Farscape is genre television at its most ambitious,
inspired both by the cult appeal of Babylon 5 and the
continuing success of the Star Trek franchise, but taking
a visual and conceptual leap beyond those shows. Making
extensive use of CGI, prosthetics, and state-of-the-art
puppetry, courtesy of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the
Farscape concept has a freshness that makes it look and feel
completely original. Among the first season's 22 episodes,
"Premiere" introduces the characters and the basic premise:
American astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) is flung through
a wormhole and comes out in the midst of an
interstellar prison escape on the other side
of the universe.
The second season of Farscape expands upon and
develops the characters introduced in the ambitious
first season. John Crichton's new nemesis is the deadly
Scorpius, replacing Crais, who has taken the living ship
Moya's offspring on a voyage into the unknown.
It's clear right from the opening episodes of its
third season that Farscape has finally
developed into a grown-up show. There's a new
self-confidence and a new maturity here that's
entirely welcome after the often wildly erratic tone
of the second season. The production design and
high-quality effects work remain true to the show's
original quirky style, although both the look and
the more adult-themed scripts have become
progressively darker.
Created at least in part due to
popular demand, Farscape: The
Peacekeeper Wars will provide
some closure to fans who were
dismayed by the demise of the
popular science fiction television
show in 2003 and campaigned mightily
to bring it back. Indeed, this
miniseries (originally broadcast
over two nights on the Sci-Fi
Channel) will likely appeal
primarily to the Farscape
faithful, as the somewhat convoluted
storyline may prove baffling to the
uninitiated.
