What Farscape did the best
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I_hatenazis — 12 years ago(December 15, 2013 01:02 PM)
I've been watching it yet again on Netflix, and it's like meeting up with some old friends rather than watching a TV show. Compare that to Star Trek which tends to have idealized characters especially in TNG.
I totally agree with this, in fact, this show reminds me the most of Firefly in this regard (I know it precedes Firefly). It has aged pretty well, when I re-watch Star Trek TNG, it actually feels stale to me.- Edit *
Both Farscape and Firefly seem to have relationships between the crew as a focal point of their respective shows. That type of show only seems to work if both the writing is good and the acting chemistry is good as well. IMO I believe both shows succeeded very well. Since we are talking about Farscape, I like the fact that the crew does convincingly seem to be close but they are also alien to each other and there is some stress and adaptation that needs to take place. As the poster who I am replying to puts it, this is in deep contrast to the rather sterile environment that TNG creates. In TNG I felt like I was seeing humans in make up who were trying to look alien, in Farscape I felt like I was really seeing aliens who were adapting to each other.
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DrWhen — 12 years ago(December 16, 2013 04:06 PM)
I think what really makes the characters real is their flaws. Faced with a particular situation TNG would show you how you were taught to act while Farscape showed you how you would really act. That makes the characters more relatable. For example if you're jealous, ideally you take the high road and remove yourself from the situation. The reality is you turn into a major jerk and say and do things to hurt that you later regret. I was just watching the episode where Crichton was having a jealous tirade against himself with the duplicate.
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I_hatenazis — 12 years ago(December 18, 2013 07:29 AM)
I think what really makes the characters real is their flaws. Faced with a particular situation TNG would show you how you were taught to act while Farscape showed you how you would really act.
Excellent observation.
I am into season 3 now and I can still see how the crew while close, still harbors really deep seated frustration and anger towards each other. I see crew members talking behind Crichton's back (which happens in real life but not on TNG) questioning his judgment because he gets all gaga around wormholes because one could take him home. Also, I see Aeryn really get angry at Crichton for executing one of his plans without telling anyone. I thought she was going to belt him. Great stuff. -
mpardue-1 — 11 years ago(July 25, 2014 11:44 AM)
I just started watching Farscape last week, and I'm currently on "A Human Reaction" so I haven't gotten far into it. That being said, I think I know why he uses so many human phrases and makes human pop culture references. He has absolutely nothing and no one from home, the only thing he has that came from there is his ship, which he loses, and his clothes. I think he talks like this as a way to stay connected to Earth, to feel like he hasn't really lost everything. That and the fact that it's very difficult to completely change your way of speaking overnight.
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dsrtrosy-1 — 11 years ago(August 08, 2014 02:49 PM)
I wonder if what you are reading as "playing the fool" is the fact that he is more aware of the communication problems than the other species because they have experience with other sentient species that he just doesn't have. It seems that every time there is a miscommunication, he uses his own weird Crichton-y humor to diffuse the situation, like many of us humans do here on earth. I guess I see goofy guy humor rather than idiocy in those instances. Maybe I have just known too many guys like Crichton!
I would add to that the fact that we aren't always even aware of our own idiomsotherwise, they wouldn't be idioms! I think he often says exactly what he is thinking as if he were talking to other humans who share his set of cultural understandings simply because that's the way he would have talked "in real life". I always felt, even back in '99 when I watched this on the air, that it was one of the brilliant aspects of the writing the translator nanites couldn't change how he spoke, nor could they always translate his ideas to the others, leading to more than misunderstandings but often complete confusion.
Don't you think that if we were to ever meet real "aliens", there would be major confusion over these types of issues? It added to the overall realness of the show for me. I never got a sense that he was acting foolishly or immaturely (the actual word), but rather that he was being a typical arrogant southern astronaut, clinging to whatever bits of humanity he could, even if all he could cling to were his idioms and pop culture references. Often when he makes his "Nixon peace fingers" symbol or does something else that might come across as goofy, I honestly see it as ironic, not foolish. He seems to be indicating "these people don't get me, so I'm going to make them even more confused"! -
dreemteam24 — 11 years ago(August 09, 2014 05:05 PM)
Well i didn't understand him anymore then the characters, i could not get half his sayings without looking in the internet good thing i watch on a pc then
As for that V shaped thing he does with his hand,children in school do that to ask a question, what peace symbol i didn't know it's a peace symbol.
So from my point he's really not very bright.
Why would you want to make a bad situation worse by acting like an idiot i mean i joke with people to confuse them but these people are my friends not strangers i met 1 day ago and are not aliens.
Besides i don't like him he's too soft,too much like a retarded person to take seriously,he just accepts them the "alien" characters without any prejudices i mean he's acting like he's on new job trying to know the colleagues, and of course even in the first episode he's checking Aeryn out i mean sure the actress is pretty and all but have him check her out and then say beep she's an alien ugh disgusting and bam no romance for at least half a season because like that it's just too fast too forced i mean in episodee 2 there is already a sparkle between the two and in episode 5 she's just jealous like a school girl.
The other thing i didn't like is the main guys is always a "good" guy i mean sure you can't have criminal doing NASA/IASA flights in order to have a more non typical, "not good not bad" guy as the leading cast(or could you the mission deemed dangerous but could prove beneficial someone decides let's send a prisoner and a prisoners lottery about it and bam the non typical guys win, i understand it's too far fetched but it's not by much) so that's what i don't like -
execproducer22 — 11 years ago(August 10, 2014 12:35 PM)
Well i didn't understand him anymore then the characters, i could not get half his sayings without looking in the internet good thing i watch on a pc then..
So I'm guessing you've been hiding under a rock for awhile ay?
As for that V shaped thing he does with his hand,children in school do that to ask a question, what peace symbol i didn't know it's a peace symbol.
Kids in school give the peace symbol to ask a question? where did you go to school at? I always thought it was pretty universal to just raise your hand to ask a question.
So from my point he's really not very bright.
And you not being quick witted enough to pick up on all of the characters idioms makes him not so bright?
Why would you want to make a bad situation worse by acting like an idiot i mean i joke with people to confuse them but these people are my friends not strangers i met 1 day ago and are not aliens.
When did he act like an idiot? I must have missed that episode. it must of been before all the other episodes where he comes up with the ideas that actually saved the day in like every episode.
Hell in the very first episode he figures out how to save the ship from capture on his first day! What a moron right.
Besides i don't like him he's too soft,too much like a retarded person to take seriously,he just accepts them the "alien" characters without any prejudices i mean he's acting like he's on new job trying to know the colleagues, and of course even in the first episode he's checking Aeryn out i mean sure the actress is pretty and all but have him check her out and then say beep she's an alien ugh disgusting and bam no romance for at least half a season because like that it's just too fast too forced i mean in episodee 2 there is already a sparkle between the two and in episode 5 she's just jealous like a school girl.- they invented these things called PERIODS. They let the reader know the start of a new sentence.
- There were many episodes where chricton dispalyed his predjudices about aliensyou really need to pay more attention. How can you criticse a character without even watching the damn show?
- Aerryn looks IDENTICAL to a human female. What about that confuses you
The other thing i didn't like is the main guys is always a "good" guy i mean sure you can't have criminal doing NASA/IASA flights in order to have a more non typical, "not good not bad" guy as the leading cast(or could you the mission deemed dangerous but could prove beneficial someone decides let's send a prisoner and a prisoners lottery about it and bam the non typical guys win, i understand it's too far fetched but it's not by much) so that's what i don't like
Again you really need to start paying attention cuz alot seemed to slip past you. There have been many episodes where Chricton did some morally ambiguous things. The fact that you missed this is more a fault of your short attention span then the writing .
"What color is the boathouse at Hereford!?"
-Sam
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dreemteam24 — 11 years ago(August 12, 2014 03:46 AM)
So I'm guessing you've been hiding under a rock for awhile ay?
No i'm just not amerikan
Kids in school give the peace symbol to ask a question?
Well you americans say it's a peace simbol to me it looks like making rabbit ears with hand
And you not being quick witted enough to pick up on all of the characters idioms makes him not so bright?
You mean fast with quick witted? I am fast just they are just foreign to me.
When did he act like an idiot? I must have missed that episode. it must of been before all the other episodes where he comes up with the ideas that actually saved the day in like every episode.
Hell in the very first episode he figures out how to save the ship from capture on his first day! What a moron right.
Akting like a morron on the first day
As for him saving them the first day he just does the manoveur that he was supposed to do with the module in earth's orbit and for the other times it's just the american tv topes about hero saving the day nothing serious or atleast somewhat realistic- they invented these things called PERIODS. They let the reader know the start of a new sentence.
- There were many episodes where chricton dispalyed his predjudices about aliensyou really need to pay more attention. How can you criticse a character without even watching the damn show?
- Aerryn looks IDENTICAL to a human female. What about that confuses you
1 english is not my main language
2 Didn't seem to be that many, yes sure he did have some but they were all against the baddies
3 So what of it,he just accepts her and starts flirting the first time he sees a alien
Again you really need to start paying attention cuz alot seemed to slip past you. There have been many episodes where Chricton did some morally ambiguous things. The fact that you missed this is more a fault of your short attention span then the writing .
I did turn my attention towards the television series when watching so i know he didn't do anything morally ambiguous he even didn't kill crais,anyway he's just the "good" guy he's not doing anything that could be perceived as bad at least i didn't see him do anything that could be,anyhow he's just too much THE "GOOD" GUY
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execproducer22 — 11 years ago(August 12, 2014 06:38 PM)
No i'm just not amerikan
Correct me if I'm wrong, but dont they show american syndicated shows in your country?
Well you americans say it's a peace simbol to me it looks like making rabbit ears with hand
So, in your country people give the teacher "bunny ears" instead of just raising there hands?
You mean fast with quick witted? I am fast just they are just foreign to me.
I'm not saying your slow, but I am saying that just becuase you cant pick up on what the charater is conveying to the audience through his idioms doesnt make the character "stupid".
As for him saving them the first day he just does the manoveur that he was supposed to do with the module in earth's orbit and for the other times it's just the american tv topes about hero saving the day nothing serious or atleast somewhat realistic
Wrong. If you payed attention you would see that John being the scientist is probably the best critical thinker of the group and usually ends up saving everyone by just by outthinking the bad guys instead of using brute force.
1 english is not my main language
No beep look likes its in your top 5 languages either.
2 Didn't seem to be that many, yes sure he did have some but they were all against the baddies
wrong.
Heres an example of Johns predjudice against his own friends:
In the bone to be wild episode he finds out Zhaan is a plant and then says whats the big deal about killing a bunch of plants.
3 So what of it,he just accepts her and starts flirting the first time he sees a alien
Get this through your thick skull..
AERRYN LOOKS IDENTICAL TO A HUMAN FEMALE! So it probably isnt that hard to think of her as a human and relate to her so easily.
What about that concept is so hard for you to fathom?
"What color is the boathouse at Hereford!?"
-Sam -
dreemteam24 — 11 years ago(August 16, 2014 10:35 AM)
So, in your country people give the teacher "bunny ears" instead of just raising there hands?
Raising their hand like waving at someone on the street or like the hitler salute? It was considered a respect because you ask the teacher not because you raised your hand at someone on the street Anyway forger school or "peace" simbols
Correct me if I'm wrong, but dont they show american syndicated shows in your country?
Watched it via torrent tracker
I'm not saying your slow, but I am saying that just becuase you cant pick up on what the charater is conveying to the audience through his idioms doesnt make the character "stupid".
It does when 90% of the time they mean nothing?
Wrong. If you payed attention you would see that John being the scientist is probably the best critical thinker of the group and usually ends up saving everyone by just by outthinking the bad guys instead of using brute force.
That's cheap "saving" a convinient and not believable
About his quick thinking please theres an episode where dargo was outside the ship and when he is back needing help your quick thinker starts applying CPR like dargo is human Then there is an episode where a guys with one eye returns(first long hair then bald) and where chiana was intruduced so after hearing that they have kept someone 100 years in some kind of a mind washing prison and when asked if he's a sebecean he says i'm human and you 100% want to do it infront of guys who keep people 100 cycles in prison
Get this through your thick skull..
AERRYN LOOKS IDENTICAL TO A HUMAN FEMALE! So it probably isnt that hard to think of her as a human and relate to her so easily.
What about that concept is so hard for you to fathom?
No you get this through you thick head it was the easy way out by making him relate(yeah a stranger and an alien at that yeah i can 100% speak more at ease with her than anyone else) it was lazy writing by making her so human and by making him so relatable/unracist -
onwardsandupwards — 11 years ago(September 13, 2014 03:35 PM)
It captured a crazy, anything goes, fly by the seat of your pants adventure mentality that few other sci-fi television programs have done. From intense drama to off the wall comedy and many surreal like elements in between, "Farscape" was one big rollercoaster ride of fun.
It also managed to give viewers a truly alien look and feel with regards to the characters we see and the universe they inhabit. Each was unique and distintive bringing a great deal of different favours to the show. -
therealboozysmurf — 11 years ago(September 21, 2014 06:42 PM)
Aliens, hands down.
In the era of Star Trek it was very refreshing to not be just Caucasian aliens with bumpy foreheads and noses. The use of body paint, animatronics and dialects to create exotic characters really sold the setting as being in the middle of nowhere.
The chaotic nature of the stories where things would twist and turn in unexpected ways and provide genuine suspense. Especially in the trilogies.
And of course the attention given to the characters. Every character had their own motivations and background that were fully developed, from Crichton all the way down to Braca.