Farscape or Babylon 5?

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by kirk55555, Jul 30, 2012.

  1. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Why even bother trying to sell the series anymore. He'll just read the plots, and skip episodes like he did in Season 2.

    It's one thing to not like something, but it's quite another to not like something without even giving it a chance.
     
  2. DWF

    DWF Admiral Admiral

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    He'd skipped what five or six eps. out of 22 so far? It's a bit much to say he's not giving the show a chance.
     
  3. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    5 too many if you ask me. Also, it's not about just skipping the episodes. It's the attitude of saying I'm going to read the plots, if if a plot sucks, I'm not even going to see it. It's the attitude that's been turning me off of this thread. If Kirk555 wants to continue to do it this way, fine, so be it. He's the boss of this watch. I think he's doing himself and the people who have been following along with him a disservice by doing this though, but whatever.
     
  4. Lindley

    Lindley Moderator with a Soul Premium Member

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    I think kirk should keep in mind that, like Buffy and many other arc-heavy shows, in Farscape the actual plots are frequently secondary to the characters. You can have the dumbest plot in the world and still have a fantastic episode if the characters play it well.
     
  5. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well, out of the first two seasons (44 episodes), I've skipped about 6-7 episodes (some completely, one or two I watched a few minutes of). Thats less than 20% of the episodes. I do kind of get what people mean when they say I shouldn't skip based off of synopsis (although I'll say that Taking the Stone was completely justified, and I have absolutely no second thoughts about skipping that one). That said, I still feel that I did the right thing by skipping the episodes. Theres nothing like a run of bad episodes to burn you out on a series. If I had suffered through the Princess Trilogy, I probably would have had to give myself a long break (and time to forget it) before returning to the show. I'm not saying that others may not like these episodes, but I know what I like, and I know what I dislike. I don't like stories about a fake earth where everything seems the same but its actually different, or stories that have someone marry a person that they don't care about for stupid reasons, or episodes with Jar Jar as the main focus. I could waste hours of my life watching these things and hating life the whole time, or I can skip them and watch the episodes that are entertaining to me. In the end, I want to enjoy myself when i watch TV. Farscape entertains me most of the time. When it doesn't, I skip the episode that annoys me, and go on to one I'll enjoy. Its not something I plan to change (although looking at season 3 there doesn't seem to be any episodes I'd automatically skip, atleast not for awhile).
     
  6. Lindley

    Lindley Moderator with a Soul Premium Member

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    What you aren't understanding is that you are still inaccurately describing what those episodes are actually about. You assume, but you are incorrect. It's frustrating because I know exactly where you are coming from in one respect; I had the same initial reaction to the Princess trilogy promos. But it turned out to be fantastic. It's nothing if not complex, actiony, and just a little bit wacky.....which usually describes the best of Farscape. (One scene from the Princess trilogy will feature in the season 3 credits.)

    WGFA is one of the key episodes of the season. You've already seen some of the payoff, but in the proper sequence it's the first full revelation of the chip in John's head and Scorpius' motivations for putting it there. It pays off all of the little signs and moments throughout the season, most notably Scorpius' inexplicable role in "Crackers Don't Matter", in a very strong story.

    These four episodes also introduce a new alien race who become key players later in the show. Shame you missed their introduction entirely.
     
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2012
  7. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yes, but it is probably the most important "less than 20%". Like others have said, in a series like Farscape you really really, can't judge an episode just off of the descriptions. What makes Farscape so great isn't actually the stories themselves, which are not bad by any means, but it is the way the stories are told. Sure some of the basic ideas are cliched, but they tend to tell them in a outstanding and unique manner. Even when the stories aren't that great, the acting, and writing tend to still be very good, and most of the time are able to counteract any aspects of the stories themselves that you might not like.
     
  8. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Season of Death (Farscape) - This was a decent beginning to the season. There were some pretty entertaining bits (like John channeling Stone cold Steve Austin in his mental fight "Give me a hell yeah" :rommie:) or when John and D'Argo are outside

    :rommie:

    The alien that attacked John/D'Argo was a Scarran, and it was interesting to see one. So, one of Scorpius's parents was an alien like that, and the other was Sebacean? That must have been an akward pairing (assuming Scorpius wasn't created in a lab or something). Overall, this was an enjoyable episode, and I'm interested in seeing what happens with zhaan, and maybe learning why Scorpius wants the wormhole tech so much.
     
  9. Kegg

    Kegg Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    You task me, kirk55555. You task me...

    (...okay fine. A Scarran plays a prominent role in Kiss the Princess, and another one appears in "Won't Get Fooled Again.")

    Scorpius' parentage is something that will be revealed later and at some length answering all of your questions there, but for now - yes. One of his parents was a Scarran, the other was a Sebacean, and the man hates Scarrans.
     
  10. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well, now I know :bolian:

    The Scarran looked interesting, although I'm not sure how compatable they'd be with a race like sebaceans (although it obviously works out in one case, atleast).

    Also, the episode I watched today has made me think of something. Even though its only been one episode this season so far, I'm getting the feeling that Jar Jar is going to cheat on D'Argo with Jothee. I'm not 100% sure, but I think its likely. I don't really care, but it would be great if D'Argo/Jar Jar stop being together, so that I don't have to deal with extra chiana scenes when she's with D'Argo. Anything that can reduce her screen time even a minute or two an episode is something I support.
     
  11. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Suns and Lovers (Farscape) - Well, I was right about Jothee and Jar Jar :rommie: This was an entertaining episode. It had some flaws, but I liked it. I especially liked the ending, with the zealot thinking she's going to destroy Moya, and John just not caring about what she says as Pilot ejects her into space (while he's laughing). His laugh was creepy, but funny. I liked seeing D'Argo yell at Jar Jar. Rygel watching Jar jar/Jothee was pretty creepy, but totally in character for him.It is kind of funny that he found out because Jar jar and Jothee misunderstood what he was saying about smells and thought they had been caught. Overall, a decent episode.
     
  12. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Self Inflicted Wounds Part 1 (Farscape) - Overall, I liked this episode, although its not without flaws. How many times hyave they done the "Moya is dying/in danger, we need to abandon her and pilot" thing at this point? Its been done to death, and we know its going to turn out ok. To be clear, I'm not angry at this particular repeated plot point, but its getting a bit tiresome when its done every few episodes. Also, the scorpius in John's head thing is kind of getting old, although he seems to have more personality than the "real" Scorpius, so I'm not really complaining.
     
  13. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Get used to it.
     
  14. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

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    I said out, dammit!
    Actually, I got pretty tired of Harvey after a while too. It's the only aspect of the show I found annoying.
     
  15. Kegg

    Kegg Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I loved Harvey. I like saying that in Farscape one of the best characters on the show is literally a voice in a guy's head.
     
  16. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Go on. ;)

    All kidding aside, Harvey is one of my favorite aspects of the show. SF -- neigh, television -- has rarely been allowed to go to the wacky places that Farscape went to on a weekly basis. I think Community might be the only thing on television today comparable to it.
     
  17. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    Damn you, I was going to reply with "But, Harvey has already been driven from the thread" ;)
     
  18. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, Harvey was one of my favorite aspects too. Some of the show's best scenes were the Harvey scenes IMO.
     
  19. kirk55555

    kirk55555 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Self Inflicted Wounds Part 2 (Farscape) - This was a decent episode, although overall this two parter has been just ok. I wish it had been jar Jar who died, not Zhaan, but atleast it was a purposeful death. The orange haired woman is really annoying. Maybe not Chiana annoying, although she is very close. I don't think the orange haired woman will stay on permanently. Hopefully the show will go atleast two episodes before there is another "We need to abandon Moya/No, abandoning her would be wrong" episode :vulcan:

    It really does suck to see Zhaan go (and not just because it means more screen time avaliable for Jar Jar). She was a good character. I hope none of the other members of the original main cast die off. That said, with my luck season 4 will just be Jar jar, orange haired woman, and Stark (who isn't anywhere as bad as them,he's actually a decent character but I'm getting sick of his crazy spells) traveling around, with everyone else dead. :shifty:
     
  20. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    Jool starts off really annoying, but, she mellows and actually becomes a cool character, IMHO