Farscape season three minicaps end with a BANG!
Stewart here…and fair warning, some spoilers lie within…
Hey, fellow travelers of the Uncharted Territories, its time for some mini-caps on Farscape. Here we are at the end of season three, and now we find Crichton on a mission to stop Scorpius’ wormhole research project, by securing safe harbor onto his Command Carrier. Sadly, that’s the easy part of this whole thing. Plans on Farscape have a funny way of going bad quickly, and Crichton’s does so as well. So, let’s see how that goes in this final minicap of season three…
“Into The Lion’s Den”
“Part 1: Lambs to the Slaughter”
Crichton and gang get safe passage onto the Command Carrier, and while Crichton tries to bluff his way into sabotaging Scorpius’ plan to build wormhole weapons to fight the Scarrans, Aeryn and Crais find coming home again to be a really crap experience. Besides fighting off attacks from disobedient officers and the plotting of a new villain in Commadant Grayza (she of the open slit white top), John has to wonder if his plan is going to work and considering the stakes in the whole Scarran/Peacekeeper conflict, if he should do it at all. Lots of twists and turns keep this part involving, especially knowing what they lead into in the climax of this two-parter.
Alright…Who overfilled the jacuzzi? Braca, was it you?
“Part 2: Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”
Crichton’s plan goes bad, leaving all of them to take a desperate gamble by destroying the Command Carrier outright. They expect this plan to be difficult to pull off, but what isn’t expected is Crais using Talyn in a sacrificial act to do it. You can tell the creative team saved a lot of money over the season to deliver this whopper two-parter and it pays off big time in one of the show’s finest hours here. There’s lots of ends, lots of stuff exploding, and lots of awesome. And believe it or not, this isn’t the season finale.
“Dog With Two Bones”
Moya goes to bury Talyn (what’s left of him and Crais, anyway) and everyone decides to split up to go their separate ways. Crichton wants Aeryn to go with him, but she doesn’t want to. He doesn’t see why, until a reveal at the wrong time shows that she’s pregnant (so see, she doesn’t hate John, its just hormones talking. Oh wait…). Unfortunately, that “wrong time” is while he’s off in his module, and before he can try to reach her, Moya gets sucked into a wormhole, leaving him alone in the middle of nowhere. So, um, yay…bring on season four?
Um…does Crichton have Intergalactic AAA?
So, we end season three with a lot of dead characters, like Zhaan, Crais, Talyn, and of course, one Crichton. There was a lot of table clearing this season, and going into season four, we have our heroes taking some insane adventures on their way to getting back together again.
–The CG effects for this two parter hold up even now, and considering the era when it was done, was really impressive.
–Did we really need the D’argo fight with the Peacekeeper with the chainsaw arm? Probably not, but on the other hand, D’argo gets the chain latches on his chest taken off and finds info on Macton (the man who murdered his wife), so progress there.
–Maybe I’m not up to speed on Peacekeeper dress code, but Grayza’s attire probably isn’t what we call “dress appropriate”.
–Scorpius probably didn’t do himself any favors by threatening John with Earth’s destruction. Bad call, Scorpy.
–In another variation of “never being able to go home again” for Aeryn Sun, her Peacekeeper buddy gets charbroiled before she can kill the irreversibly contaminated Aeryn.
–I did find all the work to get the memory wipe done while the Command Carrier is exploding a bit much. Especially handy there was an Aurora Chair on hand nearby.
–So, we all know Scorpius doesn’t stay on the exploding Command Carrier, right? Just to be clear.
–Just to gush over the final scene of the two parter: I just love that final shot of John scribbling down wormhole equations and Aeryn looking away in that quiet main room. Nothing’s said, and nothing needs to be.
Yeah, they need some quiet time after all the crap they went through this season.
–RIP Crais. We all know you screwed up Talyn, but at least you made up for it.
–“I am standing in your heart, and I am about to squeeze.”
–“We were close.”
–Almost forgot to mention the crazed Leviathan attack on Moya, which is a distraction that lasts long enough for us to see the full weapons capabilities of D’argo’s new ship. And on that point, yikes.
–Funny to hear the whole flipping a coin decision between Crichton and Aeryn was something that came up at the last minute.
–Not sure we needed the whole wedding on Earth dream sequence, but in the end, it does amplify the problem with Crichton going home with any of his friends.
–Speaking of that dream sequence, Chiana sleeping with John’s dad? Ew. This whole Chiana/John thing goes to a whole new level of weirdness midway next season.
–The lesson of this season finale is: never let some crazy old alien woman blow hallucinogenic dust into your face…twice.
–It’s funny a new character is introduced (Noranti, the crazy alien woman) to Moya by everyone wondering how she got onto the ship.
–“Yes, you’re an idiot! I’m an idiot! We’re all idiots! Everybody’s an idiot!”
–“Of all the lesser species I’ve met, I admit I’ve grown to like yours the best.”
And now, to finish off my minicaps of season three, I present my arbitrary awards for season three, in no particular order:
–BEST EPISODES: “Green Eyed Monster”, “Revenging Angel”, “Self-Inflicted Wounds, Part 2: Wait for the Wheel”, Scratch N’ Sniff”, “Into the Lion’s Den, Part 2: Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”
–WORST EPISODES: “Thanks for Sharing”, “Meltdown”
–PERSON I’D LEAST TRUST ON MOYA: Rygel. Seriously, people still trust him?
–PERSON I’D MOST TRUST ON MOYA: D’argo. Aeryn has some “loved ones keep dying” issues that impede her from going a three-peat on this list.
–MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO WHILE ON MOYA: Ignore Jool.
–PREFFERED WEAPON OF CHOICE: Winona, John’s pistol. That or the wormhole of death from the “Infinite Possibilities” two-parter.
–IF I COULD DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT, IT WOULD BE: Avoid being duplicated. It just complicates things.
–HOPES FOR SEASON FOUR: Well, John not spending it alone in his module, for starters…
Rygel for President in 2016? Might be better than the alternatives.
NEXT TIME: Season Four of the Farscape minicaps begins with Crichton making a new friend and some new enemies in “Crichton Kicks”, the secrets of an ancient civilization ends up reuniting most of the gang in the two-parter “What Was Lost”, a detour to find Moya leaves the crew in some trouble in “Lava’s A Many Splendored Thing”, and the crew reunite with Moya, Aeryn and…Scorpius (?) in “Promises”.
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NerdLush 
When I rewatched the series over the summer, I was surprised how well it and the effects had held up. It was amazing, honestly. Except for a few things, it was almost like watching a present day show, not something that was basically a decade old. Pretty darn awesome.
OMG! the season 3 finale twists! Good to tie up and end some storylines that were edging toward being tired but HOLY SHIT, to send it out on that note?! Which of course leads to whizbang start to season 4!
An excellent question- why does anyone still trust Rygel? That little toad is nothing but trouble. Forever. Sheesh!
Can’t wait for s4! (I say that like I haven’t already seen it, haha)
I just finished watching the eps for the next post and I will say, I did have some issues with them. Not deal breakers, but they do stick out. More on that when the post is ready.
But I really loved the end of season 3, and it just falls below season 2 as my favorite season.
The stuff with coming back together in the opening? Yeah, little awkward… but overall the season is good. And agree on the other point. 😉