Brief synopsis:
John Crichton, an astronaut at IASA, aboard his test module, Farscape 1, is swallowed by a wormhole and sucked into a distant part of the galaxy, the Uncharted Territories. Crichton goes aboard a living ship, Moya, with escaped prisoners aboard. Together, they are pursued by Captain Crais on a huge command carrier.

The Main Story:
At 05:30, astronaut John Crichton's test flight is ready to start. With all systems optimal, John will have a chance to prove his and DK's theory that using the gravitational pull of the planet, they can slingshot away from earth at previously unrecorded speeds. However, as the experiment takes place, some kind of electromagnetic wave hits, sending Chrichton, aboard Farscape One, down a wormwhole and into a distant part of the galaxy.

Arriving in unknown territory, John is plunged straight into the action, with prowlers flying past him as he arrives. One actually collides with his ship, the prowler pilot, is sent spinning into an asteroid. Crichton is then pulled aboard a huge ship, and ends up in some kind of docking bay. Here he is led up to the command area by a group of DRDs, (Diagnostic Repair Drones).

He meets aliens for the first time at command, and at first is unable to understand them. However, a DRD injects him with translator microbes that colonise near the brain, and allow John to understand other languages. This is just in time to hear death threats being passed his way by a large alien, the Luxan called D'Argo, asking how they can use John's ship to escape - it seems they were prisoners until now.

Two other aliens are aboard, Zhaan, a delvian, who advises John to answer, and Rygel who later appears and tries to make a bargain with John, making them protect eachother. D'Argo loses patience though, and knocks John out, and then begins ripping apart control panels in an attempt to free the ship, Moya, from a control collar imposed by the Peace Keepers, the forces attacking Moya from space. When John awakens, he finds himself sharing a cell with a Peacekeeper, captured when her prowler was dragged through starburst, the escape mechanism that Leviathans like Moya can use to get away from pursuers. John tries to talk to the Peacekeeper who looks very human in appearence, but is greeted with more violence.

Meanwhile, aboard the command carrier, Crais discovers that the prowler destroyer earlier was his brother's, and so decides to go after Crichton and the other prisoners aboard Moya. After D'Argo pulled apart several control panels, the Leviathan is in need of more irrescendant fluid, so the escapees must travel to a commerce planet.

Whilst Rygel secures the fluid they need, Aeryn and John manage to escape. Aeryn alerts the Peacekeepers to their location, and tells them that she has the pilot of the "white death pod" as Crais puts it. This allows Crais to catch up with them at the planet, but things don't go as Officer Sun expects. She is deemed "irreversibly contaminated" so she, John and D'Argo are all arrested.

Crichton manages to steal a weapon though, and the three escape. Before unlocking D'Argo and Aeryn though, he insists that they escape together aboard Moya and that nobody is left behind. Now all that is needed is to outrun the command carrier, something that is achieved using John's experiment, giving him a chance to prove his theory after all.

With some distance between Moya and the command carrier, John is able to find some living quarters. He is warned though by D'Argo not to threaten his freedom, and also by Aeryn that Crais will no doubt continue to pursue them. John is in a tough situation, and there seems to be no easy end in sight.

References and continuity:

As this is the first episode, there is little background at this point, but this does mark an important step in man's attempts to explore space. At present, humans have only ventured to the moon, and only probes and satellites can go further. If Crichton's experiment were to work, then many new possibilities would open up. It might not quite be the Millenium Falcon, but Farscape 1 could be a very important space vehicle.

Its also interesting to note that the use of IASA was to avoid all the red tape that went with trying to use NASA. With whole scripts for the entire season needing to be approved, and other complications, it seemed easier to go with the fictional "IASA", the International Aeronautical Space Administration.

Funny or interesting quotes:

Crichton: "Don't move! Or I'll fill you full of... little yellow bolts of light!"

Crichton gets hold of a gun during an escape attempt, and after seeing what it fires, he halts half way through the famous phrase "full of lead" and alters it accordingly.

Crichton: "See, you're fixed. Go play."

When Crichton arrives, he damages a DRD, but later fixes it as best he can. He sends the DRD off to carry on its business.

Episode Trivia:

When Crichton arrives, the prisoners D'Argo, Zhaan and Rygel had been scheduled for transport to Terran Raa, a prison colony, before making their escape.

When scared, or in some kind of stressful situation, Rygel, and other hynerians, fart helium.

Command Carrier frag cannons have a range of 45 metras. Aeryn reveals this when Moya is trying to outrun the command carrier.

Writer:

The writer of this episode, and also the series creator, is Rockne S. O'Bannon. Other Farscape episodes written by Rockne S. O'Bannon:

Director:

The director of this episode was Andrew Prowse. He went on to direct many other Farscape episodes:

New Aliens:
In the very first episode, John meets several types of aliens, each very different, but all apparently unhappy at John's arrival. Some were only brief encounters, such as with the spiderlike Proprietor, but many aliens will play a major role as the story progresses:

Hynerians		Small by human standards, but apparently making up for it by being devious. Rygel, a hynerian royal seems very manipulative.
Sebaceans	Similar to humans in appearence, John is mistaken for one on several occasions, even by Aeryn Sun
Luxans	A warrior race. D'Argo appears to be the most aggressive being aboard the ship, solving problems with violence.
Delvians	Spiritual beings, humanoid, but very, very blue. Zhaan a Priestess is almost friendly to John.

Farewell to:

Crais's Brother		When Crichton first exits the wormhole, he collides with a Prowler, completely accidentally. The ship is sent spinning into an asteroid, and explodes.
Earth (for a while)		Crichton is stranded, and it looks unlikely that he'll be returning home anytime soon.

Guest Stars:
Kent McCord as Jack Crichton, who is John Crichton's father. Murray Bartlett as DK, John's friend and co-worker. Lani Tupu as Captain Crais. Christine Stephen-Daly as Lieutenant Teeg. Colin Borgonon as Peacekeeper Weapons Officer.

Personal Opinion:

The best thing about this episode to me is that its believable. I mean, the wormhole idea really could be a possibility, and once a person is that distance from earth, you never know who or what you might encounter.

John really plays the part well, being completely in awe of all this new stuff, but at the same time keeping things real by constantly expecting to wake up, or find some kind of reason for it all. The fact that he doesn't yet believe, makes the whole episode feel more realistic.

	I greatly enjoyed this episode, and have watched Farscape since.		9/10