Line #11 Recap/FarscapeS04E15MentalAsAnything


1	'''Season 4, Episode 15''':
2	!Mental as Anything
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4	While the women are shopping for supplies on an asteroid outpost, the men of Moya's crew visit a man named Katoya who can teach them forms of mental conditioning. Scorpius believes it will help Crichton to resist the Scarran heat probe should he ever encounter it, but Crichton is more concerned with finding out if Katoya knows anything about [[Recap/FarscapeS04E13TerraFirma the creature that attacked his family]]. During the training, D'Argo discovers that someone else has arrived to learn from Katoya: Macton, the brother and murderer of Lo'Laan, D'Argo's wife. D'Argo is determined to take revenge, but Macton throws doubt onto D'Argo's strongest convictions about what happened on the night Lo'Laan died.
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6	As D'Argo's Luxan hyper-rage and Macton's love for his sister are examined, the truth about what happened comes to light: when Macton threatened to get rid of D'Argo, Lo'Laan tried to stab her brother to save her husband. Macton instinctually defended himself and killed Lo'Laan, then beat her corpse to make it look like D'Argo did it in a fit of Luxan hyper-rage. Macton is left in a coma, forced to relive the memories of killing his sister, while the men of Moya leave. Crichton and Scorpius discover that the creature they encountered on Earth was most likely reporting to Grayza, and the Peacekeepers now know the location of Earth.
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9	!Tropes present in this episode include:
10	* AndIMustScream: Macton's plan is to trap D'Argo in an endless nightmare where he relives his tortured memories. D'Argo breaks free and traps Macton in that instead.
11	* CallBack: Crichton is on this trip because he wants to know about [[Recap/FarscapeS04E13TerraFirma the creature that murdered his friends and attacked his family]]. Scorpius gives him the information at the end of the episode.
12	** D'Argo [[Recap/FarscapeS01E10TheyveGotASecret previously said]] that Macton had Lo'Laan's blood on his hands. TheReveal shows how that happened.
13	* ContinuityDrift: A minor example concerning D'Argo's makeup. Flashbacks throughout the episode present D'Argo with his post-Season 2 appearance. However if it's assumed his appearance for the remainder of the show is a result of his extended vacuum exposure from the end of "Family Ties," then Anthony Simcoe should be wearing his season 1-style makeup during the flashback scenes.
14	* CruelMercy:
15	-->'''Rygel:''' If you were fine, you'd have killed Macton instead of leaving him there.\
16	'''D'Argo:''' He's trapped in a coma with his own nightmares. Killing him would have been merciful. I'm not that enlightened.
17	* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Macton says his Peacekeeper reflexes just kicked in when Lo'Laan attacked him.
18	* {{Determinator}}: Scorpius notes that Crichton has "an abundant will to prevail."
19	* DiabolusExNihilo: Invoked and lampshaded. Scorpius has never encountered a Skreeth before, so he doesn't know where exactly it came from, what its abilities were, or that Grayza was behind it. He needs Katoya's help in figuring that out.
20	* DrivenToSuicide: Subverted. Macton attempts to convince D'Argo's uncontrollable rage drove Lo'Laan to kill herself--even faking a simulation of her plunging a knife into her side. D'Argo realizes it's a lie because of Lo'Laan's devotion to Jothee.
21	* {{Flashback}}: Many throughout the episode showing D'Argo's marriage.
22	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Aeryn hints at getting a very large gift for Crichton while on Earth. "[[Recap/FarscapeS04E17AConstellationOfDoubt A Constellation of Doubt]]" will reveal it's a TV, and it forms the wraparound for that episode's documentary story.
23	* HeKnowsTooMuch: Why Scorpius wants Crichton to succeed in his training. He would otherwise have to kill Crichton someday to prevent the Scarrans from torturing the wormhole knowledge out of him.
24	* IOweYouMyLife: While asking for Crichton's training to be intensified, the information on the Skreeth, and helping D'Argo, Scorpius reminds Katoya that he saved him from Peacekeeper captivity.
25	* JerkassHasAPoint: Scorpius when explaining why Crichton has to be put through intensified training.
26	-->"No, Earth is not safe. And neither are you. The Scarrans know you exist. They are already coming for you, John. You cannot run away for your whole life, and I cannot protect you from them!"
27	* NoodleIncident: Following up on an old plot-point, in-between Seasons 3 and 4, D'Argo tracked down Macton, but he hesitated from killing him.
28	-->'''D'Argo:''' Part of me knew that wouldn't bring Lo'Laan back. And another part couldn't resist letting him know that I knew ''exactly'' where he was.
29	* OutOfCharacterAlert: D'Argo asserts that Lo'Laan would never have killed herself because he knows she would never have left her son without a mother.
30	* ThePowerOfLove: What allows D'Argo to turn the tables on Macton. Thinking of Lo'Laan motivates him to control his rage, and he proceeds to lecture Macton about the love his family had for each other.
31	-->"I loved my wife. But you wouldn't know that; you didn't know Lo'Laan. I did. She could have left me for my failings. Maybe she should have, but I know this: she would never have left her son without a mother."
32	* {{Retcon}}: When Macton and Lo'Laan were first mentioned, it was established that Macton murdered her in cold blood over her marriage to D'Argo, which was even corroborated by Crais. This episode reveals that ''Lo'Laan'' attacked her brother with a knife to stop him from falsely (maybe) reporting D'Argo for abuse. Macton's Peacekeeper training kicked in, and he killed her in self-defense and entirely on reflex. His only ''actual'' crime in her death was desecrating her corpse and framing D'Argo for the murder. It didn't make him any less of a douche, but it does make him somewhat more sympathetic .
33	** Additionally, it's suggested that D'Argo may have killed Lo'Lann in a fit of hyper-rage. While D'Argo's struggles with his anger have long been established, the episode attempts to claim he's always had doubts about whether or not he did kill Lo'Lann. Prior episodes never once had him express doubt about it, even having [[Recap/FarscapeS01E22FamilyTies Crais admit he knew D'Argo was wrongfully imprisoned]].
34	* TheReveal: While it's no surprise that Macton killed Lo'Laan, we see what happened. When he tried to have D'Argo arrested, Lo'Laan attacked him and his Peacekeeper reflexes caused him to kill her. He then beat the corpse to make it look like D'Argo killed her during a fit of hyper-rage.
35	* ShoutOut:
36	** Music/MentalAsAnything is an Australian rock band.
37	** Crichton whistles the "Colonel Bogey March" at various points during the episode.
38	* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: Macton was going to have D'Argo arrested and refused to be reasoned with, so Lo'Lann picked up a knife and tried to stab him. This leads to her death.
39	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: While mentioned in the present, Jothee is never shown during the flashbacks.

Context Recap / FarscapeS04E15MentalAsAnything