Okay, let me start off by staying I enjoyed it. I know the show has a lot of hardcore fans to this day (and on this forum) and many friends have been encouraging me to watch it for a long time. Observations: The relationships in Season One seem a bit forced or out of place. The crew reaches a kind of familial bond of renegades, but I don't really understand why or how... Its characters are a group of obvious stereotypes. In fact, the only character that has proven some real depth so far, surprisingly, is D'Argo, who I expected to be your typical Worf-clone yet ultimately has more feeling and past than all of the characters combined. Crichton I can't help but like. He represents the human race well, has a full range of emotions, resourcefulness and skills, and manages to be a thoughtful, altruistic person in damn near every situation. Sometimes he strikes me as a bit of a caricature and is written similarly to how Enterprise writers would paint Jonathan Archer. The acting is good enough, however, that he pulls off the role beautifully and makes his consistent goodness a believable part of his personality. The scene where he confronts Crais in his cell on Moya is pure gold. At the end of season one, I guess I wish I cared more. The "bad guys" are your typical nefarious mustache-twisting types (the worst actually named "Scorpius," --- may as well be "Dr. Evil" )---you've got the "bad girl," the blue Vulcan, the puppet, and your human searching for home. It's all fun, but unlike the DS9 and B5 predecessors I haven't gotten to a point where I forget that I'm watching a TV show and start caring about the characters and plot. I want to, so I'm forging ahead! Ultimately, like I said I'm enjoying it-- just pointing out some concerns and things I hope they flush out a bit. The show is a blast, but I hope it takes on a little more depth in the latter seasons. Any thoughts? Please avoid specific spoilers beyond the Season 1 finale and the season 2 opener, "Mind the baby."
Scorpius has a lot of fleshing out in later seasons, and so does Craise (sp?). They both become a bit more 3 dimensional. You really are in for a fun ride. There are serious times, desperate times, and ridiculous times ahead, but it never stops being "just plain fun."
I made it about 14 or so episodes into season one before I was diverted by something else. I'm not sure what it was but that was last year and I haven't picked Farscape up again really. I do want to though; I bought the complete series on the cheap based on many recommendations here. What I've watched so far was hit and miss. It's good to hear that it does improve though, so I'm more inclined to give it another try.
Crais. I really like the first season personally, but it's true that the show's arcs become more pronounced as it progresses, including fleshing out the antagonists a fair bit.
First season until episode 16 isn't really much to write home about. I enjoyed it for the most part, but wasn't blown away. It was until the last 3-4 episodes that I started to get more interested and see the potential. Season 2 blew me away after a rough early set of episodes. If you're not totally in love with it by the end of Season 2, give up.
I had a lot of trouble getting through season one myself, but I'm glad that I did because season 3 is one of my favorite seasons of television from any series. The show kind of gets progressively better starting with the arc at the end of Season 1. If Scorpius hasn't really clicked with you yet, maybe he will later on. I think he's a great villain. Aeryn Sun gets a lot of development as the series goes on and becomes a really likeable character (maybe the most likeable character).
Yea, Farscape was very bold with trying new things and being outlandish. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. In S1, it didn't work all the time. The first 3/4 of S1 were hit and miss, but, once you get to the final 4 or so of S1, it really hits it's stride.
Certainly the hottest character, and that's saying something. Really, a lot of shows have a somewhat "lesser" season 1 when viewed against other seasons. We should be happy it didn't peak to early, but sad it didn't last a while longer.
Well, I'm not sure we were really supposed to. He was just an angry man motivated by misplaced vengeance. Even he realizes that eventually.
Farscape is like DS9 in that S1 is not at all representative of how good the show gets in later seasons; the best parts of S1 are the premiere and the final few episodes (where the main plotline starts to get going); and the first season sets up the building blocks for later greatness. The characters may not have clicked as of S1, but don't worry, they will. Crichton's a great character from the start and only gets better. Scorpius has a silly name (maybe it's just a bad translation into English of whatever his real name is in Sebacean?), but he'll evolve into a character who can rival Dukat or Garak. A good way to think of him is a cross between Dukat and Garak: definitely a villain, but complex and nuanced enough to be a main character as well. And like DS9, you'll have to slog through the occasional Ferengi comedy, aka, worthless episode. Stick with it and report back.
I actually like S1. No, it wasn't as epic as the other seasons. But it was an enjoyable beginning to the Farscape story that planted seeds of what is to come for the series the way S1 of Babylon 5 sow the seeds of things like the Shadow War and Londo's destiny. I disagree with Danoz on the character relationships in S1 feeling out of place and forced. I thought they felt natural along with the progression from the characters not trusting each other much and butting heads to them becoming a family of outcasts who have learned to rely on each other instead of going aganist each other. I also don't see the characters as stereotypes. They may appear so in the beginning but there were episodes of this season that revealed sides of the characters or at least glimpses of those sides that break the stereotypes the characters intially represent.
Neither DS9 nor B5 can touch this series for imagination, intensity or wit; Farscape really makes conventional TV science fiction look as plodding and conservative as most of it in fact is.
The entire Scorpious episode arc was the best part of season one. I picked up seasons one thru four with the TV Sci Fi channel finale too. All the seasons were $15 dollars each at Wal-Mart. The TV finale from the Sci fi channel I picked up at FYE for $10. I am stil watching season one and would like to see all four. I am watching about one disc a night after work.