Spoiler: Farscape Exactly. He got sucked down a wormhole that happened to lead to Earth in "Unrealized Reality", only actually landed in the next episode because he discovered he'd arrived in the past and was afraid he may have altered the future by doing so (and he had, so he tried to fix it) and by the time he made it back to present-day, Moya had already been spotted and boarded by several humans, including his own father. Crichton even admits that going to Earth was an accident, and it doesn't seem like he spends more than a few days there. As for the reputation of the episode, it's always been my understanding that it is well liked. My friends and I appreciate it, and on this website it is ranked 17th out of 90 for the whole series, and that's pretty damn high. This review also seems quite positive on the whole. Dissenting opinions are welcome, of course, but I'm not seeing how they are the consensus here.
As most people on here currently debating what sounds like a fairly major plot point of Farscape with no end in sight, I think it's fairly obvious that the OP should choose B5.
I don't know. That depends on how much plot matters to you. There's also character, setting, mood, humor, visuals, music, dialogue . . . . If plot was all that mattered, then reading a synopsis would be the same as watching the show!
^^^Correct. I value coherent plots and themes a lot, but the first time around the very original visuals and music and the Crichtonisms, and most of all, the shameless gusto in the series still made it an enthralling experience. I was shocked at how unwatchable I found it the second time. I didn't expect that at all. If you read the last coded plot point recapped, you'll see what I mean by plotting problems. But that sort of thing sure makes a strong first impression. It's just when you start to think about it... As to the popularity of the Earth episode, it didn't get any praise on any of the bbs I looked at when it first aired. The sources cited probably give a better picture of its real popularity beyond the self selected sample of contemporaneous posters.
Honestly, I find this surprising. Farscape is a show I re-watch at least once a year. I've probably seen it at least a dozen times all the way through, and it never gets old. Most of the plots actually make more sense than you realize. The first half of Season 4 is full of tiny moments and explanations that I missed the first time around, and it's one of the reasons that it went from being my least favorite season when I first watched it to my favorite season of the entire show.
I've found it nigh impossible to rewatch Farscape, but then it's hard for me to finish rewatching B5 as well. For that matter for me aynway, it's hard to rewatch many of the '90s shows that I used to watch. On the other hand though I have little problem rewatching classic Doctor Who.
The episodes "Kasas" and "Terra Firma" both ended up becoming the name of two of the more popular Farscape fan forums around. Kansas shut down a while back due to some issues, but Terra Firma is still up and running. Ironically enough, there's a fairly recent discussion that went on about both episodes with favorable opinions of them. http://terrafirmascapers.com/index.php/topic,40889.0.html
I got Farscape yesterday. I've watched the first two episodes so far. I think I'll use this thread to post about my experiences with both shows. first, I'll compare the first episodes of B5 and farscape. Farscape ("Premiere") - This had an interesting beginning. I'm not sure if slingshoting around the earth would actually make something go so fast, but its a sci-fi show, so you accept stuff like that. The show's theme song is a bit annoying, but that doesn't matter. I like Crichton. He has some funny lines (little yellow balls of light ) and he seems like an interesting character. The puppets took a little getting used to, but I like them. The effects are pretty good. Not mind blowing, but enjoyable (not that effects are super important to me, but its always nice for them to be good). The main ship looks cool, and I like the concept of a living ship. The Peacekeepers seem a little bland as an evil empire, and the revenge plot with the leader isn't anything new, but they play their role well. I like the characters. I'm interested to see how they develop and learn more about them. I enjoyed this episode. Babylon 5 ("Midnight on the Firing Line") - I've mentioned what I thought of this before, so I'll just add a little bit. The effects/sets are not great, even compared to other shows of the time period it was on, but as long as the story is good bad effects can be ignored, and the story was interesting. I didn't see The Gathering, but I don't think I missed much. I wasn't confused during the episode. I may not know some of the back story, but I'm sure I'll be informed as the series goes on. The characters were interesting, and I liked the tone of the show, serious and, it seemed to me, somewhat dramatic, which seemed to fit it. I'm interested in seeing what comes next. I liked both episodes, but so far I think I have to give the edge to Farscape. It just seems like a fun show. I also watched the second Farscape episode, (I, E.T.). It was pretty good. I liked the concept, and I liked that we get more time with the characters and get some character development. Even the child actor wasn't horrible, and traditionally I dislike episodes of TV series that have a focus on child actors (not that he was really a focus, but he didn't annoy me). A solid episode.
Sorry for the double post, but I watched a few more Farscape episodes over the weekend. Exodus from Genesis - This was a good episode. Spoiler: the episode The space bugs were interesting. I liked how you learn that the bigs weren't actually agressive, and that if John hadn't killed one, they wouldn't have tried fighting the crew. It was interesting to learn about some of the differences between Aeryn's race and humans. Overall, I enjoyed the episode. Throne for a Loss - I liked this episode, and I'm starting to enjoy Rygel more as a character. Spoiler: the episode Rygel gets the ship and himself into trouble in this episode, but I like that, even though he acts like what he is, a spoiled monarch, he is resourceful and can get himself out of danger, he's not exactly helpless. Rygel's prisonmate in this episode had a great look, even if the character turned out to be a bit of a jerk. Aeryn/John's interactions in this episode were great, especially when she knocked him out. The wristband was a cool idea, seeing aeryn and D'Argo become agressive jerks, but John not really changing that much, was interesting. I didn't really know where Zhaan's plotline was going in the beginning, but it turned out well, with the guy going back to the wristband and the drug, even though she had spent so much time trying to rid him of his addiction. Another solid episode. I expect B5 to come within a few days, so I'll post about its episodes when I get it. I'll probably split my viewing time evenly between B5 and farscape.
Ooh, Farscape commenting time! OK, firstly, the puppets and special effects in general look ridiculously better in the third and fourth seasons, and the second has a firmer grip on things, too. But really, I think you'll be quite pleasantly surprised with the overall production value of the series going into its second half. There's a big leap between years two and three, and for the life of me I've never gotten around to asking anyone why. The show was never exactly a breakaway hit ratings-wise, so I dunno. As for the theme song, it's so ingrained into me that I can't imagine disliking it, but I have a long history with the show! That said, I'll spoil for you that the theme song changes in the third year (there we go with big alterations again) and Crichton's narration changes every year, too, which is neat. Anyway, point is, I think the second theme is loads better, and sounds much crisper and higher-quality to boot. If you liked "I, ET", I think you're in for a real treat with the show. Many consider that a pretty bad ep overall, and a really weak one to show as the second hour of the series, and I agree with them. But I do think it has some saving graces. Aeryn and D'Argo in a tree (thankfully, not K-I-S-S-I-N-G?) was great stuff in particular, I thought. "Exodus from Genesis" is really good for the first half of the first season, which is certainly the weakest run in the show. (Which is always nice, because it means brighter pastures are ahead of ya!) The space bugs are actually kinda cool, and seeing someone so down-to-Earth (except not...) as Crichton handling sci-fi tropes is really fun. "Throne For A Loss" is also solid stuff for its era. Rygel comes into his own in this ep, although I think the writers still struggled with him a little for several more episodes. Many would disagree with me, and I respect that -- I think they wrote him well for what he's presented as, but he's just not all that deep, yet. Yes, believe it or not, even Rygel gets deep! As for B5, I guess you didn't miss too much without "The Gathering", and seeing all the cast changes is kinda odd, anyway. I'll try to remember to point something nifty out about a certain character's arrival on the station later on, though, as she'll in fact be familiar to all those who watched the pilot!
Yeah, I, ET was kind of weak, but I thought the concept was done well enough. Its probably my least favorite episode so far, but I still liked it. I just watched another episode today. Back and Back and Back to the Future - The concept of repeating a future event has been done several times (like in ST:TNG's great "Cause and Effect" episode) but I liked how this episode did it. Spoiler: the episode Just haviong Crichton experience the future was interesting. I also liked how they manage to trick you near the end into thinking he's actually doing something, and then revealing it was just an extra long future vision. Overall a solid episode.
I think "Back and Back and Back to the Future" is my least favorite episode from the first season, but it does establish something that will become important later...
Having Crichton as the perspective so much especially early on really helps sell the idea that this is sort of an average human dude from 1999, who is, granted, quite intelligent and very genre-savvy, but otherwise, no bells and whistles. And he's surrounded by the other end of the galaxy, literally and figuratively.
Yep - caught snarking ! TBH I'm glad you called me on it. I'm now thinking I may have to give Farscape another go. It's not like there's a lot of new none Earth based Sci-fi to watch is there ?
Thank God It's Friday, Again - I didn't really like this episode, although its hard for me to be specific. It had some good moments, I liked Pilot and aeryn's scene, but overall its my least favorite episode. The white skinned woman with red eyes really annoyed me with the way she talked and acted. The story as a whole had an ok concept, but it just didn't feel quite right to me. This wasn't a horrible episode, but I didn't really enjoy it.