I Like Season Three!

Just got my latest batch of Farscape discs in the mail today! I'm particularly happy about this set, because it contains two of my very favorite episodes:

"...Different Destinations" impresses the hell out of me, because I honestly had thought I'd seen every possible permutation of every possible time travel story... But this one, in true Farscape fashion, takes some very familiar elements -- the similarities to Star Trek's classic "City on the Edge of Forever," for example, are obvious -- gives them a twist, and uses them tell a dramatic story that is, in my (fairly extensive) experience, completely fresh and unique. Plus it has angst levels through the roof. And Stark's in it. So, really, how could I not like it? And that's even before you throw in a some great lines of dialog and that charming appearance by everybody's favorite hallucination in his delightful cowboy getup.

And "Green-Eyed Monster" is a terrific example of the kind of storytelling that is one the things Farscape does best. Here we have an absolutely standard, arguably even cliched, science fiction adventure plot. But the episode itself isn't about being swallowed by an "absurdly large space monster" and racing against time figuring out how to get out. That's just the setting for the real story, the catalyst that sparks off the character interactions that are at the heart of the show. I'm happy to note, by the way, that the DVD features a commentary track for this episode by Ben Browder who, of course, both wrote and acted in it. And a damned fine job he did, too. The guy's got not just Crichton's dialog down pat, but everybody else's as well. I'm particularly impressed by the way he manages to make Talyn come alive so completely and believably. That can't be an easy thing to accomplish with a character who has neither facial expressions nor dialog.

Of course, this set of discs also features the episodes that set in motion the biggest plot development of the third season... You know, the one that leaves you going, "Well, they certainly can't leave things in this state after the end of the episode! Oh, wait, I forget, this is Farscape... Of course they can!" Man, I just love that.

Sniff. Have I mentioned lately how much I miss Farscape?