Farscape (No Spoilers)
- Thread starter Crothian
- Start date
sniffles
First Post
Crothian said:
Actually I find it pretty optimistic. The characters never give up, no matter how often they get shafted. Crichton managed to take a bunch of selfish convicts and make them into self-sacrificing heroes - but they're not perfect. They still have flaws and do stupid things. I think that's why I like them. I can relate to them, even thought most of them are aliens.
Crothian said:
Funny, that's how I felt about Babylon 5. Cheap costumes, cheap sets, cheap characters with broad cliche personalities, trite dialogue, and by-the-numbers resolutions to each week's plot. It was Monet science-fiction; stepping back to look at the entire elephantine overarching mega-plot, it looks grand. When looking at individual episodes, however, 9 out of 10 were pretty bland.
For all the raves about its non-trekkiness, it was still crypto-fascist science fiction. The B5 crew were still cops, still loyal soldiers following a chain of command. Farscape's cast was a bunch of misfit fugitives on the run from the authorities. They weren't out to protect the universe--no puerile confrontation scenes with posturing characters saying "go to hell" or "get off my damn ___" with a dramatic pause so the fanboys watching at home can hoot and holler at this wanton use of mild swearing. And nobody casually accepted that anyone else was the boss of them. When they finally do decide to pick a captain for Moya, the human doesn't even win. Now that's rebellious non-trekkiness.
I guess crypto-fascist sci-fi must be what people want though, because Farscape's gone and SG1 is here to stay.
Crothian said:
Crothian, people are typically selfish. Farscape doesn't pretend otherwise. But there is also compassion, comraderie, and self-sacrifice, and it's made much more meaningful when you realize these characters have to overcome selfish flaws, rather than simply lacking them like your standard issue sci-fi paper hero.
Crothian said:
Typically, they pick someone up out of compassion (you don't want them to be selfish all the time, right?) or necessity (they don't have replicators or an onboard specialist for every conceivable skillset). They have to drop their guard from time to time.
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John Crichton
First Post
I think the show deserves a little more credit than that. Yes, they are always in trouble and it's almost always bad but how is that different than other sci-fi shows set on a spaceship?Crothian said:
As for the crew never learning: huh? They know damn well they are going to get screwed over most of the time and there is always a reason why they go to such lengths.
John Crichton
First Post
What stretch of eps are you on, if I may ask?Crothian said:
And yeah, others look for trouble because they can usually handle it. Moya's big (and only) weapon: run away, real fast.
Crothian said:
Ah, self-actualization is commonplace where you come from? Interesting.
Crothian said:
Most good guys are purely reactive. Just about every version of Star Trek had countless plots where they encounter something or someone in space and bring it/them on board. DS9 and B5 had plots about the villain-of-the-week showing up at their station. Pretty standard stuff.
But yeah, the magnitude of awfulness is pretty severe in Farscape. People don't always make the right decision. Actions have consequences that aren't fixed within 60 minutes. Bad stuff happens. Just like real-life--but let me guess, not in your experience, eh?
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