Wow, Farscape was awesome!

[tomalak301]

HappyDayRiot wrote:

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I also don't remember hating Jool so much. Unlike any other character, I was really glad when she left. Everyone else I loved and it probably made for my favourite ensemble cast of any show.

This was one of the major reasons I don't hold Season 3 in a high regard like others. It was a great season, don't get me wrong, but all the yelling and screaming was a bit annoying, mostly coming from Jool and Chiana. Jool slightly improved though (Especially in the What was Lost two parter) but she might be my least favorite character. I was surprised too how much I didn't mind Noranti though.

[HappyDayRiot]

Noranti was great. I loved all her healing concoctions and her belief that they definitely might do what they were supposed to and that may or may not be a bad thing for all involved. Not to mention the hours and hours of drunken teenage fun my friends and I got out of imitating her blowing stuff in people's faces

[Bisz]

Having never seen the show but hearing a lot of good things about it I bought the complete series on DVD at Costco for $60 or $70 a couple of weeks ago. Earlier tonight I finished Bad Timing. Now I just have to get my hands on Peacekeeper Wars.

I enjoyed the show, but honestly, I don't think its all that great. I wouldn't put it on the same level as B5, DS9 or Firefly. It may be that I had very high expectations because peope always compare it to those shows and list it amongst their favorites, but I honestly don't see it.

Its fun and it has some good stories and characters, but it also has a lot of annoying characters and stories. On numerous occasions I found myself yelling at the TV to STFU because one thing or another on the show was making some horrid noise (and because I didn't feel like reaching for the remote). There are numerous plot points that don't make sense or don't stay consistent.

Reading though this thread people point out how fantastic the romantic relationship between John and Aeryn was... I don't see it. The sets being fantastic... again nothing.

Maybe its just me, I liked the show and all, but I won't be getting the same mileage out of these DVDs as I have out of TNG, DS9, B5, Firefly, SG1.


P.S. I really enjoyed the opening musing in S1 and 2, very much less in 3 and 4.

[RoJoHen]

Farscape is, first and foremost, about the characters. If you don't like the characters, you're not going to like Farscape.

I'm also wondering what you think doesn't make sense about the story.

[Bisz]

There are several episodes that have enormous plotholes. I noted all of these mentally as I went through the show but the only one that comes to mind now because its so recent is the Scarran threat to Earth - they don't have wormhole technology but they can somehow navigate a wormhole to a specific place and time (Earth) without becomming goop like all of Scorpious pilots. If they can do all that what exactly do they need from Crichton?

I don't like Jool, does anyone? I don't like Stark. D'Argo can get very annoying.

I very much enjoyed the character of Crais, both as a PK and as Talyn's pilot... my problem is that those are two entierly different characters. There was no transition from one to the other. One minue Crais is insane with anger at Crichton, snapping the necks of his Officers, then as soon as he's found out by Scorpius he becomes a reasonable, charitable animal lover. This guy spent years and years as a PK trying to create Leviathan gunships, then he has his change of heart and becomes worried that his Leviathan gunship is too violent and he wants to remove its weapons. Inconsistent.

Crais isn't the only inconsistent one. For a very long time, too long, the first two seasons I think, the characters all went from being friends one episode, to selling each other out and abandoning each other in the next episode. Then they would be friends again in the next episode and you'd think it was a learning and bonding experience for them... but in the next episode they would all be screwing each other again. This back and forth made it difficult to like the characters because for a very long time they weren't likable. I'm not talking about Rigel because he did that up the very end, its mostly D'Argo and Zhaan.

[Kegg]

Bisz wrote:

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Reading though this thread people point out how fantastic the romantic relationship between John and Aeryn was... I don't see it.

I wasn't the biggest fan.

No, really.

I liked the characters particularly Crichton but the theatrics of the relationship did wear thin on me at times. Fan favourite episodes like "The Locket" aren't really my preferred ones.

Bisz wrote:

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There was no transition from one to the other. One minue Crais is insane with anger at Crichton, snapping the necks of his Officers, then as soon as he's found out by Scorpius he becomes a reasonable, charitable animal lover.

That does come out of left field, yeah, and is not transitioned at all smoothly. He's not as nice as you say, though, albeit it's easy to claim that in retrospect after his big heroic sacrifice. He's more of an untrustworthy ally who has the Moyans along basically for his self-interest. Which is why he neglects to tell them about the little incidental fact Zalaks Sun is after him in season three, because like hell would they feel sorry for him then.

For a very long time, too long, the first two seasons I think, the characters all went from being friends one episode, to selling each other out and abandoning each other in the next episode.

This I'd disagree with. In the first season they're people basically thrown together by circumstance, and who are willing to help each other - up to a point. And that point is whenever it obviously conflicts with their own interests. They lose nothing in trying to save each other, but if a route home is on the line all bets are off. The only one willing to sell them off any time, every time is Rygel.

Eventually the experiences make them a bit into more of a dysfunctional family and less a band of people at each others throats, though Rygel and Chiana tend to provide the antagonism and Stark's handy whenever the plot calls for someone to do something really, really insane.

And families are a little like that. You screw each other over but you're smiles the next minute, so to speak, so long as it's none too serious (and it rarely is, Rygel's odd more insane ideas excluded). It's best summed up in an episode, I forget which, where the crew split off into two groups because they feel they can't trust each other, and then proceed to outline exactly the same plan, even predicting some of their own reactions.

I'm not talking about Rigel because he did that up the very end, its mostly D'Argo and Zhaan.

Zhaan's character arc sort of dropped the ball. She lost her faith then she got it back then she was in some sort of trance, she was all over the place early season two until they thankfully shelved the whole affair.

[HappyDayRiot]

I forgot to mention my love for Scratch N' Sniff. Can't remember any other episode of a sci-fi show having me in tears of laughter for the whole 45 minutes. Farscape did comedy-what-the-frell-is-this-crazy-dren-episodes exceptionally well.

[Kegg]

I'm not a big fan of Jool, but "Scratch N' Sniff" is definitely one of the funniest things Farscape did, right up there with "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Revenging Angel." If Farscape sometimes feels a little like a deranged drug trip gone south, well, imagine trying to explain this week's plotline to a sensible indoors type like Pilot. Priceless.

I like the little callback to this episode in "Revenging Angel", too. In "Scratch" Crichton is insisting Pilot doesn't get it because he doesn't get out much, in "Revenging Angel" the image of Pilot in his head deadpans "I don't get out much, so I read."

[LitmusDragon]

I'm just getting up to the part where Scorpius keeps popping up in John's imagination saying things like "you'll never see the trap until it's closed". What foreshadowing. I want to know what happens now. Seriously though don't spoil me.

[lvsxy808]

RoJoHen wrote:

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Oh, I did, too. However, when the first half was originally airing, I just remember being a little frustrated by the fact that the episodes had so little to do with the main story arc.

Ah but that's the thing - they actually did have plenty to do with the arc, just not in ways everyone immediately understood or expected.

Kegg wrote:

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It's best summed up in an episode, I forget which, where the crew split off into two groups because they feel they can't trust each other, and then proceed to outline exactly the same plan, even predicting some of their own reactions.

That would be "Wait for the Wheel," where they're trying to save Moya from the Pathfinders.

LitmusDragon wrote:

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I'm just getting up to the part where Scorpius keeps popping up in John's imagination saying things like "you'll never see the trap until it's closed". What foreshadowing. I want to know what happens now. Seriously though don't spoil me.

Ooh - "Beware of Dog," one of the creepiest episodes ever, and the best use of Harvey of them all.

[RoJoHen]

lvsxy808 wrote:

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Ah but that's the thing - they actually did have plenty to do with the arc, just not in ways everyone immediately understood or expected.

Yes, I completely agree. When I first re-watched Season 4, I was amazed at how much substance there actually was and how it all would eventually relate to the final arc of the series.

I'm just saying...at the time, the first half of season 4, as it aired on the SciFi Channel, was frustrating.

[RoJoHen]

lvsxy808 wrote:

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That would be "Wait for the Wheel," where they're trying to save Moya from the Pathfinders.

AKA The Saddest Episode EVER!

[DWF]

RoJoHen wrote:

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The reason people tend to dislike Season 4 is more SciFi's fault than anything. After the awesome arc that ended Season 3, Skiffy insisted that the writers go back to a more episodic format. This was annoying because all we as fans really wanted was to get back to the wormholes! Unfortunately, because of the new format, we had to wait almost half a season before we really got back into the big story (starting with Unrealized Reality)...AND THEN they did that stupid winter hiatus thing that SciFi is famous for, so we didn't get the second half of Season 4 for several more months!

Actually Sci-Fi never made that request.

http://www.karlsweb.com/KarlswebNews...kneStarlog.htm

One can't help but wonder if the network – unhappy with what they were getting in terms of content – ever approached O'Bannon or executive producer David Kemper with notes about making Farscape more accessible to new or casual viewers. "There were never any specific notes that I know of," says O'Bannon. "Believe me, there were constant conversations of, 'How can we make this more accessible?' But does that translate to dumbing it down or making the stories or characters less complex? We were battling our personal feelings that the show's appeal – to the passionate core audience and the critics – was that it was so outside the box. But the very thing that made it so unique also made it [difficult] for new viewers to hop aboard any single episode and get caught up in who these characters are.

[LitmusDragon]

(Watching the episodes, commenting as I go)

OK, Won't Get Fooled Again was awesome. I like how Crichton never buys into the illusion even for a second. The development that there is essentially a mini-Scorpius inside his head is chilling. Some great lines. "Then I can't arrest you." The design of the Scarran was much improved over the one we saw in the "princess" trilogy. Quite creepy.

Yet another great set in that creepy underchamber where Crichton was being held. Have I mentioned that I like the sets on this show yet?

Oh and Rygel with the whip. Oh my god.

[Joe Washington]

I love the show too. I love the humor, the characters (muppet and non-muppet alike), and the drama and how moves me emotionally. I love Crichton and Aeryn's relationship and how you can sense the connection between them from the moment they met.

I've only watched the first season, most of the second season up to the second-to-last episode, some of Season 4's episodes, and the miniseries which I rank as one of the best series finales in TV history but I've been able to piece together all that happened in the parts I haven't seen from fans' comments, video clips, and episodes' references to past events.