A space battle seems more exciting when a spacecraft called Farskop-1 was swallowed. On board Moya, a huge biomechanical ship, a group of foreigners are trying to escape from the seemingly cruel peacekeeping force, while Crichton continues to look for a plan to return home.
'Nerve' was a terrifying escalation that took Farscape from the simple Blakes 7-style misfits-on-the-run premise into whole new complicated, high-stakes misfits-on-the-run territory.
Farscape has more humour, drama, tragedy and romance in one Muppet-based, bodily-fluid-covered little finger than some shows display over the whole course of their run.
The writers take the expected sci-fi frameworks and blow them to pieces. The outcome doesn't always transcend the genre, but it's rarely a boring ride.
Key to the success of the show is [Ben] Browder's heroic yet grounded and funny take on the often bemused Crichton, as well as his interaction with Black.
Farscape's Season 1, Episode 9 asks this of its characters, to unsettling results. This is the first episode that really hammers home the point that, while these characters may be protagonists, they are not all heroes.
What Farscape deserves tremendous credit for is being willing to take a giant leap after ten years of other shows-The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine very much included-taking small steps in this direction.
Farscape somehow took hold of viewers in a very particular way, thanks to clever writing, engaging and frequently complex characters, and a constant thread of the bizarre and off-kilter to keep you riveted.
