There's life out here, Dad. Weird, amazing, psychotic life. - Let's Watch Farscape!

[Ursus the Grim]

Hey Playground, I know I'm not the only one who watches and enjoys this grand, bizarre Sci-Fi space opera with muppets. I've decided to watch the series through for a third, perhaps fourth time, and I figured I'd take you guys along.

Note that the first season is pretty out of order. Episodes were filmed (and aired) out of order to save money, so we'll be jumping around a bit. For instance, technically the second episode is "I, E.T.", but it was the seventh aired, so we'll be following them as listed here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Farscape_episodes).

If you're not familiar with the series, its a bizarre, off the walls Sci-Fi series that was cancelled before its time was up. Not as tragically clipped as Firefly. AH, Firefly. The two series are similar, but not too much so, and if you like one, you'll probably like the other. Each is different, but the entertainment value is similar.

The premise of the show is that Astronaut John Crichton stumbles into the far reaches of our known space and immediately makes enemies of the greatest military force known at the time and allies with a jumble of fugitives to avoid the powerful Peacekeepers and every bizarre hazard the universe has to offer, from omniscient sorcerers to insane geneticists and beyond.

I'm a little torn on spoilers. Personally, I'd think it to be a pain to tag everything, but I don't want to scare away the curious and uninitiated, so I'll be using them.

Any questions, feel free to post. Episodes are available currently on Netflix and I'm sure you can find them online.

[Ursus the Grim]

Season 1 Episode 1 - Premiere

The first episode is, simply titled, Premiere, setting up the exposition. We meet John and the people he knows, for what may be the first and last time as his experiment fails to go quite as planned. We meet a few of the main characters and later in the episode, are treated to John's 'charming' and 'witty' personality.

In this episode we run into two tropes that TV tropes lists Farscape as the trope namer for. Translator Microbes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TranslatorMicrobes) and Microts (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Microts)

Rewatching this episode, I can't help but be a bit critical, particularly of Jack (John's father). His acting seems a bit robotic, but my fiancee suggested it was intentional, as he's a hard-working military scientist. When we see him next, its been some time and he seems more natural, so perhaps its just a matter of this being the first episode.

The archetypes seem obvious at first. We have the raging, red-clad space barbarian, the level-headed blue priestess, the haughty royal in a hover-chair, and the super-intelligent pilot. Of course, these archetypes are, like many tropes in this series, eventually subverted. But more on that when it happens.

Another issue I've had is that, go figure, the human and the alien resembling a human, inevitably get a love angle going on. Though its not obvious at this point, I think anyone can guess it. Sure, Crichton later has flings with a few other non-Sebaceans, but the big story is between him and Aeryn. I'm not saying he should be hooking up with anything that moves, regardless of appearance, but its kind of trite.

Among the things I like? Not everyone wants to rip Crichton apart. Zhaan, the blue Delvian priestess, is essential to getting John's feet on the ground, establishing herself as a peaceful, wise, calm being. Of course, that makes her later exploration of character all the more interesting.




More to come.

[Carduus]

I do hope you keep this up. I keep meaning to rewatch Farscape, but have never found the time.

[Ursus the Grim]

I do hope you keep this up. I keep meaning to rewatch Farscape, but have never found the time.

Yeah, it can be pretty time consuming, the issue with keeping it up is that if the thread stays quiet, its silly for me to just keep posting and turn it into a blog. I am sure some people would have an issue with that too.

That being said, have you seen the entire series? Have any major likes/dislikes? Criticism is fine, in the interest of not just being a rabid fanboy thread.

[Z3ro]

I'll be sure to get around to rewatching all the episodes when I'm in traction later in the year; thanks for the inspiration.

I've always loved the series for its interesting characters, plots, and sci-fi elements. The show was able to play around with a lot of out there ideas, but the interesting characters always kept the show grounded and relatable, unlike a lot of other space fantasy.

My biggest criticism is that the show wasn't perfect. You'd have amazing episodes sandwhiching a terrible episode too often. Trite, I know, but that's it.

[Starbuck_II]

I need to get the DVD of it. One of my favorite series. Although the third season was getting weird (or is it second when they got the new member?), but till then series was amazing.

[Derthric]

I recently rewatched the show while I introduced it to a friend of mine, a most excellent experience. The show is one of my favorites of all time, I cannot think of a single member of the main cast I dislike and even in the secondary cast they were all excellent.

My only gripe was that Peacekeeper Wars wrapped things up too well. The final episode to me was just perfectly Farscape, you think they make it to a new high only to be smacked down. And Peacekeeper Wars didn't have that feel.

[Ursus the Grim]

I'll be sure to get around to rewatching all the episodes when I'm in traction later in the year; thanks for the inspiration.

I've always loved the series for its interesting characters, plots, and sci-fi elements. The show was able to play around with a lot of out there ideas, but the interesting characters always kept the show grounded and relatable, unlike a lot of other space fantasy.

My biggest criticism is that the show wasn't perfect. You'd have amazing episodes sandwhiching a terrible episode too often. Trite, I know, but that's it.

Yeah, I nearly fainted when I noticed it on Netflix, and on the Instant Queue no less. Even more so than when I saw FLCL on there. I saw it as a great way to get more people into it. A ton of people have Netflix and too much free time. The characters were pretty good, in my opinion, with a few notable exceptions. Jool and Sikozu weren't that interesting to me, which is odd considering how compelling I found Scorpius. You'd think the one would be similarly interesting, but I found her shallow and predictable.

Heck, even Rygel is more than he appears. Though seeing as how he appears to be a puppet, I suppose its not saying much.

Definitely agree with the imperfection comment. Jeremiah Crichton comes to mind. Still, with a show of several seasons, you're destined to get some real stinkers. I think the creators even apologized for that episode on the commentary, but without my DVDs I can't be sure.



I need to get the DVD of it. One of my favorite series. Although the third season was getting weird (or is it second when they got the new member?), but till then series was amazing.

I'm not sure what the "Best" DVD set to get is. Personally, I liked the Starburst Editions, but I got a set consisting of one box per season and its done okay, though the lack of closed captioning irks me (my hearing is going early). Still, it was better than hunting through Chinese video sites to find the next episode.

Which new member are you talking about?

If you mean Jool, the red scientist, yeah, I didn't like her but the only thing that struck me as too weird occurred further beyond that point. I think they only came up with Jool to fill in the gap in the dynamic after Virginia Hey (Zhaan) left for health reasons.


I recently rewatched the show while I introduced it to a friend of mine, a most excellent experience. The show is one of my favorites of all time, I cannot think of a single member of the main cast I dislike and even in the secondary cast they were all excellent.

My only gripe was that Peacekeeper Wars wrapped things up too well. The final episode to me was just perfectly Farscape, you think they make it to a new high only to be smacked down. And Peacekeeper Wars didn't have that feel.

Agreed. I think it says something too, that no one ever says "I liked everyone but Pilot and Rygel." Being able to bring that personality and depth to mere puppets (as awesome-looking as they are) says something about the show that often goes unappreciated.

I'm torn on PK Wars. On one hand, its good that they got us a resolution. On the other hand, I had started to view the last episode as a bit of a "screw you!" to Sci Fi. The events were pretty much a metaphor for what had happened to the show. In a way, what had happened to him solved the issue of the knowledge he held, too.

Perhaps my biggest beef with PK Wars is what happened to my favorite character from throughout the series. I've been obtuse to avoid spoilers, but I think you'll understand me when I simply mention "I'm your daddy!".

[Derthric]

I'm torn on PK Wars. On one hand, its good that they got us a resolution. On the other hand, I had started to view the last episode as a bit of a "screw you!" to Sci Fi. The events were pretty much a metaphor for what had happened to the show. In a way, what had happened to him solved the issue of the knowledge he held, too.

Perhaps my biggest beef with PK Wars is what happened to my favorite character from throughout the series. I've been obtuse to avoid spoilers, but I think you'll understand me when I simply mention "I'm your daddy!".

The thing with the last ep was that it was planned and shot mostly before the cancellation was confirmed, the special features from the new set show this. I think PK wars really too much too fast, they wrapped up so many plot lines in under 4 hours when in any 4 hour stretch in the 2nd 3rd or 4th seasons the stories were woven more slowly and built up better.

Whenever you think of that character just watch Scratch n' Sniff from the third season and you will remember the best of times. "Booty, where's the booty?"

[Ursus the Grim]

The thing with the last ep was that it was planned and shot mostly before the cancellation was confirmed, the special features from the new set show this. I think PK wars really too much too fast, they wrapped up so many plot lines in under 4 hours when in any 4 hour stretch in the 2nd 3rd or 4th seasons the stories were woven more slowly and built up better.

Whenever you think of that character just watch Scratch n' Sniff from the third season and you will remember the best of times. "Booty, where's the booty?"

Yeah, actually I think we might have the same set, because I remember seeing the video of them announcing it to the cast. Saw the tears in the eyes of a couple of them. Still, they kept it together better than I was at that point.

Is Scratch n' Sniff the one with partying and hangovers? Yeah, I think it was. Oh, crap. I'm going to have to watch it again. I'm still not sure if that was a good episode or a bad episode, but it was hilarious. Yep, just spun it up on Netflix. I swear tomorrow I will go back to episode two.

Edit: Incoming quotes.
"Are you guys. . . a couple?"
"No! No-no-no no!"

"Don't talk about the window."

*knock knock knock*
"Delivery's around the back."
"Oh, oh, around the back? Oh, okay."
*Falcon PAWNCH!*

"It . . . made him dance?"

Pretty much any of Crichton's rants to Pilot.

Yeah, thats enough for now.

[Derthric]

Yeah, actually I think we might have the same set, because I remember seeing the video of them announcing it to the cast. Saw the tears in the eyes of a couple of them. Still, they kept it together better than I was at that point.

Is Scratch n' Sniff the one with partying and hangovers? Yeah, I think it was. Oh, crap. I'm going to have to watch it again. I'm still not sure if that was a good episode or a bad episode, but it was hilarious. Yep, just spun it up on Netflix. I swear tomorrow I will go back to episode two.

Edit: Incoming quotes.
"Are you guys. . . a couple?"
"No! No-no-no no!"

"Don't talk about the window."

*knock knock knock*
"Delivery's around the back."
"Oh, oh, around the back? Oh, okay."
*Falcon PAWNCH!*

"It . . . made him dance?"

Pretty much any of Crichton's rants to Pilot.

Yeah, thats enough for now.

"John.......these women......will not dance with me"

Its not a great episode but it is one of my favorites just because of the D/Crichton team chemistry

[Ursus the Grim]

"John.......these women......will not dance with me"

Its not a great episode but it is one of my favorites just because of the D/Crichton team chemistry

Yeah, right after promising to stop with the quotes that one came up. But I had given everyone my words.

The actor in question (not Ben Browder) is actually nothing like his character. If you've seen interviews with him and then go back and watch the various ways he plays his character, the range is really incredible. The same could probably be said of Gigi Edgely.

Though Virginia Hey is totally into New Age stuff IRL, I believe.

[Corvus]

When Farscape was initially on, I only caught a few episodes from the first two seasons, though I had always wanted to watch all of it. So recently I picked up all 4 seasons as they were at 1/2 price.

So far it has been frelling awesome. Just got to the end of season 2 - now I know what happens afterwards but its still pretty powerful. I can only imagine what it was like for fans watching at the time who had no idea what was to happen later.

it is also amusing, as an Australian, to keep an eye out for all the Australian actors who make guest appearances.

[Ursus the Grim]

When Farscape was initially on, I only caught a few episodes from the first two seasons, though I had always wanted to watch all of it. So recently I picked up all 4 seasons as they were at 1/2 price.

So far it has been frelling awesome. Just got to the end of season 2 - now I know what happens afterwards but its still pretty powerful. I can only imagine what it was like for fans watching at the time who had no idea what was to happen later.

it is also amusing, as an Australian, to keep an eye out for all the Australian actors who make guest appearances.

Man, I was pretty young when I first watched it. Young enough that my mother covered my eyes during some of the steamy bits (of which I now realize there were a ton). Ten years old or so, IIRC. It was the coolest thing ever, edgy with substance.

I also found it odd that its an Australian show with a mostly Australian cast. . . And one American. When I watched it when I was younger, I noted how everyone had a slight bit of an accent (except that yankee, of course) but wrote it off as you know, an alien thing. Now I'm just perplexed.

I've also, of course, been trying to grasp what an American accent sounds like. I can recognize regional accents in the US (southern drawl, new england, Jerzey guido, etc) but don't know what a Brit or an Aussie have to do to sound like an American. Sadly, I don't recognize all the Aussie guest stars, but I can at least mention the man who plays Scorpius has a part on Lost. Haven't seen Lost, but I know.

Anyway, sorry I haven't actually updated the viewing, but I've been on a Dragon Age binge. Sadly, I actually managed to hurt myself by playing video games for four days straight (and pretty often before that) so I will probably have to take a break and give me an excuse to plow back into the series instead of jumping around and picking favorites. (Watched Out of Their Minds and Through the Looking Glass yesterday, both greatly entertaining episodes for mostly different reasons).

Edit:
Mention of my age is not meant to make anyone feel. . . wise. If I offended you, I assure you that you're not old, I'm just young.

[Ursus the Grim]

Season 1 Episode 2 - I, E.T.

The second episode, entitled, 'I, E.T.' is the first of many episodes based around the crew's experiences on a new planet. The crew has unwittingly set off a peacekeeper alarm, of sorts, and hides on a nearby planet until they can deactivate it.

Perhaps its because I'm used to the later episodes, but everyone's acting seems a little rough in this episode. When not speaking, for instance, D'argo stands, static, clearly waiting for his turn to speak. Crichton seems a little disconnected from what's happening to his character, in particular with the eye twitch thing. I noticed no such issues with Aeryn, though her character is often somewhat reserved anyway.

I suspect its to be expected. This is the second episode of the series, and it takes a bit of time for the chemistry to start, for the actors to ease into their roles. It also makes me appreciate the evolution of the show over time.

As for the episode itself, it is, sadly, not one of my favorites. Its pretty clearly a parable for how Earth would react to aliens (a subject touched on more directly at later times). I suppose I'm just not a fan of 'low tech planet' episodes (Jeremiah Crichton comes to mind) and most of the stuff on this planet is pretty darn similar to Earth tech, which the show explains to us at great lengths later is hilariously backwards. I suppose the point is to have those similarities draw parallel, but I think it would have been better to use starfish aliens (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StarfishAliens) in this episode, just to remind the viewer that this is NOT earth.


I've already watched Exodus from Genesis recently, so I may not rewatch it before posting.

More to come.