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Farscape s01e01: Premiere

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1. Episode: Season 1, episode 1 of Farscape
2. First aired: 19 March 1999 on the Sci-Fi Channel
3. Network: Sci-Fi Channel (SciFi Friday)
4. Production: The Jim Henson Company with Hallmark Entertainment and the Nine Network
5. Protagonist: John Crichton, played by Ben Browder
6. Running time: 48 minutes 16 seconds
7. Available on: The rights holder's own YouTube channel
8. What happens in "Premiere"?
9. The episode opens with Commander John Crichton preparing for a slingshot experiment while his father watches the launch from the ground. Soon after Crichton launches the Farscape 1 module, an electromagnetic wave strikes during the slingshot and pulls him off course. When he briefly reestablishes contact, he reports that he has been hit and that his engine will not respond to his commands.
10. Crichton's module is drawn aboard a large ship, where an alien named Ka D'Argo greets him and demands to know the nature of his technology. Rygel XVI explains that the crew stripped Crichton to inject him with translator microbes, the only way they can speak with him. Crichton introduces himself to Aeryn Sun as a scientist from Earth.
11. Meanwhile, Zhaan uses her priestess abilities to rip the control collar from Moya, freeing the living ship to perform a starburst escape. Captain Crais, in pursuit of Moya, learns that one of the chasing vessels was his brother's Prowler.
12. Aeryn Sun, a Peacekeeper officer played by Claudia Black, is a second new character who joins the crew on the same day as Crichton. Earlier in the flight, Crichton's capsule collided with a Peacekeeper fighter and killed its pilot, which is what draws Crais's pursuit.
13. Premiere The episode as published by the rights holder, from the start.
14. Memorable quotes
15. I am not a peacekeeper
16. X9 dive straight into the atmosphere 28 to 38° you got it do it if you got to do it more speed more speed to slingshot us out
17. Dad it worked DK is in my theory it actually worked
18. In the episode
19. Pre-launch interview with John At the press event, John explains his gravity-assist experiment to reporters while his father watches nearby.
20. Launch broadcast begins Mission control announces the start of the slingshot experiment and gives John clearance to begin acceleration.
21. Mysterious wave detected Mission control reports an electromagnetic wave and orders John to abort the flight.
22. John re-establishes contact John calls in after the wave passes and reports he is still alive but cannot locate his team.
23. John is pulled off course John announces over the radio that his engines are unresponsive and he is being dragged away.
24. Aboard the alien prison ship John wakes up inside a holding cell on a Leviathan transport and is interrogated by alien guards.
25. Prisoners are freed A Luxan warrior rips out the nerve cluster holding the ship's control collar, allowing Moya to perform a starburst escape.
26. Captain Crais receives news Crais learns the Leviathan escaped and that his brother's Prowler was absorbed during the starburst.
27. Dominar Rigel explains himself A Sebacean royal wakes up without his clothes and explains to John that translator microbes were injected into him.
28. Landing on a commerce planet The newly freed crew approaches a Commerce Planet to resupply Moya and discuss their next move.
29. Peacekeeper pursuit announced A local contact warns John and Aeryn that a full Peacekeeper command carrier is incoming to recapture them.
30. John holds Aeryn at bay John uses a confiscated Peacekeeper weapon to keep Aeryn from escaping while he forces her to unlock his restraints.
31. High-speed atmospheric dive John manually pilots Moya toward the planet to slingshot around it and escape the pursuing carrier.
32. John records a message home With the carrier finally lost, John films a personal log for his family back on Earth.
33. Air date, credits and where to watch
34. Premiere first aired in the United States on 19 March 1999 on the Sci-Fi Channel, as part of its SciFi Friday lineup.
35. The episode can be watched here because the rights holder published it on its own YouTube channel on 19 July 2024; the upload runs about 48 minutes and 16 seconds. Its chapter markers run from "The experimental launch" at the start to "Lost in uncharted space" near the end.

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