Customer Reviews

Farscape Season 1, Vol. 11 - Bone to Be Wild / Family Ties

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

 

 

This DVD marks the end of season one and these two episodes are indicative of this great series. "Bone to be wild" is a good who do you trust episode. The crew while hiding in an asteroid field to avoid Crais and Scorpious are hailed by an unknown alien. Once meeting this alien they find that a creature is preying upon them as they find remains of previous victims. They are attacked by another plant like creature who is more than he seems. They find out that they only have a short time before the creature attacks again but who are they going to trust?
"Family Ties" sees Rygel up to his old tricks in trying to sell out his comrades to save his own green hide. But with Crais under arrest and Scorpious in charge he knows he has much of a chance to cut a good deal. He instead makes a deal with Crais and comes back to Moya with him. So Crichton is faced with one of his nemises, will he overcome the urge to take revenge? It ends with a great cliffhanger in this season finale. Look out for this one if you are a farscape fan or someone who enjoys a good drama and great acting, sci-fi or no. Enjoy:)

I'll say at the onset that Farscape is an excellent show. If you're reading this, you probably agree. Sadly, the DVDs are not at all the positive experience I wish them to be.

First, the cost of a single DVD containing two episodes is annoyingly high....Compare this to Star Trek:The Next Generation at slightly over half the price and the Farscape series seems insultingly expensive.

Second, unlike many series being released on DVD, Farscape is being released two episodes at a time, months apart....Call me cynical, but I'm betting that after hoardes of us purchase Season 1 a single DVD at at time, they're going to release a Season 1 boxed set at a much lower price.

Third, while I haven't made the comparisons myself, I'm hearing reports that the supplemental material on the DVDs is diminishing in quantity and quality. If true, this only serves to turn me away from further Farscape DVD purchases.

Lastly, the navigation on the DVDs seems to have been poorly designed. Navigating to the second episode on a DVD requires the user to choose Scene Selection and awkwardly select the second episode. A much cleaner user interface would be to have an icon on the main screen for each episode on the disk.

In summary, while the show is excellent, the DVD experience is quite lacking due to the cost, slow release, diminishing supplemental material, and poor navigation.

Family Ties is such a strong episode that I have ignored its unfortunate pairing with Bone to be Wild (an episode of little consequence and terrible storyline placement) and given this a 5 star rating. Family Ties is everything a season finale should be -- enemies old and new, each character coming fully into their own, Farscape's typical wit mixed with the most poignant moments to date, and of course a cliffhanger that makes you glad the SciFi channel is goofy enough to air the final four episodes right before the beginning of the new season so you don't have to agonize too long. These actors can handle anything with style, and Family Ties is one of the most stylish episodes from any season.

And so it ends... Yes, the first season of FARSCAPE is finally complete on DVD with the release of the eleventh DVD from ADV Films. The wild ride that FARSCAPE provided to the fans continued into the twenty-first and twenty-second episodes of the series, and when all is said and done, one is just left wanting more! That's how good these two season finale episodes are, and that's saying a lot given the recent episodes prior to this.

The DVD begins with "Bone to Be Wild", a story that finds Moya and her child at a critical juncture, and Crichton, D'Argo and Zhaan answering a distress call from a nearby asteroid. There they find M'Lee and Br'Nee, the last of a race of calcivores and an expedition of scientists, respectively, but which is which? With the characters' lives on the line, Crichton must make the right choice, while back on the ship, Moya's child is causing headaches for the Leviathan herself - and she decides to send Aeryn over to her child to see what's going on, and try and save the situation. Meanwhile, the relationship (if it can be called that) heats up between Scorpius and Crais, and the comeuppance of the PK we love to hate is upon us. Overall, "BtBW" is a superb episode, one that deals with the issue of trust, deceitfulness and treachery, and appearances not being what they seem. The extra footage on the DVD enhances the episode, and certainly makes a few things clearer. When one adds the commentary version of this episode with Anthony Simcoe (D'Argo), well...let's just say a lot of things about this episode come to light, and present it in a new light!

The second episode on the DVD, "Family Ties," is the season finale...and what a finale it is. With Scorpius continuing to hunt for Moya and her child, Talyn, Rygel appears to betray the crew of Moya and departs for the Command Carrier, delivering himself into the hands of Crais and Scorpius. But seeing that Crais has lost control of the situation and that he needs to escape Scorpius's grasp as much as the Hynerian himself, Rygel makes a deal with Crais that delivers Crais into the hands of Moya's crew! Meanwhile, Crichton and D'Argo come up with a daring plan to deal Scorpius a major blow, while at the same time allowing Moya and Talyn to escape via Starburst - but there's a good chance that one or both of them won't be coming back alive. And things get somewhat more complicated when Crais has a plan of his own, that involves Moya's child! A truly fantastic end to the first season of FARSCAPE, this episode has everything in it, with some lovely plot twists and turns, some surprises, and some definitely unexpected elements. The commentary version of this with Ben Browder and Claudia Black is worth the price of the DVD alone, but it's the extra footage in this episode that makes it special.

Not only does one get the two episodes and their commentary versions, but there are also two Profiles - one of David Kemper, one of Rockne S. O'Bannon - as well as the Creature Shop, so there's some useful stuff here. Now that it appears the deal has been worked out with Henson and company, there will be extras on all the DVDs from this one forward. Add to this all the usual extras, and this DVD is one of the better ones that has come down the pike. My only annoyance with this was the terrifying ad at the beginning for ANDROMEDA, indicating that ADV is going to be doing them on video and DVD soon.

When all is said and done, well... With the cliffhanger presented at the end of the final episode, one just wants to scream, and go on to the next DVD - but one can't, since ADV is taking their sweet time getting the next season started on DVD. ADV has done a good job putting out quality DVDs for the FARSCAPE first season, and there's no reason to think that they'll not live up to the same when they do the second season stuff... In the meantime, patience, patience... :)

I am really hooked on the whole series. I don't have cable and took a chance with the first DVD, and am yet to be let down. This is the best of the series as of it's release.
The first episode is typical of the series, which is great sci-fi. The crew is still being hunted by a rogue Peacekeeper commander, and they receive a distress call. The plot moves at a good pace, the story flows very well, and the make-up and effects work are all of great quality.
The second episode on the DVD can only be called outstanding work. Typical of every season-ending cliffhanger, I was quite upset that I would have to wait and see how it would end when the next DVD comes out. Sorry, I am not a spoiler type, but this episode has the overall theme of things coming to a head. They are still sitting in an asteroid belt, they are still getting slowly dialed in on, and it is only a metter of time before something will happen. Moya won't leave the baby, the baby can't jump on it's own, they don't have room to get out and things are getting tense. Then, of course, you are left with the obligatory highly open ending as the season comes to a close.
The good news is there IS a next season, unlike Space: Above and Beyond, for those who remember that show. With luck, they will soon be on DVD in a short amount of time.

While this series was on I enjoyed the wildly Alien species from puppets to strange blue make up and rubber masks.
The acting is B movie with a British accent and the sets are well done
but you know the shots are studio.
This series is sort of Flash Gordon up dated with imagination?
The end of "Family Ties" is a classic serial "cliff hanger".

"Farscape," one of the best SF shows ever, wrapped up its first season with these two episodes.

The first, "Bone to Be Wild," is just average. Hiding out in an asteroid belt, the crew discovers two inhabitants on a verdant asteroid, each claiming that the other is responsible for killing its compatriots. There are some chilling moments, but it remains a three-star effort.

"Family Ties" raises the bar considerably. Still hiding in the asteroid belt, Crichton (Ben Browder) and company are forced to take huge risks in order to preserve their own lives and that of Talon, the offspring of their living spacecraft, Moya. Rygel appears to be defecting, Crais (Lani Tupu) appeals to Crichton and the others after losing his power struggle with Scorpius (Wayne Pygram), and events culminate in a snafu of galactic proportions that would seem to sever contact among our characters forever. This important episode introduces plot elements that will play out over the course of many episodes and seasons. If you've made it this far, you won't be able to stop now.

Being Sci-fi fans for a long time, particularly of the Star Trek franchise (our favorite was Voyager), we have been bowled over by the Farscape series. It is far more creative and adventurous than anything before it--thanks to the amazing work of Henson's Creature Shop and the bold vision of its creators...but the real success of the show is due to its fabulous cast, who make the scripts sing and sizzle...funny and poignant and raucous adventure, all rolled into one! These two episodes are truly representative of Farscape's best features, with creatures to die for (Bone to Be Wild) and the captivating performances by the cast (Family Ties). Our full salute to this inventive show!

The DVD's are well coordinated and the menus are easy to follow. The clarity is excellent.

Farscape was (and I specify was) one of the best new SciFi series out. I recommend all episodes in season one and season two however, starting with the ending of season three it has become silly and juvenile. Chreiton's brain implant is becomming redundant and needs to be resolved. I do not plan on purchasing any additional episodes (perhaps even watching) unless they get new writers (someone over the age of 12 at least)for the upcoming episodes.
LETS HOPE THEY RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL CONCEPTS OF THE SERIES.

I have to sey I was not all that in to Farscape at first but then I saw the dvd and thought ok it would be fun to see the first few shows and then I would buy the next one and the next one you see where theis is going I love this show now to bad I don't know whats going on now but I will never miss it ever now I can't wait for Vol 12 to come out I love Farscape and you will to