Farscape Season 3
SPOILERS TOTAL. You've been warned.
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301: Season of Death 2001 March 16
(First watched 2010-07-20) Big stuff. Aeryn was of course mostly dead. Jothee and Chiana consumate their relationship. Scorpius fakes death again. John gets his brain fixed with the full-death of one of the frozen people.
The simplicity of people going into and out of freezing reminded me of Futurama.
Then there's the all-new opening sequence with a new theme song and the addition of Stark, Crais, and Scorpius to the main cast. That's big.
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302: Suns and Lovers 2001 March 23
(First watched 2010-07-28) So the shit hits the fan. I'm starting to see that the whole D'Argo/Chiana thing only came into being so D'Argo could be crushed by Jothee/Chiana.
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303: Self-Inflicted Wounds Part I: Could'a, Would'a, Should'a 2001 March 30
(First watched 2010-08-11)
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304: Self-Inflicted Wounds Part II: Wait for the Wheel 2001 April 6
(First watched 2010-08-11) I know these episodes were a big deal with Zhaan going and all, but... maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind; I didn't follow a lot of what was going on. So this other ship crashes literally INTO Moya in the wall of a wormhole, got it. So once they separate only one ship will survive, got it. Different people have different opinions on which ship should attempt to exit safely, got it. But then all the members of the other ship started allowing themselves to die for... some reason?
A lot of people shat on John as being obsessed with wormhole technology, but I didn't see it that way. It wasn't so different from what happened at the end of the episode. It was like...
John: Only one ship can survive. Moya and Pilot are already in awful shape, and the flight of my module proved Moya's parts would get fried anyway. There's no chance, so unfortunately we should look for alternatives.
Others: YOU ARE OBSESSED WITH WORMHOLES AND HATE YOUR FRIENDS, ASSHOLE. WE SHOULD TAKE THE INFINITESIMAL CHANCE OF SUCCESS!
Then later it's basically the reverse situation.
Zhaan: I'm dying, but there's no reason everyone else should need to die with me. So let me do the dangerous thing while you guys stick where it's safe.
Others: You know we were like an arn from a planet that might be good to save you, right?
Zhaan: SHUT UP, NOT LISTENING, LET ME DIE HEROICALLY AND IN THE GOOD GRACES OF GODDESS.
I can't say I'm too sorry to see Zhaan go. If I was stuck on Moya she seems like she'd be the easiest to get along with--and really that's the problem. The show gets so much from the other characters being in conflict with each other, but whenever she got into that it seemed a stretch. Like the whole ripping off of Pilot's arm. Then there was that so often they just left her on the ship while the other people went off adventuring anyway; she really wasn't being used for much.
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305: ...Different Destinations 2001 April 13
(First watched 2010-08-12) So the first Zhaan-less title sequence.
Heeey, finally some time travel that wasn't just a reset button. After screwing things up horribly they set things back to as they were... mostly.
Interesting that Peacekeeper accounts of the event were so screwed up when there is literally a way to watch the past. I suppose they just had their legend going on and never bothered to come around and visit to verify.
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(First watched 2010-08-13) What a creepy situation. Repeatedly eating a Pilot's regrowing arms. I totally didn't believe it when D'Argo appeared to die. After the way Zhaan's exist was built up, no way was he going to go out unexpectedly in the first half of an episode. The doubling thing... ethically troublesome. Chiana just left "herself" to die. It is pretty typical of episodic sci-fi that only one of Chiana and D'Argo survived so the status quo remains--the surprise is that we've ended up with two Johns.
Also, what's the deal with Jool? She's not playing very important roles in the episodes, so it's not like it's an arc concentrated on her. She's not in the main credits, so she's not intended as a full replacement for Zhaan--at least not yet. It's like she's a junior cast member?
I've seen a review elsewhere of this episode say Crichton seems particularly cold in his treatment of this Pilot. I disagree. Yes he's become a harder character overall, but here he's just trying to slap some sense into this Pilot, not just for his own good but for the Pilot's good. Pilot certainly can't get up and leave, so his only chance for survival is to try to get rid of his monstrous inhabitants, as John is trying to get him to do.
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307: Thanks for Sharing 2001 June 15
(First watched 2010-08-13) The surprise at the end of the last episode was that there were two Johns. The surprise at the end of this episode is that there are STILL two Johns. I thought they'd dispense of one pretty quickly, but this odd situation will last at least a few episodes. I like that they've established there's no noticeable difference between the two of them--it helps it remain unobvious which one will be the regular remaining John in the end.
Also of note, they make clear Jool can do medical stuff--so perhaps more a replacement for Zhaan than I previously realized.
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308: Green Eyed Monster 2001 June 22
(First watched 2010-08-16) Green Eyed Monster... that's almost TOO good an episode title.
"That's no moon." Nice.
The double Crichton thing does add an element of danger to the show. Since there's a "spare" around, when one of these Crichtons gets in a deadly situation I actually believe for a change that he might not get out of it.
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(First watched 2010-08-17) They... really went a bit crazy with that fast-forward spasm effect.
I like the humanizing of DRD Pike.
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(First watched 2010-08-17) So many episodes with just one half of the cast or the other. It's like some of them wanted some vacation time, but Ben Browder and Lani Tupu couldn't quite wrangle it.
So Aeryn is sleeping with one of the Crichtons. That's sure to make things awkward when everyone reunites.
So much for Aeryn's mom.
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(First watched 2010-08-18) BIG Scorpius backstory. Actually earns him some sympathy if he was being forthright about all this. STILL, doesn't change the fact that he's a dick in the present. And just because he's got a personal reason to hate the Scarrans doesn't necessarily convince me or pseudo-John that things would overall be better with the Peacekeepers in possession of wormhole technology. Perhaps given different birthing circumstances Scorpius would've been messed with by the Peacekeepers and ended up going entirely the opposite direction.
Head count.
2 "equal and original" John Crichtons.
2 in-head Scorpiuses contained within those John Crichtons, remnants of neuro-chip copies.
1 living Scorpius.
1 neuro-chip remnant of John that was burnt out in this episode; perhaps something of it remains in Scorpius as happened with the reverse? But it didn't have nearly as long to affect his mind.
1 living D'Argo
1 dead D'Argo
1 living Chiana
1 dead Chiana
1 regular Aeryn
1 John & Aeryn from timeline that was sort of reset but also sort of still happened.
One problem I had with this episode is something that shows up in a lot of sci-fi: a species being treated as uniform. In this case, that's Pilot/Moya immediately accepting this renegade from Scorpius's research project because they trust her species.
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(First watched 2010-08-19) Great fake opening with Crais and Mama Sun.
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313: Scratch 'n Sniff 2001 July 20
(First watched 2010-08-20) What a weird episode. Especially the weird editing. And in the end we are left wondering how much of it was actually real, or was it just Crichton BSing?
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314: Infinite Possibilities Part I: Daedalus Demands 2001 July 27
(First watched 2010-08-24)
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315: Infinite Possibilities Part II: Icarus Abides 2001 August 3
(First watched 2010-08-24) Awwww, John. John John John. I didn't think they'd kill him off; then I realized "Of course they will; he's got the wormhole knowledge and it's a two-parter." In honor of his sacrifice, I dub him John 1.
So I've really enjoyed this split crew thing, but clearly with them killing off one of the Johns it must be coming to an end soon. And though I thought the Aeryn/John 1 relationship would be awkward when reunited with John 2, it may be even weirder now. Aeryn and John 2 still share most of the same relationship, but not the most passionate month-or-two, and now there's the additional complication of John 2 reminding her of a dead lover--his equal and original alternate.
The Ancient done in CG was quite more believable than the old prop, even if it was only shown very briefly.
Kind of weird: The recreation of John's module is so complete that it includes the lettering and logos? Rather than her sticking "Furlow One" or whatever on there?
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316: Revenging Angel 2001 August 10
(First watched 2010-08-25) When I considered how they would follow up a big thing like the death of John 1... I was totally not expecting John 2 to be dreaming up a Looney Tunes parody. When it was just Scorpius showing up in animated form it was great. But then nearly half the episode was a Crichton/D'Argo take on Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. Friggin' awesome.
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317: The Choice 2001 August 17
(First watched 2010-08-25) So much for Aeryn's mom.
Also, Stark is off again, searching for Zhaan. I guess with the crews bound to reunite they wanted to pare down a little for a while?
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(First watched 2010-08-25) Haha. A parallel group of escaped prisoners. The tough guy, the Nebari, the Hynerian, all of whom buddy up with their Moya/Talyn counterparts. Rygel's counterpart ends up betraying them to the Peacekeepers, but it's not like it's something he hasn't done and repeatedly threatened on other occasions. Of course in this case she's not a regular so they can kill her off.
John 1 shows up again in message form. Given the circumstances he and John 2 "get along" much more this time than before. Interesting that they still hit a draw on rock paper scissors. I was wondering if due to their diverging paths they would now no longer pick the same thing, but I guess it works better this way than to have had one of them win over the other.
So after being hinted at a few times before, it seems pretty confirmed that Chiana is getting glimpses of the future. What's up with that?
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319: I-Yensch, You-Yensch 2002 April 5
(First watched 2010-08-27) So obviously a setup episode, but still has its interesting bits. The "shared pain bracelets" or whatever even gave Braca something a bit more interesting than usual to do. And though we know it's ultimately for a ruse alliance, Scorpius and Rygel sort of... combatively allying against their captors was neat to watch.
Talyn, on the other hand, has gone batshit. Destroying a medical ship and attacking Moya.
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320: Into the Lion's Den Part I: Lambs to the Slaughter 2002 April 12
(First watched 2010-08-28)
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321: Into the Lion's Den Part II: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing 2002 April 19
(First watched 2010-08-28) Good stuff. Good good stuff. John faking help as a way to destroy their work, but becomes more confused about what's right after viewing the Scorpius backstory episode. However, things fall to shit of course, especially with the meddling of Scorpius's Peacekeeper opposition. Then we see the nasty side of Scorpius come out.
I've got to think this whole quest against every major power getting wormhole technology is a bit quixotic, though. A reasonable wish, maybe, but technology progresses. It's like if a handful of people working in the 1930s-50s tried to prevent the world from unlocking atomic power--they could only hold things back for so long.
I think my biggest problem with this episode was that with so many people trying to fool so many other people, it became impossible to tell what half of the people were REALLY up to. Crais and his old flame were the biggest examples.
So they tried to find a method of destroying the ship that would allow people to escape. But I wonder how many of those ~50,000 didn't make it? Things were a WEE bit hectic. For that matter, how does Scorpius get off? We see him walk off, but I'm not buying that as the end.
Speaking of Scorpius, I'm more and more loving Harvey. All the time he becomes more apart from Scorpius. He seems to realize he's the minor power in John's head, no longer has the same passion about giving wormhole technology to the Peacekeepers, and is fully into just making sure Crichton stays alive since it means he stays alive. Also by being in John's head he gets to pull out all the crazy Earth knowledge usually only John knows.
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322: Dog With Two Bones 2002 April 26
(First watched 2010-08-28) I wasn't buying Crais and Talyn as really dead last episode. I figured we'd find they successfully starburst to someplace else after all. However, in this episode they actually have the wreckage of Talyn... so that seems that. There's always the chance Crais somehow got out or that some weird doubling happened as we've seen with half the other characters, but for now they are looking DEAD. Wow.
Also Wow, that ship of D'Argo's can basically disintegrate a Leviathan with one shot?
What's the deal with that crazy old lady? Someone they helped rescue from the command carrier, who cooks for them, causes hallucinations, and in the end possibly has a part in apparently sucking Moya into a wormhole?
And what a cliffhanger. Aeryn gone and pregnant, presumably with John 1's child--this especially brings new light to her antipathy about John 2. Moya, as just said, sucked into a wormhole. John 2 stuck in Farscape One on his own with little fuel.
I know they wanted it for the episode title, but I don't think the story John brings up about the dog with two bones is very analogous. The dog is stupid, and in attempting to double what he's already got by biting for a reflection, loses the thing he has. John's situation is different. He's like a dog that sees two definitely distinct bones, doesn't think he can fit both into his mouth, and doesn't know what to do about it.
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