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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

On Fascape by Rockne S. O'Bannon (TV Series 1999–2003) (TV-PG)

with Ben Browder (Stargate), Claudia Black (Rango, Stargate), Anthony Simcoe, Lani Tupu, Jonathan Hardy, Gigi Edgley, Wayne Pygram, Virginia Hey, Paul Goddard (The Matrix), David Franklin...

This Australian science fiction series follows the crew of Moya, a living spacecraft that houses a group of various beings united in their desire to escape from a corrupt military force known as Peacekeepers. American astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) joins them when he accidentally flies through a wormhole. As the series progresses, John makes enemies with brutal Peacekeeper Scorpius, while developing a relationship with crewmate Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black).


I was told that if I liked "Battlestar Galactica", I would also enjoy "Farscape". I didn't know that it was one of the Sci-Fi Channel's most popular shows almost immediately upon airing. What I knew instead is that the characters were really good, but not to expect an amazing special effect kind of show. So I started watching it as a home made show, to be surprised, more and more by the impact it would have in my own life.
First of all, watching a few episodes made me realize that the sense of humor was pretty unique, since the main character is an ordinary American guy — I mean an astronaut — and was born and raised with the references we all have of TV shows, movies, history, and can make these kind of jokes that of course only the audience can get, since the other members of this universe have no idea what he is talking about.

(from left to right) Pilot, Dominar Rygel XVI, Chiana, John Crichton, Aeryn Sun,
Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan, Ka D'Argo and Moya

I also believe that beyond the exceptional adventures that happen to them, they are all a little bit clueless and thinking in a matter of survival with an ideology based on peace, various ways of reaching it, and it always comes to having an understanding. In other words, it is not about one guy leading other guys, it is about adapting to each situation, screwing up, fixing it, screwing up again, changing strategy, getting to an equilibrium.
Another thing is the inventive way to generate new stories, curiosity, something that does not fade along the seasons. The beginning, while we are still discovering the main characters and how they evolve, we have more of short adventures with great inventivity. Little by little, we are reaching to bigger goals, stories that extend to a few episodes, and finally, getting to know better what is happening on a global level in the galaxy, who is in charge, and what are the biggest challenges.
Also, the main characters can build on their relationships, create a complicity with the audience on what has already happen that we will try to avoid in the future. The going back to earth is done in two ways, which also build an unusual way to put together Crichton family and his partners from the rest of the universe.

Officer Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black)

Finally, they built a story where relationships are not drama, they are just building themselves with time, some glitches, and finally realism and coherency, making the sentimentalist like me even more hooked.
The series has a beginning, a middle and an end that feels like a complete story, sometimes as opposed to never ending commercial series. This is another real value.

Moya
Watch trailer:

7 comments:

  1. In total agreement.To me Farscape is one of the best Scifi series ever made.And sadly one of the most underrated.I also thought it was great fan service to have The Peacekeeper Wars (miniseries) concluded the show.Especially when they were supposed to have a full fifth season.

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  2. I am glad we agree, although I believe the mini-series instead of the full series was sort of an arrangement due to a budget cut, I believe I would have rather had a longer fifth season. But my wake up call was too late anyway, just happened last year, the series was far over. If all the new fans had been there from day one, for sure, that series would have kept on going...

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    1. Like Miss Coffins mentioned the show was cancelled.And because fans complained and successfully protested they got the mini series.That is why I called it fan service.These people actually cared about the fans and their complaints.Most studios don't care at all.

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    2. That's interesting. Thanks Chrichton for sharing. What do you think happened then with the comic books. I just heard of them, haven't read them, do you think there is some future there?

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  3. The mini-series was because the show had been cancelled and fans protested, getting the mini series as a trade off.
    I loved the scenes between the "characters in Crichton's head" they had the most interesting dialog

    Congrats on being today's LAMB

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    1. That was my favourite part as well.But I liked the dialogue and interactions between the characters in general.

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  4. Thanks Miss Coffins for your review! Yes, they really had amazing ideas of script, including Harvey!

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