1-3: Exodus from Genesis – This little mutiny.

"Evil gets you a double post."

(poster by gilliam)
Holy sweet blue vomit Batman, Farscape IS kind of minty. This one was, is and will be the beginning of addiction for many. Granted more will fall in the episodes to come (and a few were gone from moment one), but this is the true beginning of the curve. The line forms on the left. Mind your toes.

"...I have the image of John and Aeryn looking out towards the ‘swarm’...with the text, ‘All are bases are belong to Farscape’ [written] below it. Smitten."

The power of the Scape compels you. And don't worry it will keep its promise, though it may get hotter than squag once or twice along the way. Oh and the eyeliner might get a bit thick. And you may have to play nice with parasites.

"The fact that it's only half over when the Moyans and the bugs make peace is a great upending of audience expectations even further."

At first the sharp cuts to “commercial” and exotic speech patterns and heavy colors and slightly askew camera angles seem so overpowering. Our expectations are almost upended too much. We’re still in the adjustment phase, taking in as much as we can.

“...he complains to Zhaan basically that the cool kids don't like him ‘cause he's not a badass.”

But we ARE getting the hang of a few things now. There may be much to assimilate but we're falling into a rhythm. The small things no longer elude us quite so much.

"...it contains an entry from my soon-to-be bestselling book, Everything I Ever Needed to Know, I Learned From Farscape: 'NEVER swallow a Dentic.'"

OK so some small things are not all that elusive to begin with. But there are other moments -- subtle hints of added layers -- that once flew past many an overwhelmed new Scaper.

"My first Farscape experience was watching VHS tapes copied from VHS tapes copied from TV - with Finnish subtitles."

To be fair, some may have had unusual... obstacles for their first time through. But the flickers of facial expression, unusual character choices, and those precious quotes we hold so close; it’s all building upon itself. In hindsight it’s really quite dizzying and we find new things to pick apart.

"… why does [John] choose a plan that endangers her? Even D’Argo seems surprised. And it’s seriously endangering her given that the heat increase is torturing her even worse (and thus putting her in deeper jeopardy for the living death) than it is the other PKs on Moya."

He does this precisely because he already loves her a little. He already knows that she's already come up with the idea herself, somewhere in her fevered brain. This is exactly what she would want and she even nods her assent before he can ask. Already they are so connected.

"Oh. My. Gawd. Look what Scaping has done to me; it has released my inner 'shipper."

All TV should be this good. Just as Farscape turns every concept it depicts violently on its ear, it creates sci-fi fans and romance junkies where they did not previously exist. Violently anti-shipper as a general rule? Clearly you haven’t met Aeryn and Crichton yet. Don’t like shows in space (I’m looking at you Barry Diller)? You know I’ve got these DVDs; you should come over sometime and watch ‘em. It’ll be fun. Sure, we can stop after the first few if you don’t like it.

"...this is the first time Aeryn gives even initial glimmerings of respect to another character on Moya. The fact that it is Pilot - arguably the most alien looking critter on board - is very interesting given Aeryn's inbred horror of 'irreversible contamination'."

This time around I’m noticing aspects of physical presence that hadn’t struck me before. Some are specifically designed to add to the layers…

"Aeryn turned to look at John as if to say: "We are not familiar in that way... how would you know how I feel?" and Crichton's little pause at that point suggested that he realized that perhaps his phrasing was a little too... intimate. heh."

… and some of them are just islands of brilliant in an already splendid sea of remarkable …

"Notice how the DRDs are rolling around all concerned too? I find myself watching the DRDs this time around. There is a story to their activities also."

… and some precious little nuggets manage to be both.

"...the possessed Zhaan is introducing her 'aggregates,' Aeryn kind of pulls herself up straight and slaps her hand on the table with the most adorably indignant look on her face. Hee! Claudia Black is made of awesome."

The best humor comes in the darkest of times and the scariest of monsters are often overly familiar. That mix of moods, genres, tones, characters -- high comedy in the midst of confusion; I praise this show for its thematic daring but the truth is that few programs try this blend because so few could ever meet this high of a standard.

"But on the phrase, 'I want neither,' Aeryn braces herself against Crichton to stand up. Even as she vocally expresses her wish for isolation and independence, she is physically reaching out for support."

It almost hurts to go through these baby steps with them; there are trials ahead, and also great rewards. Yet, somehow the first choices are harder each time through.

"This is a pretty intense revelation to lay on the audience among so many other revelations about Aeryn, but Farscape moves fast and they don't dawdle when telling their story."

I don’t think I ever realized just how fast they built their foundation of people, places and artifacts, until the first time I re-watched all of Farscape, after having seen everything but Peacekeeper Wars. On my first trip theough the Uncharted Territories, they seemed to be finding their footing – even floundering a bit -- and I still see some of that now. But the devil is in the details.

"Is this the first episode in which John's moral reticence begins to slip? He punches bug-John, deriding himself for having fought fair in the past. Oh, John."

Already we have duplication, a meme to become very important down the road. They will battle clones, twins, and genetic extrapolations for a long time to come. Not to mention the internal struggles each will face. Eventually we all fight our worst enemies in ourselves.

"John being Captain Spazz is one of the things that initially repulsed me about Farscape, but is also what drew me in."

And in my universe, that IS a compliment. It should be noted, however, that this is a piss poor choice as a first episode for most.

"I wrote a paper on it about abjection and gendered subject formation, so I had to rewatch it a lot. We had to present our papers to the class and most of us showed clips. *sigh* Showing clips from this ep was a mistake. What do you call it when you do the opposite of Scaping people?"

The fandom equivalent of the Living Death? I keed. And yet, it is more accurate than you think.

"… one thing that disturbed me was D'Argo cutting into Moya without warning. In the background you can hear Moya moaning and it just made me angry at him. Early D'Argo grates."

Seriously. We don't kill our own for mercy though. Oh no, it's Advance Pattern Durka all the way. We give them more Scape; and ever so obligingly, Scape just gives them More.

The ridiculous delay was brought about by a teeny tiny kitten. There are worse ways to end a day.

Now then, my body has functions so "let there be light... banter!"