“Bone to Be Wild” is a transition episode. We had huge, heavy revelations during Crichton’s time on Scorpius’s gammak base, including adding three new cast members. We all need time to adjust to the new realities.
< the scan>
But Moya isn’t a German u-boat so we need a plot device. Oh look.
<distress call clip>
So, okay, our heroes feel they need maps to figure out how to exit the asteroid field, and being in desperate straits, they take a chance to save this person to get a map and escape from Crais.
<saving M’Lee clip> to “babbling”
We have a creature trying to kill M’Lee, who is smart enough to enter the transport pod, and our guys are dumb enough to shoot up the transport pod disabling it.
Zhaan, Crichton, and D’Argo, on the asteroid saving M’Lee is one of three plot threads in this episode. The second involves Aeryn, who Pilot has asked to stay on board because …
< I don’t know who else I can trust but you.> .. permission to do so.
Aeryn, and we, get to meet one of our new cast members.
<Aeryn on the child ship>
It may be a newborn, but Moya’s child is willful and intelligent, and armed. Much more of this new character to come, though not much in this episode.
On the asteroid, Crichton talks with M’Lee.
<M’Lee’s story clip>
That’s her story anyway, but can she be trusted? Trust no one Commander Crichton.
<M’Lee runs, Zhaan captured clip>
Crichton goes to save Zhaan, with M’Lee as his guide. Didn’t I tell you to trust no one Commander Crichton?
<M’Lee’s first hungry clip> to “she is”
How does Crichton know he can trust this guy? Well. Br’Nee has a better story.
<Br’Nee’s story clip then Br’Nee’s machine clip>
Who to trust is the major theme in this episode.
<Aeryn talks to the child Leviathan>
Because people are not to be believed, regardless of the species.
<M’Lee tells the rest of her story clip>
Which encourages Crichton to switch sides again.
<clip>
Now, forgive me for not getting into the blow-by-blow of the deceitful machinations of both M’Lee and Br’Nee for the rest of the episode. Suffice to say that D’Argo convinces M’Lee to suppress her urges long enough to get her in the hands of the Peacekeepers.
<D’Argo told me … clip>
And, of course, Crichton saves Zhaan from the duplicitous mad scientist Br’Nee.
<saves Zhaan clip>
A bit of DNA Mad Scientist vibes there, which is hardly a bad thing.
But I mentioned that there is a third plot thread in this episode. That would be the face off between our two villains.
<the three clips of Crais and Scorpius>
I love the acting in those scenes. These exchanges are a seismic shift in the grand story arc. More on that dynamic between Crais and Scorpius in the next episode.
As for this one, we have to enjoy the devilish ending.
<Scorpius meets M’Lee clip>
What We Learn in this Episode
D’Argo has allergies.
<D’Argo’s misery clip>
Humans aren’t so deficient, huh, D’Argo?
Zhaan is not what we assumed she is.
<you’re a plant? clip>
Yes, just don’t call her Seymour. It’s a very clever idea from Farscape’s creators. Why not a sentient plant? And not a cartoony creature, but a fully realized character. I wonder if a movie franchise would copy Farscape’s smart improvement on that idea? I’ll leave it to my viewers to groot out the answer to that question.
Speaking of very clever ideas, Farscape’s creators’ idea of a calcivore is definitely clever. No analog in Earth’s biosphere, and another idea that movie franchises can rip off from Farscape. “Bone to Be Wild” broadens our biological horizons. If only Farscape’s creators hadn’t made the calcivore so annoying. <I’m hungry clip>
We met the new baby in the family. It’s a leviathan, son of Moya, but it is not a normal leviathan. It has weapons, a result of genetic manipulation by the Peacekeepers. Aeryn can communicate with it, and helps Moya connect with her child < clip>
Ponderables
Why do our heroes feel they need maps to exit the asteroid field? Moya has sensors and Pilot has great skill in computation. Surely they could plot a course out of the field fairly easily. It’s a weak plot dilemma.
The asteroid that is the setting of this episode is a leputan absurdity. Asteroids lack the mass to retain an atmosphere. Yet, whatever species Br’Nee’s people are, they spent many cycles cultivating this plant paradise, but basic realities of physics make such an endeavor impossible on an asteroid. A planet, definitely, a moon, sure, but not an asteroid, sorry.
Another problem with this plant paradise is the desire of Br’Nee’s people to create a biosphere with no animals, no aviary, and no insects. But as any scientist will tell you, that wouldn’t be a sustainable biosphere. Like an asteroid with an atmosphere, it’s not how reality works.
Despite the unrealities, this is a clever episode. The monster-of-the-week plot line aside, the really important action in this episode is Scorpius’s power play against Crais. And that is why “Bone to Be Wild” is a vital transition episode that leaves us <hungry> for more. See what I did there?
No, I’m not as clever as Farscape, but we will pick up the action next time exactly where we left off in this episode. Please support the Farscape Continues deep dive recaps with a donation.