Farscape

[Julius Seeker]

I think I bashed this one a lot back in the day. If I did, I am sorry, I was most certainly wrong =)

I caught some weird mid-series episodes which seemed a bit on the gross side; which put me off the series, particularly because I didn't have a context for anything. I began watching the series from its start on Netflix, and I actually think it is quite amazing so far.

Now I feel like I spent 10 years living a lie! An absolute lie! =P

[Shrinweck]

Yeah, like Stargate it's pretty easy to get soured on good sci-fi series like this if you catch episodes mid-series with no context. Netflix didn't have the last season for the longest time. I may have to rewatch it again some time soon. Getting to see Ben Browder and Claudia Black together again on SG-1 was my main reason that I watched the series to begin with. Of course, plowing through 8 seasons just to get to Browder was a little excessive, but by then I loved Stargate.

[Imakeholesinu]

Farscape is fucking awesome. The first season was kinda cheesy and it seemed like they couldn't figure out where they wanted to go with it until close to the end of the first season, but the 2nd season (especially half way through) started to pick up a lot of steam. Picked the whole thing up on DVD for like $50.

[Julius Seeker]

I'm actually enjoying the first season quite a bit, it really reminds me of Labyrinth in space =P

It does sort of have that feeling that Star Trek always has in its first 2 or 3 seasons where they don't quite know where they are going with the series. I think so far the slow introduction of the factions - most notably the Peace Keepers - is alright, they are showing a bunch of independent cultures and the impact that the Peace Keepers have had on them - also that there is at least someone out there who can defeat the Peace Keepers in battle (the abandoned Zelbinion is evidence of that); I am looking forward to the future of it. I am getting close to the halfway point on season 1.

Aeryn Sun (is that how her name is spelled?) I recognize her as one of the repeat extras and guest star characters from Hercules the Legendary Journeys and Xena Warrior Princess - which I watched over the past 5-6 months or so.

[Shrinweck]

Aeryn (you're right) is played by Claudia Black who is all over the place. She was even Morrigan in Dragon Age

[Imakeholesinu]

Don't forget she was also in Pitch Black!

The end of Season One is fucking bad ass, Season 2 is just downright crazy especially the end and then the beginning of season 3. The one thing I thought that would bother me in the series was the acting at first but honestly it is really well done as you get deeper in. Shit I'm off all next week, I guess I know what I'm doing.

[Julius Seeker]

Pitch Black is on the list =)
I actually have yet to watch the Riddick series.

Speaking of acting; Crichton reminds me A LOT of Kirk from the latest Star Trek film.

[Julius Seeker]

Loved this dialogue from season 1. Ep. 11

Chrichton talking to some stupid looking bounty hunters - "I'll cut you in on the bounty, 70-30."
Bounty Hunter becomes annoyed, growls: "70....40!"
Chrichton: "80......40!"

[Shellie]

One of my favorite shows of all time

[Julius Seeker]

The new character (Chiana) is really cool, I think she'll be my favourite - but I like the whole cast.

• Author Michael Crichton's real name was John Crichton. I am guessing it probably isn't a coincidence that his name was used in Farscape.
• Dargo = Worf + Chewbaca in my opinion =)

[Julius Seeker]

I just finished the first season, I must say I am very happy with it - and I think this series is very easily my favourite non-Star Trek sci-fi series, although I haven't watched Stargate or Babylon 5 yet (which I hear is very good).

I really like the lightheartedness & intensity of the characters, the mix of comedy and drama, along with just some of the really out-there storylines.

Scorpius and Crais are both really cool villains. I didn't realize, until checking out the cast, that Lani Tupu did both the characters of Crais and Pilot.

[Shrinweck]

I forgot how dark this show can get. The wait between seasons two and three must have been excruciating for people watching the show as it aired.

This thread made me laugh at how obvious it's Lani Tupu as Pilot during the body switching episode when he's impersonating Dargo. Otherwise it's very rare that his voice comes through as Pilot. Very impressive work.

[Imakeholesinu]

Yeah, that is one of the reasons I liked the series so much after the second season was because of how gritty it got and how desperate all the characters kind of get as things progress. Season 3 into season 4 also.

[Julius Seeker]

I actually enjoy the dark in the show. One scene had Crichton fighting Scorpius's second in command - after being almost captured - on a ship going into hiding from the separatist Peace Keeper planet. Crichton brought the ship through dangerous defense satellites, activated his weapons so they would open fire on the ship (With Crichton and his captors inside), then he proceeded to brawl with his potential captors electrocuting one of them. Then as the ship was about to be destroyed, he opened the door and jumped into open space WITHOUT any protective suit, going Tony Montana on his opponents as he fell into another transport ship 20 seconds later.

He also did quote Tony Montana later on in season 3.

I do really like Crais as a character now. I am currently just past the episode where one of the Crichton "clones" died of radiation.

My favorite moments both came from the same episode - Crichton was in a giant Scarran holodeck mimicking his own world - the first when they introduced his new hardass boss (Rigel) who he promptly picked up and dropped to his death. Second when a cop played by Lani Tupu arrested Crichton on - assault of a police officer, theft of police property, possession of an illegal firearm, and 5 counts of attempted murder - and promptly fined him $28.40 for the crimes.

[Julius Seeker]

Sad that this one didn't last more than 4 seasons (I am on season 4 episode 5 or 6); this is probably the first sci-fi series that I really like better than Star Trek Voyager and Next Generation.

Although I haven't seen Stargate SG1 or Babylon 5 yet.

I did see Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars, Star Wars isn't my cup of Tea and Battlestar Galactica had too many sub-plots I didn't care about - and too many plot threads that go AGES without being tied up. Farscape, on the other hand, was just exactly the sort of pacing I like; even the episodes described as "filler" I found very entertaining, knowing the characters and such. I do hope there are similar shows in the future.

[Shrinweck]

Well I definitely like SG-1 and Atlantis a lot. SG-1 has aged surprisingly well and it has a strong cast. Atlantis isn't as good but it has some great characters and is still satisfying if you end up liking Stargate as a series. I wouldn't call Stargate Universe an abomination, but with it ending without getting a proper ending (come to think of it, Atlantis basically did this too, but to less of a "Dear viewers, Fuck you, love SyFy" degree) it isn't as satisfying.

Don't forget about the Peacekeeper Wars Farscape movie.

[Julius Seeker]

SG-1 is a MASSIVE series it looks like. I think I am going to first go with Firefly (also available on Netflix) which is only 10 episodes. I was highly recommended it by a few people.

Then I think SG-1 is the clear series to follow.

Is there any point in bothering with Andromeda? It has Kevin Sorbo, but I am not sure if it is any good.

[Shrinweck]

Yeah if you haven't seen Firefly you really have to go with it before SG-1.

To be perfectly honest I haven't even heard of Andromeda haha

[Julius Seeker]

The main people working on it were Kevin Sorbo (Hercules: The Legendary Journies), Majel Barret Rodenberry (Star Trek franchise), and Robert Hewitt Wolfe (Deep Space 9). Although, from what I understand, the show isn't supposed to be that great, but I haven't seen it.

[Shrinweck]

I'm not entirely sure what I want to watch when I'm done rewatching Farscape (about half-way through the fourth season). I was considering SG-1 since it has been long enough that I don't remember the majority of each episode, but I haven't finished ST:DS9 (partially through season 2 but I haven't watched an episode since November).

[Imakeholesinu]

BSG, Being Human (the british series, though I am going to start checking out the US version), True Blood, Space: Above and Beyond.

[Shrinweck]

The end of BSG was decent but took any will I have to ever rewatch it away (Serenity did the same thing to me for Firefly, but in a largely positive way in comparison). I have no interest in Being Human. True Blood.. I don't want to get into that but I'm not going to watch any more of that series.

Edit: That Space series looks interesting but isn't on Instant Watch

[Julius Seeker]

Finished the series, I will post thoughts on the weekend. What I will say is that season 4 had a lot of excellent episodes... The Peace Keeper Wars, I am not sure, but something about it seemed off - I didn't find myself enjoying it as much as many other episodes - maybe I'll like it more on a rewatch.

[Shrinweck]

I haven't had the chance to watch the movie again, but they basically had to fit an entire season into the movie format. Mixed results definitely occurred.

[SineSwiper]

Finished the series, I will post thoughts on the weekend. What I will say is that season 4 had a lot of excellent episodes... The Peace Keeper Wars, I am not sure, but something about it seemed off - I didn't find myself enjoying it as much as many other episodes - maybe I'll like it more on a rewatch.

The PK Wars was essentially the plots of an entire season boiled down to 4 hours, hence everything is extremely rushed and disjointed. SyFy (the fucks can't even use the term 'Sci-Fi') cancelled the series before their FINAL planned season, which was a crock of shit. (JMS had similar problems with Season 4 -> 5 of B5, but he did recover the final Season 5 with TNT, who then promptly fucked his contract in the ass with a sledgehammer with Crusade. The depravity acts of sabotage that TNT pulled was so bad that JMS swore he would never get fucked by basic cable again. Hence his stint with Jeremiah on Showtime.)

The good part about the PK Wars, though, was the final 15 minutes. The moment where he shows the true power of warphole technology, and he asks the both of his villains "THIS! Do you really want this power now?!!" And the both of them, including his main villian for the entire series, who has been hounding him to steal this technology for years, says NO! It's one of the best p0wn3d moments in TV history, and one of the best endings to a series in recent record. Damn shame they could do the entire season properly, though.

In regards to B5, I highly recommend the series, though season 1 is probably a bit rough around the edges. JMS isn't the best writer, and I'm sure certain parts haven't aged well, but he does a damn good job of building an entire plot that is planned from beginning to end. BSG suffered from the opposite greatly, and it shows with some of the final episodes and decisions. It's not quite as rough as Farscape, but not as clean-cut as Star Trek, either. It seems to find a pretty good happy medium there. I think the story arcs were so successful that ST:DS9 starting doing their own with the Dominion War. TV series just didn't do that sort of long-reaching story back then and B5 was one of the first who pulled it off successfully, even if JMS was constantly under threat of losing his ratings and story. (Bruce commented that every time he woke up, he was never certain if he would still have a job that day.)

[SineSwiper]

Edit: That Space series looks interesting but isn't on Instant Watch

S:A&B was a pretty good series, though short-lived. Like SeaQuest (both were on around the same time), they seemed to figure out the worst way to paint themselves into a corner with the season finale, and never really recovered.

Oh, and about Firefly. Yes, you must watch it and Serenity. And then cry like a girl that it got cancelled so soon.

[Imakeholesinu]

Edit: That Space series looks interesting but isn't on Instant Watch

S:A&B was a pretty good series, though short-lived. Like SeaQuest (both were on around the same time), they seemed to figure out the worst way to paint themselves into a corner with the season finale, and never really recovered.

Oh, and about Firefly. Yes, you must watch it and Serenity. And then cry like a girl that it got cancelled so soon.

It's too bad that the Firefly fan base can't mobilize the same way the Arrested Development fanbase did.

[Shrinweck]

At this point I don't want Firefly to continue. As far as I'm concerned he ended it with Serenity. It would only go downhill.

[SineSwiper]

It already did. Joss already admitted that he won't be trying to revive the series, and the movie had a sense of finality to it that you didn't really want to go back from.