Chiana Was Originally Supposed to Die in Season 1

The beloved SYFY original series Farscape (streaming now on Peacock) is an alien world populated with plenty of absolutely bonkers characters across its four-season (and one miniseries) run in the late 1990s and early 2000s. But it turns out one of Crichton’s fan-favorite alien pals wasn’t originally supposed to actually make it to series regular status.

Farscape starred Ben Browder as human astronaut John Crichton, who is shot through a wormhole and lands on the other side of the universe and right in the middle of a galactic war between some alien factions. Things are made even more complicated when the first friends he makes upon arrival turn out to be prisoners on the run.

During Season 1, Crichton and has misfit crew cross paths with the alien Chiana (played by Gigi Edgley), an independent blue-colored young woman who doesn’t fit with the conformist regime of her alien world. That set-up makes her a perfect fit for the crew of Moya, and Chiana eventually joins up with and becomes a key member of the cast for the remainder of the series’ run.

Chiana was supposed to die on Farscape 

But did you know Chiana wasn’t supposed to survive her initial introduction in the episode “Durka Returns”? Chiana is shot in both the original version and the updated cut of the episode, but in the original version Chiana dies and her character remains just a one-off guest role. But the creative team saw the potential for the character, and reconfigured the scene to play out where Chiana is instead grazed by the shot, and we later see her being patched up from the wound.

Edgley wasn’t even aware she’d be sticking around in a recurring role (Chiana recurred in Season 1, before becoming a series regular through Seasons 2-4) until a script arrived for the episode after the one where she was first introduced (and originally slated to die).

“I got delivered a script in a dressing room … I didn’t believe it, as I was not in the next episode,” Edgley said via The Companion. “We sat down on the couch and opened it up together, and sure enough I had a couple of lines in the episode.”

From that point on, Chiana was a part of the Moya crew until the end, forging friendships with Crichton and the crew, and a tumultuous relationship with alien warrior Ka D’Argo (played by Anthony Simcoe). Chiana would also return for the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries, which wrapped up the series after Season 4’s cliffhanger ending.

Want to revisit Chiana’s best moments? The full run of Farscape (including Peacekeeper Wars) is streaming now on Peacock.