Incubator

Ratings
1.2 (US)
1.88 (UK)

Tammy MacIntosh............Jool
David Franklin.............Lt. Braca
Evan Sheaves...............Child Scorpius
Johanna Kerrigan...........Linfer
Danny Adcock...............Co-Kura Strappa
Amy Salas..................Tauza
Stephanie Jacobsen.........Nurse Froy
Paul Shedlowich............Plint
Thomas Holesgrove..........Wolesh
Sam Healy..................Rylani Jeema Dellos
Nicholas Bishop............Ghebb Dellos
William Zappa..............Captain Molayne

Wassup?

"Truth is never crap."

Stymied by an encypted section on the neural chip, Scorpius takes a neural clone of John on a little trip down memory lane, hoping to persuade him to assist in unlocking it. Meanwhile, a surprising bargain is offered to Moya and her increasingly cranky crew.

Backstory

Linfer believed that phase negative shield deployment and correct phase progression would negate the effects of rantath flux (tissue liquification), and that the final PK pilot to dare the wormhole only perished because he failed to recalibrate his phasing before exiting the wormhole. However, her own attempts, which included a unique spectrum of negative phase shielding, only postponed the same end result, rather than preventing it.

The neural clone evidently located the wormhole information in John's mind, but was unable to directly access it. Data was contained in a hidden region of the chip, highly encrypted and resistant to analysis; Scorpius believes this information was the sole key to successful wormhole travel.

The neurochip, when mounted in a socket in Scorpius' coolant rod assembly, enables him to access a clone of Crichton's psyche because neural spillover replicated some elements of John's personality. However, the clone's "memories" end at the point in time when the chip was removed from John's brain.

Scorpius' first 12 cycles -- and his earliest memory -- consisted primarily of pain. During this period, he was kept in an environmentally isolated area aboard a Scarran Dreadnought, and saw no one but Tauza, who taught him that he was weak because his Sebacean father had forced his Scarran mother to birth him. Tauza forced him to build his strength and endurance by means of abusive and torturous Scarran "usual incentives"; he was harshly punished for showing any form of weakness, including use of the word "please".

Even a "less than optimum" temperature for Scarrans is too hot for Scorpius. According to Tauza, he was born with the Living Death.

Moya enjoys opportunities for free flight.

Moya and her crew have now been flying around for almost 15 days, trying to locate a wormhole.

Moya and Pilot trust Relgarians, as a species -- perhaps more than they trust their own crew. They have no hesitation in ignoring D'Argo's and Chiana's orders to avoid any contact with Linfer.

The wormhole task force members evidently know the source of the neural chip. Linfer came looking for John, believing she has the secret to wormhole travel; she must have known something about his obsession and circumstances in order to create her plan.

Scorpius' wormhole task force is currently based on a Command Carrier.

Per Scorpius, his hybrid physiology gives him a unique talent: the ability to perceive energy signatures from living beings. Every species has a different signature, and signatures often change when the subject is being less than honest.

Scorpius engineered his own escape from the Scarrans: he used his memory of Tauza accessing data to pull up information he could trade later on, then jumped ship in a neutral system, using an evacuation pod. He hid on a Commerce planet.

Moya's crew now knows that Scorpius is still alive.

The wormhole being studied by Scorpius' task force is part of a nexus of wormholes; Linfer was able to check several exit nodes until she found Moya.

Linfer believed Scorpius would kill her, regardless of the outcome of the task force's efforts.

Linfer thinks that the lack of phase shielding on Farscape 1 means that John would not have survived if he had been traversing a wormhole with an unstable rantath flux variance (which most wormholes have).

Linfer offers the secret to wormhole travel, in exchange for Moya and Pilot. While Moya and Pilot would not abandon the crew, all else being equal, they would love to accept her offer. Relgarians are peaceful race of explorers, who use Leviathans to explore deep space, something Pilot and Moya would love to do.

Scorpius spent several cycles at large in the Uncharted Territories; while he learned nothing of his parents, he did aquire a rudimentary coolant system, using a single, large coolant rod mounted in an external backpack. Eventually, he flew into Peacekeeper space and surrendered to the first Command Carrier he encountered, in hopes of bartering for information. In exchange for information about his parents, he offered data on Scarran behavior, ship design, and security arrangements.

Scorpius selected his own name. Apparently he had none while in the custody of the Scarrans.

At the time of Scorpius' birth, Sebaceans were establishing colonies in the Uncharted Territories, separate from Peacekeeper installations. Scarran forces were already engaged in hostilities with Peacekeepers, including attacking colonization convoys.

Scorpius' mother and her husband were apparently the sole survivors of the initial massacre, landing their transport pod on Motak Four (at "approximately mid-sun", according to his mother's log entry).

Scorpius' mother, Rylana, was born on New Heather, and disappeared at age 22.

Peacekeepers located the transport pod, but never salvaged it. It contained only a single male corpse; there was no trace of Scorpius' mother.

The Scarrans used the transport pod as a lure and trap, to recapture Scorpius -- who later blamed himself for falling into it.

The need to rely on an exterior coolant system was offensive to Tauza, who considers all other races to be "lesser species" than Scarrans.

Female Scarrans seem to have a different cranial structure than males.

Linfer accessed restricted datafiles before her defection.

Pilot and Moya accept Linfer's assertion that her condition is untreatable, and permit her to self destruct.

The rape of Scorpius' mother shattered her fragile psyche; she pleaded for death during her pregnancy, and died during the birth of her child.

In 90 other attempts to create a Sebacean/Scarran hybrid, the Sebacean female and her offspring perished.

Tauza claimed that Peacekeepers were weak, and wanted to hybridize their species with Scarrans in order to gain strength. In reality, Scarrans were trying to find out if Sebacean genetics could be useful to them. They eventually decided that since there was no benefit to a hybrid, and since the Sebaceans had no value, even as breeding stock, the Sebacean species must be eradicated.

The coolant rods Scorpius used in his external backpack system evidently contained something more solid than liquid; he is able to break one in two for his attack on Tauza, without any apparent spillage.

The same environmentally isolated chamber that allowed Tauza to raise the temperature uncomfortably high for Scorpius, allows him to lower it to a level his Scarran captor cannot survive; he can monitor her energy signature from outside, to determine her condition.

Scorpius considers hubris to be the primary Scarran failing.

By providing information about the Scarrans, and aiding the Peacekeepers in the destruction of the Scarran Dreadnought, Scorpius proved himself of sufficient value that he was exempted from all purity regulations (due to "unique status and clear loyalties") and allowed to enter Peacekeeper service. He rose through the ranks to create a special task force, to develop wormhole technology.

Scorpius claims he has no desire for power, merely for revenge, and he joined the Peacekeepers to further that goal; he seems genuinely angered at John's suggestion otherwise.

Scorpius believes Scarrans will stop only when they're the last sentient species left.

The neural clone of Crichton not only refuses to unlock the encrypted data (citing the Ancients' comment of, "if you're not smart enough to discover it for yourself, you're not smart enough to use it wisely"), he destroys it permanently.

As his conversations with the neural clone conclude, Scorpius overheats to the point where the chip's circuits are destroyed. Braca burns his hands removing Scorpius' cooling rod, suggesting that on this occasion, it was much hotter than normal.

John is concerned about Scorpius being farther along in wormhole technnology than he is; in particular, he worries that the fact Linfer was able to find him indicates that Scorpius can do likewise.

The data Scorpius could recall from the chip consisted of "Voken nine, exponent nine, devra, four, three, one, equivalence mastered, nine, palonic square, equivalence integral, nine, volker hypercube, brellmatic, six, lerg, one."

Peacekeeper scientists evidently have their own version of Palm Pilot.

In his quarters, Scorpius keeps a flower identical to the variety he found growing around his mother's transport pod on Motak Four.

Additional information (canon questionable): an appendix to the Journey Log for this episode at SciFi.com states that Scorpius was "born with severe, endemic physiological problems induced by conflict between high body temperature of Scarran physiology and low body temperature of Sebacean physiology," lived "in isolation within environmental chamber on board Scarran dreadnought for approximately 15 cycles," and then was "at large in neutral systems and Uncharted Territories for approximately eight cycles".

Reactions

Questions

1. Initially, Scorpius hated Sebaceans because he was taught that one had forced his Scarran mother to bear him. But, when he learns that the opposite is in fact true, his identification shifts immediately to his real mother; he is horrified beyond words (even to the point of weeping and becoming physically ill) at her fate, and his desire for revenge against Scarrans becomes the core purpose in his life. What caused such a violent reaction in him? Does his allegiance depend solely on his mother's species? Or, is he empathizing with the victim -- the woman forced to bear him, whatever her species -- because of his own victimization as a child?
2. How long was the transport pod set up as a trap, before Scorpius arrived? Did the Scarrans keep track of him, once he resurfaced with the Peacekeepers, and get to the pod ahead of him, or was it some sort of automated system?
3. Jool carried a Pulse rifle when the crew went to greet Linfer -- does this mean she's actually learned how to use one properly, or was it just for show?
4. Even though Linfer's theory ultimately proved incorrect, her data on wormholes would be invaluable to Crichton. Did she offload any of it to Moya before her suicide?
5. The expression on Braca's face as he removes the chip from Scorpius' coolant assembly is fascinating; he looks at it for a moment, and then casts it away with a look almost of despair. What was going through his mind? Braca increasingly appears loyal to, and protective of, Scorpius personally; he never hesitates to prevent the nurse from interfering, and he looks like the proverbial cat that swallowed the canary when his commander praises his efforts later. Does he only value Scorpius because of the possible weapons he may develop to defend the Peacekeepers, or is there some genuine affection and admiration for a man he has seen struggle with great physical torment and emerge victorious time and again? Braca himself comments about Scorpius that, "he always survives." Given the Peacekeeper aversion to non-Sebacean influences, and Braca's expression (on at least one occasion) of disgust at seeing the coolant rods swapped out, he seems to be rethinking some of his previous viewpoints.
6. Why does Scorpius keep the flower in his quarters? He seems to carress it, in the closing scene. Is it simply an expression of sentiment for the mother who gave him life, or a potent reminder of his need for revenge?

Observations

1. The docking web that guided Linfer aboard seems to have been upgraded since John's arrival in Premiere; this time it has bright lights.
2. We finally have an explanation for two events in "Nerve": Scorpius' recognition of John as a non-Sebacean in the corridor, and his ability to detect when John was lying.
3. Moya's crew is really starting to get a bad case of cabin fever. Jool and Chiana are apparently at one another's throats, which is driving D'Argo nuts. John seems to be making everyone crazy (including himself) with his renewed wormhole obsession, relentlessly following those deep space variances and going without sleep for long periods; Pilot goes so far as to compare him to Scorpius, with regard to his obsessions making him irrational.
4. John seems to be reevaluating the relationship between Moya and her crew. It seems to surprise him, that Pilot and Moya would consider accepting Linfer's offer -- he's come to think of the Leviathan as home, and once again home is being pulled out from under him. Yet, when Linfer claims she would treat Moya better than John et al, he doesn't contradict her; he can see that Moya could use a break from her squabbling passengers. And, of course, he would leap at the chance to master wormhole flight. In one sense he's stuck in place (still on Moya with no Aeryn, no progress on wormholes), but in another he seems to be slowly realizing that he needs to take another look at his options. It's a fairly complex set of emotions he's sorting through, and in his closing conversation with D'Argo it's appropriate that he drinks to the possibility of other alternatives.
5. At least one member of Moya's crew, D'Argo, still blames John for Zhaan's death, and it's quite telling that he's sufficiently angered at John, to use it against him. Nor is D'Argo the only one to believe that John is rationalizing his arguments to suit his own agenda; Chiana calls him on his interpretation of Pilot and Moya's wishes, and Jool lands a fairly heavy blow as well, questioning his support of Pilot.
6. John's fundamental decency shows through, even in his neurally cloned persona. His neural clone has no idea that Aeryn was saved by Zhaan, telling Scorpius, "I've already lost people I care about, because of you. Where is my revenge, Scorpy?" But despite this, he pulls his enemy back from the edge, when the memories of torture on the Scarran dreadnought threaten to consume him.
7. Nice effect and continuity with regard to the coolant rods stuck into Tauza's eyes -- they start off bright red, and change to blue by the end of the scene, as the temperature lowers in the chamber.
8. We are beginning to see in the storylines, some of the issues touched on in Crichton's opening voiceover to each episode. Scorpius plays on that fear inside of John, suggesting a future where not the Peacekeepers, but the Scarrans, have poured through a wormhole to devastate Earth.

Bloopers

1. Nurse Froy's blue hair was too obviously a wig.

Annotations

John: "All right, Scorp. Then what am I? Bootleg? A ghost? Holodeck Crichton? A wanderin' soul that ain't got no body?"

YASTR. The holodeck (introduced on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION) was a virtual reality simulator.

(see also www.crichtonisms.com)

Translator Microbe Report

Quotables

"Oh, n--...he screwed up? I kicked it on the table? I am in Hell!"
- Crichton Neural Clone

"Scorpy, go away. Go home. I do not even want to hear it; I'm sick and tired of having people clomping around inside my head!"
"This time it's different. We're not in your head at all. We're in mine."
"Your head? Well, do yourself a favor, kick the habit before it starts. I'm going for some air, do not wait up for me."
- Crichton Neural Clone, Scorpius

"You're not John."
"All right, Scorpy, then what am I? Bootleg, a ghost, holodeck Crichton, a wandering soul that ain't got no body?"
- Scorpius, Crichton Neural Clone

"You know so little of me. Let's remedy that."
"Let's not and say we did."
"My earliest memory--"
"Oh, god..."
"--is pain."
- Scorpius, Crichton Neural Clone

"Yes, Commander, I'll wake you the microt Moya senses anything."
"You're the man."
"Pilot, let him sleep for 12 arns; don't wake him up, no matter what."
"Agreed."
- Pilot, John Crichton, D'Argo

"Water...please!"
"You pathetic infant. Never use that word to me, again."
- Scorpius, Tauza

"What's a Relgarian?"
"A species Moya and I trust."
"What, as opposed to us?"
- Chiana, Pilot, D'Argo

"Scorpy, the teenage hero, outwits the Scarrans, makes it look easy -- you going for pity or applause?"
"Neither!"
- Crichton Neural Clone, Scorpius

"Scorpius' obsession with wormholes is making him irrational."
"Scorpius is not alone in that regard."
- Linfer, Pilot

"I want to know the truth."
"Why? So you can find out who you are?"
"To find out who I should be."
- Scorpius, Capt. Molayne

"Too feeble, to conquer your own deficiencies without help. You are a Scarran, or you are nothing. We tried to make you one of us. How could you reject that for a lesser species?"
- Tauza

"All right, all right, enough already! Scorp, take five!"
"Apologies, John, apologies. Oh, it's easy to get lost in one's memories."
- Crichton Neural Clone, Scorpius

"He survived. He always survives."
- Lt. Braca

"I hate to break it to you guys, but Moya and Pilot are for it."
"Sounds more like they aren't against it. That's not the same thing."
- John Crichton, Chiana

"We're all guests here, and if Moya wants to go with them --"
"Can you stop pretending this is anything other than your idea? This is exactly the attitude that got Zhaan killed."
"That's low."
"Too bad!"
- John Crichton, D'Argo

"Terrific, this is what we're arguing about? The chance to stay cooped up together? You know, if I was Moya, I wouldn't want us here."
- John Crichton

"Thank you, Pilot, for granting my request. I'm sorry we won't travel together. Taka hi, taka ho!"
- Linfer

"There was nothing we could do."
"So, you just let her fly away and blow herself to bits."
"Correct again."
"That's a beautiful decision, man."
"It's funny how you support Pilot only when you both want the same thing."
"That's crap, Jool."
"Truth is never crap."
- Jool, John Crichton, Pilot

"Preachin' to the choir, Scorpy. I got no love of Scarrans."
"Then help us! Scarrans far outnumber Peacekeepers. Without superior weaponry, we will be crushed."
"You want to kill them, they want to kill you. I do not see a helluva lot of difference."
- Crichton Neural Clone, Scorpius

"You killed her!"
"Your birth was difficult. You killed her."
- Scorpius, Tauza

"Scarran hubris. Their primary failing."
- Scorpius

"Sweet move. Join the army, get them to pay for your pet project."
"You think I want wormholes to betray Peacekeepers and to conquer the universe myself? I don't want power. I want revenge!"
- Crichton Neural Clone, Scorpius

"I've already lost people I care about, because of you. Where is my revenge, Scorpy?"
- Crichton Neural Clone

"They plan to exterminate the Sebaceans, but they won't stop there. Nor with Luxans, Delvians, Baniks, or a thousand other lower life forms. They'll stop when they are the only sentient species left. And if they discover wormhole technology before we do, the galaxy is theirs. And eventually, John, they will find Earth. Your race is defenseless. They'll be raped and slaughtered unless you help us."
- Scorpius

"Go on, unlock it. Give us the weapon we need to defeat the Scarrans."
"Scorpius...it's not mine to give away. Remember what the Ancients told me?"
"John--"
"If you're not smart enough to discover it for yourself, you're not smart enough to use it wisely."
- Scorpius, Crichton Neural Clone

"Well, thanks for the slide show. Gotta go."
"No, John, you cannot leave."
"I'll find my own way out."
"You must retrieve it!"
"Scorpy, I'm off the clock."
- Crichton Neural Clone, Scorpius

"Do you think...that neural clones go to heaven? Well, wherever I wind up, when I see your mama, I'll be sure to give her your regards."
- Crichton Neural Clone

"If you are here to give me another lecture, go away."
"Well, if you are going to be as sour as an unmated flibisk, I will go away."
"What the hell's a flibisk?"
"A flibisk...a flibisk...is a, uh, ten-legged creature, 'bout this big, very tasty if prepared right. But, if you prevent it from mating, it gets very disagreeable."
"Hell, who doesn't?"
- John Crichton, D'Argo

"You ever think we've been on this boat way too long?"
"Constantly. But so far, all the other alternatives have been worse."
"Well, here's to that changing."
- John Crichton, D'Argo

Comments from Cast & Crew

Richard Manning, May 02, 2001

• Ricky_Manning: You will get an interesting glimpse into more than one peacekeeper's histories in the episodes to come.

• vacush: Hey Froonster! Will we ever learn how the war between the PK's and the Scarrans began? Or perhaps a little history between the 2?

  Ricky_Manning: As I said earlier, You'll probably get a little glimpse. The Scarrans haven't gone away.

Guy Gross, May 15, 2001

• Moderator: Which ep # are you currently working on now?

  Guy: I'm in the middle of ep 211
  Guy: Oh it's fun

Ben Browder, Mat McCoy (w/Fiona Gentle and Tim Mieville), Lily Taylor, & Richard Manning, July 12, 2001

• Moderator: <CrystalMoon> to <Moderator>: We asked Lily what is was like writing for two Crichtons. How has it been for you? Is it harder with two?

  FrooniumRicky: Well, only when we forget which one is real and which is the clone
  FrooniumRicky: oops
  FrooniumRicky: wait
  FrooniumRicky: That is NOT true
  FrooniumRicky: Equal and original
  FrooniumRicky: So we pretty much write 'em both just like we always have
  FrooniumRicky: except, of course, that their circumstances are now different
  FrooniumRicky: in some of the small details
  FrooniumRicky: i.e., Aeryn

• Moderator: <OboeCrazy> to <Moderator>: Hi Mr. Manning! With the cast split into two crews, are you enjoying the opportunity to write for a smaller group of people each week, or do you miss having the full crazy gang to play with?

  FrooniumRicky: Hi, Oboe!
  FrooniumRicky: Me, I like the smaller groups
  FrooniumRicky: It can get difficult trying to service 84 characters in 42 minutes
  FrooniumRicky: Fewer characters let us slow things down a bit, get better interactions going

  Moderator: If you're having trouble, I'll be happy to service Aeryn, Chiana and Jool for you. And a number of the ladies here have volunteered to service Crichton.

  FrooniumRicky: Somehow I knew I was asking for trouble when I typed that

• Moderator: <stayler> to <Moderator>: Hey Froon! Good to see your words on my screen again, any good eps coming our way from your keyboard?

  FrooniumRicky: well, "good" is a subjective term, of course
  FrooniumRicky: But you might want to tune in tomorrow night
  FrooniumRicky: for a sweet little family story

Dave Elsey, July 19, 2001

• Moderator: <aughra> to <Moderator>: What kinds of adjustments did you make to the Scorpius of Incubator to show him "in process" and growing up?

  DaveE: Well, 1st of all we had to create young Scorpius which was the youngest stage. We cast the kid and tried to show something that it always been a pet theory of mine which is that the Scorpius that we all know and love is by far the best looking than he's ever been in his life. He's basically a failed experiment and child Scorpius's make-up I think showed that.
  DaveE: I tried to suggest that his face as we know it today isbasically being almost held together by the Scorpy suit and helmet.
  DaveE: Then for the middle stage of young Scorpy, he's kind of half-way through having all the operations that it will take to make him look as he now does.
  DaveE: And the technology of his helmet and costume is kind of clunky and old fashioned. I was really pleased with the results, particularly the child version which had a haunted look about it.
  DaveE: Especially in my own photographs which I hope you'll see one day.

• Moderator: <OrionsBane> to <Moderator>: Mr. Elsey, thank you for being here, you are such an asset to Farscape! You have exquisite sartorial taste, as evidenced by Scorpius' stunning costume. We've seen his 'teen look' now, very nice too! Have you any plans for future costumes for him?

  DaveE: Having thr Scorpy-clone opens up all kinds of possibilities.
  DaveE: I have lots of very strange ideas about Scorpius as does Wayne!
  DaveE: And perhaps we can find some way of weaving them in as successfully as the cooling rod idea.

Farscape Wrap Day Extravaganza, July 26, 2001

• Moderator: <MissyKat> to <Moderator>: Evening Ricky, a brief question on "Incubator"... I was wondering if Scorpius' childhood was too dark even for Farscape. It left little to the imagination and was quite bleak. How did Scorpius develop compassion later in life?

  FrooniumRicky: Hi, Missy!
  FrooniumRicky: Well, we didn't have a chance to talk about Scorpy's "missing years"...
  FrooniumRicky: We know he must've met Natira somewhere in there...
  FrooniumRicky: Maybe she taught him a few things (nudge nudge)
  FrooniumRicky: Some would dispute how much compassion Scorpy has, if any
  FrooniumRicky: I think he's just misunderstood, myself

• Moderator: <shokoti> to <Moderator>: Hi Froon! What's your favourite episode in season 3, that you did or didn't write?

  FrooniumRicky: that I Did write... hm, hard to say, I've liked 'em both so far
  FrooniumRicky: that I Didn't write... hey, if I don't have to write it, it's always my favorite