Farscape s01e07: PK Tech Girl

Series

Farscape^[3]

Season and episode

Season 1, episode 7^[1]

Title

PK Tech Girl^[1]

U.S. air date

16 April 1999^[2]

U.K. air date

24 January 2000^[2]

Writer

Nan Hagan^[2]

Director

Tony Tilse^[2]

Published by

The rights holder on its own YouTube channel^[1]

Premise

With Moya exposed and the dead ship's defenses inoperative, the crew must improvise a way to survive a coming attack.^[4]

What happens in "PK Tech Girl"?

The episode opens with Moya's crew spotting a derelict Peacekeeper vessel and debating whether it is truly dead in space.^[4] Pilot cautions the others to stay starboard and high, since most of the vacuum damage came from an attack below.^[4] Aeryn Sun is told there is breathable air beyond the connection hatch, and the crew boards.^[4] Rygel XVI, unsettled, recalls that the ship, the Zelbinion, was the first vessel on which he was tortured after being ripped from his throne more than 130 cycles earlier.^[4]

Deeper inside, they find a single survivor, Gilina, and Aeryn identifies her as a tech from Captain Crais's ship.^[4] Gilina explains that Crais sent her unit to the Zelbinion for a full tech survey, and that a separate ship attacked roughly two days after they arrived.^[4] The attackers, she says, incinerated the unit's marauder transport, and Aeryn recognizes the Sheyang's work throughout the hull.^[4] Gilina tells Aeryn that Aeryn's own unit was demoted after her defection, and that it can be reinstated only upon Aeryn's death.^[4]

The crew finds that the defense shield, though not operational, is the least damaged system on the ship.^[4] Gilina estimates that bringing it back online will take at least eight arns and a sequence of bridged connections.^[4] When the other ship, crewed by Sheyang, arrives, Ka D'Argo's display of strength persuades the newcomers to power down their weapons, buying time.^[4] Zhaan then persuades D'Argo to keep misleading the Sheyang leader over comms so that the bluff holds.^[4]

0:00 PK Tech Girl The rights holder's full upload of the episode, from the opening chapter mark to the end of the runtime.

Memorable quotes

“it's the cell Binion so what is it with the zinian it is the most feared ship in the Peacekeeper Armada”0:51

“I will investigate the radiant chamber”9:36

“I won't leave you on the ground now do”35:40

In the episode

0:58 Boarding the Zelbinion The derelict is the Zelbinion, the most feared ship in the Peacekeeper Armada; Aeryn Sun is told there is breathable air beyond the connection hatch, and the boarding party crosses into the ship.

3:31 Rygel confronts past torture Rygel XVI says the Zelbinion was the first ship he was tortured on after being ripped from his throne over 130 cycles ago; the ship has been gutted, but a lit console shows someone restored communications recently.

6:02 Aeryn questions Gilina Aeryn interrogates the survivor, Gilina, a Peacekeeper technician from Captain Crais's ship; John Crichton tells her to ease up, and Aeryn warns him that Crais must be near.

7:30 Gilina describes the attack Gilina says Crais sent her unit to survey the Zelbinion, and that another ship attacked two days later and incinerated their transport; Aeryn recognizes the work of the Sheyang.

13:01 A Sheyang ship returns Zhaan spots a ship keeping just out of sensor range, a Sheyang ship, and Aeryn turns on Gilina, who knew the Sheyang would come back.

16:00 D'Argo's bluff The Sheyang start a weapons countdown against Moya, and Ka D'Argo's image, roaring a Luxan warrior's challenge, is sent to them; they power down their weapons, buying time.

18:01 Keeping up the ruse Gilina and Crichton work on the Zelbinion's defense screen while on Moya Zhaan tells D'Argo he must keep misleading the Sheyang, though he says a warrior cannot lie to an opponent in battle.

21:00 Stalling the Sheyang The Sheyang captain and his younger brother doubt D'Argo can back up his threats, and D'Argo warns them not to try his patience, while Crichton and Gilina grow closer as they rewire the screen.

24:36 The defense screen holds The Sheyang open fire, and Crichton and Gilina bridge the last connections seconds before the plasma hits; the Zelbinion's defense screen holds, and Gilina agrees to fit its second layer to Moya.

33:04 Rygel faces his torturer Rygel finds the corpse of the Zelbinion's captain, who tortured him, calls him a coward for killing himself and tells him he lost; the Sheyang launch a dozen boarders at the gaps in the screen.

35:03 A Sheyang boarder Crichton and Gilina hold two polaric discs apart in the maintenance bay as a fire-spitting Sheyang boarder reaches them, and Aeryn races to get there.

39:31 Gilina's farewell Aeryn tells Gilina what being declared irreversibly contaminated means, a Peacekeeper carrier answers the Sheyang's distress call, and Crichton and Gilina say goodbye before Moya leaves.

Air date, credits and where to watch

"PK Tech Girl" is the seventh episode of Farscape's first season, one of the standalone stories the show aired in its opening year on the Sci-Fi Channel in the United States.^[3] It first aired in the United States on 16 April 1999 and in the United Kingdom on 24 January 2000.^[2] Nan Hagan wrote the episode and Tony Tilse directed it.^[2] Farscape is a science fiction series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by The Jim Henson Company and Hallmark Entertainment.^[3] The episode can be watched here because the rights holder published it in full on its own YouTube channel on 20 August 2024, under the title Farscape S1E7 FULL Episode.^[1] The upload runs about 48 minutes 16 seconds, with chapter marks from the opening "The derelict ship" through to "Aftermath and reflection."^[1]