Warning: Spoilers galore! Free roaming discussion of the season story arcs!
First, before proceeding to heap excessive amounts of praise on this extraordinary season, I have to express my extreme anger at the ongoing refusal of the owner's of the series copyright to make it available to the public at a reasonable or even affordable price. I do not own this set on DVD and do not plan on doing so as long as they continue pricing it as such absurd levels. I'll struggle along with my tapes for now. I'm not angry only because their price means I can't afford it; I am angry because the price keeps a host of would-be fans from discovering this remarkable series. There is simply no excuse for the way they have gone about the DVD releases for FARSCAPE. I thoroughly encourage anyone who loves Sci-fi or quality TV to explore this series-I promise you will be delighted with it-but I also encourage everyone to avoid purchasing this set at this price. As consumers we need to let the companies know that they have a responsibility to make their products available at a reasonable price.
Season One of FARSCAPE saw the debut of a new and superb Sci-Fi series. Season Two saw a marvelous development of all of the main characters, increasingly complex relationships between them, and the expansion of the many story arcs. But absolutely nothing in either Season One or Season Two prepared viewers for how extraordinary the show would become in Season Three. This season is unquestionably one of the greatest seasons any series has enjoyed in the history of television, and is in my opinion the greatest season any Sci-fi show has ever enjoyed. What makes the season so spectacular is that they take a huge number of extraordinary risks, and manage to pull all of them off. To cover merely some of the highlights, how many shows will begin a season by raising one character from the dead, killing off one of the main characters for good, savagely end a romance between two of the principal characters, create a clone of the show's main character, have the other main character embark on a torrid love affair with one of the clones, kill that clone off, and then savage the potential romance she might have with the other clone? Then, to make matters even more interesting, kill off two more major characters in the season finale while suddenly and inexplicably inserting a new character from nowhere? Sound complex? It is! But complex can be great when you assemble a team of great writers, great producers, great designers, and great actors. This was an exceptionally ambitious season, and the miracle was that their ambitions were all realized.
Season Two ended with the death of Aeryn Sun and the removal of the implant that Scorpius inserted into John Crichton's brain. Towards the end of Season Two, John and Aeryn seemed finally to be moving towards the fulfilled romance for which they seemed destined. In a way, the challenge facing the writers in regard to John and Aeryn reminds me of the famous Monty Python cheese shop sketch. In that skit, John Cleese enters a cheese shop to buy some cheese. As he asks for each kind of cheese, none of which the shop possesses, the shop owner tries to concoct a new excuse for why they do not have that particular kind. The game is to continually invent new excuses for why they don't have any cheese. Similarly, the writers over nearly four seasons had to create a host of reasons for why Aeryn Sun and John Crichton weren't a couple, all while creating an overwhelming desire in all the show's viewers that they end up with each other. So, each season presents a series of hurdles for John and Aeryn to leap over, all while maintaining a high degree of interest in one another. The first hurdle is, of course, Aeryn's death in Season Two, just after she has declared her love for John and at the hand's of John, though temporarily possessed by the personality of Scorpius via the implant. Aeryn is saved by Zhan, which eventually leads to her own death a few episodes into the season. I have read varying accounts of the reason why Virginia Hey left the show, though all agree that it was her decision. The essence seems to be that she was tired of the physical demands that the role made on her. She not only had to put on blue body make up that generated allergic reactions, but she had to wear contacts that bothered her eyes, and had to shave both her head and her eyebrows. Zhan leaves the show after a double sacrifice, first saving Aeryn's life but leaving herself in a condition that will eventually lead to death and later in intervening in a situation that costs her life immediately.
Shortly after Zhan's death, our heroes encounter a villain who clones individuals to produce food for consumption, leading to our seeing both D'Argo's and Chianna's clones being killed, but John's survives, which sets off a chain of events that colors everything else that happens this season. After a couple of episodes in which the two Johns make everyone feel exceedingly awkward with their presence, Moya's crew gets splits for several episodes, a few going with Crais on Talon, and the rest on Moya. Most significantly, the two Johns are split, and Aeryn goes with one of them onto Talon. Of course, this John and Aeryn finally allow themselves to fall passionately in love, and give it the fullest possible expression, to the extent of the two of them talking of staying together even if John can get back to earth. Unfortunately, this John dies after extensive exposure to radioactive material, which leaves Aeryn devastated. When she eventually returns, she finds it impossible to face the other John. The situation is unprecedented in Sci-fi, in that the man that Aeryn loves has both died and is yet still alive. It is an impossible situation emotionally, and one can both sympathize with her pain and agonize over John's heart break as he realizes that the woman he loves has given her heart to him, but not this particular "him" but the "other" him. The season ends shockingly with an emotional confrontation between John and Aeryn, with their flipping a coin to determine whether she is going to stay on the ship or leave, her departure when the coin doesn't bounce John's way, and finally the shocking revelation that she is pregnant, presumably with the other John's child. It could have been a terribly silly story arc, but instead it was handled magnificently. In my opinion, it was one of the truly great seasons in the history of TV. For my money, during the 2001-2002 television season-with apologies to BUFFY, ANGEL, 24, and ALIAS-it was the best show on TV.
There was much, much more to the season. John's struggle with Scorpius reached epic proportions. Crais, a villain in Season One and a grudging ally in Seasons Two and Three, dies along with Talon in a heroic death. D'Argo and Chianna fall apart as lovers. There are a host of spectacular single episodes. All in all, it was a remarkable season. By all means see it, but rent it, borrow it, watch it in rerun. Just don't encourage the DVD industry by buying it at such absurd prices.
