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."

1-2: I, E.T. -- Mud is mud.

"Is 'killing a bird' a euphemism for 'choking the chicken?'"
(poster by gilliam)

Somehow, I always forget about John's eye. Which is, I think, melting my brain. At the very least I'm having sympathy seizures. Again. Seriously, how do I forget about this every time? Clearly I have issues.

"You know you’ve got a pacing problem when the script calls for every character to stick his or head in the tiny hole to confirm that, “yep, there’s a peacekeeper thing in there."

And that would be one of them. It's certainly the cause of a great deal of the tumbleweeds that lurched across Rewatch landscape the first day after our weekly appointment. But we'll face the pain together. Strength in numbers. They'll all learn that soon enough. The formula serves it's purpose with algebraic accuracy.

"It made me think that Farscape was going to be mundane. Man, it is a good thing I'm comfortable with admitting when I am wrong enough to basically be the walking definition of wrong."

Last week, the Moyans were introduced to a great catalyst in each other. Now comes the awkward adjusment phase where every thought is debatable. The moment seems so quiet but there's a storm of change beneath the surface.

"See, for various sentimental reasons, this is one of my favorite episodes. Let the I, E.T. smackdown begin."

Gloves and mouthguards all around, then. And I think a helmet might be cushy.
Faustro does look a little like E.T. and it is a real kick in the pants, now that you mention it.

"Rygel biting off a chunk of Aeryn's arm and then swallowing it made me sit up and take note: this is not your usual sci-fi show!"

WWKND? Oh, the depths of disgusting we shall plumb. Even as I squirm and cover my eyes, I'm more charmed with each innard added to the soup. Bring on the entrails and vomit, I say. Did I mention I have issues?

"I loved the irreverence of this episode. Suddenly, Earth is not the center of the universe, and humans are the scary aliens."

And he is not just human, this Scary Alien (tm). He is like us, except he's an astronaut; an idealized portrait of geekdom. He's an action nerd, like we've all dreamed we could be. All of John's frames of reference are the stories he's consumed. His ramblings are gibberish to his companions, but speak deep truths to his own kind. And now he is Scary Alien (tm) when he's still new to all this scary alien crap.

"...this is one of the better episodes to rewatch because it pretty much exemplifies for me the entire Farscape experience..."

Peeling back the image even more. That same sense of impending everything, but less overwhelming than last week. I can breath enough to see the color; honeyed light sticks to each image. These early days I think they used a single color for each episode; crayons for grownups just like the "puppets" are.

So there.

1-1: Premiere -- "Um, Canaveral?"

“Farscape put the "oy" in HoYay!” – Quizzical1”

We’re at the beginning again and for the very first time. At first the visceral effect is subtle.

“For me watching the Premiere is like looking at baby photos. For people who don't know and love the show, watching Premiere is like looking at a stranger's photos of his/her kid. You might say, "How Cute!" "Look at the muppets, the aliens, and the living ship!” – Sturf

(poster by gilliam)

The first thing I notice is that I feel everything; the events at hand, impending stories and arcs. The colors seem off, the sound feels old. I am profoundly uncomfortable as I watch the sunrise with John. I think his rattlers are contagious.

“One thing I really liked was Crichton's first sight of Moya. He says: "Thats big. Thats really big." but isn't looking down, or to the side which would be the conventional choice. He is looking upward. I just noticed that this re-watch and I was charmed.” – Firecraker1

My friends are back; these characters feel like family. I love them all for now, though I'll want to shake each and every one of the dirty little rats at some point down the road. It's going to be a great couple of years.

“What a nostalgic reaction I had to watching this episode. Knowing all that is to come, all that the characters will go through, this seems like visiting them in their most simplistic, straightforward representations.” --Stillshimpy

D’argo and Zhaan, so beautiful and cold; I never know how much I’ve missed you until you return like this, in all your violent innocence.

“Part way through the episode we are introduced to "Officer Aeryn Sun" (and for those of us who have discussed this before - Aeryn Sun is everything Crichton cannot live without "Air and Sun".” – Firecracker1

Oh, Aeryn, the way you never were. Aeryn is brittle until Crais condemns her. Then she opens, locks onto John with her eyes and you can see Velorek behind them. She’d have been more without either of them, regardless of what she thinks.

“In fact, every time I watch one of these episodes, I realize just how many layers of detail there are, and imagine how many things I must be overlooking.” --McKinley

As Crais says, peel back the image. In some ways he will break my heart more beautifully than any of the others. “Talyn, Starburst.”

“...I was struck by how many indignities are thrust upon Crichton: has a module accident, injected and colonized with alien microbes, strangled, spat upon, tongued, stripped, probed, beaten, arrested, threatened with torture, and has an eargasm. That's a lot of angst for one episode.” – Quizzical1”

“What is the matter with you people?” *points to neck* “Tongue!” Hee.

“We're scifi fans. We can fanwank anything!” “I think at that point, [the DRD] fired into his head a message about products he could purchase. He became so distracted by that, that when the message ended, he had forgotten that the DRD had ever fired anything at his face, and then he went stumbling into the room with tentacle guy and blue lady.” – Quizzical1

On this re-watch, I had an experience I’ve never known before. The show began to overwhelm me and I found by the end of the episode I was a bit shaken with it all. There’s almost too much, washing over me. This show is psychotically alive, in Technicolor.

Now go play.

Back and Back and Back to the Beginning: “Ooooo, what a shiny new thread!”

Welcome to the Great Farscape Rewatch. If the image below has you sagely nodding your head while muttering to yourself, “Yes, but he’s not supposed to have his clothes on,” then you’ve come to the right place. Our humble beginnings can be found buried within the Farscape message boards of Television Without Pity, the home of Tubey and his Minions of Snark.

(motivator by Raksha)

The plan is evil in its simplicity; watch one episode of Farscape per week, in proper order, and try not to get ahead of yourself on the forums. I'll be haphazardly chronicling the whole experience because I'm a masochist. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Specials honors (in a form to be decided) will be awarded to any re-watching Rewatchers who manage to keep their episode consumption to one per week. To any first time viewers; welcome to Crack TV.



Speaking of conversion, some of you old timers may find this is the perfect time to Scape a Newbie or twelve. Good on you. Bring them on down to the TWoP Scape message boards as each episode "airs" to join in the discussion. Just make sure you read the FAQ and site rules before you start posting (for reals). Or else Tubey will smite thee with his antenna of fury.

Newbies in particular may want to read the reviews at Neon Hummingbird's Tourist's Guide Through the Uncharted Terretories and Farscape World. They were written as the show aired and should remain relatively spoiler free.

Also of interest is the Karlsweb Ezine, with their insightful reviews, EnScaplopedia, and gripping Fiction in Tenchnicolor series (some of which turned out to be disturbingly prophetic in hindsight).

You can find other relevant links, including a schedule in the sidebar. If you think of something I may have missed, send me an email via my profile.

Special thanks go out to beebs and gilliam for their wonderful Rewatch graphics in use on this site and throughout the fandom, to Quizzical1 for organizing this whole thing. It's gonna be along hot summer.