Exploring the Uncharted Territories: A Farscape Viewing Experience

[Can]

Lava's a Many Splendored Thing
- I know that I'm only four episodes into the season and that it would cheapen her departure in "Dog with Two Bones" if she had already rejoined the others, but I miss Aeryn.

- DRD-1812 is still around, eh? I was expecting that DRDs would die when their Leviathan died.

- Best part of this episode: Crichton and D'Argo's argument about Crichton's plan to take out the enemy leader with a rock. Other than that, the episode just barely held my attention. Pretty boring overall, really..

I just love belly dance scene of Noranti in this episode. When I saw that first time I was crying with laughter "I am the queen you are the bee..."

Promises
- Well... that wasn't quite the Crichton/Aeryn reunion I was hoping for. Scorpius onboard Moya is going to be... different, to say the least, I'm sure, and it's yet more symmetry between Crais and Scorpy. Unlike Crais, though, I can't imagine Scorpy ever becoming a reliable ally.

- I can't describe how good it is to see Moya, Pilot, and Aeryn again. I'm very happy the crew is back together again. I think the character dynamics of having everyone together again in this episode is why the first few felt so odd. And, of course, the return of Moya means the return of Crichton's snazzy PK uniform.

- Peculiar that Scorpius would now want to help Crichton by finally and fully removing the neural clone. I wouldn't be willing to trust either, but I think I'd be a little more inclined to trust Harvey at this point since he has as much interest in Crichton staying alive as Crichton himself does. I'm willing to believe Scorpius's claim that he's on Moya to safeguard Crichton, but, as he himself said to Sikozu, he also has other plans - Scorpy never stops scheming. I'm assuming the neural clone may somehow factor into those other plans.

- This was a much more entertaining episode than the last few. As I said before, I think a large part of this is due to simply having the entire crew interacting with one another again. The last few weren't necessarily bad episodes on their own (well... "Lava" was, as far as I'm concerned), but they weren't as well done either as most of the split-crew episodes of the previous season, so those two issues taken together made the episodes feel uneven and less than satisfying.

- The start of an apparent alliance between Sikozu and Scorpius will, I'm sure, result in many issues throughout this season. I'd like to learn more about Aeryn's time as an assassin. Pilot's suggestion of a "spokesman" to provide a singular voice for the crew makes a lot of sense, and I'm surprised he and Moya put up with the cacophony of voices, demands, and differing opinions for so long without posing such a suggestion before now.


Natural Election
- I am glad the crew didn't try a rotating captaincy as a long-term solution; that would've been... tricky. D'Argo feels like the right choice, even though Crichton has pretty much called the shots since he arrived on the scene.

- Damn, the shot of the plant all over and inside Pilot was disturbing.

- Sikozu and Noranti make a fairly amusing duo doing the type of job that Zhaan once would've fulfilled, trying to figure out a way to kill the plant.

- Rygel's feelings of guilt and responsibility for the predicament occurring on his watch as captain speaks well of him once again.

- This was an okay standalone episode. I don't think I'll remember much of it when I get a few more episodes down the line, but it was enjoyable enough while I watched it. The best parts of this episode, though, was the interplay between the characters, particularly the continuing rollercoaster of the Crichton/Aeryn relationship - all things that redeem, at least in part, even bad entries in the series.

Just like Babylon 5 did in its own time Farscape's story changes , evolves and develops with its characters. There is no going back to status quo. As you said Scorpy's joining to Moya team , election of Dargo as captain...all of them are significant things which add something for the future...

 

[bigdaddy]

Kansas is awesome when the story takes place on the plant. On Maya so far kind of stupid. Haha

 

[Bonzo the Fifth]

It is kind of interesting, isn't it, that Rygel has grown to the point that he would take this so personally. Really demonstrates not only the growth of his character, but his suitability for his throne when/if he ever attains it again, as I imagine he will be a much more enlightened monarch than he was the first time around...

Yeah, 1812 stays around for a while, what I find most interesting is that 1812 apparently has quite a bit of autonomy for a DRD. It didn't die with Elack, and neither is it part of the 'Moya network' of DRD's. It does what it wants, when it wants (or whatever Chrichton wants, anyway...)

Yeah, D'Argo really is the most logical choice out of them all. Yeah, they're all basically doing Chrichton's bidding at this point, but he's the outsider to the group. Generally speaking, D'Argo or Rygel has spoken for them when it ever came to representing them as a group. And they're the two that have been there the longest. D'Argo really was the most sensible choice.

It does say a lot for Zhann that, since she left, it usually takes at least two people to do the tasks she traditionally would do alone, like anything medical or analysis related. Like Crais/Jool and the Boolite in S3, or Noranti and Sikozu with the alien plant... thing. Just goes to show that her presence is felt, even though she's not there anymore... :-(

As for Sikozu/Scorpius... I'm only going to say, you're definitely right about that...

 

[DWF]

I don't understand why everyone is so hard on Season 4. Yes there had been a significant change in storytelling in first half , being some of them stand alones...but was there any other option ? Sci-Fi Channel demanded it....

Sci-Fi made no such demands.

http://www.karlsweb.com/KarlswebNewscape/Articles/RockneStarlog.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.

 

[PsychoPere]

John Quixote
- I have no idea where to begin with this one. Each time I think Farscape can't possibly top its most bizarre episode, I've been proven wrong, a trend that continued once again here. This episode was easily unlike anything I've ever seen on another series. It was absolutely off-the-walls insane.


I Shrink Therefore I Am
- I'm very disappointed in Crichton that he actually decided to start using Noranti's little "forget Aeryn" drug. Considering how many times he dusted up during this episode, I'm also worried that he's becoming an addict.

- "I've been around long enough to know how ignorant I am" was a remarkably self-aware statement from Rygel. Sparky really has been growing as an individual over the course of the series.

- Oh, I am so happy someone actually rode into battle on top of a DRD. That was too great a moment to pass up.

- This is an easier episode than the previous one to call a fun romp. The basic plot - and especially the reduction technology - may not make for a particularly strong episode overall, but it was pretty good, enjoyable, and important in showing that the Scarrans are now interested in Crichton due to the interest Scorpius and Grayza have in him.

 

[RoJoHen]

John Quixote is debatably my favorite episode of Season 4. There is just so much more going on than you really catch the first time. References to past bad guys...the return of Stark (or at least the vengeful part of his psyche that was used as a template for the game)...Gilina in the Gammak Base...Monty Python references...Zhaan! I absolutely adore the scene where Crichton frees Zhaan and wins the game and she asks him, "Have you wasted my death?"

Plus, I love the super awkward, depressing ending.

Aeryn: "I hear I was a princess."
John: says nothing and then walks away

Oooh, it hurts so good!

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

How fucking useless are PK guards? They stand there while three prisoners whisper conspiratorially only about two feet away from them, and yet they're surprised enough for the girls to get the drop on them? Retards. The UT version of a high-five is fun though.

I still say the fifth season should have been about PK guards and stormtroopers battling it out. Leave the Scarrans out of this, since they can actually aim. Things that can aim = John Crichton territory. Things that cannot aim = not worth John Crichton's time.

John Quixote
- I have no idea where to begin with this one. Each time I think Farscape can't possibly top its most bizarre episode, I've been proven wrong, a trend that continued once again here. This episode was easily unlike anything I've ever seen on another series. It was absolutely off-the-walls insane.

I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if the finale miniseries were revealed at the end to have been the effects of an LSD trip. The show just got weirder and weirder sometimes and it reveled in it.

 

[RoJoHen]

Welp, just finished the show. You lose, PsychoPere. You lose.

 

[label]

Rojo's right......John Quixote is awesome with repeat viewings. Also, I agree that Rygel has become less and less a caricature and more and more a fully realized character that is quite enjoyable as he grows through the adventures he shares with this band of cast-offs.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Welp, just finished the show. You lose, PsychoPere. You lose.

And what did you think?

 

[RoJoHen]

Welp, just finished the show. You lose, PsychoPere. You lose.

And what did you think?

Well, it's probably the 12th time I've finished the show, so I'm guessing I liked it.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Welp, just finished the show. You lose, PsychoPere. You lose.

And what did you think?

Well, it's probably the 12th time I've finished the show, so I'm guessing I liked it.

Whoops, my bad. It's super-late over here so I'm a bit less collected than usual.

Well, good!

 

[Bonzo the Fifth]

- I'm very disappointed in Crichton that he actually decided to start using Noranti's little "forget Aeryn" drug. Considering how many times he dusted up during this episode, I'm also worried that he's becoming an addict.

Don't worry, the writers have thought about the implications and motivations behind this, and it will be explored. It's not as simple as John becoming an addict for Grandma's pixie dust, either...

 

[Can]

I like drug addiction storyline because it is so unlike of what we expect from protogonist of a space opera....Nor Crichton neither rest of Moya bunch are saints or always-moral-high grounders. They are individuals , trying to survive. They have limits , faults and trying to live with them and their consequences

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Yeah, I've always thought that was a pretty impressively sobering way of doing things.

 

[LitmusDragon]

I've just finished my first rewatch of Season one, and I feel like I'm just as hooked as I was the first time I watched the show. Something I missed the first time is the carefully planned arc as the characters start off not liking each other very much and gradually grow to like each other by the end of the season. I mean, on my first watch through I did realize they had all grown closer at the end of the season, but I had missed how carefully plotted it was. This show does character development very well. This show was also great at righting stuff it was doing wrong- they seemed to realize Crais wasn't working as the primary antagonist and so they brought in Wayne Pygram and shifted Crais to a more ancillary role (a brilliant decision in my opinion). Looking forward to the next two seasons as I remember them being even better than the first.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

For me, the show's seasons are all pretty good (although the first season suffers from some very blatant growing pains in the earlier batch and it also has a visibly lower budget) but the order would be something like this:

3>4(and PKW)>2>1.

Even still, much of the last string of first-season episodes are great.

 

[Can]

I've just finished my first rewatch of Season one, and I feel like I'm just as hooked as I was the first time I watched the show. Something I missed the first time is the carefully planned arc as the characters start off not liking each other very much and gradually grow to like each other by the end of the season. I mean, on my first watch through I did realize they had all grown closer at the end of the season, but I had missed how carefully plotted it was. This show does character development very well. This show was also great at righting stuff it was doing wrong- they seemed to realize Crais wasn't working as the primary antagonist and so they brought in Wayne Pygram and shifted Crais to a more ancillary role (a brilliant decision in my opinion). Looking forward to the next two seasons as I remember them being even better than the first.

That's why Farscape is more like a great character growth/development story in a space opera setting at fantasy universe of Uncharted Territories. Main cast do not always get along each other. They bicker , disagree , insult , be rude even fight each other from time to time. After they survive their adaptation process of each other's presence , dealing with crisis of week or story arc seem easy ! They change , evolve and grow up in a very believeble way in that fantastic universe after a series of hard and sometimes painful experiences. Dargo hates Aeryn and distrusts Crichton , then accepts them comrades , Rygel being a greedy and selfish slug to almost useful and respected type , Crichton losing his starry eyed naive innocence slowly , Aeryn learning "to be more" , Zhaan getting into dark side for some time etc.....And this is just for Season 1 !

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Aeryn Sun's character development blows my mind to this day.

 

[label]

Aeryn Sun's character development blows my mind to this day.

I've found that's what really makes a show for me......long term, character development and story telling.

Aeryn and to a lesser degree John have quite an arc in Farscape.
Wesley from Angel is an amazing arc and one of my top 3 characters from all shows .
Londo/G'Kar from Bab5 have amazing arcs.

Most of the shows I really enjoy including Farscape have their characters experience organic growth and John and Aeryn's relationship over the years is a perfect example of this.