Farscape or Babylon 5?

[tomalak301]

Lindley wrote:

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Season 3 is better in most respects. Some say it's the show's best year.

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.

[DWF]

tomalak301 wrote:

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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.

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.

[tomalak301]

DWF wrote:

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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.

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.

[Lindley]

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.

[kirk55555]

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).

[Lindley]

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.

[JD]

kirk55555 wrote:

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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..

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.

[kirk55555]

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" ) or when John and D'Argo are outside

D'Argo: "We're going to bring him out here, and see how he likes being in the cold."

John: "What if he likes it?"

D'Argo: "Look! One. Plan. At a time!"

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.

[Kegg]

kirk55555 wrote:

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The alien that attacked John/D'Argo was a Scarran, and it was interesting to see one.

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.")

So, one of Scorpius's parents was an alien like that, and the other was Sebacean?

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.

[kirk55555]

Well, now I know

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.

[kirk55555]

Suns and Lovers (Farscape) - Well, I was right about Jothee and Jar Jar 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.

[kirk55555]

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.

[JD]

Get used to it.

[Forbin]

Actually, I got pretty tired of Harvey after a while too. It's the only aspect of the show I found annoying.

[Kegg]

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.