shipperx | Entries tagged with farscape

- I wish Tom Branson had a better storyline on Downton Abbey. I really didn't care for this one. Also, I feel for poor Edith. Matthew is barely in the ground and already Mary's parents are trying to match her up. Edith got left at the altar last year and it was "poor Edith. No one will ever want her." Poor Edith, indeed. Poor Edith for a family that doesn't value her worth squat.

- Watched Oblivion with Tom Cruise. The guy is certainly batty, but he is quite photogenic. That said, the movie struck me as the epitome of how female characters are there to not be people in their own right but generic love interests. His 'wife' in the movie never even had a personality. Barely said anything. And yet was supposed to be this stupefyingly important true love. Erm... guys, how about actually giving her something to DO rather than be a goal and object?

Further causing me to tilt my head and wonder was the final act/twist/revelation. It made me miss Farscape. Farscape did it FAR BETTER. No one anytime ever would accuse Aeryn Sun of only being a movable object. She was a person in her own right and her being so is what carried what is in fact a very similar story point.

So, in total, Oblivion is a relatively enjoyable (if totally formulaic) movie but, no bones about it, Season 3 Farscape is infinitely better.

- Read Sherry Thomas' "Luckiest Lady in London." Eh. No real complaints about the book, really. (Well, yeah, I could make a few but why bother?) Sometimes it's not a matter of how 'well' someone writes or doesn't. It's a matter of whether they emotionally connect with the reader (or at least THIS reader). I can tolerate typos and poor punctuation in service of an involving story. That may not make me the most discerning reader, but it's the way that I roll. I remained rather detached from this one. The only particularly strong emotion it ever stirred in me was one small 'hell yeah' to the heroine when the hero confessed that he loved her and she stepped back and told him that his 'love' was stunningly selfish, always about what he wanted or needed. If she'd turned around and thrown herself into his arms after that love confession, I probably would've had a strong reaction to the novel (throwing it across the room). But, luckily, she didn't. Another act followed. So in the end, I was "eh. Okay, by the end." Other than that I remained emotionally detached.

I guess it again goes back to story kinks. There was definitely some heat in this one, and nothing was 'wrong' with it per se. But... eh. I didn't really connect. (I liked Thomas's brief novella "Dance in Moonlight" better. Far more brief and rushed, and yet it reached me far more than this full length book.)

May be burning out on romances now. I've had a few questionable quality that I loved, one or two I thought were quite good, and a couple of "eh, not really what I would've prefered." I tend to be an eclectic reader, so I may be back on history or science or comedy or science fiction again next week.

Read it. Liked it.

But, as a caveat, I've also been a fan of Red Dwarf and Farscape...which is my admission that I'm somewhat amenable to these types of stories.
( Read more... )

With some of the discussions about BtVS 40 and feminism, I found myself thinking of (and somewhat nostalgic to watch) the Farscape episode "Bringing Home the Beacon". I remember loving it at the time because it highlighted just how many female characters that Farscape had created that they could populate an adventure episode that featured all females, from the heroines (Aeryn, Chiana) to the 'morally ambiguous' (Sikozou) to the villains (Greyza and War Minister Ahkna), and I'm not even sure where to categorize Noranti.

The whole episode passed the Bechdel Test top to bottom.
More than three women? Check.
Who have names? Aeryn, Chiana, Noranti, Sikozou, Geyza, War Minister Ahkna. Check.
Who talk to one another about something other than a man? How about wormhole technology, illegal peace treaties, ceding territories, etc.? Check again.

I always appreciated that ep for being able to have enough female characters to have an episode function entirely on their own.

(link to the YouTube Farscape Ep -
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Farscape+Bringing+Home+the+Beacon&aq=f )

Watch on YouTube

Women of Farscape Tribute:

Watch on YouTube

ETA: So, in US "Being Human" Mitchell/Aidan is older since he fought in either the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812 (It's American versus British Redcoats so it has to be one or the other). So weird the changes they choose to make...

Women of Farscape Tribute:

It rained today. My back yard is so happy. We really, really needed the rain. My hydrangeas have begun to look quite sad. On the other hand, my tomato plant ("Juliet" It's the type. I didn't name my tomato plant) is going gangbusters. I picked 10 tomatoes and counted another 54 on the plant with blooms for still more to come after that. It's been a very prolific plant).

Went out to Surin and had Thai for dinner. Yum.

Have begun reading Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking

Watched Friday Night Lights last night and damn I miss Matt Saracen. However, I have to be honest, I've had enough with tragedy for the time being. It hurts knowing that there is more dispiriting stuff to come for these characters. The show is beautifully written, but the hard luck stories in it...God. So many of them!

Spent time last night making this banner for menomegirl. It feels really odd making a Bangel banner. :)

Rewatched the Doctor Who ep that aired on BBC America tonight. It's the one where the Doctor became a guy's flatmate and played soccer. It's not really the best of episodes, but darn it's a fun one

Have continued rewatching Season 1 Farscape but haven't had much to say. ( I tend to think my watching Season 1 is always influenced by the fact that I watched the series starting with Season 4 then backtracked. )

It's weird because plot-wise and mythology-wise it really doesn't kick in until Scorpius shows up, which is almost at the end of the first season. On the other hand, I appreciate things that are earlier because they did indeed function in capacity of world building. Things like the throw away of Sebacean heat sickness and the way that it will eventually play into Scorpius's construction as a villain. So I do appreciate little throw away things in MOTW episodes because they helped to form the Farscape universe, but a lot of the MOTW themselves are only okay. I don't know that I would have valued them much without the rest of the series to give me a lens to view them through.

Generally, though, I haven't had much to say with the recent episodes that I've watched. I have been fascinated by some of shadowkat67 's meta, especially her discussion of Farscape's central theme. If BtVS's central theme is about the challenges (and demons) of growing up, Farscape explores the emotional and interpersonal repercussions of violence and warfare. I don't know that I ever thought about it as clearly as shadowkat67 discussed it, but once noted it's so clear to see it in the series as a whole. ( Rambly thematic thoughts on Farscape )
Each of them grapple with what violence has cost them. Each of them carry -- and often perpetuate -- those scars. It doesn't happen in a void.

Also a shout-out to shadowkat's summary of Farscape's Season 3's finale Dog With Two Bones ( Read more... )
What makes Season 3 wonderful to me is its inevitability. That's what's so damn impressive to me, because Season 3 ends on a note that fannish, shippy hearts don't want. Cannot want. And yet... it has to happen that way.

There was a discussion in someone's LJ Friday about tragic endings and I mentioned that I had listened to a writing workshop where the lecturer said that stories need the happiest ending the author can give them. Then he stressed that this does not mean that stories have to have happy endings. Not at all. It means that it can't feel like the author is doing something just to make the audience cry. Audiences don't like to feel manipulated and jerked around. A tragic ending cannot be arbitrary. It must be an organic outcome of the situation that the characters are in. The tragedy needs to be the best outcome those characters (and the audience) could reasonably expect given what has happened in the story and who the characters are. Dog with Two Bones is a wonderful example of this. It's a tragedy... but it's an earned one. Given these characters and the situation they were in, the pain that they were in, and the choices they must make to be true to themselves... it has to end this way. That's what makes it heartbreaking. I can't imagine a happier ending for Season 3 that would feel authentic to what had gone before. So, even as it breaks my heart (and every time that it breaks my heart), I still cannot imagine it happening any other way, not and be true to the journey the characters had taken to reach that point.

( Related thoughts on Doctor Who )

( Subsequent thoughts on BtVS )
Inquiring minds want to know...

And, while watching Doctor Who on BBC America, I saw ads for Being Human! It starts July 24th. It was a freaking awesome season of Being Human, enough so that I will have to watch it again. It was a wonderful case of plotting the downfall of characters by having them slip-n-slide there with the best of intentions. The characters take what they think is the right course -- or at least a reasonable one -- most of the way. The audience, however, can readily see that this is going to end badly and that the characters are blinded by their own wants and needs. Beautifully done.

It rained today. My back yard is so happy. We really, really needed the rain. My hydrangeas have begun to look quite sad. On the other hand, my tomato plant ("Juliet" It's the type. I didn't name my tomato plant) is going gangbusters. I picked 10 tomatoes and counted another 54 on the plant with blooms for still more to come after that. It's been a very prolific plant).

Went out to Surin and had Thai for dinner. Yum.

Have begun reading Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking

Watched Friday Night Lights last night and damn I miss Matt Saracen. However, I have to be honest, I've had enough with tragedy for the time being. It hurts knowing that there is more dispiriting stuff to come for these characters. The show is beautifully written, but the hard luck stories in it...God. So many of them!

Spent time last night making this banner for menomegirl. It feels really odd making a Bangel banner. :)

Rewatched the Doctor Who ep that aired on BBC America tonight. It's the one where the Doctor became a guy's flatmate and played soccer. It's not really the best of episodes, but darn it's a fun one

Have continued rewatching Season 1 Farscape but haven't had much to say. ( I tend to think my watching Season 1 is always influenced by the fact that I watched the series starting with Season 4 then backtracked. )

It's weird because plot-wise and mythology-wise it really doesn't kick in until Scorpius shows up, which is almost at the end of the first season. On the other hand, I appreciate things that are earlier because they did indeed function in capacity of world building. Things like the throw away of Sebacean heat sickness and the way that it will eventually play into Scorpius's construction as a villain. So I do appreciate little throw away things in MOTW episodes because they helped to form the Farscape universe, but a lot of the MOTW themselves are only okay. I don't know that I would have valued them much without the rest of the series to give me a lens to view them through.

Generally, though, I haven't had much to say with the recent episodes that I've watched. I have been fascinated by some of shadowkat67 's meta, especially her discussion of Farscape's central theme. If BtVS's central theme is about the challenges (and demons) of growing up, Farscape explores the emotional and interpersonal repercussions of violence and warfare. I don't know that I ever thought about it as clearly as shadowkat67 discussed it, but once noted it's so clear to see it in the series as a whole. ( Rambly thematic thoughts on Farscape )
Each of them grapple with what violence has cost them. Each of them carry -- and often perpetuate -- those scars. It doesn't happen in a void.

Also a shout-out to shadowkat's summary of Farscape's Season 3's finale Dog With Two Bones ( Read more... )
What makes Season 3 wonderful to me is its inevitability. That's what's so damn impressive to me, because Season 3 ends on a note that fannish, shippy hearts don't want. Cannot want. And yet... it has to happen that way.

There was a discussion in someone's LJ Friday about tragic endings and I mentioned that I had listened to a writing workshop where the lecturer said that stories need the happiest ending the author can give them. Then he stressed that this does not mean that stories have to have happy endings. Not at all. It means that it can't feel like the author is doing something just to make the audience cry. Audiences don't like to feel manipulated and jerked around. A tragic ending cannot be arbitrary. It must be an organic outcome of the situation that the characters are in. The tragedy needs to be the best outcome those characters (and the audience) could reasonably expect given what has happened in the story and who the characters are. Dog with Two Bones is a wonderful example of this. It's a tragedy... but it's an earned one. Given these characters and the situation they were in, the pain that they were in, and the choices they must make to be true to themselves... it has to end this way. That's what makes it heartbreaking. I can't imagine a happier ending for Season 3 that would feel authentic to what had gone before. So, even as it breaks my heart (and every time that it breaks my heart), I still cannot imagine it happening any other way, not and be true to the journey the characters had taken to reach that point.

( Related thoughts on Doctor Who )

( Subsequent thoughts on BtVS )
Inquiring minds want to know...

And, while watching Doctor Who on BBC America, I saw ads for Being Human! It starts July 24th. It was a freaking awesome season of Being Human, enough so that I will have to watch it again. It was a wonderful case of plotting the downfall of characters by having them slip-n-slide there with the best of intentions. The characters take what they think is the right course -- or at least a reasonable one -- most of the way. The audience, however, can readily see that this is going to end badly and that the characters are blinded by their own wants and needs. Beautifully done.

It rained today. My back yard is so happy. We really, really needed the rain. My hydrangeas have begun to look quite sad. On the other hand, my tomato plant ("Juliet" It's the type. I didn't name my tomato plant) is going gangbusters. I picked 10 tomatoes and counted another 54 on the plant with blooms for still more to come after that. It's been a very prolific plant).

Went out to Surin and had Thai for dinner. Yum.

Have begun reading Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking

Watched Friday Night Lights last night and damn I miss Matt Saracen. However, I have to be honest, I've had enough with tragedy for the time being. It hurts knowing that there is more dispiriting stuff to come for these characters. The show is beautifully written, but the hard luck stories in it...God. So many of them!

Spent time last night making this banner for menomegirl. It feels really odd making a Bangel banner. :)

Rewatched the Doctor Who ep that aired on BBC America tonight. It's the one where the Doctor became a guy's flatmate and played soccer. It's not really the best of episodes, but darn it's a fun one

Have continued rewatching Season 1 Farscape but haven't had much to say. ( I tend to think my watching Season 1 is always influenced by the fact that I watched the series starting with Season 4 then backtracked. )

It's weird because plot-wise and mythology-wise it really doesn't kick in until Scorpius shows up, which is almost at the end of the first season. On the other hand, I appreciate things that are earlier because they did indeed function in capacity of world building. Things like the throw away of Sebacean heat sickness and the way that it will eventually play into Scorpius's construction as a villain. So I do appreciate little throw away things in MOTW episodes because they helped to form the Farscape universe, but a lot of the MOTW themselves are only okay. I don't know that I would have valued them much without the rest of the series to give me a lens to view them through.

Generally, though, I haven't had much to say with the recent episodes that I've watched. I have been fascinated by some of shadowkat67 's meta, especially her discussion of Farscape's central theme. If BtVS's central theme is about the challenges (and demons) of growing up, Farscape explores the emotional and interpersonal repercussions of violence and warfare. I don't know that I ever thought about it as clearly as shadowkat67 discussed it, but once noted it's so clear to see it in the series as a whole. ( Rambly thematic thoughts on Farscape )
Each of them grapple with what violence has cost them. Each of them carry -- and often perpetuate -- those scars. It doesn't happen in a void.

Also a shout-out to shadowkat's summary of Farscape's Season 3's finale Dog With Two Bones ( Read more... )
What makes Season 3 wonderful to me is its inevitability. That's what's so damn impressive to me, because Season 3 ends on a note that fannish, shippy hearts don't want. Cannot want. And yet... it has to happen that way.

There was a discussion in someone's LJ Friday about tragic endings and I mentioned that I had listened to a writing workshop where the lecturer said that stories need the happiest ending the author can give them. Then he stressed that this does not mean that stories have to have happy endings. Not at all. It means that it can't feel like the author is doing something just to make the audience cry. Audiences don't like to feel manipulated and jerked around. A tragic ending cannot be arbitrary. It must be an organic outcome of the situation that the characters are in. The tragedy needs to be the best outcome those characters (and the audience) could reasonably expect given what has happened in the story and who the characters are. Dog with Two Bones is a wonderful example of this. It's a tragedy... but it's an earned one. Given these characters and the situation they were in, the pain that they were in, and the choices they must make to be true to themselves... it has to end this way. That's what makes it heartbreaking. I can't imagine a happier ending for Season 3 that would feel authentic to what had gone before. So, even as it breaks my heart (and every time that it breaks my heart), I still cannot imagine it happening any other way, not and be true to the journey the characters had taken to reach that point.

( Related thoughts on Doctor Who )

( Subsequent thoughts on BtVS )
Inquiring minds want to know...

And, while watching Doctor Who on BBC America, I saw ads for Being Human! It starts July 24th. It was a freaking awesome season of Being Human, enough so that I will have to watch it again. It was a wonderful case of plotting the downfall of characters by having them slip-n-slide there with the best of intentions. The characters take what they think is the right course -- or at least a reasonable one -- most of the way. The audience, however, can readily see that this is going to end badly and that the characters are blinded by their own wants and needs. Beautifully done.

With the long weekend I got some rewatching done. I was going to write about it, but I'm tired.

However, having just watched Durka Returns, I've got some Chiana love.

I'm so glad they introduced her. I like her anarchic spirit. I really can't imagine her not being part of the crew. Young, rebellious, and otherworldly. A little heroic and a lot selfish--she's fun.

I also wonder whether Farscape has the highest ratio of female to male characters? (I suppose that depends on whether Buffy counts as sci-fi or urban fantasy. BSG had a number of women, but it was also a fairly large cast). Farscape had a small cast that still featured Aeryn, Zhaan, Chiana, Sikozou, Noranti, and Jool (plus Grayza and a female Scarran as a Big Bads).

( Women of Farscape (Season 4) Fanvid )

( Tongue in cheek Women of Farscape vid )

And of course 'the radiant Aeryn Sun...'

1.08 - That Old Black Magic

Rygel: I don't know your customs for these situations -- not that I care. So, I'll give you the Hynerian Ceremony of Passage and be done with it. John Crichton, valued friend...now wait a minute, valued friend is a bit of a stretch. John Crichton, unwelcome shipmate, may you have safe transport to the hallowed realm. Actually, not our hallowed realm. That's for Hynerians. Go find your own hallowed realm. With the Ceremony of Passage complete, I declare you officially dead, and claim all of your possessions for myself.

( It seems to be the week for vampires ) But this vampire serves his purpose as it is through him that Crichton and Crais directly interact and Crichton comes to realize that there is no talking his way out of Crais's vendetta. The vendetta isn't even really about him. And to combat the MOTW, Zhaan is pushed to violence, unleashing that which she had thought permanently contained. (Which makes me think of BtVS's post-Darth Willow. There's an interesting contrast to be made there someday, I think).

In

shadowcat67's rewatch, she mentioned that she thinks that Zhaan episodes may be the weakest of the character episodes. I don't think I disagree. (Though she is also correct in pointing out that D'Argo episode rarely seem to be particularly dynamic). That Old Black Magic may or may not be a Zhaan-centric episode, but she does have perhaps the most prominent storyline this episode.

Anyway, I think that Zhaan as a character-type may have been a challenge for the writers. While discussing Doctor Who with

elisi we both mentioned that most protagonists need to change. The few that do not change (such as the Doctor) usually have to change those around them. Zhaan as an elightened zen-like priest doesn't leave a lot of room for change. What little change that is possible for her is largely what we see in this episode, which is breaking her zen to de-evolve and ( spoiler ). It's an understandable instinct on the writers part to try to deconstruct Zhaan's zen to have a story, but that only leaves her a story of losing her development then regaining it again. Zhaan's character archetype just doesn't leave a great deal of room for change, which would leave her changing those around her. I suppose she really does work best as sounding board and guiding sage for other characters. I think this may be why they eventually introduce Chiana. Farscape is really good about having female characters on hand and Chiana has more of an emotional journey to make than Zhaan does. I can see why they took to Chiana once they created her... which isn't for a few episodes yet.

The other character who is featured this episode is Crais. Do the villains get character development episodes? Crais gets development here as they show us his background,( spoiler ) And then there's the moment where we know that Crais has really and truly gone off the deep end. ( spoilers )

1.09 - DNA Mad Scientist

So the Fugitives are offered maps through the Uncharted Territories to their homes. What would they do for it? Darn near anything. ( spoilers ) This isn't Star Trek, folks. Farscape's characters can, at times, be shockingly ruthless...as people become when left in survival mode for very long. ( spoilers ) For Aeryn, there is no map home. She knows where she is. She knows the way home. She just can never go there again.

Aeryn: They are going home. And someday, you will too.

John: Sure. I mean - if I ever find a way home. Yeah.

Aeryn: I was born a Peacekeeper soldier. I've always been one among many. A member of a division, a platoon, a unit. I've never been on my own, John. Ever.

John: When I find a way home - if I find a way home - I'll take you with me.

Aeryn: Me? On a planet full of billions of you?

I love this moment. I love it because it is sweet for Crichton to offer and it's a sign of just how far he must travel from this point to reach the day he tells Aeryn "Anywhere in the universe. You choose." Because... Aeryn is right. Her going to Earth is not an option. It certainly sounds like a viable option to John at this stage of the game. But what would Aeryn do on Earth? As bad as her situation is, traveling through the galaxy fighting bad guys (and occasionally saving the universe) are things that she knows. It's where she fits. Earth has no place for her. She knows this. John doesn't understand that yet. So it is sweet for him to offer and it's also a sign of how much he has to learn about Aeryn.

Beyond that, this episode is very much about the way people use people (etc.) to get what they want, and how everyone justifies this behavior to themselves. ( spoiler )

1.10 - They've Got A Secret

D'Argo episode, where we learn that the way that he describes himself in the series premiere is even more inaccurate than we already thought! ( spoiler )

1.08 - That Old Black Magic

Rygel: I don't know your customs for these situations -- not that I care. So, I'll give you the Hynerian Ceremony of Passage and be done with it. John Crichton, valued friend...now wait a minute, valued friend is a bit of a stretch. John Crichton, unwelcome shipmate, may you have safe transport to the hallowed realm. Actually, not our hallowed realm. That's for Hynerians. Go find your own hallowed realm. With the Ceremony of Passage complete, I declare you officially dead, and claim all of your possessions for myself.

1.09 - DNA Mad Scientist

Aeryn: They are going home. And someday, you will too.

John: Sure. I mean - if I ever find a way home. Yeah.

Aeryn: I was born a Peacekeeper soldier. I've always been one among many. A member of a division, a platoon, a unit. I've never been on my own, John. Ever.

John: When I find a way home - if I find a way home - I'll take you with me.

Aeryn: Me? On a planet full of billions of you?

1.10 - They've Got A Secret

D'Argo episode, where we learn that the way that he describes himself in the series premiere is even more inaccurate than we already thought! ( spoiler )

1.08 - That Old Black Magic

Rygel: I don't know your customs for these situations -- not that I care. So, I'll give you the Hynerian Ceremony of Passage and be done with it. John Crichton, valued friend...now wait a minute, valued friend is a bit of a stretch. John Crichton, unwelcome shipmate, may you have safe transport to the hallowed realm. Actually, not our hallowed realm. That's for Hynerians. Go find your own hallowed realm. With the Ceremony of Passage complete, I declare you officially dead, and claim all of your possessions for myself.

1.09 - DNA Mad Scientist

Aeryn: They are going home. And someday, you will too.

John: Sure. I mean - if I ever find a way home. Yeah.

Aeryn: I was born a Peacekeeper soldier. I've always been one among many. A member of a division, a platoon, a unit. I've never been on my own, John. Ever.

John: When I find a way home - if I find a way home - I'll take you with me.

Aeryn: Me? On a planet full of billions of you?

1.10 - They've Got A Secret

D'Argo episode, where we learn that the way that he describes himself in the series premiere is even more inaccurate than we already thought! ( spoiler )

1.06 - Thank God It's Friday...Again.

Aeryn: She gives me a woody... [surprised look from Crichton] 'Woody', it's a human saying. I've heard you say it often. When you don't trust someone or they make you nervous, they give you --

John: Willies!

Just goes to show that my opinion is strictly my own. I checked out Farscape World and "Back and Back and Back To The Future" has an equally high or higher rating to "Thank God It's Friday... Again," and yet I hated B-B-Back to the Future, and I like TGIF. Go figure. Ah well, my opinions are my own. :)

Anyway, part of the reason that I like TGIF is that it feels bigger somehow, and not just because of location shoots. To this point in the series, the Peacekeepers have mostly been Crais's vendetta against John. This ep shows that they are an institutional evil...and it's not even the point of the episode. It's just there, part of the show's landscape

( Thoughts on D'Argo ) ::pets D'Argo::

( Thoughts on Aeryn )

And back to why this episode felt 'bigger' to me ( more detailed spoilers )

Oh, and wow! In this rewatch I caught something that I don't think I ever caught before! ( Read more... ) Damn. You have to love Farscape for continuity.

Finally, for the fun of it a D'Argo/Crichton friendshippy vid

1.07 - PK Tech Girl

John: They spit fire? How come nobody tells me this stuff? How come nobody tells me they spit fire? Aeryn!!!

Okay, to give a little perspective, I began watching Farscape when it was airing Season 4 on Syfy (then SciFi). Intrigued, I began downloading back episodes that I found online, filling in the episodes that I couldn't find by reading posted summaries. PK Tech Girl was one of the episodes that I couldn't find, so I read the summary first and the summary left me with a preconception that John and Gilina had a full blown romance here, when mostly it's just flirtation. ( thoughts on John/Gilina )But, though I went into the episode the first time thinking that it would be about John/Gilina, many watchings later it sticks in my head as an Aeryn and Rygel episode.

And the episode image that remains most clear in my memory for PK Tech Girl is this:

Action hero Aeryn Sun! I love her swinging in, rescuing Crichton as though he's a damsel in distress, shooting up the bad guys, and brushing off the carnage with "Sorry, about the mess."

Woohoo! Aeryn rocks.

( But, of course it's not only about Aeryn rocking. She's a wonderfully realized three-dimensional character )

And the B-storyline is Rygel's post traumatic stress as this ghost ship was his first prison (130 years ago!), where he was once brutally tortured. Rygel is no ordinary muppet. He's haunted by those old fears and smoldering, impotent rage. He wants revenge on Durka, who was his torturer, but there's more on that later...

So two good episodes tonight!

1.06 - Thank God It's Friday...Again.

Aeryn: She gives me a woody... [surprised look from Crichton] 'Woody', it's a human saying. I've heard you say it often. When you don't trust someone or they make you nervous, they give you --

John: Willies!

1.07 - PK Tech Girl

John: They spit fire? How come nobody tells me this stuff? How come nobody tells me they spit fire? Aeryn!!!

So two good episodes tonight!

1.06 - Thank God It's Friday...Again.

Aeryn: She gives me a woody... [surprised look from Crichton] 'Woody', it's a human saying. I've heard you say it often. When you don't trust someone or they make you nervous, they give you --

John: Willies!

1.07 - PK Tech Girl

John: They spit fire? How come nobody tells me this stuff? How come nobody tells me they spit fire? Aeryn!!!

So two good episodes tonight!

Okay, I'm going to cut through a bunch of episodes here because I honestly don't have a great deal to say about them. I never feel like the show really kicks in until after them. To me, these eps clearly represent a show trying to find its footing and that it hasn't yet. And ironically, I suspect that I actually enjoy them more now than I did the first time through because at least in rewatching I can appreciate when it hits some character point or moment that will actually carry through.

1.02 - I, E.T.
John: It's kinda looks like Louisiana... or Dagobah. [beat] Dagobah, where Yoda lives.
Aeryn: Who's Yoda?

I actually totally enjoy the opening scene in this one because it shows that John is so much the fish out of water. There's an alarm going off on Moya, so loud that it's causing Crichton's eye to twitch.

"It feels like my eye is melting!" Then it strikes him where he is and he looks worried. "Couldn't really be doing that, could it?" Heh.

When I first saw this episode it seemed very Star Trek episode premise to me. They go to a non-space travelling planet that doesn't know about aliens so now John is really, really an alien.

It seems very strange that on the heels of John first meeting aliens, while he's still trying to adjust, that he finds himself on a planet that seems to only have present Earth level technology such that now Crichton is the 'advanced' alien. I wonder why it was the first episode after the pilot. Seems that it may have fit better at a later date. Still, even with that said, I enjoy this episode even if it is rather Star Trek-ish and not real Farscape flavor.

1.03 - Exodus from Genesis
Aeryn: I'm sure your world has no force so ruthless.
John: We call them linebackers... or serial killers. Depends on whether they're professional or amateur.

Writer Commentary: It's trying to dial up the personality of the characters and have them be flawed. And not have John be 'heroic' but to actually be kind of a wussy. :)

I have this bizarre affection for the alien maggot-bug that brushes teeth. It's so gross. And of course, John is freaking out because, really, is a tooth brush that difficult to find? It does highlight that John is in a very alien world. Plot of the week? It's attack of the 2 ft long cockroaches, so... yeah. What am I going to add to that?

Ep is memorable primarily because of the way that Peacekeeper/Sebacean soldiers are presented with face make-up that we never, ever see again. That and it introduces the concept of Sebacean/Peacekeeper heat sickness. That always struck me as quite the vulnerability for Peacekeepers, but it does prove to be important in several future instances for Aeryn and in the creation of Scorpius.

1.04 - Throne for a Loss
Crichton: "Wiley Coyote could come up with a better plan!"

+ Naked Zhaan ass.

Meanwhile, commentary informs us that Zhaan is actually a plant and that Anthony Simcoe (D'Argo) was injured during the filming of this episode where a chemical accident while removing his make-up nearly blinded him. This required his filming without the contacts, forever changing D'Argo's make-up such that from here on out we see Anthony Simcoe's real eyes rather than the otherwordly contacts.

Also I love the moment where John calls for tractor beams, because he of course grew up with Star Trek so there are supposed to be tractor beams. Yes? And everyone just looks at him like "What in the hell are you talking about?" Though, again, the episode isn't particularly strong.

The early episodes really do have the show trying to find its voice. This ep at least introduces that D'Argo's race bleeds black and that he will die unless the blood runs clear.

Still an early Farscape 'eh.'

It's a shame that whenever someone starts watching Farscape you have to keep insisting that it gets better! The first string of episodes are somewhat underwhelming.

1.05 - Back and Back and Back to the Future
Writer Commentary: We're disguising [time shifts] as psychic Spanish Fly.
Ben Browder Commentary: It's kind of a dark, twisted rape fantasy.

And this is why I hate this episode. It's the guys getting psychic roofied and near-date-raped, but I hate the whole thing. I especially hate the villain. And did I mention that I dislike the episode? A lot?

I'm glad I didn't watch the series in order when I first watched, because had I not developed a love for the show before seeing this, I don't know that I would have continued watching.

Blech. Let's forget this one.

Having dispensed with these, now I can look forward to better episodes. Yay!

1.02 - I, E.T.
John: It's kinda looks like Louisiana... or Dagobah. [beat] Dagobah, where Yoda lives.
Aeryn: Who's Yoda?

1.03 - Exodus from Genesis
Aeryn: I'm sure your world has no force so ruthless.
John: We call them linebackers... or serial killers. Depends on whether they're professional or amateur.

1.04 - Throne for a Loss
Crichton: "Wiley Coyote could come up with a better plan!"

1.05 - Back and Back and Back to the Future
Writer Commentary: We're disguising [time shifts] as psychic Spanish Fly.
Ben Browder Commentary: It's kind of a dark, twisted rape fantasy.

Having dispensed with these, now I can look forward to better episodes. Yay!

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Farscape ReWatch - Women of Farscape

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