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Prepare for Starburst: A Farscape Rewatch Thread

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    Prepare for Starburst: A Farscape Rewatch Thread

    You have seen them on Gateworld before. Well, here is another of those threads that documents a rewatch of a beloved show. Obviously I am talking about Farscape. Myself and a few GW friends of mine got together thought how fun it would be to do a group rewatch where we rewatch and discuss the episodes on this thread. If you are interested in joining in the rewatch, I welcome a different perspective and opinion. The catch is that the original group agreed to only do two episodes a week. Real life ( I hate that guy) is too hectic sadly. So if two episodes a week is too slow I respectfully ask you don't clutter our thread as it will confuse the thread. If its not too slow, I encourage and welcome you to join in the group rewatch of Farscape. The schedule and the episode order is in the spoiler tags below

    Spoiler:


    Season 4
    72. Natural Election (1/8)
    73. John Quixote (1/14)
    74. I Shrink Therefore I Am (1/15)
    75. A Perfect Murder(1/21)
    76. Coup by Clam(1/22)
    77. Unrealized Reality Pt 1 (1/28)
    78. Kansas Pt 2(1/29)
    79. Terra Firms Pt 3 (2/4)
    80. Twice Shy(2/5)
    81. Mental as Anything (2/11)
    82. Bringing Home the Beacon(2/12)
    83. A Constellation of Doubt(2/18)
    84. Prayer (2/19)
    85. We're So Screwed Pt 1: Feta Attraction(2/25)
    86. We're So Screwed Pt 2: Hot to Katrizi(2/26)
    87 We're So Screwed Pt 3: La Bomba(3/4)
    88. Bad Timing (3/5)
    89. The Peacekeeper Wars Pt 1 (3/11)
    90. The Peacekeeper Wars Pt 2(3/12)
    Last edited by jelgate; 15 January 2017, 11:45 AM. Reason: Removing finished episodes
    Originally posted by aretood2
    Jelgate is right

    #2
    *dusts off her Farscape DVD'S and favorites thread* I'm ready
    Originally posted by jelgate
    This brings much pain but SQ is right

    Comment


      #3
      I'll be watching too -- albeit Saturday might have to be skipped this week as it is the day my sister and I return home from our vacation we are on now.
      Heightmeyer's Lemming -- still the coolest Lemming of the forum

      Proper Stargate Rewatch -- season 10 of SG-1

      Comment


        #4
        Well, I guess I am not one of Jel's friends...............
        Damn Northern Hemispherist

        sigpic
        ALL THANKS TO THE WONDERFUL CREATOR OF THIS SIG GO TO R.I.G.
        A lie is just a truth that hasn't gone through conversion therapy yet
        The truth isn't the truth

        Comment


          #5
          *Waves to everyone*

          New to the forum, but I would like to join in on this re-watch please. Saw Farscape as a kid; it was on BBC 2, 6:45pm right after The Simpsons if I remember right .

          I watched some of it the other day and, bloody hell, does it move. The camera dances: it’s a fan-vidders dream. So… I’ve decided to watch the whole thing again, edit it up as I go along and make a video.

          I’m glad I found this thread as there’s a lot of footage to get through and I think I could do with the company!

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Falcon Horus View Post
            I'll be watching too -- albeit Saturday might have to be skipped this week as it is the day my sister and I return home from our vacation we are on now.
            The schedule was a rough estimates. This thing started with SQ and myself and we knowing we could only do a few weeks. I realize not everyone is going to be rigid with the schedule. And then you just have to factor in time zone differences. I just don't want someone to be weeks ahead in the rewatch
            Originally posted by Gatefan1976 View Post
            Well, I guess I am not one of Jel's friends...............
            Damn Northern Hemispherist

            Don't take in personally. I only asked three people before I created the thread. You are of course welcome to join. Might be interested to get a perspective from native where Farscape was filmed.
            Originally posted by aretood2
            Jelgate is right

            Comment


              #7
              Oh goody Looks like I'm gonna have to order more popcorn!
              Originally posted by jelgate
              This brings much pain but SQ is right

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by jelgate View Post
                The schedule was a rough estimates. This thing started with SQ and myself and we knowing we could only do a few weeks. I realize not everyone is going to be rigid with the schedule. And then you just have to factor in time zone differences. I just don't want someone to be weeks ahead in the rewatch
                I'll just shift it to a day later for my watches due to time difference.
                Don't take in personally. I only asked three people before I created the thread. You are of course welcome to join. Might be interested to get a perspective from native where Farscape was filmed.
                I was kidding Jello, it happens when I get out of the basement...................
                sigpic
                ALL THANKS TO THE WONDERFUL CREATOR OF THIS SIG GO TO R.I.G.
                A lie is just a truth that hasn't gone through conversion therapy yet
                The truth isn't the truth

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Gatefan1976 View Post
                  I'll just shift it to a day later for my watches due to time difference.

                  I was kidding Jello, it happens when I get out of the basement...................
                  don't forget to put on some pants we don't want to see you traipsing around in your underwear
                  Originally posted by jelgate
                  This brings much pain but SQ is right

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Lets get this frellin thing started
                    Premiere

                    I forgot how bad the visual effects of Crichton encountering the Peacekeepers and Moya. Lets be honest about this one. Its the show's pilot. Pilots have a tall order to fill. You have 43 minutes (well 50 in this case) to introduce the characters and the story. I remember the first time I watched this episode I wasn't sold on the show (Sorry SQ). It does a decent job of establishing what Moya is and our enemies the Peacekeepers. More than anything I remember being confused on what is going on. The episode flows more smoothly now that I know the whole story. I remember really liking Zhaan and D'Argo from the start. Probably for their makeup look. I remember laughing at Rygel negotiating with that giant puppet which is important to me as a big part that I loved about Farscape was the humor. Unlike SQ, I was never really sold on Aeryn in this episode. I understand what has happened her. She was the enemy and has been shaken by being betrayed by her people. But at this stage of the show I was just put off by her. This point the story is quite simplistic. We are on the run from the Peacekeepers because of Crais' vendetta. I know it gets better but I am the first to admit the start of Farscape is shaky
                    Originally posted by aretood2
                    Jelgate is right

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Here we go… episode 1

                      First: Moya. The sets are so beautiful. All the curves, there’s not a single straight line in the whole thing. It really reminds me of the design for Christopher Eccleston’s TARDIS (which I also love); the coral-like columns and the whole thing being organic.

                      Second, everything is so bright! The later series get so dark, both in tone and in lighting. But scrolling down my clip gallery, the colours popping out are mainly blue, gold and orange.

                      Related to the above, pre-Scorpius Crichton looks very young and innocent. He’s actually expressing curiosity and wonder, the fool. That’ll change.

                      Aeryn has me totally on her side from the line: ‘Ah yes (compassion), I know this feeling. I hate it’. This, and the bit later when she tries to stand up for Crichton, shows that she already has feelings of humanity (for want of a better word) inside her. And in her world, they are damn inconvenient and dangerous. And unlike for Crichton or Zahn (superficially the two most caring characters in series 1), she would never get thanked, praised or ‘paid back’ for the compassion. And yet she still has it.

                      1999 seems like a really old year, slightly kitsch year to be from now. Eeeek!

                      I’ve edited up later TV series and this looks (CGI included) comparatively pretty good. Crichton’s module, Moya escaping and the ‘dump world’ they fly down to looks as good as anything in series 1, 2 or 3 of Doctor Who, which is a good six or seven years later.

                      Related to above: the camera moves As a fan vidder this makes me very happy. Not as much in this episode as later on but there are still way more zooms, pans and camera rolls than your average TV episode ( contemporary stuff included).

                      Mirroring blocking wot I noticed…. when Crichton grabs Aeryn’s arm, she turns defensively and he steps back and puts his hands up; there is an almost identical scene is almost the same place in Moya in Series 4 Episode ‘Twice Shy’. Not sure if it’s deliberate?

                      My one quibble: Crais isn’t a particularly great baddie. Or rather, I don’t think his motivation for pursuing Crichton really adds much emotionally to the story. All Crichton can say (repeatedly) is ‘it was an accident’. Crais pretty much already knows this anyway. He can’t get evidence to convince him, or bargain with him or try and understand his point of view… there’s nowhere to develop it to.

                      Okay so here’s my question to everyone, from the Premier, are there any signs of what Farscape is going to become? For me the give-aways are:

                      1.) The title music. It’s freaking weird. As a kid, it was the only thing about the show I found strange. Alien farting helium? Sure why not. Giant lobster Pilot: totally cool with. But 11 year old me thought the music was kind of warped. I think it’s the ‘Ah-ahhh-aahhhh-ah!’ bits.
                      2.) The Characters: they’ve got good ones. Everyone feels real and developed, even the puppet. Always a good sign.
                      3.) Crichton’s closing line about ‘psychotic life and death in technicolour’. I love that description, and I think it’s what they are aiming for and what the show becomes.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Jelgate - your viewing order doesn't match my DVD order.
                        Must keep a close eye on the titles or I'm going to mix them up at some point.

                        Farscape was never on TV in my part of the world so I wasn't so much aware of its existence until I was off to a convention in the UK where Gigi Edgley was going to be as well. By then Claudia Black had appeared on SG1 and since she was in Farscape also, we binge watched the show in order to be up to date. Loved it from the get-go, except for the intro theme... and that will never change.

                        The pilot (not to be confused with Pilot the character):

                        Best line and gets me every single time: "You fart helium?!"

                        I may have to agree with Jelgate that the pilot is confusing. There's a lot going on and little explained. It's almost like you're seeing it through the eyes of John Crighton himself. You're watching and discovering alongside him. Maybe that was the intention but it requires some patience which most audiences really don't have.

                        The CGI is okay for the time period. I really liked the design of Crais' carrier -- that almost WWII bomber airplane design.
                        Moya is a beautiful leviathan, inside and out. The sets must have been spectacular.

                        But what I enjoyed the most was the alien characters -- which are well and truly alien, and all the animatronics and alien-looking creatures.

                        And the DRD's -- definitely a project I would really like to do, to recreate a DRD-prop (preferably 1812, but a yellow one is fine too).
                        Heightmeyer's Lemming -- still the coolest Lemming of the forum

                        Proper Stargate Rewatch -- season 10 of SG-1

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Premiere
                          As for me what I was impressed with is how great this show has held up over the years. But I got a chuckle at John's helmet and the total lack of science they used in his leaving the atmosphere, and well I even think that Rockne or someone maybe Brian Henson said that was one thing (the helmet) they wish they had really put more thought into. The other thing that felt a little off to me was the music score. After watching some epic shows like BSG and The Walking Dead with Bear McCreary I'm sort of spoiled and tend to notice a lack of good musical score. I think this show picks up better later once they get in the rhythm of things. (literally)

                          Like Jel I wasn't actually sold out of the gate on this show either. I think it was rather slow at first.
                          But here is what I loved about this first Episode:
                          THEY ADDRESSED THE LANGUAGE BARRIER
                          So many times this is never addressed in Sci Fi TV where alien languages are never really dealt with. They just sort of skip through this and assume that all life forms apparently speak English...so I loved the translator chip that was inserted by the DRD. Which brings me to my next point.
                          UNIQUE CHARACTER BONDING - DRD (Diagnostic Repair Droid)
                          I loved the little bonding that John did with the DRD. This was something very small but is what set this show apart from other shows and really gave these actors a way to really flex their acting chops by way of emoting to a "puppet or droid such as a DRD". John befriended this little DRD who becomes quite special to him as he found a way to bond with it (repairing his broken antennae light) as well as realizing it was the one who injected him with the translator chip. Then once I saw Rygel interacting with the puppet as jel had described I knew this show was going to be interestingly creative. It took some getting use to at first I will be honest. I thought it was a bit like Sesame Street on Steroids or something but the way in which the actors really got into these little creatures really sold me on it.

                          HUMOR and HUMAN PERSPECTIVE IN AN ALIEN WORLD
                          I loved the way in which John sees this new world as both amazing and terrifying all at the same time. The funny bits (Rygel and the farting helium) and the "Freeze or I'll shoot you .....full of tiny little balls of light" was just another part of the charm of this show. I mean here is a human guy who is literally light years away from his home and he is realizing that the odds of him getting back home are probably very slim next to impossible and he is now traveling with a band of criminal aliens that want to pretty much kill him or eat him or something and he still manages to be funny and crack jokes. You gotta love it! This is about the time I fell in love with Ben Browder. His dry humor and quick wit only continues to get better as the show progresses. Not to mention just how great John and D'Argo play off one another. D'Argo has some hilarious lines too. Like the "From one warrior to another I'm going to hunt you down and kill you." I love D'argo's no nonsense tell it like it is quips set against John's soulful dramatic human responses.

                          OVERALL CREATIVENESS
                          This show is quite possibly one of the most creative albeit bizarre shows from the Sci Fi genre in my opinion. Everything from make up and costuming (minus the big deduction in points from that god awful helmet) to the lighting(colors) and camera angles and creative blocking. I think it's a complete piece of art from start to finish. I think it was a fresh take on the living ship concept and how they created this whole new alien universe that is quite foreign and shockingly crazy in the beginning. As John said, "What's wrong with you people??!" So the concepts were very creative and different and I think it has really held up to the test of time.
                          MOYA's UNIQUENESS AS A SHIP
                          Finally I appreciated that they were able to make a good quality show (Moya was not capable of being an aggressor as she could only run or Starburst away as a defensive maneuver) which to me made it a fresh idea so it wasn't just another Space battle show like Star Wars. I liked that Moya wasn't a battleship that was heavily loaded with cannons and such. This was interesting and sort of put them in a vulnerable position and made them "use their heads" in order to think and out strategize their enemies. This was genius and I really loved watching John....get down on the floor and do his math in order to work through their problem. That to me speaks volumes for how we should handle conflict instead of just pushing a "torpedo launch button".

                          In summary I too thought the show started off a bit weak compared to how strong it got later, but there were many things that I loved about it and these unique elements were what hooked me on it!
                          Originally posted by jelgate
                          This brings much pain but SQ is right

                          Comment


                            #14
                            here are a few screencaps to enjoy from Premiere: spoilered for space
                            Spoiler:

                            even John is appalled at his silly helmet

                            Zhaan and D'Argo meet American Scientist John Crichton

                            Ummm Hi! John gives Zhaan and D an American hello.


                            Beauty of Moya


                            example of the fun camera angles and blocking


                            Where are my clothes?


                            ahem....interesting take down maneuver


                            look what I have!

                            You can be more! I loved that line and that is the theme for John helping Aeryn become a better "person".

                            John's DRD buddy...oh and the recording message to dad another nice touch.
                            Originally posted by jelgate
                            This brings much pain but SQ is right

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Hi all.

                              Having just retired into town from life in a remote part of New Zealand where Internet was dial-up only and Sky TV was a luxury I couldn't afford I'm now able to do some catching up.

                              I had a recollection that, on a visit to a friend in civilization, I had seen a few episodes of an intriguing sci-fi series I wished I could see more of. I could remember very little detail - a sentient ship, a mixed crew of odd-balls, brainy, brawny and/or eye-candy and a surprisingly intelligent script compared with the (much older and rather cardboard) Star-Trek of Knuckles Kirk and Cerebral Spock.

                              I initially thought it might have been 'Andromeda', which screened at about the same time, but getting hold of that and watching the first few episodes revealed I was wrong - the ship I remembered was not only sentient it was organic, and I was sure that on-screen it resembled a sea-cucumber.

                              So thanks to the vast yet easily accessible wealth of knowledge on the Internet (when coupled with a fibre connection) it took me very few minutes to find an extensive list of TV sci-fi series made/screened within the period I suspected, from within which the title "Farscape" rang a distant bell. A few more minutes search confirmed this was what I was looking for.

                              So I now possess the whole first series and hope very shortly to begin viewing them - getting the whole story for the first time - and including getting to know an actress who was actually prepared to shave her head to play a part!

                              As this serendipitously almost coincides with the voyage of this thread I hope I may be permitted to join it once I have caught up.

                              Regards,

                              Tom

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