Farscape

[Sorus]

I loved that show up until the last season... brilliant description.

[[Syl]]

I don't care what anyone says, the first season was the best. Been rewatching them myself.

Except for the crackers, but they don't matter.

LOL. Exactly.

[I'm Murrin]

Finally bought the full series on DVD recently now that there's a reasonably priced box set available, and I've been watchin through Season 2. I'm about halfway through, and I must say that S2 is just brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

The little clues, the odd behaviour, the gradual build up as you're slowly brought to realise there's something seriously wrong with John's head, until the secret is finally revealed in Won't Get Fooled Again. And of course Browder's acting (particularly when John lets the crazy loose) is superb.

I'm looking forward to S3, too, where the brilliance comes from the narrative structure, building up the storyline around one of the two Crichtons only subvert the whole storyline and shake up the character relations by killing him and leaving behind the Crichton who hadn't accomplished anywhere near what the other had.

[CovenantJr]

I remember not liking the two Crichtons when I saw it on tv, but I appreciated it much more during my rewatch of the whole series last year.

[I'm Murrin]

Just before I really got back into Farscape and started watching the whole series, I caught some episodes that were showing on BBC2 which were from that part of season 3. I got very confused and assumed they were showing the episodes out of sequence.

It also bothered me a little that one half of the episodes were inconsequential one-shots while the other was major story arc stuff - but when it's tied together by the ending of the sequence you see why it was done that way.

[I'm Murrin]

Season 3 has some incredible episodes.

"Green Eyed Monster" is probably one of the best of the entire series, very well written - and it was written by Ben Browder himself.

"Meltdown", which I just finished watching, has been one of the most entertaining. There's so much going on in this episode: You have the simple concept of the ep, that Talyn is being drawn toward a star and the crew have to find a way to break free and escape. Then you have a domestic story - the bad guy, Mu-Quillas, saved a woman from dying because he fell in love with her, and now he won't let her leave, though she doesn't love him back. And what really makes the episode is that throughout it all, Talyn is leaking a gas into the ship that makes everyone on board irrational and unable to control their impulses, making it hard for any of them to react appropriately to their circumstances. It makes for some very memorable - and often funny - moments.

Edit: On the other hand, "Scratch 'n' Sniff" is terrible. Watchable, but wow is it a bad ep.

[ItisWritten]

Season 3 has some incredible episodes.

The third season changed much of the shows dynamic. Zaan out, Jool in. The first 3rd of that season was entirely overshadowed by her departure from the show. But the 2 Chrichtons ("Eat Me") put all that into the past. "Thanks for Sharing", "Losing Time" and "Fractures" are up there with the 2 you mentioned. "The Choice" was also good but excrutiating.

On the other hand, "Scratch 'n' Sniff" is terrible. Watchable, but wow is it a bad ep.

I dislike just about everything about this one. The story, editing, directing. I give the actors a pass because everything else sucks.

"Revenging Angel" is also just too silly to belong in this string of excellent episodes.

[I'm Murrin]

I dunno, I thought Revenging Angel was a really well done filler ep. They manage to get away with it just by how well they pull it off.

[I'm Murrin]

I hadn't really thought before just how much the climax of season 3 ("Into The Lion's Den") is a callback to the ending of the first season.

The crew infiltrate a Peacekeeper installation, and ultimately destroy it. Scorpius begins and ends his pursuit of John Crichton in search of wormhole knowledge. The Peacekeeper chasing John is displaced by another with a new agenda, because of how Crichton's actions discredit them. Talyn's birth and death. Crais' fall and redemption. The dual episode brings the story that began on the Gammak base full circle.

Also, "Dog With Two Bones" is an awesome episode. It sheds the pretense of an action-based storyline halfway through to become entirely about Aeryn and Crichton, and comes to a very poignant emotional climax.


Edit: Did the budget get cut for season 4? I'm barely into the 2nd episode, and I'm noticing makeup, costumes, hair, lighting, puppets, all seem... wrong. And the use of cut footage of Grayza, Braca, and Scorpius in the "previously on" for episode 2 suggests they had to lose some important material to the editing floor, perhaps to time constraints....

Edit2: Phew, looks like the old writers, make up artists, hair stylists, and other stage crew came back after episode 4. Those first few eps were pretty poor, though. The two-parter was a total waste.