Customer Reviews

Farscape Season 3, Collection 5

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Season 3 of "Farscape" began with Aeryn Sun dead, but she was brought back to life by Zhaan (who then proceeded to die), so that we are basically able to end up the season right where we started, with another traumatic separation for Crichton and Aeryn. However, before we get to this season's cliffhanger, there are some major plot lines to be resolved regarding Scorpius and Crichton's plan to take him down once and for all:

Episode 63, "I-Yensch, You-Yensch" (Written by Matt Ford, Aired January 21, 2002) begins with Dargo and Rygel actually meeting with Scorpius to negotiate immunity for Moya's crew in exchange for Crichton aiding Scorpius in his wormhole research. To establish good faith, the principle parties get to wear I-Yensch bracelets, which make you feel the pain of the other person: hit Crichton in the head and Scorpius will goes reeling. In this episode, the negotiators get to find out how much fun this can be for themselves. Meanwhile, Talyn, who has become increasingly paranoid, fires on a hospital ship and kills 6,000 innocents. Crais recommends shutting down Talyn and basically resetting him, but neither Talyn nor Moya are receptive to the idea. This episode is a solid one, setting up the first of several key elements for the final story arc. (4 Wormholes)

Episode 64, "Into the Lion's Den, Part 1: Lambs to the Slaughter" (Written by Richard Manning, Aired January 24, 2002) begins with one of those sights we never thought we would see: Crichton, Aeryn and Crais being welcomed aboard Scorpius' command carrier. However, while Crichton and Scorpius begin working on wormholes, Moya's crew begins searching for a way to destroy the vessel if the effort to sabotage the program does not work. Meanwhile, Crais and Aeryn meet up with some old friends. (4 Wormholes)

Episode 65, "Into the Lion's Den, Part 2: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" (Written by Rockne S. O'Bannon, January 28, 2002) has Crichton's efforts going nowhere, making him decide the only thing left to do is to destroy Scorpius' command carrier. The But Crais has been getting too familiar with some of the Peacekeepers and apparently has his own plans for Talyn. Meanwhile, a new arrival tries to pull rank on Scorpius with regards to the wormhole project and the agreement with Moya's crew. This forces Crichton to find a way to destroy the vessel right now. A couple of major plot threads are resolved in this episode in quite an unexpected way, making this penultimate episode as important as the grand finale. (5 Wormholes)

Episode 66, "Dog With Two Bones" (Written by David Kemper, January 31, 2002) takes it title from Aesop's fable of the dog crossing a bridge with a bone in its mouth. The main story line has to do with Moya visiting the final resting place of the Leviathans before the crew splits up and goes their separate ways. Crichton is envisioning a future in which he takes Aeryn back to earth and they have a wedding, attended by all of his family and friends, from both Earth and Moya's crew. The comic sight of D'Argo at the wedding reception contrasts with the parting of the crew and one of those jaw dropping discoveries that has you eager to find out what happens in Season 4 (5 Wormholes).

Clearly the dominant thread of Season 3 was the relationship between Crichton and Aeryn, which went through several cycles of death and separation. When you consider how many television series "jump the shark" once the male and female leads get together romantically, you have to be impressed with how "Farscape" finds a way of complicating the relationship between these two. Even though we end up essentially at the end of the season where we were at the beginning with these two, you cannot accuse this show of having just tread water during Season 3, which was the best to that point.

A Farscape mini series is being filmed as you read this. I hear it is to be 4hours and it will complete the story. Sometime in 2004 possibly early in the year it will be released. I'm not sure whether it will be on Sci-Fi channel or not.

So buy all the boxsets of Farscape so you can keep your mind fresh for the conclusion. Right now I'm grining from ear to ear, this is so exciting!! ;-D

As you know, ADV Films has released Farscape on DVD since it's first season up until this current release.

What a shame it's been that ADV has not maintained it's consistency for quality.

When the first season was released, there was more extra info and commentaries than one would normally know what to do with. As such, they established a precident that has not been matched since. Yes, the second and third seasons did contain more episodes per disc... but the bonus features which make purchasing DVD's have been grossly neglected.

The Sci-Fi Channel, another unfortunate group which [took away from] us from this groundbreaking show, is still airing re-runs. But regardless of this, I recommend recording these as an addition to your library. Personally, I have found this preferable to buying into an inferior product which will most assuredly be outdated by a later release that may very well include additional commentaries, as well as other longed-for features.

Any Farscape fan would agree that the show deserves better, both from the ADV Films released for the second and thrid seasons, as well as from the Sci-Fi Channel, which would rather feed you the inane dren of Tremors - The Series, and countless substandard exclusive movies.

So I say to you, hold out for buying this current insipid collection, and a higher gratification should eventually be presented to those with patience.

Case in point... keep in mind how many other DVD's have been re-released with additional enhancements within the last cycle?

Out of season 3 of "Farscape", this collection is the most involving (and at times, the most surprising) you'll find. By this point, our hero, John Crichton has decided to stop the wormhole technology project, headed by the dangerous Scorpius. While the first episode in this set lays out that plan, the gem of this set is the two part "Into the Lion's Den". Loyalties are tested, revelations are dropped, and an incredible sacrifice is made. An next-to-pitch perfect end for the season, except it ends with the follwing episode "Dog With Two Bones". As our heroes deal with the trauma of their conflict with Scorpius, everyone's ready to move on. And before it's all over, one major surprise is revealed, and a serious cliffhanger is laid out to lead into season 4. Suffice to say, this show is at it's very best in this final collection of "Farscape"'s third season.

These two episodes are very well worth owning.
ADV Films Farscape releases for season three have confused even the most ardent Farscape fan. The "volume" generally has two episodes as opposed to the usual four or five that you'd find on a "collection". Just remember you get what you pay for. On Amazon, it's usually around $30 for a "collection" and around $17 for a two episode volume.

"Relativity" is a 'Talyn episode.' In this ep, the fugitives Crichton, Aeryn, Crais, and Talyn are being pursued by Aeryn's Peacekeeper mother, Xhalax Sun. (And may I just mention, Aeryn and John are finally...'together', warming the hearts of shippers everywhere!)
Xhalax and her Retrieval Squad manage to track the crew down when they land on a planet to give Talyn a chance to rest and heal from injuries. Farscapian mayhem ensues, wherein Crichton stakes Crais out like a sacrificial goat, we discover Rygel really DOESN'T have an unselfish bone in his body, and Crais executes Xhalax (or does he?!). And the tag scene between Crichton and Aeryn is definitely worth sticking around for.

"Incubator" is a 'Moya episode.' Well, it's actually more of a Scorpius episode, though the Moya crew features. In this ep, we learn a lot about Scorpius' wormhole research and how far he's come. Which is to say, he can make wormholes, but his pilots always turn to goo when they come back.
Trying to figure out where his research is going wrong, he questions the 'Crichton' contained in the neural chip (Scorpy's got his very own Harvey!). Trying to convince this Crichton-echo to give him wormhole equations, Scorpius reveals scenes from his past. This episode contains some harsh subject matter, including rape and torture. Not for the little 'uns.
Scorpius is the most fleshed-out and well-rounded 'villians' I have ever encountered in fiction. This episode simply adds another dimension to an already amazing character. If you love Scorpius (and even if you don't) "Incubator" is a must-see.

This DVD contains Episodes 310 and 311.
I won't say much about Episode 310, other than Aeryn's mother, Xhalax Sun, giving it a soap opera feel (I just don't know which to compare it with: "Another World" or "One Life To Live"?) The Colartan mercenaries make it worth watching, however.
Episode 311 is where it's at. It's what we've all been waiting for -- the answer to many of our questions about Scorpius, such as, "Why in Hades do the Peacekeepers put up with a half-breed officer when they are otherwise so uptight about Sebacean purity?" The amazing thing about this episode (and what makes this DVD worth buying) is that you may actually find yourself feeling sympathy for Scorpius, if only for a moment. On a grander scale, the Scarrans really drive home the point that there are bigger and badder menaces out there than the Peacekeepers.
Farscape shines the most when it delves into the interspecies politics of the its universe (as opposed to when it starts to resemble "Days of Our Lives," like in the first episode on this disc).

This DVD has incorrect information listed on the website. It is not a double DVD with the listed episodes. It is a single DVD with two episodes: Relativity and Incubator.

It's so very rare is television programming to find any series that manages to combine both well-thought out stories and wit as well as develop genuine feeling for its characters. This season put the characters through so much and the end with these final episodes shows that the writers were at the top of their game and not simply kicking back and relying on a firm fan base to excuse sloppy writing or half-baked ideas. The twin episodes of "Into the Lions Den" made for an excellent climax for this season's story arc, and the final episode made for a good if not slightly confusing resolution (i.e., pay attention...the devil is in the details here).

It's interesting that people either love or hate this show, and it's still a crime that the Sci-Fi channel gave up this successful series (or rather, sabotaged it with poor times and almost no attention in its last season) to replace it with abominably bad new or other shows. All good things do come to an end, and this series certainly went before its time...

The original advertisment listed the last episodes of season 3. Instead Volume 5 contains 2 episodes included with Volume 3.3.

The Description listed indicates that it contains Episode 319 through 322. IT DOES NOT! Instead it contains two episodes, "Relativity" and "Incubator". I would hazard a guess the the description on the web site is for COLLECTION FIVE (to be released later in the year) and not Vol 5 that is being sold.