Exploring the Uncharted Territories: A Farscape Viewing Experience

In addition, for those of us that saw this during the original run, we had a long wait before the beginning of season 3 and had no idea what would happen next, Sci-Fi had a funny way of splitting the seasons up so it was hard to know when they were going to start showing new episodes or repeats of Farscape.

 

There was one other flight scene I really liked in all the years I've seen scenes of that nature and it was the DS9 flyover Bajor in The Siege. However, the one with Aeryn and John was much more awesome and the scenery of the frozen wasteland made it that much better. I remember the first time I saw it I was shocked. I mean that wasn't the cliffhanger, but it could have been. I actually think in terms of season ending episodes (the final 3-4), I liked the Second season's the best. All of them are classic though.

 

SEASON THREE

Season of Death
- This is one hell of an ominous title...

- Love the new opening credits sequence, from the music, to the new monologue, to the inclusion of more action-packed scenes, and so on.

- Damn, everything Crichton went through in "Die Me, Dichotomy," and he's still stuck with Harvey in his brain, even without the chip? Poor guy. I loved the mental fist-fight between the two.

- Watching Rygel performing mouth-to-mouth on Tocot was pretty funny.

- This affair between Chiana and Jothee is just wrong. And damn, she didn't wait for him to be around very long. I'm assuming the affair is a result of 1) D'Argo's idea for the three of them to settle down somewhere (fear of commitment); and 2) in attitude, Jothee seems to be more like Chiana than D'Argo is (both seem to be "wandering souls," whereas D"Argo's wanderings have always had purpose). As wrong as it is that Chiana is betraying D'Argo in such a deeply personal way, I also can't help but not be surprised due to the above two reasons.

- Zhaan seems to be starting to off the deep end now, first with her attempt to kill Crichton (even though it was what he wanted) and again when she knocked out Stark to seek Aeryn's soul to bring her back to life.

- I wasn't expecting Aeryn to return to Moya so soon. Since I already knew she wasn't going to stay dead, I wasn't surprised, of course, by her coming back to life, but I was expecting that storyline to play out in such a way that no one on Moya would know she was alive for some time, perhaps as a prisoner of Scorpy.

- While I'm on the subject of Aeryn coming back to life... Damn. I'm having trouble accepting that Zhaan is going to die.


Suns and Lovers
- It's pretty awesome that Crichton's actions are building him a reputation in the Territories.

- Good on Rygel for being disgusted by Chiana's affair with Jothee. Had to chuckle (in agreement, frankly) when he referred to Chiana as a "slut."

- I'm fascinated by the relationship between Zhaan and Stark. It doesn't feel as if it's been built to gradually like the relationships between Aeryn & Crichton or D'Argo & Chiana. It feels more spontaneous, like it popped up fully-formed, yet at the same time it also feels to be much deeper than the D'Argo/Chiana relationship has (more along the lines of Aeryn & Crichton, but those two have had to work for it, whereas Zhaan & Stark haven't seemed to need to). It's deeply romantic and spiritual, without any of the sexual tension that the other relationships have.

- Poor D'Argo. After all the time and effort he spent trying to find a way back to Jothee, now he knows that his own son has been sleeping with the woman he loves. It's tragic, really, especially since he had planned to ask Chiana to marry him, after not believing he could ever love again after Lo'Laan. Jothee deserved whatever pain resulted when D'Argo burned the union tattoo onto him. I'm not sure what Chiana deserves; she betrayed D'Argo simply because she couldn't express her feelings about his "settling down" plans and used Jothee in the process, which right now seems even more unforgivable to me than Jothee's role.

- Pilot's maniacal life as he detached the door into space that Borlik was stuck to was damn disturbing.

- Aeryn & Crichton's conversations about "charity" and "body fluids" were amusing and cute, especially the one at the end of the episode and when Rygel was told to shut up, all for being concerned that there was another problem. "But we can have sex if you want."

- This season is off to a strong start after only two episodes.


Self-Inflicted Wounds Part I: Could'a, Would'a, Should'a
- I'm glad Crichton mentioned Star Trek when Aeryn asked him if he understood what Neyala was saying to explain how Moya and her ship had collided, because my eyes were glazing over and I felt like disregarding it was "technobabble."

- "I won't be spoken to like that by some alleywhore." "Hah, how could she know that about you?" *whap* "Did you know she had a fiancee until she slept with his son?"

- Pretty cool that Crichton can now call Harvey forth at will. Their interactions really are cracking me up. Loved Harvey's quip that Scorpy would use the wormhole knowledge for "faster delivery of pizzas."

- So far Jool is striking me as a bit of a mix between Chiana and Rygel: arrogant attitude of someone used to always getting her way, but still seemingly rather youthful.

- The ending series of scenes, as everyone prepared to abandon Moya and Pilot, were very depressing.

- I got interrupted several times during this episode, so I think that's about all I have to say on it at this time.


Self-Inflicted Wounds Part II: Wait for the Wheel
- As obvious as it may be to say this , I had a feeling during Part I that this alien crew couldn't be trusted. Always nice to be affirmed.

- The scene between Aeryn & Zhaan near the beginning was very touching, with their discussion about Zhaan trading her health for Aeryn's life and Zhaan insisting that Aeryn should not devalue herself. These two characters haven't gotten nearly enough time together on their own.

- Harvey is starting to grow on me as his own character as a weird mix of Crichton and Scorpy, rather than looking upon him simply as an extension of Scorpy.

- This was a very tense episode, ending on a very sad note with Zhaan's sacrifice. Paul Goddard nailed Stark's emotional breakdown.

 

Stark rocks my world. My favorite line of his from the entire show is from "Self-Inflicted Wounds" when he and Jool are together in the corridor and she's whining and Stark just goes off on her and starts to make her cry:

"Oh, you want to cry, young creature? I will show you something that will make you cry forever."

I love it when these characters go batshit crazy.

That said, "Self-Inflicted Wounds" is what I watch when I want to watch something sad. Zhaan's goodbye scene, where she addresses all of the characters and then leaves, breaks my heart. Watching John hold Aeryn back is always hard for me.

I find that the show never really feels the same with Zhaan gone. It's almost as if Moya and her crew had their souls ripped away.

 

I agree....Zhaan leaving was a big part of the reason that Season 3 felt a bit less personal or intimate if those words makes sense. The show was certainly every bit as action packed and even more epic in Season 3 and I enjoyed Season 3 for those things but there are times when I missed the feel from the earlier seasons.

Wasn't overly fond of this first set of episodes, but Farscape never really starts a season out strong. Zhaan's dying was certainly moving I know I'm the exception, but I actually sort of liked Jool by the time she finally left in Season 4. That being said, if going from Zhaan to Jool was a step down, going from Jool to Grandma was going down a whole flight of stairs.

 

A lot of people don't like Jool, but I thought she was great. She's annoying, yeah, but she's supposed to be, and I find it hilarious. Her banter with Chiana is especially funny.

 

I have to admit, that's probably the only real redeeming value of Jool's character to me: namely that it gives Chiana a chance to actually be the 'mature' character for a change... she actually matures and develops a lot over the course of this season, especially once the

Spoiler: Season 3

Big Split

happens here in a few episodes.

Yeah, at first it feels cheap having Aeryn come back so quickly, until you realize that they robbed Peter to pay Paul, narratively speaking, in that Zhaan was sacrificed, which was a real death, not something that's going to be reversed, which makes it at least something that dosn't come across as a stunt... With this trilogy, you're starting to enter a thematic shift of the series into something a lot darker and less lighthearted and comedic than the past two. This works for the most part, but you'll come to miss some of the levity of the past two seasons by the end of this one...

 

And yes, Harvey will quite quickly become a character unto himself. Wayne Pygram really does a masterful job of differentiating the portrayal of Harvey and Scorpius, which can't be easy when, visually speaking, the two are identical, which has to screw with your character process as an actor....

 

As much as I love season 3, I do agree that the lost of Zhann forever changed the crew and significantly changed the tone of the show. While Stark somewhat fills in the role of the spiritual leader, it's nowhere near the same as Zhaan. Her death scene filled me with tears and yet...

Spoiler: Season 3 and beyond

her death didn't hit me the hardest. D'argo's death filled me with rage and anger and tears, but surprsinginly it's Crais' and Talyn's dual-sacrifice that gets to me the most.

Count me in as another fan of Jool. I absolutely adore her later on but I will admit I inititially hated her.

 

Of course, Harvey at least gets to wear silly outfits over the normal Scorpius gear.

Stark doesn't strike me as a "leader" of any sort.


...Different Destinations
- "This is a peace memorial. Let's not kill each other." Jool and Aeryn's argument in the teaser regarding Peacekeeper "propaganda" was pretty funny.

- I know she's only been around for a few episodes at this point, but I cannot stand Jool. She's excessively annoying. Right now I'd rather she be shot out an airlock than have stick around long enough to "grow" on me.

- I generally don't care for time travel episodes, but this one actually was fairly well-done. I think the main problem with most time travel episodes in science fiction series (or in Trek, at any rate) is that they focus more on the mechanics of time travel, rather than imbuing the story with emotional resonance, which is something at which this episode did not fail.


Eat Me
- Horror, Farscape-style, sounds like a winner on paper, but this was not a great episode by any means. I didn't enjoy most of it, which is disappointing because I've been wanting to see another Leviathan for a while. Speaking of the Leviathan in this episode, it was sad watching her and her Pilot dying. I'm not sure what to think about two John Crichtons, both supposedly "equal and original." As for Talyn, I'm assuming he and Crais were injured by a Scarren attack, same as the PK convoy that the Leviathan in this episode was originally in.


Thanks for Sharing
- Damn, got that guess wrong: PKs attacked Talyn, not Scarrens. Ah well.

- After his scene where he showed Aeryn the recording of her mother, I'm now willing to believe that Crais genuinely has changed, that he is no longer the enemy but is indeed now a friend. It seems that the responsibility of "raising" Talyn has been beneficial for him. His changed views & descriptions on the PKs are interesting.

- While my comments on this episode are rather sparse, I did enjoy this episode. I assume this starts the "Big Split" that Bonzo mentioned. Should be interesting to watch that play out, one Crichton on Talyn with Crais, Aeryn, Stark, and Rygel, while the other Crichton is on Moya with the others.

 

Yeah you're pretty much into the big arc of the season. Originally I wasn't a fan of the split, but (And I hope this isn't a spoiler so apologies if it is) as you will see, the areas that get covered and the expansion of the universe we see almost made that split necessary. A lot of things happen from when the split happens to the end of the season.

 

There's a lot to like about this episode for me. It's hilarious in places, tragic in others and takes some nice turns. The ending almost always gets a little sniffle from me.....

Yeah. Pretty much everyone feels that at first. However, compared to other characters who shall remain nameless (Granny) Jool's a breath of fresh air. Besides, they do end up somewhat redeeming her before the end of her arc. On rewatches she really doesn't bother me much any more, even in the early episodes of season 3.

No, it wasn't a great episode. However, I watched this live when it first aired on Sci-Fi and they had already killed Zahn off, almost killed Aeryn off and when it appeared that they killed D'Argo off in the episode before they reveal the twinning thing, I remember my friend and I were freaking out thinking that they actually killed another main character off.

 

Yeah, at the time, it was rather grisly, but, in retrospect, it is kind of hokey. Not one of the better efforts... The big takeaway from 'Eat Me', though is the 'equality' of the two Chrichtons. John's going to take a while to come to terms with the fact that his 'twin' is just that, not a clone, not an inferior/duplicate/etc. While dupe characters have been done (and done to death) in SF, Farscape again does it fresh with the notion that, technically speaking, the 'original' John Chrichton is gone, and what's left are two duplicates of said original. It's also interesting in that one of the John's wasn't on a slab by the end of the episode.

Get used to the sterovision, this duo's going to be around for a while...

 

All right, you punk, I'm starting my Farscape rewatch right now. I just can't get it out of my head.

 

It's all his fault I decided to for Amazon's big series set deal. I'm still impatiently waiting for it to arrive.

Punk indeed.

 

You live in the UK right? Because I'm already several episodes into season 2.

 

I stayed up until 5am and blew through 7 episodes last night. I skipped a few that I didn't feel like rewatching. I'm already watching "Durka Returns."

 

At that rate your going to pass him up and be in the same boat you were before you started while he finished up the series.

 

So sorry...

In your case, turnabout is fair play and all that jazz.


Green Eyed Monster
- This dynamic of Crichton/Aeryn/Crais working together is... different, to say the least. It's going to take some getting used to, which might not be easy, even though I'm now willing to accept Crais as reformed. Found Aeryn's rhetorical question to Talyn about "which one of them is bigger?" during Crichton and Crais's posturing to be quite amusing.

- Stark/Rygel has to be an even more dysfunctional duo than any other combination on this show, and that's saying something.

- I'm a little disturbed that Talyn seemingly has no compunction over spacing someone he doesn't like. With the way he treated John in this episode, and with the fact that Talyn can take control over Crais in a similar manner to Crais's control over Talyn, and with Talyn's general belligerent nature due to being a gunship, I'm started to expect that Talyn will start careening out of control pretty soon.

- I know these last several episode entries have been rather spartan, but sometimes I just don't know what to say even when I'm enjoying an episode. As for this one, it was a fun, good episode, and I particularly liked finally having a chance to see more of Talyn's interiors beyond the command.


Losing Time
- The teaser of this episode (Scorpy interacting with the chip removed from Crichton) made me think of a new question: Do both copies of Crichton now each have a copy of Harvey in their respective heads? If not, if only one of them does, then would that not invalidate the claim that each copy is "original and unique"? (I'm not expecting anyone to actually answer this question; I'm putting it down mainly as one of my thoughts while watching this episode.)

- It was neat to see Moya's starburst chamber and seeing more of Scorpy's continued efforts to unlock the wormhole knowledge from the chip was interesting (particularly that Crichton's imprint on the chip seems able to resist Scorpy's data-sifting), but overall I didn't care much for this episode. It's not necessarily a bad episode, but it never quite grabbed me. I found the alien possessing Chiana difficult to understand during most of its scenes. Still, I have to give props to the writers for still finding new ways to play on the "influenced by an outside source" trope that I've commented on in previous episodes.


Relativity
- Although it's good to see Crichton & Aeryn finally "together," I imagine this will cause big problems if/when the two Crichtons end up on the same ship again.

- As a follow-up to my question from "Losing Time," the Talyn-Crichton has a Harvey. I'll be interested to see if Moya-Crichton does as well.

- Even though it was a failed effort, I was impressed by Rygel's attempt to attack Xhalax from his ThroneSled. For someone who typically chooses "flight" instead of "fight," he didn't hesitate at all after Aeryn and Stark had been knocked out.

- Lots of emotional turmoil in this episode, handled quite well by Claudia Black. I didn't expect Aeryn's reunion with Xhalax to be a happy one, of course, but I still have to feel sorry for her that her only memory of her mother was corrupted by Xhalax's admission that she killed Talyn to keep her position in the PKs. As for Xhalax's "death," I don't think she is dead - after all, we didn't see a body. I'd prefer to think that Crais wouldn't have attempted to strike some sort of deal with her, but there was more time between Aeryn & Crichton walking away and the pulse rifle blasts than I think was necessary, time enough for a quick chat between Crais and Xhalax.

 

They not only answer this question, but take the storyline somewhere pretty interesting with at least one of the Critchons. I'm very much looking forward to your reaction to a couple of episodes you're about to hit here pretty soon.