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Episode Guide > Season Two > Crackers Don't Matter OAD: April 7, 2000 Written by: Justin Monjo Directed By: Ian Watson Summary: Roaming the Uncharted Territories, hunted by Scorpius, the crew need every advantage they can get. A blind alien, named Traltixx, offers to make modifications to Moya that will render the ship invisible to Peacekeeper scans. Of the crew, only Pilot and John seem wary of Traltixx's offer, but their concerns are ignored and Moya heads off to the alien's conversion yards. The journey forces the ship to pass near a cluster of pulsars which are known to affect lesser species' cognitive abilities. The crew is assured that they certainly wouldn't be affected and the ship will pass through the system without incident. Almost immediately everyone's personalities start to change. It is subtle, at first, but a sense of distrust develops between the crew. One of the manifestations of the changing character is the hoarding of crackers. Nearly everyone thinks the others are stealing more than their share of the tasteless food rectangles. Then, D'Argo and Chiana become paranoid, accusing John and Zhaan of plotting against them. Aeryn and Rygel join forces, barricading themselves with the crackers in command while Pilot slowly looses his mind. Zhaan, the light loving plant, isn't paranoid like the others, but she is occupied by the constant pleasures the light produces. The only one of the bunch not affected is Traltixx, whose blindness conveniently protects him from the light's effect. With the crew distrusting each other and obsessed with protecting their share of crackers, mayhem and chaos reign on the ship. It turns out the light from the pulsars is not causing the strange behavior of Moya's crew - it's Traltixx. He is intent on making light and his effect on the crew is simply keeping them out of his way. Of the crew, only John maintains some sense of reality. He is less effected by the light because he is "deficient." He has the worst eyes of anyone on the ship and that deficiency protects him, somewhat, from the lights effect. It is up to John to subdue his crew mates and destroy Traltixx before everyone goes insane. Analysis: With Farscape's newfound emphasis on death, the show really needs a good old fashioned farce to liven things up. Well, twisted as it may be, Cracker Don't Matter is just what the doctor ordered. Bizarre, hilarious, and disturbing are all terms that come to mind with this dark humor episode. CDM is filled with unusual visuals - Aeryn joining forces with Rygel; D'Argo and Chiana trying to steal John's module; Scorpy showing up dressed in a Hawaiian shirt; and John blasting crackers with a pulse gun. The method by which John saves the day is classic Farscape and will have scapers talking for years to come.
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