Season 2 of Farscape >> Season 1. They smoothed out a lot of the problems (if not all) in this season. Having a fantastic season arc helped, as well as everyone being more comfortable with what the show is really about.


Mind the Baby - I adored this opener. It had just the right mix of funny and angst. The only slightly off-putting thing about it was Zhaan being loopy for no apparent reason and the fact that the stand-off cliffhanger from the S1 closer was kind of resolved off-screen. I know that this is largely due to the original opener being moved and re-written, but still. The John/D'Argo relationship really solidified for me in this episode. I love the buddy/buddy thing they have (rock-paper-scissors! Hee!). D'Argo bugged me for a lot of S1, but now I love him, at least when he's with John. Also, not surprisingly, I was really happy that John and Aeryn moved their relationship into a more comfortable pattern - even if neither one is entirely sure how they feel about the other yet. The final scene was lovely.

Vitas Mortis - Yawn. I ... didn't care about anything happening in this episode. And I never want to see D'Argo getting his nipples licked again.

Taking the Stone - Eh. I didn't hate this episode the way many seemed to on TWoP. It was kind of S1-ish. And Rygel had the stupidest subplot I've ever seen.

Crackers Don't Matter - Hee! This is one of those episodes whose plot probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you really stand back and look at it, but why on Earth would you want to do that? The episode was almost entirely pure fun - except with the angsty bits about the characters actually meaning some of the things they said while under the influence. I'll leave you with my favorite quote from Farscape, and possibly ever: "I got great eyes, they’re better than 20/20, and they’re blue!" It's all in the delivery.

The Way We Weren't - Oh, wow, this was a good episode. The whole Pilot/Aeryn backstory history came a little out of nowhere, but the emotional payoff definitely justified it. I liked how it tied up some the loose ends surrounding Moya's pregnancy. And I loved all the character interaction dynamics, especially John and Aeryn (I'm going to be saying that a lot, aren't I?).

Picture if You Will - Eh. Did we really need to see Maldis again? I mean, ever? They were clearly going for a Twilight Zone feel, but never really achieved it.

Home on the Remains - Snore. While I like D'Argo and Chiana separately, I can't say that I care to see them together. And I'm very much over Zhaan and her weird plant issues. The only bit that I really enjoyed was John showing off some of his new fighting skills and managing to kill the beast.

Dream a Little Dream - Didn't have it on DVD, so I skipped it. Plus, everyone seems to agree that it sucks.

Out of Their Minds - This episode worked so much better than I expected and was overall quite enjoyable. The body-switch trope is standard sci-fi fare, but the way that Farscape handled it made it much more unique and fun. For one thing - two sets of three-way swaps, twice! And there were two Muppets involved. For two, they actually let the actors imitate the other characters without any annoying dubbing (except in the very beginning with overlap effects to orient the audience). And the actors were good enough to pull it off splendidly. Of especial note: Anthony Simcoe's Chiana - he had the body language and the girly speech down and Ben Browder's Rygel - just, hee. Claudia Black did a fairly good Crichton. I'm really happy that Farscape had the cast to pull this one off as well as it did.

My Three Crichtons - Eh. It was okay, I guess, but sort of predictable. And future John was really, really annoying.

Look at the Princess - During the first part of this trilogy, I thought that this was the stupidest premise that I'd ever heard of. Very much bad Shakespeare meets sci-fi. But, as so often with Farscape, the later emotional payoff made it worth it. In particular, getting Aeryn to finally accept (sort of) how she feels and getting the first inkling that something is very wrong with John. As you might expect by now, I loved the last John/Aeryn scene. *happy 'shipper sigh*
Sidenote: The Moya/Zhaan subplot was dumb and really detracted from the action of the main plot.

Beware of Dog - Aw, I want a Vork. The critter costumes were pretty bad in this episode, but the episode itself was awfully fun. I really enjoyed the twists and turns and did not see the Rygel switch coming. Poor 'lil Vork though. And, uh oh, Aeryn's noticed that John's not exactly right in the head.

Won't Get Fooled Again - The crackiest episode to ever crack. Simultaneously immensely funny, deeply disturbing, and way more important to the overall plot than you'd think would be possible considering that it takes place entirely within John's head. I loved John's reactions to "Earth," and how there was never a doubt in the minds of either audience or John that it was real. And oh so very trippy. Rygel in a gimp costume may have scarred me for life. D'Argo, however, wins for the entire drive-in scene. And Crais! Who thought that I'd ever love Crais!

The Locket - Gah. There are a number of bad Farscape episodes out there and plenty of stupid premises, but this is the only episode that I've really hated. For one thing, BORING. For another, STUPID. And DEPRESSING. And did I mention the mind-numbing BOREDOM? By the end of it, my husband and I had worked ourselves into full on MST3K mode. The only good thing about it is that it effectively didn't happen in the end. Gah.

The Ugly Truth - Not bad. I do like a good Rashomon episode. It wasn't terribly compelling, but I enjoyed bits and pieces of everyone's visions - especially D'Argo's with John as his "yes" man. Hee. Stark, however, I'm ready to throw off a cliff. Such a shame that dispersal isn't more permanent.

A Clockwork Nebari - I accidentally watched this out of order (after the first part of LGM), so I wasn't really paying that much attention. It was a decent episode, if not spectacular. I'm a bit confused as to why John thought that California surfer-stoner dude was the proper persona to put on, but I think that it's just because Ben Browder has an unhealthy obsession with doing (bad) accents. I should note that it was around this episode that I suddenly realized that I sort of liked Rygel. I'm not sure when that changed, but at some point he started being more character and less puppet.

Liars, Guns, and Money: A Not So Simple Plan - I quite enjoyed this set-up, though Stark nearly ruined it for me. Was it really necessary to bring him back? He's like a walking, talking plot device. During the entire teaser, I just kept saying, "Well, that's convenient." I mean, he just happens to run across information about D'Argo's son? And blueprints for a Depository? And magical key things? Eh. Whatever. The good parts of this episode, not surprisingly, involved John and Aeryn, and, oh yeah, Scorpy. I also really liked the fifty plot twists in the first half-hour. John's confrontation with Scorpy was fantastic.

Liars, Guns, and Money: With Friends Like These - Most of this episode was kind of boring. I wasn't all that thrilled that they decided to resurrect S1 characters to help them, but I guess that they needed the cannon fodder. I was more interested in the spiders and the Moya plot. The last few minutes when Jothee showed up, and I just knew, and then everyone else knew, ... wow. Awesome.

Liars, Guns, and Money: Plan B - So in this trilogy, we have gone through the following goals: Rescue D'Argo's son, rob a bank, rescue D'Argo, kill Scorpy, recruit mercenaries, save Moya, rescue John. Now that is one dense trilogy. I really loved this part of the trilogy. Aeryn's refusal to give up, her willingness to do anything (and I do mean anything), the destruction of the Depository, John's madness, and the final realization at the end that getting away does not equal winning. This is Farscape at its best.

Die Me, Dichotomy - Ow. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. Unfortunately, I was spoiled that Aeryn would die at some point in the series and I strongly suspected that it would be here. But you know what? Knowing that didn't help one bit. This was the kind of episode where I was curled up in a little ball of tension for the entire thing just praying that somehow, someway, they could make things different. John morphing into Harvey was horrific and the things he did even worse. But then John having to live with it ... Really, Jacob summed it up the best: Scorpy wins, John loses. Everything.


And on to the rest of S3! I watched the first episode already (because how could I not?), but nothing after that, so don't spoil me.