Popular Culture Review Vol. 12, No. 2, August 2001 | Page 112

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Popular Culture Review

tity, Maldis (Chris Haywood), and are forced to fight each other, the Pursuer voices
aloud in the heat of combat that John is nothing more than a “weak, pathetic,
inferior being” who needs to be sacrificed so that his brother’s honor is restored.
By the time “The Hidden Memory” unfolds, Crais displays his growing hatred
towards a tortured John as he repeatedly slaps him in the face and throttles him
close to the point of death. Clearly, the Farscape villain is a fascinating figure to
watch throughout these stories, especially when he gives in to the “Ahab-like”
fever as described by Iaccino in his work on this topic (166).
Despite their limitations, Princess Ardala and Captain Crais are not be
yond salvation. An awakening of the Hero state occurs in both characters in the
closing teleplay of each series’ first season, chiefly due to the insertion of an even
more powerful villain/villainess into their rapidly shrinking sphere of influence. In
Buck Rogers, the formidable adversary is Queen Zarina (Julie Newmar) who treats
Ardala as nothing more than a spoiled child in charge of an insignificant empire.
Willson notes that the aggressive tension is so great between the two women that
eventually one of them breaks, in this case Princess Ardala (54). When Buck sees
her, she is a nervous wreck and melts in his arms; she then decides to ally herself
with Buck against this new threat to her weakened self-image. Farscape proceeds
in a like manner: Crais consorts with the enemy (i.e., John Crichton and crew) to
depose the new Commander of his Peacekeeper regime, the Sebacean-hybrid Scorpius (Wayne Pygram). He experiences this conversion only after enduring hours
o f painful torture and humiliation in Scorpius’Aurora Chair. What is interesting is
the exchange that transpires between John and Crais after the latter’s defection.
The Captain reveals that he now understands the death of his brother was nothing
more than an accident and his own priorities obstructed him from seeing the actual
occurrence o f events. John’s reply is a poignant one: “Do you have any idea what
you put me through, all of us through?” Whether Ardala and Crais are siding with
their foes simply to eliminate the new power base so that they can resume com
mand or truly believe they can reach a higher level of insight into their own flawed
natures, the fact remains that the battles with the Heroes are temporarily put on
hold. And one cannot deny that both Pursuers are cast in a more sympathetic and
vulnerable light by their peace-promoting actions.
Unlike Farscape, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century would not have the
advantage of en