Re: Farscape Re: Nerd Level

FaxModem1 · Post by **FaxModem1** » 2012-02-03 08:15am

Remind me what was wrong with Jeremiah Crichton, I only saw it the once, so I don't remember it that well.

Duckie · Post by **Duckie** » 2012-02-03 08:27am

Isn't that the one where he got really old?

I remember it was terrible but nothing else

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2012-02-03 09:35am

No... Jerimiah Chricton was the one where he was stranded on a planet, which had a bunch of Pacific Islanders on it pretending to be aliens (or a lost colony of Sebaceans). It was bad.

The one you might be thinking of is The Locket, which had both Chricton and Aeryn age together on a planet. That was a really nice episode.

VF5SS · Post by **VF5SS** » 2012-02-03 10:46am

Duckie wrote:Isn't that the one where he got really old?

I remember it was terrible but nothing else

SHION

my external appearance is down by 5%

I need to be cleaned

sorry I couldn't help it XD

FaxModem1 · Post by **FaxModem1** » 2012-02-03 10:48am

Stofsk wrote:No... Jerimiah Chricton was the one where he was stranded on a planet, which had a bunch of Pacific Islanders on it pretending to be aliens (or a lost colony of Sebaceans). It was bad.

The one you might be thinking of is The Locket, which had both Chricton and Aeryn age together on a planet. That was a really nice episode.

Yeah, what was bad about it? It's been over a decade since I've seen it, so I don't know why that's bad.

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2012-02-03 10:50am

Farscape is good for a lot of reasons, but I'll go into a few of them

1. The aesthetics. It was the Jim Henson company's biggest production in years, and it is well-designed. There are weird influences everywhere - Russian futurist designs in Peacekeeper stuff, organic influences everywhere, and a lot of bdsm-looking stuff. It's really fucking over-the-top and colourful and comic-booky and slick.

2. The characters. So the basic premise is a brilliant astrophysicist stranded in a distant part of the universe on a ship full of escaped alien prisoners and they fuck shit up and get in adventures. What this does not tell you is that over 4 seasons of isolation and insane stress, this astronaut unravels and slowly goes fucking insane. He starts off as an all-american hero, but by the last season he's strapping home-made nuclear bombs to his chest, writing math equations in his blood, and paints a quasi-sentient repair robot red and white and blue and teaches it to sing the 1812 overture because he's so lonely that that is his only friend. Another main character is basically space Saddam Hussein. People say the first season is weak plotlines, but I disagree, mainly because in the first season, all the main characters are still criminals - two anarchist terrorists, aforementioned space saddam hussein, fascist enforcer, et al - are still mistrustful and at each other's throats all the time, and it's a fun dynamic. When they start working together, the series introduces even more crazy and unlikeable characters like schizophrenic/pathological liar magical being of soul Stark or or making former villains into awesome mains.

3. It goes to strange, awesome, dark places. It has one episode that is entirely sa story told by Crichton as an excuse for losing all his money, and the story becomes more incoherent and cliche as he gets drunker telling the story. It has perhaps my favourite science fiction time travel episode (Different Destinations) right up there with City on the Edge of Forever. It has a Looney Tunes episode. It has an episode where the lead mysteriously goes back to Earth only to find it was all a dream etcetera. So in the next season he has an episode where he mysteriously goes back to Earth again, the episode's title i 'Won't Get Fooled Again', and he spends the entire episode trying to break shit and do outrageous things to try to fuck with the system. This is also a symptom of him going fucking nuts. The fourth season's climax is pretty much entirely about the crew trying to sabotage an inter-galactic peace conference. I don't want to spoil shit for you, but characters go to strange places and then form crazy plans and I like it. And one recurring villain is just a straight-up wizard.

4. I enjoy the humour the show has. It's self-referential and kind of dorky but fuck you it's also dark and strange and funny and I like it. The characters never really solve problems - indeed, each season generally ends up with them destroying something enormous and carving their way through the detritus to try to save their dumb asses.

5. It gets cooler with each season, and it somehow treats the increasing stakes and increasing levels of bombast with just the right notes to keep me happy.

6. Did I mention the BDSM? Because Farscape's weird and kinky and teasing eroticism is really unique in Western televised science fiction, and it makes it stand out among the crowd. It's a big thing in the series. Characters lick each other, or get tied up and date raped by alien commanders that keep evil pheromone-producers in their cleavage, and everyone likes wearing black leather. I've said 'dark/strange/funny' like eight times now, but that is basically the key to everything I like about this show.

7. Nerds are also apt to like it because it has the best romance in televised western sci fi that I can recall. At least, if there's a better one out there, I'd be happy to be informed, because it certainly beats Delenn and Sheridan. And one of the better bromances, too.

Now, Farscape also has some bad, bad episodes. Like, truly atrocious. The second episode of the series is one of the most boring pieces of shit I've ever watched. I dunno how much you liked Firefly versus how much you're antagonizing nerds, but for me, I thought it had some weak episodes, like the one where River's burnt at the stake or The Message, but only one really bad episode, Heart of Gold, the one about the whores. It's a terrible piece of television, with maybe one or two moments or features that are good in a generally awful mess. Farscape has some episodes that are so dull, illogical, and pointless, that they make Heart of Gold look like The Wire. Farscape is like that girl with curls from the children's rhyme - when it was good, it was really, really, good, and when it was bad, it was awful. But you watched DS9 and liked it so I can't see this bothering you.

ps the locket is really good

and jeremiah crichton isn't even the worst episode of season 1

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2012-02-03 11:09am

I agree with everything NUA has said. FarScape was funny, sad, and powerful at times. One of my favourite episodes was 'Won't Get Fooled Again' as it had the perfect mixture of all three elements.

Also if you like Gul Dukat and think he was a wonderful villain with complex motivations, then FarScape has a villain that makes Dukat look like Snidely Whiplash.

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2012-02-03 12:09pm

oh yeah, farscape had great villains. and it managed to make most of them pretty competent, too, even if they were recurring, which is a neat trick.

and one good thing about its bad episodes is that it doesn't really suffer from babylon 5 syndrome where the bad episodes are plot-relevant - most of the bad ones are totally pointless standalones, so if you're re-watching the series you can skip them without any bad feelings

of note are i, e.t., the second episode of the first season, and touching the stone, the 3rd episode of the 2nd season, and home on the remains, which was... i dunno, somewhere in the second season. touching the stone is almost fascinating in how completely terrible it is. i remember watching it once, and it was so incoherent i had no idea what was going on, but it was so boring i didn't care.

Phantasee · Post by **Phantasee** » 2012-02-03 12:22pm

Now I want to see if Farscape is on Netflix Canada.

Phantasee · Post by **Phantasee** » 2012-02-03 12:25pm

It is! Also it is 70 hours long so I'm gonna leave it until reading week or something.

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2012-02-03 12:29pm

And Farscape had characters that were just real. You believed in them because you noticed their flaws, contradictions and goals. Didn't care much for the Romances besides Spoiler

because that one was just masterfully written. The dialogue alone carried so much between the two. On a side note, the comics are worth it simply because of the Spoiler

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2012-02-03 01:11pm

I AM NOT DEFICIENT! I AM SUPERIOR! HUMANS. ARE. SUPERIOR!

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2012-02-03 01:18pm

WEAK SPECIESSSS.

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2012-02-03 02:10pm

Oh holy crap.

Forget anything I ever said about the Farscape comic. Dear god, it is an abomination. How I wish it would be non-canon.

Found the first 16 issues in the library. Looked through them. Utterly disgusted.

spoilers:
Spoiler

Seriously, I wish I had never seen it. Do not spent money on it, do not buy it. It is crap. Worthless crap.

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2012-02-03 02:54pm

licensed comics are universally terrible

it is known

Thanas · Post by **Thanas** » 2012-02-03 03:58pm

Oh man.

I just suffered through the entire comic. Holy crap.

Far better to treat it as non-canon, really.

I still can't get over it how the creator of the show just completely destroyed his characters.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2012-02-03 10:37pm

whatever, i have my dvds

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2012-02-03 11:02pm

And I didn't know the real reason Vriginia HEy left the series until now, daaaaaaamn that sucks. I wonder if there was any legal action on her part.

Bob the Gunslinger · Post by **Bob the Gunslinger** » 2012-02-04 12:37am

What was the reason?

FaxModem1 · Post by **FaxModem1** » 2012-02-04 12:43am

The make up she wore to portray Zhaan was allergic to her, so much so that her kidneys were bleeding.

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2012-02-04 01:36am

from what know she didn't bear any hard feelings over it

it does suck though, yes

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2012-02-04 02:05am

so nua can you give me a curve on the start of the show

because i watched it when it aired and by the third episode or osmething i was driven away by the horror

but now you tell me ep 2 is the pinnacle of horror

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2012-02-04 02:06am

Thats the feeling I am getting too, but damned if I went to work and something I had to do every day gave me kidney failure I do not believe I would be paying for it out of my own pocket.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2012-02-04 02:14am

I was the same as Stark. I watched the first couple episodes when they were shown on prime time (lol) Aussie network tv, and I was like 'they are fucking kidding aren't they'.

I tuned in way later, and saw an episode near the end of season 1, when Scorpius makes his entrance. And I thought 'holy shit, this looks awesome'.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2012-02-04 02:15am

so its already good by late first season?

i recall seeing an ep from some time in and i had absolutely no idea what was going on arcwise

so i want to skip the ass but not too much you know?

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