Trying again to get into Farscape

[Sindatur]

Wasn't Peacekeeper Wars only 1 year after the show ended? The ended in 2003 and I thought PK Wars was in 2004.

Calendar years may have been just one year apart (not sure without looking it up, though), but, airing was pretty close to 2 years (IE: Maybe ended in early 2003 and Peacekeeper Wars aired late 2004).

Certainly was considerably longer than 12 months between S4 Finale and PKW

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Per Wikipedia, S4E22 aired on 3/10/2003 & PW aired on 10/17 & 10/18 2004.

So a year and a half.

 

[RoJoHen]

Wasn't Peacekeeper Wars only 1 year after the show ended? The ended in 2003 and I thought PK Wars was in 2004.

Calendar years may have been just one year apart (not sure without looking it up, though), but, airing was pretty close to 2 years (IE: Maybe ended in early 2003 and Peacekeeper Wars aired late 2004).

Certainly was considerably longer than 12 months between S4 Finale and PKW

All I know is that the finale aired when I was in high school, and the PKW didn't happen until my sophomore year of college, so it was definitely closer to 2 years.

Thank god for crazy obsessed fans, though, otherwise we never would have gotten PKW at all.

 

[Shawnster]

The characterization also isn't consistent. One episode it's spiritually traumatic to Zan to even consider inflicting pain on someone, the next episode she cuts the pilot's arm off without a second thought.

No, I finally figured Zhaan out on my third or fourth time watching the series. Zhaan is a hypocrite and maybe a bit mentally unstable. She has deep-seated psychological issues that manifest in a lack of self control when it comes to her anger issues. She wants to put on a front of spirituality but it's just an act. Or, she really wants to be this Zen spiritual plant but she doesn't do anything to actually apply herself to become better.

 

[Dr. Funkenstein]

Yes, of all of Moya's crew, Zhaan was pretty much the only one who was really a criminal. As opposed to everyone else who was a victim of circumstances.

 

[kirk55555]

Yes, of all of Moya's crew, Zhaan was pretty much the only one who was really a criminal. As opposed to everyone else who was a victim of circumstances.

Well, I'd say Rygel was definitely a criminal. I can't remember if he was actually responsible for whatever specific thing landed him on Moya, but he was not a good guy. Don't get me wrong, I like Rygel as a character, but he's the kind of guy who would sell his mother for a nickel, even if he was already rich. Zhaan had problems, but was probably more trustworthy, at least in general.

 

[JeffinOakland]

Farscape seems to be a lot like Babylon 5 in at least one respect. People who get into them, LOVE them. Best show evar!! On the other hand, people who don't get hooked, shrug their shoulders and move on. There doesn't seem to be any casual fans or downright haters.

 

[Dr. Funkenstein]

Yes, of all of Moya's crew, Zhaan was pretty much the only one who was really a criminal. As opposed to everyone else who was a victim of circumstances.

Well, I'd say Rygel was definitely a criminal. I can't remember if he was actually responsible for whatever specific thing landed him on Moya, but he was not a good guy. Don't get me wrong, I like Rygel as a character, but he's the kind of guy who would sell his mother for a nickel, even if he was already rich. Zhaan had problems, but was probably more trustworthy, at least in general.

He became a criminal after he was on Moya (well, after he was imprisoned anyway; I'm sure his torture at the hands of the Peacekeepers was the main cause), just like everyone else. But prior to that he was an emperor who was ousted in a coup by his cousin. Zhaan was a dangerous criminal and admitted terrorist well before she came onboard. The whole religion thing was her attempt to change herself and find salvation.

 

[Velocity]

Loved the show! Best sf romance, IMHO. I always wanted more Farscape books, too.

 

[Marc]

Yes, of all of Moya's crew, Zhaan was pretty much the only one who was really a criminal. As opposed to everyone else who was a victim of circumstances.

Well, I'd say Rygel was definitely a criminal. I can't remember if he was actually responsible for whatever specific thing landed him on Moya, but he was not a good guy. Don't get me wrong, I like Rygel as a character, but he's the kind of guy who would sell his mother for a nickel, even if he was already rich. Zhaan had problems, but was probably more trustworthy, at least in general.

Thought he wound up on Moya after being deposed as the Hynerian Dominar when some brother or cousin userped him.
(after all when a ruler is deposed they are often imprisoned or killed least they try to regain their power).

 

[SiddFinch1]

I loved farscape but its a strange show that a lot of people who like scifi don't lik for some reason.... Its a very non traditional show which a lot of people cant get into..their loss

 

[Mudd]

Farscape was all over the place, but it wasn't nearly as weird as LEXX.

Didn't Stargate SG1 do a parody of Farscape in one of those comedy eps? Maybe the 200th?

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8ivnFZiGNM[/yt]

It took me years to give Farscape a chance - I finally binge-watched it and it's one of my favorite things ever. Vastly more entertaining and imaginative than any version of Star Trek other than the original TV series.

The writers brought something to it that's common now in more interesting TV series but that still almost never shows up in sf series, in that the characters are as completely absorbed in their own lives and experiences and as motivated by their personal desires as real human beings.

Neither Tony Soprano nor Walter White were good men. Same goes for Don Draper.

My SO didn't know anything about it, found it on NetFlix a few weeks ago and after watching one...well, now we're binging on the thing.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

A few episodes further. The show's still very inconsistent. I got through the episode They've Got A Secret and thought it was great. But then in the next episode there are vampire bounty hunters mincing around more cheesily than TNG season 1 Ferengi. And they throw in Zhann getting off on solar flare light because, I can only guess, of an assumption about the maturity level of the audience.

This show has a lot of really great episode premises but the humor is REALLY dumb and the acting is hacky to the extreme.

Neither Tony Soprano nor Walter White were good men. Same goes for Don Draper.

Yeah, but those characters are complex enough to be intellectually interesting. Farscape character's motivations and emotions are all directly on the surface, spoken in direct unambiguous gestures. The only character on the show who's expressed any kind of nuanced emotion yet is Erin.

There are two ways for me to like characters. If they're likable people, or if they're really intellectually interesting. Simplistic characters need to be likable.

 

[RoJoHen]

I don't really know how to respond to that other than to say I completely disagree. We did warn you about Season 1, though. It's very inconsistent, and it takes a while for the characters to really get a feel for themselves.

 

[Marc]

And they throw in Zhann getting off on solar flare light because, I can only guess, of an assumption about the maturity level of the audience.

has nothing to do with the maturity of the audience and lots to do with her species being a plant in humanoid form.

 

[Mudd]

It also has to do with sexuality and attraction being features of the stories and strong motivators of the characters. Throw in plausible struggles with guilt about their lives, the continual feeling that they're not where they ought to be and doing what they ought to do with their lives, selfishness and acquisitiveness and again you've got characters who are something like people and not much like Star Trek's protagonists.

I never noticed that Aeryn's name is identical to "Erin." Hmm.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

And they throw in Zhann getting off on solar flare light because, I can only guess, of an assumption about the maturity level of the audience.

has nothing to do with the maturity of the audience and lots to do with her species being a plant in humanoid form.

I don't know if the plant thing has been established in the show at this point. But they didn't just establish that Zhann draws pleasure from light, they made it a major plot point to have her acting it out like a human female orgasm. Let's not pretend they didn't mean that as fanservice.

@Dennis

I don't know if it's fair to call Star Trek characters as less human by virtue as defining humanity by its flaws. But there's more to being flawed than jumping between emotional extremes. And there's more to human selfishness than suddenly betraying your friends every time a short term gain manifests in front of you.

There's one extreme of Roddenberian idealism. There's one extreme of Romerian cynicism. Humanity lies in the space between. It doesn't arbitrarily jump between the extremes.

 

[Mudd]

You consider sexuality and acting in self-interest to be "flaws?". They're simply human qualities of considerable importance.

 

[RoJoHen]

And there's more to human selfishness than suddenly betraying your friends every time a short term gain manifests in front of you.

At least in the context of Farscape, as early into the show as you are, you have to remember that these characters are NOT friends yet. They are a bunch of fugitives, thrown together against their will, and they're just waiting around until an opportunity shows itself for them to get what they want.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

Farscape is a show that all the people who like most of the shows I like also like, so I feel statistically, I should like Farscape too.

However I've tried on multiple occasions to get into Farscape, getting a few episodes further every time, and it still doesn't click with me.

The episode premises are pretty clever but I just can't get past the characters. Most of the TV characters I get invested in are either really likable, or really dramatically interesting. Farscape characters are too archetypal and one dimensional to be that interesting, and they turn on each other at the drop of a hat. The characterization also isn't consistent. One episode it's spiritually traumatic to Zan to even consider inflicting pain on someone, the next episode she cuts the pilot's arm off without a second thought. They seem to use Rigel mostly for bodily fluid humor. The only character with moral standards is Crichton and he comes off as just your standard scifi nice guy.

I guess I see why somebody like Abed from Community would like it. There's no emotional subtlety to decode. Half the characters are either puppets or have too much makeup to see their natural facial expressions.

But, everybody I've talked to also says it gets much better after the first season and there are cast changes. And, I was thinking the same thing after the first eight episodes of Babylon 5, people said the same thing, and they were right. Is it worth for me to keep watching, or will the problems I'm having with the show now stay consistent throughout?

I made it through 2 seasons and the 1st episode of season 3 before I gave up. It tries far too hard to weird and different and not hard enough to develop sympathetic characters or coherent plotting. The plot and actions go so far off the rails into the realm of silliness, that I just couldn't take it seriously and the show desperately wants to be taken seriously. It's like the rare James Bond movie where the plot is just as absurd as any other Bond flick but in this one, they take it sooooooooooo seriously.

I now consider Farscape (as confusing as it is sometimes) to be a dry run for Guardians Of The Galaxy-Star Lord is like Crichton, Gamorra is like Ayren Sun, and Rocket Raccoon could be like Rygel.