Farscape Shawarma

Some of my own quick impressions of the past few episodes.

"They've Got a Secret"
I had a great deal of difficulty getting through this one. The central tension of the episode revolved around D'Argo mistaking the cast for people from his past, and it was just painful to watch because I couldn't buy into the premise. And once again, aliens can cross-breed.... D'Argo's one-note rage-guy act is getting to me.

"'Til the Blood Runs Clear"
Once again, rage-guy D'Argo deserves everything he gets; I have a tough time mustering sympathy for this character. The instantaneous shift to "John's Ally" comes too abruptly, but I'm glad for the change. Aeryn steals the show with her practical approach to their problems on the planet. There is some weird "sci-fi stuff" going on with the wormhole and with Zhaan, a product of scripts produced by soap opera writers instead of sci-fi writers.

"Rhapsody in Blue"
There is some really good stuff in this one. The hallucination scenes are handled believably this time. Lots of grist for the conversation mill, as this one brings up topics of theosophy, cynicism, and morality. The episode exemplifies the kind of classic storytelling that gave longevity to Star Trek TOS and the Twilight Zone. David Kemper's background with Star Trek and Sea Quest really shines through. He'll go on to write three more episodes this season, and will be a continuing presence for the life of the series. I groaned a bit at the "unity" sequences, but got past it.

Myself, I love D'argo! I think he's one of the strongest characters, mostly because of his layers. Yeah, he's the rage guy (most sci-fi series have one), but he's also the "kid guy" and the old-fashioned romantic and the muscle. He's a great bro for John and he's one of the best at doing "alternate character mode" episodes well.
Now Chianna on the other hand...   

Dunadwarf wrote:
Now Chianna on the other hand...   

I can't help but think of your nickname for her very often now when I see her. Makes me smile. ;-)

Okay, sorry I forgot to post this before the ep went up over the weekend. But some quick thoughts on:

113- The Flax

Ben given some tough exposition dialogue at the beginning!
Interesting gambling game thread with Rygel. Kept me guessing and fooled until the end!
Stans makes me laugh. "Wack it!" He is the embodiment of irreverent Australian sensibilities.
Some brief but interesting discussion of the afterlife. Sabaceans=Atheists?
Loved the John/D'Argo awkward moments and John ribbing D'Argo's "romance" at the end!!

114- Jeremiah Crichton

Yikes. Do yourself a favor and listen to the commentary for this ep if you're able. Even THEY know this is a terrible episode.

Low budget, weak guest performances/direction, costumes that looked totally unlived in and fresh off the stage of an Easter musical, (foam flipflops!!!)
Tired Star Trek formula: Primitives are religious and easily fooled. God is an alien. Crichton is even trying to uphold the frickin' Prime Directive!!!!

1 good thing for me: I think I got the idea for the "Sanctafi No-Tech Zone" from this ep, and possibly the idea of "only the high priestess reads the scripture". (Although the latter can be found elsewhere in geek fiction as well.)

Interesting to hear the phrase "your beliefs are wrong" in a script.

"Why can't we decide our own fate and make our own rules." This is presented as the alternative to religion (and it is, honestly). This is actually the core desire of our default sinful flesh.

Rygel, the "Messiah/Massata" says "I'm just like you", which I think is a sentiment many would like to believe Jesus would say.

A happy Star Trek bow-tied ending in which the primitives are free of the shackles of religion and oh so much better off and happier for it.

Sorry I didn't tell you all to skip this one. But it's worth experiencing if only just to talk about it. ;-)

I hated that episode too. Honestly, I don't remember much until we get to "A Bug's Life" and we begin the Scorpius stuff.
I think it's more accurate to call that "Roddenberry-ism" or some such, because lots of Trek after he died was a lot more fair-minded about faith, and even when it made it's point badly (DS9's "In the Hands of the Prophets" and VOY's "Emanations" come to mind), it was still a lot less narrow-minded once Gene was out of the captain's chair.

Dunadwarf wrote:I hated that episode too. Honestly, I don't remember much until we get to "A Bug's Life" and we begin the Scorpius stuff.
I think it's more accurate to call that "Roddenberry-ism" or some such, because lots of Trek after he died was a lot more fair-minded about faith, and even when it made it's point badly (DS9's "In the Hands of the Prophets" and VOY's "Emanations" come to mind), it was still a lot less narrow-minded once Gene was out of the captain's chair.

IIIINteresting... Do I sense the hatchings of a future "Trek Talk"? I don't know much of anything about Trek production history, but I'd find stuff like that interesting, especially when it comes to philosophical influences. Thanks for the insight!

Paeter wrote:114- Jeremiah Crichton



Sorry I didn't tell you all to skip this one. But it's worth experiencing if only just to talk about it. ;-)

Without even cranking up the video, I know exactly which ep this is; my absolutely least favorite. such another yawner ep that I'm happy to either skip or play in the background. As such, I'm thinking I'll skip watching this one again.

This ep was frustrating in the whole primitives w/o tech are religious/superstitious and inferior, as Paeter mentioned. Which is probably one of the main reasons I dislike it so much. having one doesn't preclude the other. Really don't remember much more about this episode that stood out for me to enjoy it, so I'll end my musings here.

The Flax. Loved it. Very cool throughout.

Jeremiah Crichton. Ouch. This is the very epitome of what mundanes think constitutes sci-fi. To be fair, a century ago this would have been considered novel and exotic. Much of the literature of the time follows this pattern. Nowadays, they should really know better.

Paeter wrote:IIIINteresting... Do I sense the hatchings of a future "Trek Talk"? I don't know much of anything about Trek production history, but I'd find stuff like that interesting, especially when it comes to philosophical influences. Thanks for the insight!

Well, that's pretty much what I already covered in my first Trek Talk. The series usually had an orthodoxy not unlike what most religions have (interesting given Roddenberry's firm and voluminous stick up his butt about the matter), but DS9 avoided a lot of Gene's anti-faith bigotry by being the overlooked middle child and many episodes, especially after he gave up his grip somewhere around seasons 3-4 of TNG, also stretch beyond his extremely limited vision.

115- Durka Returns
Very memorable Ep for me, and in pretty much all good ways!

The camera is always moving on Farscape, which I love. It puts me there.
The slo-motion entrance of Durka s another example of the cinematic style of the show. More common in shows now, but still not commonplace. Even today the shooting style of Farscape sets it apart from other shows for me.

Is it Durka or "Durker", D'Argo?

Enter Chiana to throw a wrench in the works! Yay! (Unless you hate her. Sorry Matt.)

Love the Elvis reference. Frickin' funny.

More episode callbacks as the continuity of the show continues to be vital and built upon.

Rygel!! Love him in this ep!

"100 years of happy meals" made me laugh out loud.

116- A Human Reaction

I appreciate Claudia Black. Great actress.
Nice "thrown away" call back to the "Unity" episode when Zhaan says "There's a part of me inside you."
This ep is sadly formulaic and self-contained "Far-Trek"... for now. Stay tuned!
Appreciate Kent McCord and the Father-Son relationship built upon in this ep.
Another call back to Dad's necklace "charm". Contunuity continues to reward and add layers to the show.
Laughed out loud at Aeryn's "morning after" reaction. "Yes, it's fine John its just not top priority right now."
Baaaad puppet in the final scene. Youch!

"Far Trek", eh? I can see it, but it's not always a bad thing.
In this case, I appreciated the way much of the episode was handled. I didn't think it was outstanding, but it was a well-executed exercise in the familiar.
Except for the puppet. 'Nuff said.

Paeter's commentary made me pay a bit more attention to things I normally overlook in shows of this sort. In this case, I really noticed the cinematography and the way it was used to add depth to the sets and subtext to the dialog.

Much of the rest of the show still feels "in transition", in particular the bits with Chiana and Zhaan. The departure scene from Moya was groan-worthy and the closing lecture was heavy-handed, but the time spent with Crichton and Aeryn together made it all worth it.

Am i the only one who here who hasn't seen this show?

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117- Through The Looking Glass

A nice character ep, revealing who people are by showing their reactions to different situations.
Chiana accent still unstable.
Puking!!
Some funny pantomime, showcasing the comedic acting chops pf the cast.
Is "spirituality" beyond height, width, depth and time as Zhaan suggests?
How are prime numbers and "invitation" John. Lucky, stupid idiot.

Might I suggest in your future shawarmas that you give a brief overview of the episode before you get into your thoughts. I know you don't want to spoil the episodes, but I've seen the show and I'm often lost as to which episode your covering, so I can only imagine how lost a newbie would be.

Dunadwarf wrote:Might I suggest in your future shawarmas that you give a brief overview of the episode before you get into your thoughts. I know you don't want to spoil the episodes, but I've seen the show and I'm often lost as to which episode your covering, so I can only imagine how lost a newbie would be.

I'll give that some consideration, although i assumed that folks were watching the eps just before listening to my comments(or at least within a few days of listening). That was my intention anyway. If I feel like I can do it without any extra thought I might. But if I have to add any more "work" to the experience it will honestly suck the joy out of it.

Maybe I could just briefly say something like "this is the one with BLANK who comes on Moya to BLANK and the crew gets all BLANKED", and then go into my thoughts? If that would be enough I could easily do that. Although you wouldn't notice the change until early season 2, as that's where I'm at right now. What do you think?

Maybe just a link to the IMDB entry for the episode? Quick and painless.

mindspike wrote:Maybe just a link to the IMDB entry for the episode? Quick and painless.

I'll consider that. Might not be a solution for those who listen while commuting, though.

I think the pattern you laid out will be plenty. Most episodes of most shows can be summed up as "The One With _____" ("Friends" actually named their episodes that way as a franchise-long meta-gag).

118, A Bug's Life

Here we go! The show starts kicking into high gear here! From here to the end of the season feels like one long "Farscape Movie" to me.

DRD's Freakin' rock

The Aeryn/Crichton relationship continues to develop!

Pretty solid ep for me that sets things up while being interesting on its own.

Are all the episodes titles related to movie titles

I love this ep for the way John gets to play a peacekeeper. He pulls it off well.

So, apparently Hulu now has Farscape Seasons 1 and 3 available, but no Season 2. Really?! At least I can finish Season 1 on Hulu and seek it out on Netflix (or the library).

Here's SF Debris' review of this episode:
http://sfdebris.com/videos/farscape/farscapes1e18.php