FARSCAPE Revisited Mini-caps / Season 4, Episode 22 and Season Four Highlights

Farscape minicaps for season 4 would rather go out gracefully, thank you very much.

Stewart here…and fair warning, some spoilers lie within…

Hey, fellow travelers of the Uncharted Territories, its time for the last round of mini-caps on the fourth and final season of Farscape. After saving Aeryn and eventually Scorpius, Crichton and gang are resting after a major victory in stalling the plans for a Scarran invasion. So, all’s good, isn’t it? It’s not like there’s still one more episode of the series left to go…wait, there is? Oh no.

“Bad Timing”

John hears about a Scarran attack on Earth, and rushes to stop it the only way he can figure out how to without bending over backwards for Scorpius (BTW, Scorpy and Sikozu get kicked off Moya via the airlock, but with pressure suits, so that’s one dream destroyed): seal off the wormhole to his home. After a tearful goodbye to his dad, he does just that, and is now stuck in the Uncharted Territories. And then after Moya lands on a water planet, we get some great news: Aeryn has initiated her pregnancy with John’s baby, and they decide to get married! What a happy end to the series, and…oh wait, then John and Aeryn get turned into crystals by an alien ship! NNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!! And its “To Be Continued”? And it’s the last episode? NNNOOOOOOO!!!!!

I know, D’Argo, I know…I cried and screamed with you, man. You wanna hug, because I might need one.

Really, season four had to set up some new arcs after so many of the threads since the beginning of the show had been taken care of at the end of season three. That may have led to some off moments in setting up what was going to happen on Moya with all our heroes, and some off episodes. It wasn’t really until “Unrealized Reality” that I think the show figured out how to handle all of this and as a result, delivered some great final episodes to send the show off on. But by then, the writing was on the wall for the show’s future.

Look, its best to say that this was always meant to be a season finale (and there even was an idea after hearing of the cancellation to chop the cliffhanger out altogether), never a series finale. But due to financial reasons too complicated to explain, the show couldn’t get saved for another season. It goes without saying this viewer got throttled by this final episode, but there was always the whisper of a return to the world in some way or form. That wouldn’t come for a good year or so, but Farscape would get something more deserving of an end that an unintended series ender.

And in some alternate universe,THIS is the end of Farscape.

–You think Buffy the Vampire Slayer ripped off its final “previously on” montage from this episode’s “previously on” montage, because I’m betting yes.

–And what a nice if painful way to end the show by dropping out the end credits music to have nothing but ambient noise. One of the rare cases where the show dropped its end credits music for something else.

–Obviously the whole “John and Aeryn get turned to crystals” cliffhanger would have been resolved in a season five, but its one of those endings that I know really knocked a lot of fans out. The reason I’m still surprised is for an obvious reason in retrospect: why not jump into the water and stay under until the ship left? Actually I can guess why: with all that black leather on, swimming would be a problem.

–Grayza is in holding and being doped up for losing her marbles, so in case you cared what happened to her after the “We’re So Screwed” three-parter. What may be more questionable is what happens in the miniseries than anything else.

–Interesting place to leave Sikozu in the series, being strangled for sexual pleasure by Scorpius. Of course, I thought she was being killed before I found out some people actually like erotic asphyxiation.

–Also in terms of bad places to leave characters, Chiana is left blind. Ouch.

–John and Harvey fight each other in bunny costumes because, why not?

If that was my last trip home, I probably would’ve drawn a giant smiley face on the moon. Not enough time, I guess.

–Of course Chiana’s way to clear your head is sex, in general.

–Great summation of the whole John/Aeryn relationship: John: “What did you imagine for your life?” Aeryn: “Service, promotion, retirement, death. You?” John: “This is exactly what I imagined.”

–“You and your timing.”

And now, to finish off my minicaps of season four, I present my arbitrary awards for season four, in no particular order:

–BEST EPISODES: “John Quixote”, “Unrealized Reality”, “Kansas”, Terra Firma”, “Prayer”, “Bad Timing”

–WORST EPISODES: “A Prefect Murder”, “Natural Election”, “Twice Shy”

–PERSON I’D LEAST TRUST ON MOYA: Sikozu defeats Rygel for a four-peat in this category.

–PERSON I’D MOST TRUST ON MOYA: D’argo.

–MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO WHILE ON MOYA: Keep Scorpius locked up, or killed. Either will suffice.

–PREFFERED WEAPON OF CHOICE: D’Argo’s badass spaceship.

–IF I COULD DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT, IT WOULD BE: Kill Scorpius. Seriously, forget Aeryn’s promise, just kill him.

–HOPES FOR SEASON FIVE: How about we settle for a wrap-up to the series? Which brings us to…

And I weep for the end of the show, but not for very long, because…

NEXT TIME: The last Farscape minicap (sniff) has John and Aeryn being brought back to stop the war between the Peacekeepers and Scarrans in the miniseries, “The Peacekeeper Wars”.