Farscape: Las guerras pacificadoras

Having been a fan of this show since I first saw it on BBC 2 in 1999, I sat down to watch PKW with some nervousness, Farscape's characters are like a family in a way. A family who you visited every week, you shared their highs and lows, their loves and hates.

Would Peacekeeper Wars be faithful to the series? Or would it be a hodge podge of ideas and scenes with none of the old humanity?

Happily my fears were unjustified. PKW grabs you by the throat and does not let go.

The acting was, as usual, superb with believable characters, The bad guys do not resort to the cliché of being bad for the sake of it. Everyone has their reasons for doing what they do.

The effects were amazing and the story line is a roller coaster ride.

Admittedly, there are times when the compressed season 5 storyline jars. But this is forgivable.

The rumour at the time of filming was that the mini series used up all the available squibs in Australia. After seeing the battle scenes, you realize why!

All in all, a good ending to this part of the story while still leaving a way to make more.

Let's hope Moya keeps flying and we visit her crew in the future.

;-)

Just in case you are not familiar with the back story of this excellent little mini-series: Farscape PKWs is a continuation of a cancelled television series on the Scifi channel. Nothing special about that you say?

Well, what makes this unique is the fact that it never would have been made except for the legions of fans who caused such a ruckus after Scifi made the stupid mistake of canceling. THE FANS got the attention of financial backers who then invested in making this little gem. How amazing is that? In a world where we feel like people crap on us at will and it's us again the big corporations...the little man finally won a small but decisive battle.

As for the show, some die-hard fans, myself included, noticed a few differences in how the mini-series was shot and some character changes...though all the original actors were used. Still, I was almost in tears when I saw my favorite Hynerian in all his squat and toadlike splendor. Definitely not a disappointment to loyal fans and hopefully an eye catcher to those who are new to the series. The humor was there, the dangers were still lurking around the corners, and the chemistry was as sizzling as ever. I highly recommend that anyone who hasn't seen this glorious series go out and rent the first season. You'll never regret it!

Farscape:The Peacekeeper Wars was truly to the quote," the best is always last." Once again Series Creator Rockne S. O' Bannon and Executive Producer David Kemper, and Henson Productions had returned us to that portion of the Universe far exceeding the limits of our imagination. And also giving closure and finale to many story plots of the previous four year quest of Astronaut John Crichton and his beloved Flight Officer Aeryn Sun. Equally within this final piece the reappearance of other beloved and familiar characters showing solid and firm tapestry. Because in a series like Farscape it's not stand alone character show, but an intricate web of characters and situations that really kept the viewer on edge. Good television is a rare find and this series truly deserved a well resolution to that Cliffhanger of March 21st, 2003.

In all the Mini Series was delightfully entertaining, romance filled, comedic, surprising and, tear jerking in all a well written saga. Also this Mini Series gave hints that nothing really ends. Being if you watched it carefully, seeds for Second Mini Series or possibly a feature film had been planted. But for now I'm comfortable that poetic justice has been done for one of the best new concepts of television.....

When season 4 of Farscape was canceled after the last episode, we were all devastated. However they wrapped it up in such a great, though sometimes heartbreaking, beautiful way. Farscape was a show ahead of its time, I wish it could have gone on longer, but it is wonderful and I believe it is a staple in any sci-fi fans repertoire.

I still have my "Wanted: Farscape Season 5" posters on my wall, they have been there since Season 4 was being shown.

This is by all accounts a true Farscape story - But it feels like the continuity which had built up in Farscape the Series was broken somehow. Changes in Jool's appearance, In Rygel's, In Sikozu, in Jothee, even in "War Minister Akhna" (Chricton's Real Life Wife Francesca Buller - Who was also the great character from S1E20 "M'Lee")- All worked against me initially in my own suspension of disbelief. In fact, this story had lost some of the unique 'Farscapese" which we loved week after week, I can never imagine Rygel using the phrase "Don't get your Knickers in a Twist" - He would have used some other more disgusting (and alien) words. Also, Guy Gross' Music is not very Farscapish or Subvisionish, it is traditional - Not like the show at all, although he did almost 3 seasons worth of music.

But as the story gets more involved, that continuity returns and we once again enter Tormented Space and The Uncharted Territories which is where Moya and crew were when last we looked.

Had we a season 5, there would have been more explanation of why "Grunchlk" was still alive and exactly why Chiana could see across "Unrealized Realities", also we never really got into what Sikozu really was, other than what is shown here.

And it also seems that the Skarran Empre was not slowed down one bit by the destruction of Staleek's "Bird of Paradise" farm, and they are kicking the pants off of the Peacekeepers.

If this story had been told across a 22-Episode 5th season, maybe we could have gotten those answers. But here has to end the story of John and Aeryn. Unfortunately, some other stories end here as well, which what upset me most. Mostly because it meant "No More Farscape" in it's current form.

What made Farscape unique was the involvement of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, So putting on this Mini Series was difficult enough, a year after the cancellation of Farscape- Some of the series production design did not transfer over well, maybe this was due to destruction of original sets, but even in the series, those were destroyed as well, in the episodes. Moya survived well, she looked great on the inside and outside.

The best part of this was probably the last few visits John has with "Harvey" - And I never understood why John called Scorpie's Neural Clone "Harvey" until this was shown, then the reference to the 1950 Jimmy Stewart film became clear. After that, I was able to visit all of the episodes where John talks to Harvey and it makes a lot more sense.

John Chicton was a walking, talking encyclopedia of Movie and TV knowledge, spouting phrases in Klingon, even taking on the mantle of The Roadrunner from the WB Cartoons. It's what made Farscape great, and so in this last Farscape "Episode" John Chricton is in fine Chricton form. As is Ka D'Argo. Unfortunately, Pa'u Zhaan never was found by Stark, or at least we never saw that. But even Stark is perfectly Stark, now that he shaved his head again. And Chiana was a great Chiana. But when I saw Sikozu, I asked "who is That?" Maybe it was the influence of being Scorpies Girlfriend. Scorpy, mystery as he is, has become the most Human he can ever be, even to the point of trusting someone and having feeling for them. Poor Scorpy, he cold not help being Scorpy. Jool was great, but not enough of her, my favorite 3rd season Moya Passenger.

It was mainly the little details that made Farscape the phenomena it was, and some of those were lost, but many of them remained- Enough remained for one last Starburst into The Uncharted Territories.