Farscape s01e17: Through the Looking Glass

Series

Farscape^[1]

Season and episode

Season 1, episode 17^[1]

Running time

47 minutes 47 seconds^[1]

Captions

English auto-generated^[1]

YouTube views

73,586^[1]

Farscape is an Australian and American science fiction series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon.^[3]

What happens in "Through the Looking Glass"?

The episode opens with several crew members debating whether to leave Moya because she is pregnant, and Rygel XVI announces that he intends to depart at the next inhabited planet.^[4] Pilot interrupts to report that the DRDs have been eavesdropping on their private conversations, then orders the crew to prepare for an immediate starburst even though Moya's energy reserves are low, because he wants to show that she can still keep them safe.^[4]

The hasty starburst splits Moya inter-dimensionally, fracturing her across dimensions, and the crew have to find a way to pull her back together.^[1]

John Crichton and Rygel end up in the same fractured slice of reality, where they become lost and disoriented.^[4] Rygel, briefly content on his own, would rather eat than focus on escaping, while Crichton tries to push forward with their plan.^[4]

Memorable quotes

“Moya has been very good to us and now you want to abandon her”0:40

“Moya did not have to go into Starburst until she was ready”22:49

“whatever happens we go together we keep the baby”34:26

In the episode

0:30 The crew debates abandoning Moya After a failed starburst attempt, the crew argues about whether to leave the living ship, with Zhaan, D'Argo, and Rygel weighing their options.

1:30 Pilot addresses the crew Pilot intervenes in the discussion through Moya, revealing the DRDs have been listening and urging the group to stay together.

2:32 Moya attempts starburst Despite Pilot's warning about low energy, Moya initiates an immediate starburst to prove she is still capable of protecting them.

4:01 Aftermath of the jump Following the starburst, the crew discovers Zhaan is injured and Rygel has vanished from the ship.

5:01 D'Argo disappears Pilot reports that D'Argo, Aeryn, and Rygel have all vanished from the ship's systems despite no signs of damage.

6:02 Chiana refuses to stay Chiana insists on using a transport pod to leave the ship, but Aeryn convinces her to remain and help find the missing crew members.

8:13 Aeryn finds a strange anomaly While searching for the others, Aeryn encounters a mysterious, glowing rupture in the ship's interior.

10:49 John and Aeryn cross over John and Aeryn pass through the glowing anomaly into a bizarre, fractured version of the ship where they encounter a strange creature.

15:08 Rygel's strange behavior John and Aeryn find Rygel behaving erratically in a yellow-lit area, babbling about food and hallucinations while warning them about a fracture.

18:30 Rygel's transformation Rygel continues to act bizarrely, seemingly succumbing to the effects of the fractured dimension before wandering off alone.

19:31 Pilot explains the fracture Chiana, John, and Aeryn learn from Pilot that Moya is split across multiple parallel realities due to the premature starburst.

22:01 A desperate plan forms The crew devises a plan to ignite the engines in all four fractured versions of Moya simultaneously to reverse the starburst and escape.

30:00 Chiana learns the sequence John memorizes a complex sequence of control manipulations from Pilot's DNA so Chiana can execute the reverse thrust in their section.

33:31 Zhaan sacrifices her faith As the dimensional pull worsens, Zhaan puts on her vestments and accepts that the crew may die in the fractured reality.

35:02 The creature communicates John deduces that the scratches left by the entity are prime numbers, realizing it is attempting to communicate rather than attack.

37:31 Forward instead of reverse The creature warns that reversing will tear them apart, forcing John to reverse Pilot's instructions and command a forward starburst.

38:32 Engines fire forward The crew executes the forward thrust sequence across all realities, causing a violent reaction as Moya attempts to escape the rift.

42:01 Countdown to re-entry With only seconds before impact, Chiana and John hold hands and brace as their version of Moya slams back into normal space.

45:02 Moya's baby survives The crew reconciles over a meal, and Pilot reveals that Moya's baby is healthy and developing well after the ordeal.

Air date, credits and where to watch

"Through the Looking Glass" is episode 17 of season 1, with production code 10117, and the second half of a two-part story continued from the preceding episode.^[2][1] The rights holder published it in full on the Farscape YouTube channel, which also links to the show's Twitch, Facebook, Instagram and X accounts, and that is why it can be watched here.^[1] The upload runs 2,867 seconds, just under forty-eight minutes.^[1]

1. 2024-10-12 The rights holder publishes the full episode on the Farscape YouTube channel.^[1]
2. 2024-10-12 The upload uses YouTube's English auto-generated captions.^[1]
3. 2026-09-20 YouTube (Farscape) records that the upload has 73,586 views and the Farscape channel has 88.2 thousand subscribers.^[1]