![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Crichton Kicks is one of my favourite season premieres (if not my favourite), but it's kind of funny that it was aired at a time when the producers were actively trying to make the show more accessible. They really thought this premiere would attract casual viewers? I know their plan was to introduce the cast gradually so as to make it less confusing, but I don't see how it was supposed to draw in new viewers with the main character on his own at the beginning with no other characters to bounce off, acting like a bit of a nutter, and with a decidedly unattractive beard. Once you're already watching the show it all makes sense obviously and is a good character episode for John, but I don't know if it would have drawn me in as a new viewer as it's not exactly John at his most relatable (my first episode was Season Of Death and I was confused as anything, but the John/Aeryn moments kept me watching)
After Chiana being underused in season 3 I appreciate getting some more focus on her in this episode with the mention of the trauma she had recently been through, the actress did a nice job with that element in those early season 4 episodes. And the scene where she helps them out with her power is just gorgeous to look at.
Honestly I didn't really miss Aeryn that much in this episode, even though she is one of my favourite characters. But I thought her disappearance was well-handled with the dream sequence being used to remind the audience of how hung-up on her John still is, and funny sequence with Harvey too!
And of course Sikozu who is easily one of my favourite Farscape characters, pure awesome. It's a shame the network apparently weren't a big fan of her original hairstyle because I kind of like it here more than when she starts to wear it down all the time *g*
A lot of funny sequences in this one, my favourite is probably when Crichton is yelling for fire, 1812 (so cute!) starts playing music instead, Rygel fails to catch Crichton, and Crichton ends up in the dren. Hee! Oh and of course when Crichton is playing at being the goat from Jurassic Park, and starts rubbing his "grade-A prime American beef"! Oh and it's also fun to get a reminder of Crichton's geeky sci-fi side when he starts yelling in klingon :P A really fun energy to this episode overall
9/10
What Was Lost two-parter is not one of my favourites. I like it more for the character moments, but the main story kind of bores me to be honest. It's hard to care that much about random planet and characters we've just met and will never see again. It's a shame too because it does look really gorgeous visually and you can tell a ton of money was spend on this episode, but the story drags for me.
I really like it for the character moments, the John and D'Argo reunion hug is very sweet. And it's fun to see Jool be so enthusiastic about everything, and ouch when Chiana gets pissed off with her and she wonders to John what she did. And I love Chiana and John's simultaneous "He's not a Peacekeeper!" "She's not a tralk!"
The confrontation between Jool and D'Argo is pretty touching too with him obviously being hurt that she didn't defend him, although I don't think he's being entirely fair there as he didn't really speak up much in her defense himself when Chiana was expressing disbelief at him being with the "princess". And taking the opportunity to throw insults at Jool wasn't exactly D'Argo at his finest, but then I've never been a fan of him in relationships
The most memorable part of the two-parter is obviously the Graza/Scorpuis/Braca scenes. It's a shame they couldn't find some way to include the deleted scenes as flashbacks though as it makes it really confusing to have them be a part of Previously On Farscape! I really love Braca's character in season 4, a lot of interesting subtext in this one with him dragging Scorpy around on a chain and "this is for all the times I had to say yes". The scene where we first see Scorpuis is well done too with Crichton clearly wanting to look away, but not being able to stop himself from glancing over. Kind of like how the audience feels
The scenes with Graza raping Crichton are *really* disturbing and creepy to watch, and I like that Ben Browder obviously took the scenes as seriously as he did. My heart breaks for John when he's curled on himself after his encounter with her, aww
I wasn't the biggest fan of Naranti and wish she hadn't become a regular, but she does work pretty well in this episode. Nicely creepy cliffhanger at the end of part one when there's the illusion of two of her backing John off the cliff (and the make-up for the sea creature thingy was amazing)
It was nice to see Jool and Chiana working together more in the second half, and love the classic Farscape shot of Chiana, Jool, and Sikozu all stood together ready to take on the bad guys. I thought that the decision to write out Jool was the right one though as, while she works pretty well in this two-parter, I didn't have any real desire to see her return as a regular.
6/10 Possibly a slightly harsh rating as it's not a badly-done episode exactly, it's just not really my thing and I didn't enjoy it that much as a whole
Lava's A Many Splendered Thing. Well it doesn't set out to be a classic, it knows it's filler and accomplishes that pretty well. The main villains aren't the most memorable, but still it's a fun episode for the individual scenes. It's very cute to see all the buddy moments between D'Argo and Crichton. How adorable is John bluffing and then "I lied, I can't make that jump" and D'Argo having to give him a leg over. Or when D'Argo is bluffing and pretending to understand John's science talk *g*
The sub-plot with Chiana and Sikozu working together is also pretty fun, and who doesn't love the heroic music swelling as John holds up the rescued Rygel with "Can I get a HELL YEAH" :D This is another episode that Naranti doesn't work too badly in. She's annoying at times, but it's pretty funny to see John and D'Argo's impatient responses to her, or her striptease as a younger woman wih that alien head on. Again great visuals in this episode (you almost forget how well-produced Farscape was when you haven't seen it in a while), and a fun Harvey moment
It's a fun little episode if you watch it in the right frame of mind, but I wonder if it would have come across as well when it first aired and the audience were impatient to get back to Moya and have all of the cast back... Which at least the ending of the episode does set up in a nicely uplifting moment
7/10
And thank you anon for the virtual Valentine's day gift :)
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-14 10:58 pm (UTC)I never gave a fuck about Braca. Boring nobody.
I can't stand Grayza. I hate characters who mind control unless they're reluctant about it or vampires or especially relatable and human. And sexual manipulators and abusers aren't high on my list of favorites either. I didn't like the actress's performance either. I thought the character was in bad taste and I wish they'd left her out.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-14 11:43 pm (UTC)And I was disappointed at the ending that Sikozu got, I heard that Wayne requested the script be changed at the last minute actually. He wanted to bring back that unpredictable part of Scorpuis, and have him deal firmly with Sikozu after finding out she betrayed him. Supposedly the original script had Sikozu end the mini-series with loyalty to Scorpuis, and Ggrunschlik was the spy
I loved how in a way Sikozu was almost quite naive and innocent and hadn't had much experience of the world, but at the same time she was very cold and logical. The actress had such an awesome way of delivering condescending lines like she saw her shipmates as the stupidest and most baffling people ever hee
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 05:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 12:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 04:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 12:39 am (UTC)I loved Sikozu. She was one of my favourites, and I wish the series had gone on longer to give her a proper arc. I loved Braca too. The series was much fairer to him. Also, he was clearly in love with Scorpius (I was never sure if it was mutual), which was hella fun to watch.
I think I would have liked Naranti better if she hadn't basically replaced Stark. (I was not keen on Stark at first because he replaced Zhaan. Whereas Sikozu replacing Jool made me like her more.) The striptease thing was badass, though. I wish they'd played up her alienness more than her witchiness; she seemed like a fantasy character transplanted into a (mostly) sci-fi show.
One thing that I found fascinating overall was that John is batshit nuts through most of the show. He's the viewpoint character. It was a hell of a creative risk. I mean, Aeryn played straight man, but Aeryn was still pretty alien.
Grayza. Boobsweat. Ugh. At least they hung a lampshade on her outfit, but she was a let-down after all the other really awesome villains, and to make things worse, she had to go and get pregnant and have that resolve the conflict.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 12:23 pm (UTC)I know that David Kemper kind of ended up taking over as executive producer, and Rockne O'Bannon admitted that he wouldn't have made some of the same choices like having John blend in so much with the rest of the cast, and he would have kept him closer to the audience POV character. But I definitely prefer the way that the show actually did it, it's really interesting how this season John is automatically reaching for his gun at the same time as D'Argo and the others without the writers making a big deal of it, and then it all kind of comes crashing down on him after the nuclear bomb incident
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 12:37 pm (UTC)I didn't like Zhann much either to be honest *ducks from the wrath of Farscape fandom*, so maybe it's just that those sort of mystical characters don't appeal to me? Although I did like Stark and his crazy ways
And I didn't mind Jool the way that some people did, but yeah she never really became a favourite character for me or felt a part of the crew, whereas Sikozu I loved from the first. Jool was fun to bring back for the occasional episode though, like in John Quixote
Grayza. Boobsweat. Ugh. At least they hung a lampshade on her outfit, but she was a let-down after all the other really awesome villains, and to make things worse, she had to go and get pregnant and have that resolve the conflict.
Apparently they brought that in to the mini-series because she was pregnant in real life, but yeah the whole way they dealt with her character and her power being in her boobs, and then swayed by maternal feelings in the end, was kind of awkward. Also she just didn't have the same impact after having Scorpuis as your villain. I don't know if they even really needed an individual baddie for season 4, they could just as easily have had it be more focused around the general threat of the Scarrens and preparing for the war between them and the peacekeepers? It didn't always have to be about a character hunting down John for his knowledge of wormholes, by the time of season 4 they had enough material there with just the threat of the damage of what John culd do with the wormholes, without needing the one character pursuing him that they had always done in the past. Although I would have missed Braca's arc I suppose if there had been no Grayza that year
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 04:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 04:49 pm (UTC)I feel a bit awful actually because I watched an interview with Virgina Hey on the latest DVDs, and I realised that a lot of what irritates me about Zhann's character is something she shares with the actress....I mean I'm sure she's a nice lady, but she comes across as awfully pretentious
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 05:43 pm (UTC)Zhaan IS smug. But being pretentious (as you described her) goes with being fake. Zhaan also comes off cold, because of how the actress plays her. And the show treats her as if she's oh so marvellous. Sort of like being a plant makes her morally superior and cooler. And like being kind of a Buddhist monk makes her wiser and superior instead of just another person like everybody else. Zhaan is an infuriating character and I'm so glad they took her off the show.
But the plants being cooler than everybody else thing is part of the politically correct tendencies of the show. Multiple things like that bothered me in the show.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 05:56 pm (UTC)Zhaan also comes off cold
And I agree with that, I always got a cold and self-righteous feeling from Zhann and could never really buy her as the supposed mother figure of the crew. I did think that her death scene was effectively handled, but I didn't really miss her otherwise. For reasons of the make-up causing Virgina health problems, they didn't really use Zhann in season 2 much anyway. She seemed to mostly be used as all-purpose Doctor at around that time. And I didn't think that she was all that essential to the show in season 1 either quite honestly, Rhapsody in Blue was the only Zhann-centric episode and it was hardly the best of the season. It seemed like the idea of Zhann and the idea of her being the mother figure was what made her character be seen as essential for the group, rather than the character being an essential part of the show on her own terms. IMO
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 08:02 pm (UTC)Wtf? Nuts.
Anybody who sees Zhaan as a mother figure must have a really unpleasant mother.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 05:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 05:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-15 08:02 pm (UTC)