Rewatch Discussion - Farscape (1999) Discussion

[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

The Premiere had the slingshot around a planet. That reminded me of Stargate, I think it was done in SG1 and SGU.

I, ET puzzles me as to how the hell John was able to communicate with the natives, when they didn't have the microbes.

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[–] dariusu 11 years ago

They never say that planet doesn't have translator microbes. Just because the people of that planet don't know about "aliens" doesn't mean they aren't ultimately alien in origin. I just assumed translator microbes sort of permeated that area of the galaxy when I first watched this episode (which was the original US airing on Sci-Fi channel).

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 10 years ago

Considering how John received the microbes, as well as other characters later on in the show, it would be too obvious if the people of that planet had also received them. You could say they received them via syringes as a part of some medication but that is pure speculation. There are no hints pointing toward the idea of them having received the microbes. This one can only be chalked up as one of those little oops-moments early on in the series.

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

How did the natives understand John in "I, ET"?

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[–] Alpha86 11 years ago

It's never been explained. One of the theories is that the microbes occur naturally on their planet. Probably just poor writing though.

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

Naturally? Weird. I'm not sure how that could happen. It's a very specific type of microbe, with a unique purpose, which also would have no evolutionary function within the environment of the aliens on that planet. I believe they are in the uncharted territory, I forget. Either way, they never had any contact (at least, none known) with aliens. Speculation to contribute all kinds of cool ideas on how they were able to communicate with John but it'd only be speculation. It must just be poor writing. Oh well, well it was one of their first episodes. Nobody's perfect.

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[–] matostun 10 years ago

a few minutes after opening credits there is a scene, during battle mess, when john was injected with the translation microbes by a droid.

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 10 years ago

The microbes let him understand them. They do not let them understand him.

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[–] lilmarkuk 11 years ago

ive been watching them on uk tv..they have dated horribly

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

Oh yeah, definitely a very '90s show, despite technically being an '00s show, with only the first season airing in 1999. Although, even for a late-90s / early-00s show, it could even be perceived as having the style of an early-90s sci-fi. ...in some regards. In others, however, the show is actually ahead of its time. However you look at it - and we have different opinions and interpretations of how it holds up over time - it had a pretty decent impact on the sci-fi genre. It's a fun, creative, and interesting show.

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[–] therealboozysmurf 10 years ago

I found the opposite having just completed a rewatch. Season 1 in general didn't click until the episodes with Chiana. I found Seasons 2-4 held up very nicely.

Babylon 5 has aged horribly.

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 10 years ago

I've never seen Bab5. From the clips I've seen, I'm not even slightly interested in trying it out, maybe in part due to it aging horribly.

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[–] Simian_Jack 10 years ago

Bab 5 has aged stylistically, though IMO much of the writing was wooden even in its day (some of the actors can't do much with it), to say nothing of the CG fx. I think of it as a novel for television from an author who has an amazing, truly moving epic tale to tell but whose prose isn't the most satisfying. (shrug) I feel the same way about Tolkien. It's worth a shot.

Anyway, I just started rewatching Farscape last night, having made it through all of SG-1 a 2nd time.

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 10 years ago

As elegant or grandiose as Babylon 5 might be to its fans, from the bits of it that I saw I couldn't see those qualities but that's just my opinion. Lots of people couldn't care less about Stargate, and I'm an extreme fan of that franchise.

The Hobbit & LOTR stories were great when I read the books and when the LOTR movies were released. I like the Hobbit movies but I was more of a fantasy fan when the LOTR movies were released. I've since transitioned into more of a sci-fi fan.

My initial impressions of Farscape, thought it sucked, but I was more into fantasy when it aired (with exception to Stargate). After Claudia and Ben joined the cast on Stargate, I gave Farscape another try and became a big fan of it.

I'm currently in the middle of rewatching Stargate, saw SG '94, SG1+movies, SGA s1-4, just started s5. After finishing SGU, I might go ahead and restart the franchise all over again.

I just saw the SGA episode where Keller is taken over by an alien plant-thing that also tries to consume Atlantis. I met the actress who played Keller, it turns out she's a complete b*tch in real life.

With Farscape, I need more of a break after seeing it before rewatching it.

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[–] Simian_Jack 10 years ago

Wow, that's too bad about Keller. Kinda cool and uncool event at the same time.

As elegant or grandiose as Babylon 5 might be to its fans, from the bits of it that I saw I couldn't see those qualities...

That's what I mean! The story itself is worth it once you've made the commitment and, so to speak, read the first hundred pages and become intrigued about where the overall story is headed. Up close (episode to episode) its worth is harder to spot. I sampled it a few times and was repulsed (was downright awful!), and only tried it again from the beginning because I was curious as to why so many people whose taste I respected wouldn't shut up about how engrossing it was. But I'm not pushing you to give it a go, just sayin'. 

With Farscape I had a hard time the first try getting past the muppet factor, and I couldn't see the character development. Writing-wise, just seemed to be skimming, witty but not deep. Skipped most of Season 1 but then caught Nerve/The Hidden Memory. It looked like it really was going somewhere so I started over. So glad I did! But I've only been through the whole series twice and the last time was years ago. It'll play fresh again now.

I liked Browder & Black on SG1. They're both tremendously likable, magnetic presences...though compared to Farscape not a lot was asked of them as actors. Was really happy that Claudia Black got to work as a comedienne, Farscape showed every now and then how deft she is with comedy. She has a natural ability for it.

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 10 years ago

Babylon 5... maybe one of these days or years I might eventually try it.

The muppets are what turned me away from Farscape when it originally aired.

Ben's acting is okay but really muted in Stargate, although he made the most out of the limitations of how his character was written. His acting in Farscape is great, he covers a wide range of characteristics while undergoing a lot of development throughout the run of that franchise.

Claudia's acting is very good, and it takes seeing her spectrum by watching both Farscape and Stargate. Aeryn is serious-minded with silly moments. Vala is silly-minded with serious moments. The emphasis on the general personality of each affects how she plays the contrasting expressions. She is really good.

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

The season 1 episode "Through the Looking Glass" is a pivotal moment in Farscape for the main characters and their development as a family.

In that episode, everything starts out pessimistic, leads to a dire situation for the crew, then through working together across different dimensions they are able to bring the ship back together, literally, while also figuratively bringing themselves closer as a defining group:

John
Aeryn
D'Argo
Rygel
Zhaan
Chiana
Pilot
Moya

It's this episode that ultimately brings them together. Of course, they will go through more ups and downs after this point, but before this episode they were just a ragtag bunch.

Some eventually leave the show while others are later introduced but the bond won't be as strong as with these specific characters.

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[–] assumedkilla 11 years ago

I just rewatched it all on Netflix and had to do the mini-series on Youtube over the last few weeks. It seemed like Peacekeeper Wars uses more CG than the regular series (not a compliment) and certain characters look off. Scorpius was a bit too white, the same goes for Chiana who wasn't as grayish blue as normal. Also pilot sounded a bit different and the main two Scarren bad guys look different, especially the female. It does a decent enough job of ending the story, but it was a little jarring going from the series right into the mini-series.

"I never saved anything for the swim back."

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

Interesting, I don't think I noticed those changes the last time I saw the PK Wars.

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

That's right, now I remember, Sikozu changed her hair, among other things. It's been a while since I've seen PKW but I remember I liked the TV series version of that character much more than the PKW version.

What was off about Staleek? He didn't look like his species from season 1, when they had those protruding heads, or maybe he was mixed species, I forget. Or was it something else, like his personality?

Scorpius is one of my fav. characters in Farscape, the actor always did an excellent job playing the part.

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] imzadi76 11 years ago

They explained that the ruling caste looked different because of the flowers the were eating. More intelligent and so on. That's why, when Crichton nuked the place with the plant they wanted to go to earth, as Crichton had let it slip that hey grew here.

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

Ahhh, cool. Thanks.

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[–] therealboozysmurf 10 years ago

Biggest change was Noranti .... a different actress playing a lot of her scenes.

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

"Bone to be Wild" is one of those episodes that I have a polarized response to, the bone lady story is not so good and the rest of the episode is really good. The only good thing about the bone story, we discover Zhaan is a plant.

I just think the bone lady creeps me out way too much. lol ...so, maybe that is good. It's when she consumes her own calcium and starts going crazy out of desparation for food that it freaks me out.

We discover Scorpius is mixed species.

This is also the first time post-Aurora chair that signs of John's borderline insanity surfaces, when he hysterically laughs at the thought of responding to the distress call from the bone lady at the beginning of the episode.

It's also the one of the first times John more frequently uses his handgun. What did he end up calling it? When was the first time his handgun was seen in an episode? He dressed as PK a few episodes back, and again in the previous couple episodes, as well as this one, although I'm not sure when his favorite handgun was introduced, if it has been yet.

This is also the first time we see the interior of Talyn, and when Aeryn names it/him. (Edit - actually, she doesn't name Talyn until a later episode.)

"Family Ties" is when things start to get really good.

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

Just saw season 2 episode "Won't Get Fooled Again" and John blew up his handgun, so that couldn't have been his gun that he named.

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[–] gonzo-63 10 years ago

"This is also the first time post-Aurora chair that signs of John's borderline insanity surfaces, when he hysterically laughs at the thought of responding to the distress call from the bone lady at the beginning of the episode."

I don't think this was a borderline insanity. The hysterical laugh was about the situatuon. The distress beacon was aimed at them and they're in hiding.

Chianna: Distress call? Directed at us?
Chrichton:[laughing] How stupid is that?

www.youtube.com/gonzo0071

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 10 years ago

It's been a while now since I've re-seen that episode but, despite the general context of that scene, I think it was the way in which he laughed that gave me the impression that hints of his upcoming struggles with maintaining his sanity had finally started to surface. It would become obvious later. At this point, it was merely an introduction. A hint of it.

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

Best line in "A Clockwork Nebari":

Rygel, "I'm nobody's puppet!"

That's also the first episode that John's most recent handgun is called by the given name, Winona. Chiana mentioned the name first, "You're just crying 'cause Winona jammed."

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[–] o-lO-o-Ol-o 11 years ago

Just saw Infinite Possibilities. The 2-parter takes the show up another notch.

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