Rewatching Farscape...

[M'rk son of Mogh]

In retrospect, I wonder if they could have written an episode that allowed Zhaan to adopt a different appearance so Virginia Hey didn't have to suffer the adverse side effects she was experiencing with the makeup.

In science fiction (heck, even in anything else, really!) anything can be written to explain away anything.

I do remember reading that they wanted a rotating cast when they first envisioned the series but simply fell in love with the characters and didn't want to really give any of them up. I wonder if that was just a way to sort of get them back to that idea a bit?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I
I do remember reading that they wanted a rotating cast when they first envisioned the series

Not unlike Blake's 7...

 

[JesterFace]

I wonder was the makeup problem the only reason Virginia left the show? There wasn't any other kind of blue stuff to use?

In all its wisdom the interwebz also says that both extensive makep and demanding work schedule made her leave.
But maybe her bleeding kidneys (and other health problems?) caused by the makeup made her life too demanding.
She needed time to get better after health issues on the show?
It's a shame she didn't appear in all the episodes, I liked her character.
Fortunately Zhaan appears in few episodes later in the series.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

In retrospect, I wonder if they could have written an episode that allowed Zhaan to adopt a different appearance so Virginia Hey didn't have to suffer the adverse side effects she was experiencing with the makeup.

Yeah, that's definitely something could've done, especially since she was a plant. They could say she was blooming or something. Or that exposure to something unique to Zhaan's travels (like, say, a wormhole!) caused her to metamorphose.

I wonder was the makeup problem the only reason Virginia left the show? There wasn't any other kind of blue stuff to use?

She's far from the first person to have issues with make-up to the extent that they decide to leave the show. Same thing happened with Brent Stait as Rev Bem on Andromeda. Hell, it happened to Melissa Jaffer, too, in The Peackeeper Wars, which is why her make-up is radically different and her role was so small. I know there are more examples for other shows and films, but Hey and Stait are always the first two that come to mind when talking about this issue.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Well she might have been cheesed off for other reasons but the story about sensitivity to the makeup has the ring of truth about it.

 

[fireproof78]

I wonder was the makeup problem the only reason Virginia left the show? There wasn't any other kind of blue stuff to use?

I mean, it would depend on how soon they could get product there and test its effectiveness. Jon Rhys Davies had a horrible allergic reaction to the prosthetics with Gimli, but they still had to soldier through just to the nature of shooting. Make and prosthetics have to balance durability and adaptability. Plus, with something like Zhaan that is a time commitment.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Well she might have been cheesed off for other reasons but the story about sensitivity to the makeup has the ring of truth about it.

Maybe but in all of the intervening years since, I've never got that sense from her and I always got the impression that she has always cherished her time on the show. After all, as already noted, she did return for two more appearances in season four.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I wondered if she felt she wasn't given enough to do after they brought in Chiana. I have no evidence for that though.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Or maybe she decided to take a break from acting. I just noticed on her IMDb page that she didn't act in anything (TV and film, at least) for nearly ten years after Farscape and even that was only a few things between 2011 and 2015 (but with a TV movie coming out soon).

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I found this earlier:https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/cltr/virginia-hey.html

Put me in mind of this video for how traumatic it might be (Great Lucas quote at the end...):

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[FanST]

I had never seen Farscape but finally watched the show over the past 3 months (all 4 seasons + the movie).

Wow, I am mindblown by how awesome it is. The story lines, acting, cast chemistry, plot twists. The John - Aeryn love story. And definitely the most realistic looking and scary aliens I have ever seen on any Sci-Fi show.

The key highlight for me is Scorpius. Absolutely brilliant character. Arguably the greatest villain in Sci-Fi history.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I had never seen Farscape but finally watched the show over the past 3 months (all 4 seasons + the movie).

Wow, I am mindblown by how awesome it is. The story lines, acting, cast chemistry, plot twists. The John - Aeryn love story. And definitely the most realistic looking and scary aliens I have ever seen on any Sci-Fi show.

The key highlight for me is Scorpius. Absolutely brilliant character. Arguably the greatest villain in Sci-Fi history.

Who are you and what are you doing in my brain? Exactly how I feel.

I'm long overdue for a rewatch.

 

[Starbreaker]

I think I'm going to get my wife to watch it after we finish DS9. I haven't seen it in 15 years.

 

[Unimatrix Q]

It's odd, season 3 is by far my favorite for so many reasons, but Zhaan was also one of my favorite characters and she left after the fourth episode.

I remember clearly how Aeryn's death pissed me off, when Season 2 ended, at that time.

Really thought Claudia Black left the show and Aeryn was a goner.

 

[fireproof78]

I remember clearly how Aeryn's death pissed me off, when Season 2 ended, at that time.

Really thought Claudia Black left the show and Aeryn was a goner.

Agreed. Though the outcome still made me quite angry and I hated the neural chip clone for the longest time.

Which is a testament to how strongly connected I was with the outcome.

 

[galleywest]

I just loved the makeup, props, and effects. Pilot and Rygel were real characters to me, not just puppets--and I think that's a true achievement. What a great show. Fun, witty, tragic, exciting... I should rewatch!

 

[fireproof78]

Pilot was the best character.

 

[JD]

I had never seen Farscape but finally watched the show over the past 3 months (all 4 seasons + the movie).

Wow, I am mindblown by how awesome it is. The story lines, acting, cast chemistry, plot twists. The John - Aeryn love story. And definitely the most realistic looking and scary aliens I have ever seen on any Sci-Fi show.

The key highlight for me is Scorpius. Absolutely brilliant character. Arguably the greatest villain in Sci-Fi history.

Whenever anyone mentions stopping at Peacekeeper Wars, I always like to point out that that's not the end of Farscape. Back in 2008, the show's creator, Rockne S. O'Bannon teamed up with writer Keith R.A. DeCandido for a series of canon (at least until we get more onscreen Farscape) comics, that pick up the story from the last shot of PK Wars, and continue it on from there.
I've only read the first miniseries so far, but it was great, and did something I always wanted to see, but was impossible due to the show's budget, we finally got to visit Hyneria.

 

[Farscape One]

I am currently on a rewatch of FARSCAPE (my fifth) with my wife (her first time watching). She has been loving it so far... her favorite characters are Aeryn and Pilot.

My favorite scifi series... and it still holds up today! It's amazing how connected I feel with the characters, and the pain and trauma they go through affects me. My wife has seen me shed a few single man tears in multiple episodes... D'Argo playing music to Pilot as his way of apologizing for taking his arm, Pilot feeling guilt for the previous Pilot getting killed, Pilot telling us how he has massive pain every minute and will lose 2/3 of his normal lifespan but accepts this because he always wanted to see the stars, D'Argo reuniting with Jothee. Even knowing what I know, I know many more single man tears will be shed as we get to more scenes... Aeryn at the end of season 2, Zhaan's fate, Crichton twin's fate, Talyn, D'Argo's revelation in season 4, and the very last scene in "BAD TIMING". And likely many more. I guess I'm getting sensitive in my old age. (Though all those scenes made me teary eyed when they first aired, too.)

We are about to begin the season 2 finale, "Die Me, Dichotomy".

 

[fireproof78]

Oof, Season 2's ending gets me too. I love Pilot and think that whole character is the best scifi character. Very alien but relatable.

 

[Anwar]

I wonder how many realized that Pilot and Crais were played/voiced by the same actor?