FarscapeWeekly Farscape Is Farscape Good Sci Fi opinion part 1

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Is Farscape Good Sci-Fi? part 1
Tom Francis ¤ Februrary 2002

As fans, we often like to say that Farscape is the class of its field. Until Farscape, Babylon 5 was the last TV sci-fi that was innovative, graphically pleasing, written with some competence and acted with enthusiasm. We now join hands in praise of Farscape - the journey of John Crichton - Earthman lost in the Uncharted Territories. - the class of its field.

However, is Farscape that good? Is Farscape good at all? Are we so starved for decent science fiction TV that we will accept anything that pretends to the throne of "best sci fi on TV"?

To answer these questions, we need to take Farscape apart, examine each piece, then reassemble and make a decision based on what we find.

Farscape: The Basic Plot

Earthman finds himself in another part of our universe with secret knowledge of "wornholes" and is being chased by supervillian(s). He has various adventures with the crew of a female biomechanoid space ship called Moya. The crew are escaped prisoners from an apparently fascist military organization called the Peacekeepers. Once in known alien space, Crichton now finds himself in the Uncharted Territories - a region of alien space that while "known" is "unknown". Don't ask - it's a plot element.

The basic plot is a universal standard basic plot.

Farscape: The Visual Environment

The constant cry of the fanboyz/grrlz: there has never been a TV show as graphically complicated and unique as Farscape.

Well, yes and no. Certainly, the alien environments painted by the graphics experts, Henson's Creature Shop and the artists do a lot to help enhance the reputation of Farscape as good TV. Compared to the other science fiction offerings, Farscape is the clear winner in the eye candy department. Where else do you get slow motion destruction sequences like the Shadow Depository (2.21, "Liars, Guns, and Money, part 3: Plan B") or the Scarran Dreadnaught (3.15, "Infinite Possibilities, part 2: Icarus Abides")? The little touches like the alien Plokavian hitting the viewport of Talyn with a satisfying "thump" (2.17, "The Ugly Truth"). The way cool Prowlers, Marauders and Command Carriers, the sumptuous and gorgeous interior shots of buildings and ships.

But (and this is the "no" part), we still have bipedal aliens, sometimes known as "foreheads of the week". Different latex masks walking about on two legs with two arms and two legs, a head and mouth where we are used to such things being. Admittedly, there is Pilot, but Pilot is fairly sedentary; and there is Rygel, who drives around in a powered chair and had a serious upgrade from Season One to make him look less Muppet like and more like a real creature - still bipedal, however. For once, I would like to see a walking talking alien that does not conform to the bipedal, brain-on-top, mouth-in-front concept that prevails in the sci-fi universe both in the movies and on TV. In short, let's stop making aliens like D'Argo - a collision between Worf and a squid.

Henson and company also seem to have a penchant for recycling. Now I'm not all that opposed to recycling, but sometimes it get fairly obvious - as in some parts from the Spider Woman outfit from Natira (the "Liars, Guns, and Money" trilogy) being used, the Fishhead People (wormhole aliens in "Self-Inflicted Wounds") were recycled with different colors and the vulture creatures (Skeksies) from Dark Crystal managed to find their way from the prop room to the Farscape set (the Halosians, 2.9, "Out of Their Minds"). There are other examples, but when they do recycle, it is fairly glaring and obvious.

To sum up the Visual Environment, anything that can be done with computers and artists is pretty much being done on Farscape. We are being presented with the best technology can deliver in terms of environments, action sequences and pure "golly gee whiz - would you look at that" fun. The sentient aliens, on the other hand, are retreads of the standard Star Trek formula of different foreheads, different cultures.

Despite my opinion concerning aliens, I'll give a Plus to The Visual Environment.

Farscape: Actors [1]

This is where the clean cut lines in the visual presentation start to blur and we need to squint a little from time-to-time to get a clear picture of what is who and who is what.

John Crichton - Ben Browder does his best and the results are sometimes mixed, sometimes brilliant, sometimes forced and sometimes he just does not care. He is from the southeastern part of the United States and that comes through in spades. The Good Old Boy attitude mixed with the Surfer Dude lingo can sometimes wear thin and can be incompatible with the story lines, but on average, Browder does a good job with John Crichton. Browder also has to work against some very believable aliens and that is to his credit. Browder's skills are more interpretive than intuitive although he has had some story lines in which he really enjoyed his role as John Crichton - Mad Man. Browder is an average actor working well above his skill level and that is to his credit. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Aeryn Sun - Claudia Black is one of the gems of Farscape. Her skills bring out the best in the rest of the cast who are capable actors on their own. I am constantly amazed at how Black brings out the best and worst of the Sebacean race and the confusion over Aeryn's situation with John. Aeryn Sun is central to the story of Farscape and Black plays it with skill that is simply amazing. I have not seen Black work in other venues, so perhaps the Farscape venue is a unique situation for her, but based on what I have seen here, she is excellent. In short, Claudia Black is Aeryn Sun and the best that Farscape has to offer.

Ka D'Argo - Anthony Simcoe as the Luxan warrior is a treat to watch. There is an actor under all that latex having the time of his life. I believe that acting is half eye contact and what occurs with the eyes of an actor makes or breaks any scene. Simcoe clearly has that down pat because when you watch D'Argo say something, you know he believes it. There is a scene in the "Look at the Princess" trilogy in which D'Argo makes a "good news/bad news" comment to John which is probably one of the best single scenes in the three seasons of Farscape, and it's all in the eyes. D'Argo is fun and Simcoe does a great job with him.

Chiana - Gigi Edgley is a brilliant casting choice on the part of the Farscape producers. Chiana is a Nebari - a race which is locked in a deadly revolution not to mention conquest of the galaxy. The Nebari apparently have a lust for life that is unbridled - and lust is the operative word it would appear. Edgley is a winner in this role and from all evidence, is having a great time with the character.

Jool - Tammy MacIntosh is a recent addition to the Farscape cast and at first, was a bit of an oddity. It was around the time that Virgina Hey was preparing to leave. Jool was not fully developed character when she came onboard Moya having a mysterious background and circumstances. It showed in MacIntosh's work because, unlike Chiana, Jool was not a fan favorite initially and her character was a little lost in the venue, still finding her way. Eventually, Hey left and Jool finally found her voice (in more ways than one). She became a more developed character in that Jool has replaced Zhaan as the "industrial/civil/medical engineer" if you will. Add a flare for slapstick and physical comedy and MacIntosh has made Jool into a character that, while still developing in terms of background, is a welcome addition to the crew.

Bialar Crais - Lani Tupu's character was the initial protagonist chasing Crichton all over the UT, since replaced by Scorpius (Wayne Pygram), Tupu is also the voice of Pilot. Initially, we knew Crais to be the bad guy, but recently Crais has developed into an ambigous figure - a gray morality that is curious at best. He is capable of being something more than an iffy character. Tupu is obviously a career actor as he plays Crais with just the appropriate amount of skill. Nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible either.

Scorpius - Wayne Pygram took over from Crais as the bad guy and turned his role into super villain which he plays with obvious relish. Pygram is Scorpius. Oddly enough, he is also Harvey the Scorpius clone left in Crichton's mind. He plays both with skill - obviously a pro, he acts his characters with just the right amount of skill.

Pilot and Rygel are the puppets and nifty puppets they are. Pilot, in particular, is a spectacular alien and I never knew you could show that kind of emotion with a lifeless pile of mechanical parts and latex foam. Rygel is much the same, but a more mobile puppet and is also a stellar example of the puppet makers/actors art.

Zhaan and Stark are now missing, but maybe not, characters of Farscape. Zhaan, portrayed by Virginia Hey, was an 800 year old warrior/priest/healer, a sentient plant, clearly a mother figure for the crew and Guardian to Moya, the biomechanoid ship. Hey bailed out of Farscape citing problems with makeup and health concerns. Hey wished to have a reduced schedule acting Zhaan for a limited number of episodes. Sadly, that was not something the producers could, or would, accommodate and we lost Zhaan early on in Season Three. Stark, the looney tunes Bannik Slave, was a soul mate to Zhaan and didn't really have a place within the Farscape universe - Stark is now missing-in-action.

Farscape: Wrap up - Plot, Characters and Actors

So, doing the first part of the point-by-point examination of Farscape, we can fairly develop an opinion of the general background needed to continue the assessment of storyline, sub plots, character interaction/development. And here it is.

We are faced with an interesting situation. Clearly, we have a fairly typical plot line - there is nothing spectacular in producing a TV show in which somebody is chased all over the universe - the original title of Farscape was "Space Chase". In essence, that was the entire last four seasons of Star Trek:Voyager.

We do have a cast of competent actors who bring their skills to the table and try their best. It often works out even with less than stellar material to work with and incompetent direction (more on that in Part Two).

We have impressive visual sets, grand and spectacular CGI visions of alien landscapes and space ships and the latex masters do their job well. The puppets are nifty and pretty cool when you come right down to it.

At this point, we are pretty sure we have "the best there is". Or do we?

In Part Two, we will examine the storylines, characters within the story lines and some of the goofiness that seems to pervade Farscape on a regular basis.

[1] This section will discuss characters who do not exist anymore - at least at the time of this writing. As usual with Farscape, one never knows. Return to text

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Part 2