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FARSCAPE |
John Crichton - Ben Browder Aeryn Sun - Claudia Black Ka D'Argo - Anthony Simcoe Chiana - Gigi Edgley Scorpius - Wayne Pygram Jool - Tammy MacIntosh Sikozu - Raelee Hill Noranti - Melissa Jaffer 
OTHER FARSCAPE SEASONS Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 OTHER SPACE TRAVEL SHOWS Star Trek The Next Generation Voyager Enterprise Space:1999 Battlestar Galactica 
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Episode 1The Peacekeepers are at war with the Scarrans and it is a war that they are losing. Scorpius abandons the fight once he knows that John Crichton, the human pilot he believes to have the power to use wormholes as weapons in his mind, is still alive, reformed out of the shattered crystals that were all that remained of him and his love Aeryn. They are on a planet of people who are descended from a race who were able to influence others for good. The original elders of that race were released from a time loop by Crichton and his crew a while previously and there is the possibility that a way of reuniting them all will bring peace to the galaxy. That is there was the possibility before the Scarrans destroyed the temple and took Crichton's crew hostage, killing D'Argo and Chianna in the process. It is rare indeed that a cancelled show gets the chance to tie up all its loose ends and it is to the credit of the FARSCAPE creative team that they have taken the opportunity presented by THE PEACEKEEPER WARS and used it to produce something special for the fans of the show. It is for the fans because, despite the potted history that Crichton gives to his captors at the start, the story hits the ground running and the complex political and personal situations are far too tangled for anyone arriving now to make head or tail of. The story is brilliantly constructed as well, mixing in the show's past with action sequences that are unrelated to the main story but thrown in to give some action. There is a giant space battle at the start rendered in startlingly huge CGI sequences that let the audience know from the outset that the canvas for this story is going to be much larger than anything that the show has tried before. That means there will be personal loss and few of the characters get away unscathed and some don't get away at all. With every one of the show's remaining favourite characters appearing, that's a lot of potential casualties and the writers don't seem too squeamish about creating a huge body count for the show's last outing. Which doesn't mean that it's all played out on the galactic scale. Smaller moments add to the texture, such as the genius idea of having Crichton and Aeryn's baby gestating inside Rygel (it sort of makes sense, but not really), Crichton's snappy dialogue in the face of danger, the trip into the wormhole and the surprising outcome of the destruction of D'Argo's ship. The story doesn't quite manage to end in the bleakest of points with everything seemingly lost, which would have seemed most likely, but then this is a show that never played by the conventional rules. There are signs that the second half will bring even more epic destruction, personal disaster and hopefully a fitting end to the show. TopEpisode 2Thanks to D'Argo's son's advanced Luxon ship, a daring escape from the Scarran vessel is achieved, but on returning to the planet where the least of the race of peacemakers are holed up Moya's crew find a city destroyed and a raging battle underway. Aeryn goes into labour in the middle of the seige. It is time for a desperate fight. Some will live, secrets will be revealed and Crichton will finally unleash the power of the wormhole weapons, though it cost him the lives of all he holds dear. FARSCAPE began in a fairly humble way as a new space opera with some of the characters unsatisfyingly played by puppets from the Henson creature shop. Over four seasons, though, it grew and became not only its own beast, but one of the most daring and unique science fiction shows ever made. In this conclusion to THE PEACEKEEPER WARS, it fulfils every promise that it ever made with some startling, daring and downright breathtaking drama. The scene where Crichton unleashes hell and stands there berating those that made him the universe's greatest mass murderer is shocking and brilliantly played by Browder. It is a climax that the show has been building to and it justifies whatever it took to get the miniseries financed and made. Before that there is a great deal of on the ground commando action leading to the siege situation that initially feels a bit of a let down after the huge scale of the previous epsiode, but soon enough the action, drama, comedy (yes there are even a few laughs along the way), plot revelations and quality acting drag the audience back in and hold them transfixed, setting them up for moments of punch-air delight and heartbreak. For anyone who has been following the show since the beginning to get through this one without tears is going to be quite a challenge. Not content with wrapping things up in a hugely satisfying fashion, the show even throws in a laugh out loud and audacious 2001 - A SPACE ODYSSEY spoof moment right at the end that manages to underline just how unpredictable the show can be without threatening to undermine anything that has gone before. This is the end for FARSCAPE, but it is an ending that the little show that grew up can be heartily proud of. Top |
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