I finally got time to sit down and watch this episode last night. It's been a while, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised that I liked it more than I recalled. Both of the Maldis episodes tend to take a bad rap because he comes across as such a lame villain in Picture If You Will. I'd forgotten how much else is going on in TOBM, and how much I like what the episode provides.
I like the maze (or whatever you want to call the sets for Maldis' home) as the surroundings for Crichton's encounters with Crais. I think it works really well for a symbol of their entire relationship. The writers dropped some back story in without bogging anything down, which makes up a lot of the episode.
I've got a different opinion when it comes to John figuring out what Maldis is doing. I think he's mistaken, as he was when he was trying to come up with theories about what was going on in Back To The Future. I think Maldis is playing him all along. Yes, Maldis is a vampire, but I don't believe he's feeding off the conflict. He's setting John up in order to get what he wants. John goes for the "Star Trek Solution" (which I assume, even though it's never mentioned), and isn't quite right about what's going on.
And am I the only one who thinks John is playing a little loose and easy with the truth when he tells Crais, "I did everything I could to get clear?" Lying or misrepresenting the truth is a theme with Farscape, and I think either the writers never got a good look at the final edit of Premiere, or else John is distorting things a bit to try to sway Crais. I never saw any time for John to attempt to avoid Tauvo's prowler.