Mostly about Farscape

I feel like I don't know where to start with my uni work, because there's so much. Do I get the IC case study out of the way so I only have the research report to do, or do I do some work for one of my poster presentations? Oh, and then there's finishing the lab book that I really should have done as I went along. That's all gonna go wrong now. I think I will do some lab book today, but first I'm gonna clear my head of my latest TV obsession, now I've got it out of the way. I aimed to finish it quick, so I was focussed for uni stuff, since I now have no new series available to me to watch. I actually first acquired season 1 of Farscape when I had no other commitments, towards the end of my placement when the work was done. Didn't think it would grip me like it has done, and make me watch the rest so obsessively.

So beginning at the beginning, it actually took me a while to get into Farscape. Season 1 started off, as many series do, with what I've called in other series "random adventure" episodes. Not related to an overall story. Obviously necessary to get to know the characters and the universe etc, but not the kind of thing that gets me obsessed. I said in an earlier blog post, back when I'd only seen a few of season 1, that the lack of continuing story was what put me off, but that I really liked Farscape because it was so different from any other sci fi I watched. That was true, but the overall story did get better. The crew started to become friends, and the Crichton and Aeryn story started to develop.

One of the biggest problems with season 1 was that Crais was never believable as the main bad guy. His stereotypically baddy quest for revenge was, but there was something about his character. You were never really scared of him. He was more like the petty bad guy who bothers you from time to time (someone like Spike or Ethan in Buffy) than the all powerful pursuing across the universe how the hell will we stop him bad guy (Glory in Buffy). This was why Farscape turned into something really awesome near the end of season 1, when Scorpius was introduced. Calm, patient, alien, and you got the feeling he could do anything. Scorpius was interesting, and a hell of a lot more threatening.

Season 2 changes things a bit. Scorpius is now the main threat, which is obviously a huge improvement, and Crais defects. Not sure how realistic his fast defection was though. Comparing it to Damar on DS9, you see the change in him for several episodes before he switches sides. Okay, so Crais couldn't deal with having no authority, but he was still a Peacekeeper and he'd just spent a year chasing Crichton and co. across the galaxy. Seems odd that he'd run to Moya. His character change at that time just seemed a bit rushed.

Season 2 is great though. The Harvey story is interesting, you find out more about how they all got there ("The Way We Weren't"), the Jothee story, Stark. The ending was awesome too.

Season 3. I'm gonna go off on some tangents here, back to the first couple of seasons and on to 4, because I have to mention the cast changes. Season 3 changed a lot from the previous season. For a start, Stark, Crais and Scorpius are now on the credits. Zhaan dies, and Jool is introduced. The crew is also split between two ships, with two Crichtons. Bizarre. Starting with Stark, he was one of my favourite characters in early season 3. Sometimes really crazy, with his odd repetitive talking and massive panics, and sometimes obviously intelligent and wise. That side of him seems to go when Zhaan dies, which is a real shame. He becomes a bit of a jokey character, rather than the heroic guy who died to save them in season 2. Crais is great in season 3. He's not really a good guy, and he's still out for himself, but it's not just him now. Talyn changed him, and even though you still can't trust him, he's definitely not a bad guy. Their death on the command carrier was perfect. Zhaan's death was understandable, replacing her with Jool...not so good. However, it was clearly supposed to be like that. The other characters didn't like her, but warmed to her, and that was what was supposed to happen. By her departure at the beginning of season 4, I did like her, and it was a shame she left.

I think I've covered the rest of the cast in one long paragraph, but I think I need to mention Scorpius separately. Since when did bad guys make the main credits? Something about his coolness as a villain was lost over the four seasons. I can't decide whether it's a bad thing that he wasn't the same as when we first met him, or a good character progression. One of the things that damaged his immense coolness was Harvey. On the one hand we have this bad guy who is extremely patient, calm, and rarely loses his temper, whilst always remaining intimidating. On the other, you have this weird clone who wears Hawaiian shirts and is a bit of a joke. I dunno how to explain what I mean really, because I definitely still liked the Scorpius of the last two seasons, and I still think Harvey was a great idea...it's just that the more accessible he was, the less intimidating as a main villain he was.

Briefly mentioning season 3 as far as stories go, it was great. I wasn't a big fan of the separate crews thing really, and the split Crichtons thing was a bit odd, but the stories were still exciting. Those last few on the command carrier were fantastic. Aeryn and Crichton being together was fantastic. There were many tears in this season though, with Talyn, Crais, Zhaan and the Talyn Crichton dying.

Season 4...wow. This was immense. First to mention cast changes, again. Stark gone...real shame. Jool gone, just as you got to like her. Shame. Sizoku joining, and being another character you have to get to like...not keen. I thought she was a great addition, yes, but she started out in such a similar way to Jool. Intelligent, young, naive, thinks shes better than everyone else and someone Chiana doesn't like. Seemed odd to write Jool out to be replaced by Sizoku. Something else I'll mention, while I remember, is that since season 2 Pilot doesn't seem to have had such a central role. Just thought of that really, and it's definitely a shame. They made a big thing of his closeness to Aeryn, then almost forgot it. Hmm.

The stories were again fantastic. I didn't like Aeryn and Crichton not being together, and him trying to forget her, but it was still a good story. Scorpius being on board though...seemed like the writers just used the Crais story again. Although the reasons for him being there were a bit suspect, his presence made everything more interesting, and scarily made you like him and want Crichton to trust him. He's been the intimidating villain, but now you're willing him to be good. Scorpius and Sikozu...that was interesting. I liked that. I was disappointed in Peacekeeper Wars when she was revealed to be the Scarran spy. The going back to Earth episode was good, and mostly because the show is made in Australia I think. There was none of the American supremacy you see in other sci fi shows, and when it was hinted at, Crichton said it was wrong. That's one big problem I have with SG1. Too much "America knows best". Farscape doesn't have that. I could really go on and comment on every episode of this series, because it was that good, but that would take too long and I should do some uni stuff at some point today. I'll just say that on the whole, it was fantastic. Only one I wasn't keen on was John Quixote. Dunno why, just didn't like the dead characters brought back just for that.

So, the end. PK Wars was awesome. Aeryn and Crichton happily ever after. D'Argo is dead, and that was pretty upsetting, but everything about it made sense. Nice to see the better side of Stark back, Chiana and D'Argo back together before he died, the end of the wormhole business, the end of the PK/Scarran war etc etc. I wish Sikozu hadn't turned out to be the spy though. In season 4, I had actually warmed to Scorpy, and it would have been nice if his ending had involved turning his back on his quest for vengeance and choosing her. As it stands, we don't know what's going on with him.

Loose ends. As just mentioned, seeing Scorpius witnessing the PK/Scarran peace treaty doesn't seem like much of an ending for him. How does he actually feel about it? Did the wormhole weapon convince him that he should stop trying to work them out? I suspect it did, but I doubt it means he's cool with the Scarrans. After season 4, he's probably the character who fascinated me the most, so I would have liked to see him have a real conclusion. Either death, and some deathbed revelation, or "so this is what I'm going to do next" or something. Another thing, which isn't a conclusion from PK Wars but rather something forgotten from the series, is what was Stark's mask being sent back to the Moya Crichton all about? There was a message, but it was interupted. What did it say? And what happened to Stark when he heard Zhaan call to him on that planet? I do think most things were concluded nicely though. Still, I'd like to see more. Another series, another miniseries...just more Farscape! I've heard talk of webisodes, and talk of Ben Browder being in them. I really hope so.