Brief synopsis:
When Crichton and Zhaan are stuck aboard a transport pod, Zhaan reveals some of what happened during their time away from Moya, and we see that she was accused of murder on a planet called Litigara, and caught in a fight between utilities and lawyers. Despite the complex law systems, it was down to Chiana and Rygel to fight for Zhaan's freedom. Though lying in court could have nasty consequences, Rygel and Chiana eventually play to their strengths, and use "lashings of deception" to win Zhaan's trial.

The Main Story:
In a nightmare of what could have happened when Moya starburst away from the asteroid field all that time ago, leaving Talyn, Crichton, Aeryn and D'Argo behind, Zhaan imagines Aeryn unable to fend off the attacking Prowlers, John losing hope, and D'Argo slipping from consciousness. She then sees Crichton's helmet visor begin to crack, and eventually, all is lost. Zhaan swiftly awakens from this nightmare, shocking Crichton who is busy working on repairs for their pod. The pair have been stranded for some time, having discovered Rygel's stash of Keedva meet in the engine compartment, and were now drifting in wait of rescue.

Zhaan explains what happened in her dream, and Crichton asks that she tell him more about what happened whilst Zhaan, Chiana and Rygel were away aboard Moya. Zhaan tells him that they searched back along their path for 20 solar days, and that the last world they visited was a planet called Litigara. Zhaan then begins to relive the events, describing her attempt at finding information from a barkeeper on the planet whilst Rygel and Chiana dealt with their grief in their own ways, drinking and fighting respectively. When Zhaan leaves the bar, she gets followed by a strange woman. Zhaan contacts Pilot who is keen to leave, and Zhaan, admitting defeat, agrees. However, as they move to leave, the woman who followed Zhaan manipulates the traffic signals to get Zhaan caught up in a traffic violation.

She is taken to prison where she meets her appointed lawyer, Dersch, who tells her that she will most likely face a 10 solar day punishment. This is bad news as Pilot is ready to leave, and will not wait the 10 days. Zhaan panics and attacks Dersch. once restrained she begins to hallucinate John, D'Argo and Aeryn coming to her to give advice. The woman who followed Zhaan earlier arrives later in the evening, and gives Zhaan a device to break out of jail, a map to escape, and the time that the guards changeover. Zhaan escapes, but finds herself caught again right next to a murder victim. She struggles, but is imprisoned again, this time charged with murder. This time Dersch says the inescapable punishment is death, in three solar days.

Zhaan is taken for trial, but in Litigaran society, if a lawyer puts on a bad faith defence, he shares the penalty of his client. Dersch refuses to represent Zhaan, and no other lawyers step forward. As a result, Chiana and Rygel are left to defend their shipmate, despite the obvious problem that the pair rely on lying and cheating to get through. Chiana and Rygel go back to the bar they visited earlier with Zhaan, and talk to the barkeeper, where they learn that the vicim, Wesley Khen, was a political rights activist for the utilities, the 10% of the population who aren't lawyers. They are also given a sacred law book that has the roots of all the many complex laws in Litigaran society.

As Chiana and Rygel begin their defence, Zhaan worries they will get themselves executed as well, and tries to refuse their council, but Chiana and Rygel have her gagged. They then begin their defence, but Chiana repeatedly has to stop Rygel as he begins to lie. The only positive point Chiana manages to put forward at this point is that Zhaan couldn't possibly have known what time the guards would changeover, let alone managed to escape. Later in the evening, back at the bar, Chiana questions the security guard who caught Zhaan, and learns that he is loyal to a high ranked lawyer called Ja Rhumann, a man keen to see the utilities crushed, and that also he, and anybody else with blue eyes, get severe burns when they are caught out at night under a dual full moon.

Rygel meanwhile learns of the Light Of Truth from the sacred book, a wooden stick that in the court room is said to glow more brightly as the person being questioned lies. Rygel forms a few ideas, whilst Chiana puts forward an argument to the courts that Wesley Khen had blue eyes, but was not burnt, where as the security guard she questioned did get burned, suggesting Wesley was killed elsewhere and moved to Zhaan's location. Chiana's progress scares the true conspirators, the woman who followed Zhaan, and her employer, Ja Rhumann, forcing them to capture Chiana, and try to force her to drop her case. Chiana had been on the comms to Pilot however, and he and Moya had decided that having overheard what Ja Rhumann said, they couldn't abandon Chiana, Rygel and Zhaan to this fate.

Released, Chiana finds Rygel, and learns of Pilot's decision to stay. Abandoning hope that they can win the case without lying, Rygel and Chiana, with Pilot's help, agree to play to their strengths. Back in court, they call Ja Rhumann to the stand and use the Light Of Truth. Chiana breaks a chair leg off, lights it, and begins questioning Rhumann. She asks if Wesley Khen could have been moved, and killed by somebody who wanted to quell the utilities, and he answers that hypothetically this could be true. When Chiana asks if he really is talking hypothetically, he answers yes, and Rygel calls Pilot to initiate the plan - Moya enhances the light of the torch from space, making it glow brighter. Chiana continues to ask if Ja Rhumann was behind it all, and as it glows more and more brightly, the Judge is convinced, and Ja Rhumann is taken away.

With Chiana, Rygel and Zhaan safely back aboard Moya, Zhaan returns her attention to the present day, where Crichton receives a message from Rygel asking how they got stuck. John answers that it was Rygel's fault for the stored Keedva, and Aeryn replies over the comms telling them that they will be brought aboard Moya again. Crichton and Aeryn certainly seem pleased to hear eachother's voices.

Trivia Quiz:

References and continuity:

• When did Zhaan, Chiana and Rygel leave like that aboard Moya? That was at the end of season 1, in the episode Family Ties when Moya was forced to abandon Crichton, Aeryn, D'Argo and Talyn in the asteroid belt.
• Why does Rygel have cooked Keedva meet stored in the pod? That was from the previous episode Home On The Remains when Crichton killed B'Sogg's pet Keedva when it attacked him.
• Have I seen Nachtan cleansing pills before? Yep, they were seen in Taking The Stone when Crichton took one. The explanation of what they are comes in this episode however as it was originally scheduled to be the opening episode of season 2.
• Interestingly, Zhaan says she doesn't suffer heart attacks. Presumably this is because she is a plant, and things work completely differently as a result.

Dersch: "Well. The good news is you're no longer facing trial on the traffic violation."

A lawyer with a sense of humour, Dersch realises the situation is far worse since the murder, but keeps the mood light.

Dersch: "Do you know what would happen if I put on a bad faith defence?"
Chiana: "You might win?"

Chiana doesn't understand yet that a bad faith defence means the lawyer shares the punishment of the client. Rygel: "But you and me... Not lying! Are you mad?" Rygel is similarly stunned by the shocking news, and feels they have no chance of winning. Aeryn (In Rygel): "We haven't lost yet. Of course, the trial's only been going a few microts." The trial doesn't get off to a great start as both Chiana and Rygel are clueless about how to proceed.

Chiana: "You little toad! You had to go fart helium now?"
Rygel: "I'm nervous. It happens. We're in court... so sue me."

Really not helping their defence, Rygel farts helium, totally disturbing Chiana's line of defence.

Writer:

The episode was a one off for writer Stephen Rae.

Director:

The director of this episode was Ian Watson. He also went on to direct the following Farscape episodes:

New Aliens:

Litigarans

A pale skinned humanoid speces, the Litigarans are made up of 90% lawyers, with the other 10% falling into the category of "utilities". Their laws as a result are extremely complex, though they do stem from a concise sacred book that Rygel uses to defend Zhaan. Some members of the species have blue eyes, which has the nasty side effect that they get serious burns if they are caught out at night under a dual full moon. .

Farewell to:

Hope for the utilities		The man Zhaan was accused of killing (Wesley Khen) was a major activist for improving the rights of the utilities..
Lies		Lawyers can't lie in court, otherwise they face the same punishment as their clients.

Guest Stars:

• Steve Jacobs as Ja Rhumann.
• Sandy Gore as the Judge.
• Simone Kessell as Finzzi.
• Marin Mimica as Dersch.
• Peter Kowitz as Tarr.

Personal Opinion:

A slightly strange episode, but made much funnier by Chiana's great performance. Rygel was decent enough, but with Zhaan playing the role of "unconscious fish" for the episode, it was down to Chiana to save the episode, which she did well. Zhaan might call Rygel and Chiana children, but really its the other way round most of the time.

It was nice to see what happened to the crew during this time though. The episode, a flashback of what happened to Zhaan, Rygel and Chiana after they fled from Scorpius's command carrier in the episode Family Ties, was originally scheduled to be put at the beginning of season 2, but was eventually put back to 2.08, a sensible decision.

	Great stuff from Chiana.		8/10