Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars
And so it ends. The series and my rewatch. I remember how happy I was when The Peacekeeper Wars were announced, and I'm still really glad that it, and not Bad Timing, wrapped up the show. Rewatcching, I have mostly the same yays and nays I had the first time around, though watching it directly after having seen the series proper made notice a few things more I didn't back then, when the time in between had been much longer.
First, some technical stuff: If you've seen Bad Timing only the week before, imo it's really noticeable that The Peacekeeper Wars had to rebuild the sets. Moya's interiors don't look quite the same - more metallic, less organic. Also, whatever they used to distort Lani Tupu's voice as Pilot in the series can't have been the same as they did in this two parter, because it does sound noticably different. Otoh, Raelee Hill's voice is pretty much the only thing that makes Sikozu immediately identifiable, since her look has changed so much in what on a Watsonian level were only 60 days. (BTW, I can buy that the different haircut and the black leather is due to having become a part of the PK crew, but even the skin design looks different - what's up with that?) Jothee, too, only has the voice to hold on to. Otoh, Grayza's pregnancy dress is definitely an improvement over her earlier costumes. (Mind you, there's the problem that if Peacekeepers have "geometric" pregnancies to avoid incapacitating their female soldiers for long, there's no reason why Grazya shouldn't have had the baby eons ago if she wanted to have it at all, with the Doylist answer simply being that the actress is pregnant, full stop. But I can fanwank this as Grayza having had her body modified anyway, and maybe thus the "geometric pregnancy" thing is no longer an option for her. The design for Staleek also looks somewhat different while that for Akhna remains the same. One last technical observation - Rygel showing diving and in motion at the very start made me think back in the day "ah, so that's where the budget went", and I still think it's neat we got to see it. (It's mentioned in the s3 opener that he dived for Aeryn on the ice planet as well, but we didn't see it.)
Now, for the content: one of the great appeals of The Peacekeeper Wars was then and remains on this rewatch that it rescued Aeryn as a character and John/Aeryn as a couple for me. And not because Claudia Black got a better wig. It's a lot of tiny but important character touches - the script remembers she has relationships with people not Crichton, as in her scenes with D'Argo, which also finally bring up the question as to how Aeryn herself feels about having a baby, the whole "shooting makes me feel better!" when she's having contractions, and the emphasis on her and John being a team (as opposed to being a codependent angst fest in motion) having each other's backs and bringing each other joy. THANK YOU. With John, too, you got to see him relate to people other than Aeryn and Scorpius - down to exchanging one last joke with D'Argo which kept D'Argo's death scene at the right side of pathos and dark humor instead of making it bathos.
Speaking of the trademark Farscape humor, most of the jokes still really work on me. I'll for the show forever for giving us canon mpreg, and Rygel's mpreg with the John/Aeryn baby, no less. Chiana's appalled reaction when Crichton tries to draft her as Aeryn's midwife ("I hate narls! I'm still a narl myself!") and her drinking the alcohol and quitting after having managed to turn the baby was perfect. Otoh, both back then and now I just don't think the Stark kicking and slapping is funny, and I'm not even a Stark fan. (Note: this is different from the scene the show means to be disturbing, i.e. everyone forcing the mask off Stark so he has to absorb Yondolar's knowledge.)
Speaking of things which didn't work: I've slightly changed my opinion on the whole "Sikozu the spy" reveal. Back then, I just plain rejected it, especially since I had read an interview with Wayne Pygram that made it pretty clear he didn't like the entire Scorpius/Sikozu relationship and saw it as mellowing Scorpius too much, so the reveal seemed a forced outside element torpedo this particular relationship (which I had rather liked). Upon rewatch, I still think the reason Sikozu is given for betraying Scorpius is ridiculous - she's hubristic, fine, but not so much that she would believe the Scarrans would free her entire people for her spying services, especially since Akhna doesn't even have the power to make that happen if she wanted to. Not to mention that this has her from secret living anti Scarran super weapon of the Kalish resistance able to blast Scarrans dead to Scarran spy within 60 days which she spent on a Command Carrier with Scorpius. But I'm more prepared to believe that if there had been a fifth season with more time, Sikozu would have been given a better reason. (Her choosing her own people over Scorpius per se, or, for that matter, her own life, if there's a scenario where she could believe the Scarrans would keep their word is something that I could see happening, but like I said - not just a "oh, we'll totally free the Kalish if you do this!" as a reward.) Also, Wayne Pygram's objections not withstanding, the script has Scorpius say "you threw away something unique" to Sikozu, thereby revealing he did care for her.
The Jool cameo, otoh, starts off just weird (at no point in the series had Jool ever shown the slightest romantic or just sexual interest in Crichton! When we last saw her, she was into D'Argo, if anyone! Jool smooching Chiana would also have worked! Just not Crichton!) and then becomes gratitiously carnage - would you believe it, I just plain had not remembered she actually dies along with the rest of the ancient Eidolons on Arnesk! Probably because our heroes can barely react to it in a blink and you miss it way before the next disaster strikes. So if possible, I liked this even less than the first time around.
Also getting a different reaction from me: Grunchlik. Grunchlik showing up again is just plain fan service and doesn't make much plot sense - given what happened the last time, even if he survived, why on earth would he go anywhere near our lot or why would they not shoot or freeze him on sight? Otoh, the actor dying this past year made me weirdly nostalgic when he came on screen, and so I did not mind.
Backstory reveals: the scene with Aeryn and Yondolar where he reveals the origin of the Peacekeepers to her remains a lovely bit of world building which I can believe was intentional (or if not, then a really good retcon). As was pointed out to me when I started this rewatch, the various ranks among the Peacekeepers aren't based on US military ranks but on US police ranks, which points to the Peacekeepers starting out as a galactic police force gone terribly wrong already. Not to mention that Crais shows up as a cop in Crichton's mind in "Won't get fooled again". Miind you, while police scandals were hardly new back when Farscape was originally broadcast, and the American police had been mlitarized back then already, this development has gone so muich further in the intervening years that the idea of "The Peacekeepers are what happens if a police force, however well intentioned at the start, is given alll the weaponry and power and no civilian control watsoever" gained added resonance.
The idea of the Eidolons per se, their ability to influence hostile people to negotiate and compromise with each other: walks a thin line in terms of free will. I mean, the implication is that they don't hypnotize people into obedience, they figure out what makes them tick and then create an atmosphere where these people's more rational instincts come to the fore and compromise can be achieved. But Staleek clearly is appalled (or pretends to be?) once Yondolar is dead as to how he behaved under the influence. Still, I do like that this is one Sci Fi series where the superpowerful entities aren't godlike (for either good or ill) or even super powerful per se, that their one power is making everyone but bit more rational and ready to compromise. That John still has to demonstrate the sheer awfulness of the use of a "wormhole weapon" first reminds me of the often voiced theory that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the reasons why there hasn't been a nuclear war yet, i.e. that people needed to see the devastation before agreeing not to use those weapons on each other and that otherwise, nuclear war would have have happened between the US and Russia in the 20th century and ended humanity. I can never make up my mind whether or not I agree with this assumption, but I do know it, and I think it's deliberately echoed here.
Scorpius' expression when the treaty is signed - first the smile, then the seriousness - begs for interpretation, of course. Is he glad the two sides of his heritage are able to co exist in a way he would not have thought possible? Terrified that his existence has no purpose anymore now that he can't tell himself he needs to defeat/destroy the Scarrans and this justifies everything?
Lastly: little D'Argo as the symbol of hope and the future. It's a well worn trope, of course, but it sort of works, especially since this rewatch rubbed in to me that Farscape doesn't idealize parenthood per se. D'Argo, who has the conversation with Aeryn as to whether she wants a child or not, certainly still loves his son but he's also unable to greet him without punching him first. And D'Argo & Jothee are still a wonder of functionality compared with Aeryn and Xhalax. John and his father love each other, sure, but teen!John, as we've seen, was feeling mighty rebellious and resentful towards Dad, who was less than perfect, too. And then there's the heartbreaking tragedy of Talyn. Basically, a child does not guarantee happiness either for itself or its parents, anything but. There are so many things that could go wrong. But having a child is still a vote of confidence into the future, and hope prevailing is a very Farscapian ending.
The other episodes. This entry was originally posted at https://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1464028.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
First, some technical stuff: If you've seen Bad Timing only the week before, imo it's really noticeable that The Peacekeeper Wars had to rebuild the sets. Moya's interiors don't look quite the same - more metallic, less organic. Also, whatever they used to distort Lani Tupu's voice as Pilot in the series can't have been the same as they did in this two parter, because it does sound noticably different. Otoh, Raelee Hill's voice is pretty much the only thing that makes Sikozu immediately identifiable, since her look has changed so much in what on a Watsonian level were only 60 days. (BTW, I can buy that the different haircut and the black leather is due to having become a part of the PK crew, but even the skin design looks different - what's up with that?) Jothee, too, only has the voice to hold on to. Otoh, Grayza's pregnancy dress is definitely an improvement over her earlier costumes. (Mind you, there's the problem that if Peacekeepers have "geometric" pregnancies to avoid incapacitating their female soldiers for long, there's no reason why Grazya shouldn't have had the baby eons ago if she wanted to have it at all, with the Doylist answer simply being that the actress is pregnant, full stop. But I can fanwank this as Grayza having had her body modified anyway, and maybe thus the "geometric pregnancy" thing is no longer an option for her. The design for Staleek also looks somewhat different while that for Akhna remains the same. One last technical observation - Rygel showing diving and in motion at the very start made me think back in the day "ah, so that's where the budget went", and I still think it's neat we got to see it. (It's mentioned in the s3 opener that he dived for Aeryn on the ice planet as well, but we didn't see it.)
Now, for the content: one of the great appeals of The Peacekeeper Wars was then and remains on this rewatch that it rescued Aeryn as a character and John/Aeryn as a couple for me. And not because Claudia Black got a better wig. It's a lot of tiny but important character touches - the script remembers she has relationships with people not Crichton, as in her scenes with D'Argo, which also finally bring up the question as to how Aeryn herself feels about having a baby, the whole "shooting makes me feel better!" when she's having contractions, and the emphasis on her and John being a team (as opposed to being a codependent angst fest in motion) having each other's backs and bringing each other joy. THANK YOU. With John, too, you got to see him relate to people other than Aeryn and Scorpius - down to exchanging one last joke with D'Argo which kept D'Argo's death scene at the right side of pathos and dark humor instead of making it bathos.
Speaking of the trademark Farscape humor, most of the jokes still really work on me. I'll for the show forever for giving us canon mpreg, and Rygel's mpreg with the John/Aeryn baby, no less. Chiana's appalled reaction when Crichton tries to draft her as Aeryn's midwife ("I hate narls! I'm still a narl myself!") and her drinking the alcohol and quitting after having managed to turn the baby was perfect. Otoh, both back then and now I just don't think the Stark kicking and slapping is funny, and I'm not even a Stark fan. (Note: this is different from the scene the show means to be disturbing, i.e. everyone forcing the mask off Stark so he has to absorb Yondolar's knowledge.)
Speaking of things which didn't work: I've slightly changed my opinion on the whole "Sikozu the spy" reveal. Back then, I just plain rejected it, especially since I had read an interview with Wayne Pygram that made it pretty clear he didn't like the entire Scorpius/Sikozu relationship and saw it as mellowing Scorpius too much, so the reveal seemed a forced outside element torpedo this particular relationship (which I had rather liked). Upon rewatch, I still think the reason Sikozu is given for betraying Scorpius is ridiculous - she's hubristic, fine, but not so much that she would believe the Scarrans would free her entire people for her spying services, especially since Akhna doesn't even have the power to make that happen if she wanted to. Not to mention that this has her from secret living anti Scarran super weapon of the Kalish resistance able to blast Scarrans dead to Scarran spy within 60 days which she spent on a Command Carrier with Scorpius. But I'm more prepared to believe that if there had been a fifth season with more time, Sikozu would have been given a better reason. (Her choosing her own people over Scorpius per se, or, for that matter, her own life, if there's a scenario where she could believe the Scarrans would keep their word is something that I could see happening, but like I said - not just a "oh, we'll totally free the Kalish if you do this!" as a reward.) Also, Wayne Pygram's objections not withstanding, the script has Scorpius say "you threw away something unique" to Sikozu, thereby revealing he did care for her.
The Jool cameo, otoh, starts off just weird (at no point in the series had Jool ever shown the slightest romantic or just sexual interest in Crichton! When we last saw her, she was into D'Argo, if anyone! Jool smooching Chiana would also have worked! Just not Crichton!) and then becomes gratitiously carnage - would you believe it, I just plain had not remembered she actually dies along with the rest of the ancient Eidolons on Arnesk! Probably because our heroes can barely react to it in a blink and you miss it way before the next disaster strikes. So if possible, I liked this even less than the first time around.
Also getting a different reaction from me: Grunchlik. Grunchlik showing up again is just plain fan service and doesn't make much plot sense - given what happened the last time, even if he survived, why on earth would he go anywhere near our lot or why would they not shoot or freeze him on sight? Otoh, the actor dying this past year made me weirdly nostalgic when he came on screen, and so I did not mind.
Backstory reveals: the scene with Aeryn and Yondolar where he reveals the origin of the Peacekeepers to her remains a lovely bit of world building which I can believe was intentional (or if not, then a really good retcon). As was pointed out to me when I started this rewatch, the various ranks among the Peacekeepers aren't based on US military ranks but on US police ranks, which points to the Peacekeepers starting out as a galactic police force gone terribly wrong already. Not to mention that Crais shows up as a cop in Crichton's mind in "Won't get fooled again". Miind you, while police scandals were hardly new back when Farscape was originally broadcast, and the American police had been mlitarized back then already, this development has gone so muich further in the intervening years that the idea of "The Peacekeepers are what happens if a police force, however well intentioned at the start, is given alll the weaponry and power and no civilian control watsoever" gained added resonance.
The idea of the Eidolons per se, their ability to influence hostile people to negotiate and compromise with each other: walks a thin line in terms of free will. I mean, the implication is that they don't hypnotize people into obedience, they figure out what makes them tick and then create an atmosphere where these people's more rational instincts come to the fore and compromise can be achieved. But Staleek clearly is appalled (or pretends to be?) once Yondolar is dead as to how he behaved under the influence. Still, I do like that this is one Sci Fi series where the superpowerful entities aren't godlike (for either good or ill) or even super powerful per se, that their one power is making everyone but bit more rational and ready to compromise. That John still has to demonstrate the sheer awfulness of the use of a "wormhole weapon" first reminds me of the often voiced theory that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the reasons why there hasn't been a nuclear war yet, i.e. that people needed to see the devastation before agreeing not to use those weapons on each other and that otherwise, nuclear war would have have happened between the US and Russia in the 20th century and ended humanity. I can never make up my mind whether or not I agree with this assumption, but I do know it, and I think it's deliberately echoed here.
Scorpius' expression when the treaty is signed - first the smile, then the seriousness - begs for interpretation, of course. Is he glad the two sides of his heritage are able to co exist in a way he would not have thought possible? Terrified that his existence has no purpose anymore now that he can't tell himself he needs to defeat/destroy the Scarrans and this justifies everything?
Lastly: little D'Argo as the symbol of hope and the future. It's a well worn trope, of course, but it sort of works, especially since this rewatch rubbed in to me that Farscape doesn't idealize parenthood per se. D'Argo, who has the conversation with Aeryn as to whether she wants a child or not, certainly still loves his son but he's also unable to greet him without punching him first. And D'Argo & Jothee are still a wonder of functionality compared with Aeryn and Xhalax. John and his father love each other, sure, but teen!John, as we've seen, was feeling mighty rebellious and resentful towards Dad, who was less than perfect, too. And then there's the heartbreaking tragedy of Talyn. Basically, a child does not guarantee happiness either for itself or its parents, anything but. There are so many things that could go wrong. But having a child is still a vote of confidence into the future, and hope prevailing is a very Farscapian ending.
The other episodes. This entry was originally posted at https://selenak.dreamwidth.org/1464028.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.