scene because I am just laughing too darn hard at the moment. I'll never forget the sight of John and Harvey as gigantic Easter Bunnies smacking each other around and trying to look fierce and convincing respectively.

C: Why would you sell your own people out?
J: Because I am proud to bring Peacekeeper protection to my backwards-ass little planet.
C: Then don't do it. Pop the frelling bubble, make the wormhole collapse.
J: Pip, I can't do it.
C: Yes you can
J: I'm not smart enough
C: Yes you can
J: I'm not fast enough, I'm not alien enough, and you know what? There are people in the universe who don't like me. I'm only human.
Oooh, the exact opposite of Stuart Smalley's daily affirmation, which we previously saw alluded to in Twice Shy

John manages to call his dad from the moon
Jack: Where are you?
J: Serenity Base
Jack: Serenity Base?
J: Yeah, the moon
Jack: Why?
J: Murphy, dad.
The Sea of Serenity was the Apollo 17 moon landing site on December 11, 1972. "Murphy" is a reference to Murphy's Law which states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

John is saying goodbye to his dad
Jack: You tell my grandkids about me.
J: That's a no brainer. They got to know who my hero is.
Okay, I was crying rather hard during this bit, and I admit that my eyes are a bit teary even now, but I can manage to let you know that a "no-brainer" is something so absolutely obvious or expected that it takes no brain power, no thinking, it's just done.

Now, for a few non-Crichtonism comments. This was such a touching scene. It was so sad given not only the situation between John and his dad who are facing an uncertain future--one in which they may never see each other again--but also the fact that this is the last episode of Farscape as far as the SciFi Channel is concerned. I'm not done fighting for more Farscape, but I'm sad nonetheless that the promised 5th season is no longer being promised. In this episode when Aeryn asks, "What do we do?" John says, "We hope."  That's what we do, we true fans of Farscape, we hope ... and we work to find a forward-thinking programming director at another network who has the vision and the good taste to appreciate what a remarkable and amazing show this is.

I feel hopeful, thanks to a few things in particular.

1. David Kemper and Co. did not back down, they did not compromise in the final edit of this episode. They left in everything, including that shocker of an ending. If they had truly given up hope of getting a 5th season or some way to finish their story in the future, they could have re-edited the show to make a tidier ending.
2. They could also have left off the "to be continued..." tag at the end. Their commitment to Farscape is wholly evident here.
3. I was also gratified to see the "Save Farscape" commercial airing at approximately 8:45pm during that commercial break. I hope the SciFi Channel programming team saw that and choked. I hope they realized what a hideous mistake they've made.