Customer Reviews

The Farscape Episode Guide for Season Three: An Unofficial, Independent Guide with Critiques

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Some of this book was interesting but the auther was constantly pushing his own agenda which does get tiresome. Accusations of racism and sexism are rife in all three books he has written for Farscape. Even with much loved episodes such as Revenging Angel the praise is begrudging with the suggestion that the episode is overrated. David Kemper has a right to be proud of that episode which he pushed for and believed in (against others advice) without nasty comments being thrown at him such as "That Mr Kemper has an ego the size of Australia is obvious to anyone who has read his column in the official Farscape magazine". Well it's not obvious to me, I enjoy his jokes and sarcasm when he interacts with fans, and I respect his work far more than yours Mr Pelucir. Please don't speak for all fans. Particularly as you are making money from David Kemper's work.

The constant bitterness and bile does get tiresome. For instance all websites have trolls who love to stir things up. Talis Pelucir (the author) actually dignifes their opinion by giving them a voice and ranting about one poster who called Zhann fat. The fact that it was probably a twelve year old troll apparently didn't occur to him, no it was an example of the show encouraging people to laugh at "big blue butts".

There is also ranting about Zhann's death not being treated with the same respect as Aeryn by the official website designed by Sci Fi. Who cares, just review the damn episodes is my response to that. I don't mind criticism based on acting or writing. But please stop with the knee-jerk reactions already. There is even complaints about Farscape Undressed being disrespectful to Ben and Claudia because it has them flirting with each other when they are not in character. If Talis would stop being offended on other peoples behalf and just judged the writing and performances of an episode this book would be far better. As it is I can't recommend it to those who are easily frustrated.

Pelucir's books on Farscape are the only ones that really offer honest critiques of the show. The official magazine, the website, all of those are studio owned, sanctioned and controlled.

For example, Pelucir takes issue with online criticisms of the actress Virginia Hey being "too fat" and the actors Ben Browder and Claudia Black being asked to flirt with each other out of character. While some people will say that Pelucir is taking things too far, it's refreshing to be reminded that not all Farscape viewers are twelve year old boys with access to the Internet, but that some of us are adults who enjoy the show and are offended by the innane comments that fuel the show's message boards.

Pelucir gives kudos where they're due, but remember, a reviewer's job is to talk about the pros AND cons, not just heap praise on a show that has enormous potential but is sometimes misguided.

I loved this book and his other books about Farscape because he's willing to look at the show in a larger context and because he understands the power of television on young viewers. Not everyone laughs at big blue butt jokes, even if they come out of Rygel's mouth.

SO if you're interested in thinking about the show in a larger scifi context and thinking about its impact, read his books. If you just want glossy pictures that you've seen a thousand times before, buy the official ones.

The only thing I really liked about this book is the guest star listings in the back. The rest is dren.

Outside of the fact that the author is coming across as a tad whiney and a tad over sensitive to themes nobody else seems to notice, and his spelling sometimes is horrible, the mistakes have increased to the point where it sometimes forces me to a complete halt to reread a sentence. Really, page 146, Rygel has `his lovely revenge against the Scarran prisoner'. What? That was a Charrid. Then there is page 188 where he complains about the fact that there is a park on the Command Carrier. Yet Aeryn clearly states, to John, that these areas are for training. After all, the PeaceKeepers do land and carry out operations on planet - they have to train for it.
I still agree on some points - the closing episode of the season was, frankly, a let down and has me worried about watching Season Four. And yes, maybe David Kemper should only write stand alone episodes. In other words, there is still some meat here once you cut out all the fat. Gems in the sand, needle in the hay, you get the picture. Get it used.
OR pick up Uncharted Territory: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Farscape which covers all three seasons and does so without as much complaining.

The book is very interesting. It offers a really good synopsis of each episode, interesting and well thought out critiques of each episode and a Tier Below section with interesting facts. It did have typos here and there, which were annoying but overall I either agreed with his critiques or thought they were at the very least, interesting reading about a show I love. Finally, as the author states in his introduction, he does love Farscape and that comes across, so I recommend this book.