notes on Farscape S4, 4x01 (Crichton Kicks) - 4x03 (What Was Lost 2: Resurrection)
Past Farscape posts are indexed here.
PLEASE NOTE: I am watching Farscape for the first time, and I am staying resolutely spoiler free. As of this writing, the last episode I've seen is 4x13 (Terra Firma). You're welcome to comment on any eps I've seen, including those not mentioned here, but if you spoil me, I will beat you to death with a shovel. A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend. Also, please keep in mind that I wrote these notes while watching the ep; I work on the prose afterwards, but the notes themselves are limited to what I'd seen at the time.
4x01 Crichton Kicks
I hate the beard. I particularly hate the use of the beard as a sign of the passing of time. Find another way, guys.
I'm also not loving the new credits.
On the other hand, I like the 1812 DRD. So I'm not entirely cranky. Yet.
Harvey on the beach is amusing, but of course the real question is: where are the margarita shooters?
I'm somehow not surprised that Chiana and Rygel decided to exploit Chiana's visions by cheating at cheat-proof gambling... Nor that Chiana attempts to toss off the little fact of torture as no big deal. That's my messed-up girl.
You know, what none of my individual notes are conveying is that I found this episode really lame and incoherent. A lot of stuff happened, but none of it made much of an impression on me. Except Sputnik-girl, who made just enough of an impression to really, really annoy me.
The individual moments with Aeryn were nearly ruined, for me, by John's obsession with and mental representation of her pregnancy. I do think it's interesting that his version of Aeryn is so ruthless in her assessment of him: "I'm not right for you, John; I was just the best of limited choices." This is not, in fact, what Aeryn suggested about why she was leaving; her reasons were fundamentally emotional-she can't bear to risk watching him die again. But that doesn't mean that beach!Aeryn is wrong. One of the wonders of John and Aeryn, for me, is that they fall for each other and occasionally try to work out the being-together and sometimes even are good for each other without, in fact, being right for each other. I find that much more moving than the idea that they're Meant To Be. But maybe that's me.
I really wanted there to be something interesting going on with the title-the Crichton kick, John asserting himself, John defying his surroundings-but there just... wasn't, not in any way that felt meaningful. Bleah.
4x02 What Was Lost: Sacrifice
"We're here and we're alive and nobody is trying to kill us." I'm not the only one who snorted and thought Famous last words, right?
Chiana's hair is a mess this season. Scorpius is in the Aurora chair. D'Argo's revenge mission is apparently on hiatus. My world is all askew!
Hey, there's a forgettable macguffin of a plot! My world's back on track! Except, not really. This just isn't the Farscape I know and love and occasionally roll my eyes at.
Although I'm certainly rolling my eyes at Grayza. Yes, she's creepy, she's villainous, she's awful, very effective, good job; but I'm not interested in her. Scorpius was always an interesting character; his agenda was interesting. Grayza's agenda has not yet been made interesting to me, and the Exotic Femme Fatale thing I noted when she first appeared is not getting complicated in any meaningful way. The fact that she uses Evil Compliance-Inducing Secretions rather than just feminine wiles is not a step up, as far as I'm concerned; she's still presented as evil for using sexual response to get what she wants. I don't know why this show, which has done pretty well by its female characters over the years, would revert to such a tired stereotype, but I'm monumentally annoyed. Bleah.
Also, completely aside from the evil, that outfit is just spectacularly tacky, and not in a good way.
4x03 What Was Lost: Resurrection
Three lame episodes in a row: not the achievement I was looking for. As a meta-note: this was the last ep that renenet and I marathoned together, and it annoyed me so much that I didn't return to S4 for several months.
To elaborate: annoying sea monster, annoying Granny, annoying redheaded Sputnik-girl, and now we're losing Jool, whom I've come to quite like. The planet's been restored, but I don't care. Plus, there's no Aeryn. I mentioned the part where I'm annoyed, right? Even the bondage fun is not saving this ep.
To quote my notes: "The show is confusing motion with action."
I'm familiar with seasons getting off to a rocky start. I mean, come on, I've watched seasons 3 and 4 of BtVS. But even lame early-season episodes of Buffy have certain things going for them: some funny dialogue, some character interactions that make sense, whatever. The first three episodes of this season just don't feel like Farscape to me; they feel like bad Farscape pastiche. They don't even look like Farscape, what with not being on Moya. I miss Pilot. I miss Aeryn. I miss having time with characters I actually like instead of the annoying granny and equally annoying redhead.
::grumbles::
PLEASE NOTE: I am watching Farscape for the first time, and I am staying resolutely spoiler free. As of this writing, the last episode I've seen is 4x13 (Terra Firma). You're welcome to comment on any eps I've seen, including those not mentioned here, but if you spoil me, I will beat you to death with a shovel. A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend. Also, please keep in mind that I wrote these notes while watching the ep; I work on the prose afterwards, but the notes themselves are limited to what I'd seen at the time.
4x01 Crichton Kicks
I hate the beard. I particularly hate the use of the beard as a sign of the passing of time. Find another way, guys.
I'm also not loving the new credits.
On the other hand, I like the 1812 DRD. So I'm not entirely cranky. Yet.
Harvey on the beach is amusing, but of course the real question is: where are the margarita shooters?
I'm somehow not surprised that Chiana and Rygel decided to exploit Chiana's visions by cheating at cheat-proof gambling... Nor that Chiana attempts to toss off the little fact of torture as no big deal. That's my messed-up girl.
You know, what none of my individual notes are conveying is that I found this episode really lame and incoherent. A lot of stuff happened, but none of it made much of an impression on me. Except Sputnik-girl, who made just enough of an impression to really, really annoy me.
The individual moments with Aeryn were nearly ruined, for me, by John's obsession with and mental representation of her pregnancy. I do think it's interesting that his version of Aeryn is so ruthless in her assessment of him: "I'm not right for you, John; I was just the best of limited choices." This is not, in fact, what Aeryn suggested about why she was leaving; her reasons were fundamentally emotional-she can't bear to risk watching him die again. But that doesn't mean that beach!Aeryn is wrong. One of the wonders of John and Aeryn, for me, is that they fall for each other and occasionally try to work out the being-together and sometimes even are good for each other without, in fact, being right for each other. I find that much more moving than the idea that they're Meant To Be. But maybe that's me.
I really wanted there to be something interesting going on with the title-the Crichton kick, John asserting himself, John defying his surroundings-but there just... wasn't, not in any way that felt meaningful. Bleah.
4x02 What Was Lost: Sacrifice
"We're here and we're alive and nobody is trying to kill us." I'm not the only one who snorted and thought Famous last words, right?
Chiana's hair is a mess this season. Scorpius is in the Aurora chair. D'Argo's revenge mission is apparently on hiatus. My world is all askew!
Hey, there's a forgettable macguffin of a plot! My world's back on track! Except, not really. This just isn't the Farscape I know and love and occasionally roll my eyes at.
Although I'm certainly rolling my eyes at Grayza. Yes, she's creepy, she's villainous, she's awful, very effective, good job; but I'm not interested in her. Scorpius was always an interesting character; his agenda was interesting. Grayza's agenda has not yet been made interesting to me, and the Exotic Femme Fatale thing I noted when she first appeared is not getting complicated in any meaningful way. The fact that she uses Evil Compliance-Inducing Secretions rather than just feminine wiles is not a step up, as far as I'm concerned; she's still presented as evil for using sexual response to get what she wants. I don't know why this show, which has done pretty well by its female characters over the years, would revert to such a tired stereotype, but I'm monumentally annoyed. Bleah.
Also, completely aside from the evil, that outfit is just spectacularly tacky, and not in a good way.
4x03 What Was Lost: Resurrection
Three lame episodes in a row: not the achievement I was looking for. As a meta-note: this was the last ep that renenet and I marathoned together, and it annoyed me so much that I didn't return to S4 for several months.
To elaborate: annoying sea monster, annoying Granny, annoying redheaded Sputnik-girl, and now we're losing Jool, whom I've come to quite like. The planet's been restored, but I don't care. Plus, there's no Aeryn. I mentioned the part where I'm annoyed, right? Even the bondage fun is not saving this ep.
To quote my notes: "The show is confusing motion with action."
I'm familiar with seasons getting off to a rocky start. I mean, come on, I've watched seasons 3 and 4 of BtVS. But even lame early-season episodes of Buffy have certain things going for them: some funny dialogue, some character interactions that make sense, whatever. The first three episodes of this season just don't feel like Farscape to me; they feel like bad Farscape pastiche. They don't even look like Farscape, what with not being on Moya. I miss Pilot. I miss Aeryn. I miss having time with characters I actually like instead of the annoying granny and equally annoying redhead.
::grumbles::