Prepare for Starburst: A Farscape Rewatch Thread

[Bluemeany]

did I put in the wrong disk? Whoops! *runs to check scheduled*

Edited: Nevermind....I'm ok...I just was really late as I thought with Losing Time. Next up Relativity for me too.

*Waves*

Yep me too guys. Sorry. So, so late. I haven't even got around to watching Losing Time yet Will try and get to it tomorrow along with Relativity.

Although I would like to point out that a lot of this has to do with my work being manic due to a certain election result earlier in the week. I'm looking at you Americans. It's great you're exercising your democratic rights and all but it's playing havoc with my work life balance.

[squirrely1]

*Waves*

Yep me too guys. Sorry. So, so late. I haven't even got around to watching Losing Time yet Will try and get to it tomorrow along with Relativity.

Although I would like to point out that a lot of this has to do with my work being manic due to a certain election result earlier in the week. I'm looking at you Americans. It's great you're exercising your democratic rights and all but it's playing havoc with my work life balance.

Shhhh we are trying to put that election behind us! . Take your time. *taps fingers on table* hurry up already... looking forward to your review.

[jelgate]

It seems we are all behind. Has anyone even seen FH? I have been crazy busy with this new job. Its hard to find times for reviews. I'm going to do Relativity review shortly and watch Incubator tonight. And maybe even Sunday's episode

[squirrely1]

I haven't seen FH. Do you have a way to reach her via email or something to check on her?

[squirrely1]

Losing Time - From the Companion Book

I will spoiler it so those who have not posted their review yet so they can look at their leisure! Also, there is a little spoilery bit for future eps mentioned.

Spoiler:

The initial inspiration for 'Losing Time' came from a bizarre incident at Ben Browder's audition for Rockne S. O'Bannon and David Kemper many years earlier, when the actor had spontaneously started bleeding. "Justin had always said that he wanted to do something with that image," David Kemper recalls. "So he came up with the idea of a being coming into the ship, then Crichton suddenly has blood running down his head, and doesn't remember it happening. This was also the first solo Moya episode after the split. We knew we had some funny Moya stories coming up, so we wanted a serious one, which set out people against each other. It had to be a character piece, which Justin is great at. It all leaps off the screen in a funny way, yet there's a drama being played out."

The episode saw Gigi Edgley give what Ben Browder describes as "a really brave, fantastic performance. She was so convincing as the possessed Chiana." Edgley herself explains, "I thought the energy rider would be a lot more evil if she initially tasted as sweet as the sweetest of temptation's juice that dribbles from Adam's apple! I workshopped a few different forms of possession," she continues. "I tried to imagine what this rider would sound like. It seemed to be androgynous, flighty, cheeky and spontaneous. It had traveled through many worlds and tasted many spirits. I figured that it had to be inspired by the moment, to use whatever technique it knew to manipulate the person it was confronted by at the time. The first person the rider had to convince was Crichton, so I tried to conjure the most inviting creature that Crichton could imagine, yet still remain truthful to the fact that it was an alien species."

"That was the start of Chiana having an ability to see the future," Kemper adds. "Justin wondered what would happen is after she's been possessed, something changes in her. We didn't want to give her a 'super power' that she could use any time, but something that could grow, and be different and interesting."

Pilot's possession posed a challenge for the puppetry team. "Mario Halouvas pushed physically within the body to try and do something new, and he came up with the good's, Sean Masterson comments. "We extended what we were doing in 'Eat Me', and really got into it!"

Ben Browder most clearly remembers "the death of DRD Pike. We named him on the set --Pike was an obscure reference from those of us who loved the original series of Star Trek. But after you've named the character, and he doesn't get out of the StarBurst chamber, that's a tragic moment. How does it happen that these mechanical objects, that just blink once for yes and twice for no, are imbued with a character that you actually care about? I found it really sad when little DRD Pike died."

While 'Losing Time' was in pre-production, the writing team was also working ahead on 'Incubator', "We knew that we wanted to to the Command Carrier at the end of the season," David Kemper explains, "so we took the opportunity to put in a 'B' story to set up 'Incubator', which in turn set up the end of the year. We introduced some characters who would play through the whole year, and gave it some continuity."

Co-Kura Strappa was played by Danny Adcock, who had impressed the production team as Traltixx in season two's 'Crackers Don't Matter'. "He's someone who can play comedy and drama, and he knows how to move and act under prosthetics," praises Kemper. "You can use him over an over under prosthetic, and he's not afraid. He's our mail Fransesca Buller!"

Ok so wow I was wrong about the Energy Rider being more benevolent. I didn't see it as evil as Tallip...but they were essentially the same type of creature. Tallip had just become more greedy.

And Holy Cow...the inspiration for this ep regarding Ben was bizarre I wonder what the details were for that? Anyone know?

[squirrely1]

Relativity

Hehehehehe this one should really get jel going!! Talk about jealousy.....You know you are jealous of me jel cuz you can't sort out this shippy stuff like I can!

Ok so this ep is a great one for the John/Aeryn shippers. It really does pay off those years of angst, but at the same time you are sort of (in the back of your mind) saddened for Moya John in that he will never know this memory or as of this moment he has 100% lost Aeryn to Talyn John. That is huge if you think about it and sad all at the same time. Such a bittersweet thing we have here. Now the opening is hilarious and this is where I really credit the writing team that they didn't even have to show the sex between Aeryn/John all they had to do was show how it was effecting Rygel....we get all the details and then some when it then switches to John pretending by pounding on poor Talyn's bulkhead and crying out with Aeryn commenting..."you were louder than that!" That, my friends, is brilliant shippery writing. Comedic and not too over the top sappy but it gives us a confirmation that Aeryn/John are sleeping together and are 100% a couple. Not that there was any doubt showing the clothes on the floor and them actually in bed together, but still it is a very fun more PG take on the whole situation which I think is quite clever. *hands jel the barf bucket*

With all shippiness aside I loved this ep for many reasons but for the main one that it allows Aeryn to close that final PK door and come face to face with her mother. Again more brilliant writing in my mind that they don't simply make it some sweet reunion between mother and daughter but yet a brutal confrontation of which there is no reconciliation. That makes this show resonate so well, because many times in life that is what happens we as adult children do fall out of favor with our parents and may never mend that bridge. Sad but real. I am glad she didn't have to kill her mother, and thought for a moment that maybe Crais wouldn't do it. I think they made it clear that he indeed did kill her. I think Xhalax had to die in order for Aeryn to complete her transformation and just as she states to John at the end all her ties to the PK's are now completely severed. One note during that scene with Aeryn and John at the end,notice all the red lighting between them? You'll take note of more red lighting in an upcoming ep as well and I just think it's funny that I believe (and I'm sure Blue will elaborate on this more) they are using the red to show the heat/amorous/love between Aeryn and Talyn John. LOL Go ahead make fun *puts up dukes*

What else I got from this ep....

Nice bait and switch with Crais that Johnny boy did there! Also, was it me or was John being a tad reckless with all the various plant life on that planet. He finds some apparently gawd awful smelling jelly stuff and he just starts rubbing it all over their faces. I mean really? What if it had some sort of acid in it or something or enzyme that would eat their flesh off? He picks up that fruit and pours it on Crais' wound.....it bubbles like acid.....NICE!! The way this ep actually deals with adhoc first aid is actually pretty comical, the way they use the vines to heal Talyn, to the mysterious drug that Xhalax sniffs which dilates her eyes and gives her some inner strength and heals her wounds? Crack Cocaine? Down to Stark sewing Rygel's robe to his stomach! LOL I enjoyed this pretty fun roller coaster ride.

I also, loved the call out to Zhaan that encounter that Stark spoke of reassuring everyone that Zhaan is watching over them and that touching scene when Stark was comforting the dying Rygel. Amazing! Loved it! Speaking of Stark and Rygel we cannot forget that hilarious bit in the beginning when Stark is like, "Friend or Foe?! Friend or Foe?! Friend or Foe?!" And Rygel says, "Foe you idiot we don't have any Friends!"

All in all I loved this ep for all the ways it helped to bring many of our characters sort of full circle and even Crais and John had a come to Jesus meeting after John counseled with Head Scorpy. I enjoyed the action and how it all impacted our characters.

[jelgate]

Relativity

Despite what SQ thinks, I actually like this episode. I however don't find this a shipping episode. Besides the opening scene where they are tormenting Rygel, John and Aeryn aren't really in this episode together. This is really a character episode mostly. Aeryn capturing Xhalax and then Xhalax after is really not important. Its about the emotional turmoil there. Aeryn has changed and wants so much to believe in this compassionate and caring person. The sad result is while Aeryn went on a path away from the Peacekeepers, Xhalax went a different way and betrayed everyone to keep going on as a Peacekeeper. That person might have existed at one point. But the killing of Aeryn's father and her subsequent actions show the Xhalax in the recording no longer exist. I thin we knew that from the second she killed the slow tracker when the retrieval squad showed up. If we know that she is not going to change then what is the point? The point is to once again show Aeryn's growth and counterpoint who she is. At this point she is not going to become Xhalax but she could have if not for joining John, D'Argo, and Zhaan back in S1. Moya is what changed her. It changed all of them. But it could have been if things were different. Its an emotional journey to find that person Xhalax was and for Aeryn to find she no longer exists if she ever did. This cumulates but we are getting ahead of ourselves. The other part is John and Crais. I thought we were done with these two fighting. I know they are never going to be friends but I thought they had at least come to an understanding. Joking aside, I don't really blame Crais for what he is doing. Did he use us to get protection from the Peacekeepers? Yes. We have done the same with Talyn so I can see how we use each other for our own strength. As an outsider I can see the reasoning to help each other. I can also see why John was ticked off. He is kind of unstable with how Scorpy has used John. I also loved his little torturing of Crais and using him as bait for the trackers. Hilarious to watch John sucker punch them by shooting in the back. Rygel and Stark seem to be used for comic relief again. The whole time they are pulling weeds from Talyn until Rygel gets stabbed where they are arguing about Stark's poor surgical skills. The two groups converge at the end where Aeryn has a gun pointed at Xhalax. Its to show how far Aeryn has come. She can't shoot a person in cold blood. This is noted by John how this is different when Aeryn defends herself by shooting people who shoot at her. It also shows how much Aeryn has changed since Xhalax would have no problem if the roles were reversed. This doesn't make Crais a bad guy for shooting Xhalax. For him its self-defense as she was coming for Crais

[Bluemeany]

Shhhh we are trying to put that election behind us! ..

It's okay, I think hardly anyone noticed.

[Bluemeany]

Losing Time

Hey, so I’m finally getting around to this! Crichton hasn’t slept in 10 days and frankly, at the moment I kinda know the feeling.

At least we’re not at the stage where we’re lying on the floor spontaneously drip- bleeding. I found that bit icky: even more so now, thanks to SQ’s book, I know it can happen in real life!

Actually my Dad and my grandpa both have this thing where they spontaneously bleed under the skin. So that they get like these purple blood stain patches. It’s something hereditary to do with not having platelets and that’s icky enough. But I never knew it could be dripping and pooling like that!

I agree with Jel: even with the chip out, Moya John is still unhinged. What do we think, a few more sandwiches short of a picnic than Talyn John? On screen at least? Although (thinking ahead and the episodes coming up - Scratch & Sniff/ Revenging Angel) maybe Moya John just has a more trippy time generally.

I got very attached to DRD Pike and was sad when he didn’t make it.

Like SQ, I think they are setting up a relationship between D’Argo and Jool. Not a romantic relationship necessarily, but certainly D’Argo seems to care more about her than anyone else on the ship does right now.

From an editing pov, this one is actually kind of nice. The aliens have this lovely butterfly/light/dragon thing going on and it looks good overlaid on other shots. There’s some nice zooms in on pretty much everyone, including one of Crichton with his head in his hands that is almost 360 degrees. Chiana gets a lot of shots in blue which look great.

[squirrely1]

Blue, I'm crushed you didn't mention the red color/lights on John and Aeryn.

[Bluemeany]

Blue, I'm crushed you didn't mention the red color/lights on John and Aeryn.

Well, I'm not quite at Relativity yet But from memory, yes I think you're right: Red/Green lights for Talyn, Aeryn and Talyn-John, Gold/Blue for Moya and Moya-John.

I read it more though that it's because Talyn is more of an angry/jealous ship so he has the associated colour scheme, rather than it's because some of his crew are more amorous.

However, saying that Meltdown is coming up...and I distinctly remember one shot where they position Aeryn and Crichton so the back light of Talyn makes the shape of a heart ( it's getting silly by this point I think we can agree), so the colour might be deliberate?

[squirrely1]

Well, I'm not quite at Relativity yet But from memory, yes I think you're right: Red/Green lights for Talyn, Aeryn and Talyn-John, Gold/Blue for Moya and Moya-John.

I read it more though that it's because Talyn is more of an angry/jealous ship so he has the associated colour scheme, rather than it's because some of his crew are more amorous.

However, saying that Meltdown is coming up...and I distinctly remember one shot where they position Aeryn and Crichton so the back light of Talyn makes the shape of a heart ( it's getting silly by this point I think we can agree), so the colour might be deliberate?

Haha I never heard of the heart thing. Yes take note in meltdown all the red I distinctively remember the red.

[squirrely1]

Relativity - From the Companion Book

I'll spoiler this one as well so you can read it when you want. And some of these are spoiler-y for future eps.

Spoiler:

"Claudia and I had a great rapport, as people and as actors," guest star Linda Cropper says. "I think we just locked very instinctively into each other's dynamic in a way, and we didn't need to do a lot of talking through the mother/daughter relationship."
"I was delighted that we ended up having more than one episode together," Claudia Black adds. "I didn't think that they would weave Aeryn's mother back into the storyline that much. It's also a very accessible storyline, because if she's alive, then it's possible we can encounter her on numerous occasions." David Kemper comments, "We've been waiting a long time to bring Aeryn together with her mother. It was good for the third season to flesh Aeryn out in that way, and bring her some closure."

"It was mostly a very unsentimental episode," Rockne S. O'Bannon points out. "So therefore the scenes that are sentimental, or have heart and emotion, are just that bit more potent. Early on, when Xhalax is unconscious Aeryn touches her face -- that's such a tender moment." As well as the dynamic between Aeryn and Xhalax Sun, "'Relativity' is also about Crichton and Crais," O'Bannon continues. "Crais yet again shows himself to have betrayed everybody for his own purposes."

"It's always hard to see Crais as a baddie," director Peter Andrikidis admits. "Even with the villains, David tries to make sure that it's not black and white. I think they developed that character really well."

The biggest problem for every department was the jungle set. "I still hate the vines," Andrikidis says. "They ended up being made of rope, because of big safety issues. The floors were very slippery. Claudia fell over in the big chase scene, and everyone was just slipping everywhere."
"I could see maybe a metre in front of me on the ground," Thomas Holesgrove recalls. "There were a lot of very low hanging vines and things to band your head on!" Ben Browder is more blunt. "That set was a real pain in the butt, because of the wood chips on the floor," he says. "It was very tricky to film in, and Peter did a magnificent job shooting there. It's a difficult episode, because you're dealing with a space where it's very difficult to define any sense of geography. When you shoot on a set like that, there's a danger that you can lose the threads of the story. That's not taking anything away from the art department -- creating a jungle on the floor of a warehouse is very difficult to do. It's beautiful work, and in fast turn around television, a jungle is a very difficult thing to 'sell' to the viewer, so I think Peter and everyone involved did a very good job."

"We wanted to do Predator in the jungle set with the *Colartas," explains Kemper. "But the reality of film-making is that it's hard to make these gigantic creatures run and jump, because the guys have got a million dollars' worth of electronics on their head! So instead of making the Colartas fast and sleek, we made them more like grizzly bears that can crash through the undergrowth, and have special tracking and weaponry skills."

Team Rygel enjoyed the Hynerian Dominar's role in 'Relativity'. "We had a fair bit of action, and Rygel had to carry it through -- no one else could do it," Tim Mieville says. "Because Rygel has short arms, it's very hard to convey if he's hacking anything, so we decided he'd saw his way through, which was easier for us to do. Stark ended up doing most of the work, but it didn't matter, as that was typical of Rygel. We're lucky that we have a character who has a regal personality -- it helps us justify why he's not doing something.!" <like jel!

ok so that last little bit that said "like jel" wasn't really in the companion book....and speaking of jel notice they mentioned the art department in this one??!! Although they were all complaining on how horrible the set was so...meh...*shrugs*

Anyway... I *asterisk the new creature of the week Colartas and the book says this about them: Colartas are enslaved mercenaries with multiple hearts, whose highly developed senses make them perfect trackers. They have an acute sense of smell, exceptional hearing and can detect the heat signatures of hidden quarry. They are capable of shape-shifting, assuming the appearance and voice of other beings. They must successfully complete nine missions to earn their freedom from the Peacekeepers.

[jelgate]

I know I am behind on reviews compared to the episode order. My new job doesn't get me much free time during the weekend. I am going to try to catch up during 4 day Thanksgiving weekend.

Incubator

I remember when I first watched this episode, SQ called Scorpy 101. Their is a lot of truth. Some know my likes and dislikes better than others. Most of you know I love Scorpy as a villian. Their is old saying about the best villains are the ones that blur the lines between antagonist and antihero. What I mean is that the villains are people you can almost sympathize with. They are still the enemy but the reasons behind their heinous acts are almost justifiable. Star Trek DS9 (my favorite Trek) was good at this and so is Farscape. In the past I always found Scorpy a great enemy because he was smarter than us and it was a challenge to outwit him. Then this season we learn more about his motives are because he fears the Scarrans. As neural John said, I have no love for Scarrans. This deepens my understanding as good people had done some terrible things because of the fear of the enemy. Look at the Cold War. If not I'm sure SQ can tell us about it. That is why I love this episode. Its a complete backstory of Scorpy and how he became who he is. What happened to Scorpy was nothing more than torture. I suppose their is some bias as we are seeing it from Scorpy's eyes but this shows us for the first time how terrible the Scarrans are. Sure we have seen them as be a thorn in Moya's side but IIRC this is the first time we get a long dedicated look at their society. The first time we see their contempt for anyone weaker than them. I think the female Scarran is what sells this. She is so good at tormenting Scorpy. I love the part when she denies Scorpy water. Shows just how vindicative she is. At the same token I say this is where Scorpy learned patience (Nerve reference). He was intelligent enough to overpower someone physically stronger than him and escape to Peacekeeper space. That is not easy to do. The second part of him returning to his parents pod I saw was a quest to figure out his origin. It may have been stupid, but let me tell you a story. A friend of mine from public school was adopted. Their is no question he loved his adoptive parents (as well as teenagers can) but he often wondered about his birth family. So I can understand Scorpy wanting to scope out his family. Shows how well the Scarran can gauge him. He did kill her though once again showing how intelligent Scorpy can be. The fun part is that despite all this we know the hardships that Scorpy has suffered does not justify his actions which is why neural John says no in helping Scorpy figure out the equations to help with their liquidification problem. The first time I saw this episode I thought the scientist on Moya was random. I also thought the whole liquid problem was strange. Why did this not happen to John before? I know now this is a great insight in foreshadowing for the season finale. We'll get there eventually. As they are fighting one of my favorite line is when D'Argo says this is Zhaan all over them. I love how that wounds John. It shows how much he still blames himself for Zhaan.

[squirrely1]

Incubator

I was purposefully waiting until jel posted because I knew he would cut my work short! There is no doubt that jelgate loves Scorpy and this is his ep to gush about! But jelgate you have to finish your story of your friend from school.....how did his search for his birth parents go?

There is also no doubt that most adoptive people want to find their birth family. That is in our human nature to solve the most profound mystery as to our origin, and so can we say it was in Scorpy's Sebacean nature too? Yes this gives us something to identify with him. This also proves that he is mainly more Sebacean than Scarran in a sense, but more importantly he has clung to his Sebacean roots more than his Scarran roots. I love how he reacted to seeing how his birth mother was treated and how brutal she was raped and then realizing how the birth killed her, I think that was the tipping point for Scorpy that he would cut out the Scarran bits of himself if he thought he could survive. But he did move on and found a way to make the best of his situation. I love how we learned that he had gained a special ability not only seeing the heat signature that all Scarrans can see but he can read it when someone is lying. That is a pretty powerful skill to have. No wonder John can never get away with lying to him.

Back to what jel was saying that all this backstory does almost make you pity Scorpy but you don't take the pity route because he comes out victorious in the end. I for one wanted to see who he got to make that awesome suit he is wearing. I loved the early cooling design which was some tube that I guess pumped coolant into his head. We can now fill in that at some point he went to that Diagnosian to get the cooling rod system installed. So we can see that as Bracca said it best "He ALWAYS survives". So there is this seed planted here in this ep that Scorpy is so very resourceful and he will do anything to get vengeance so ...yeah don't piss this guy off!

So from all this as jel mentioned we get some ground work laid that eventually leads John to come to realize that maybe being on the side of Scorpy wouldn't be so bad. And it almost wins the job as the poster child and slogan for "The enemy of my enemy is my friend!"

As for all the trouble they are having with the wormhole....science wise I'm confused because help me out...didn't Aeryn go through a wormhole with John before? Has Aeryn's prowler gone through before? We know that Rygel did, so again I am foggy on why they are having so much trouble with it liquefying everyone. If it has only been John's module maybe that is the key. Figures we Earthlings could finally do something more advanced than all of these aliens. YAY...GO EARTH!

Anyway....I've blathered on enough. All in all it was a great ep to learn more about Scorpy and it sets up some exciting stuff....like those flowers..... *cues dramatic music*