#Farscape spoilers

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

On a more serious note, now that I’m halfway into Farscape season 1, I can’t help but think about Peter Quill/Star-Lord from “Guardians of the Galaxy” being a lesser John Crichton. Because, as I’ve written before, James Gunn was so obviously inspired by Farscape:

1) John and Peter are the good ole American protagonists who were taken to deep space against their will. They connect with people through pop culture references and their good heart.

2) Aeryn Sun and Gamora are the stone cold warriors who used to fight for the bad guys but are now on the side of good. They also have a romance with John/Peter.

3) Ka D’Argo and Drax are the proud warriors who are seeking to redeem themselves. They also are so stiff that references and simple sayings go over their heads.

4) Rygel is sorta kinda like Rocket Raccoon in that they’re the scheming loudmouths who look out for themselves.

5) Pilot and Groot fulfill the role of the lovable support character who helps everyone in the crew.

6) Zotoh Zhaan doesn’t have a perfect GOTG counterpart, but I really do feel that James Gunn split her traits between Nebula (who got the rage and tragic backstory) and Mantis (who got the mind powers).

Anyways, back to the main point. While Peter Quill does come off as a John clone, I think the way John’s arc was handled was superior to the way Peter was written. I think the main reason is that I can see why John would be his crew’s leader (or, at least, the crewmate keeping everything together) while Peter feels like he’s the leader because the plot says he should be.

John starts off as the goofball who can’t do anything right. No one trusts him and they think of him as the idiot who they just keep around. But as season 1 goes on, you can tell that he’s the glue who’s keeping the crew together. He’s the crewmate who got everyone to open up, especially Aeryn (who was trained to be cold and emotionless) and D’Argo (who distrusts everyone because of his traumatic past). He’s like that one friend who you feel like you can talk to about anything, especially since everyone else in the crew is dealing with their own problems.

So when we get to the episode where John is ready to leave, it makes sense that everyone feels hesitant to see him go. Aeryn is starting to fall for him, he was one of the few people who D’Argo would consider a friend, he helped Zhaan through some of her toughest times, and he generally got along with Rygel.

As for Peter Quill, I’m not saying he was badly written. It’s just him being treated as the team’s leader is not as believable. It’s like, imagine if John Crichton was written to be as emotionally closed off and standoffish as everyone else in the crew. While this does make Peter stand out as his own character separate from John, it also makes you wonder why Quill was written as the team’s leader. I’m sure that’s why it was a recurring gag that Quill was always struggling to be seen as the leader, whether it was from Rocket or Thor. The writers knew that wasn’t 100% believable, so they wrote it into the story.

I don’t get that with John. He might be the resident goofball, but he’s also why the crew hasn’t fallen apart.

TL;DR Peter Quill/Star-Lord was obviously modeled after John Crichton. But the MCU character who feels more in line with John as a character is Clint Barton/Hawkeye.

[nerdylizard5]

If I had a nickel for every time a character in a show involving wormholes of some sort who has a romantic entanglement at some point with a character played by Claudia Black dies of radiation poisoning I’d have two nickels which isn’t much but it’s weird that it happened twice

[indelibleevidence]

It's been weeks since I finished my Farscape rewatch, but Ben Browder's portrayal of John 'Fine, you want a wormhole weapon? Here's a wormhole weapon, you fuckers' Crichton is still haunting me.

Spoilers:

He is just so good in that scene. I can't find any gifs in the gif search, but his face just contains every single drop of the pain and trauma he's undergone, hunted and tortured and manipulated and even raped, all for this knowledge he never wanted to be used as a weapon. He's been pushed to destroy Peacekeeper and Scarran bases, the latter by using the worst weapon humans had ever managed to develop on Earth. Innocent people have died because of the need to protect this knowledge these two galactic superpowers are desperate to obtain. Some he knew by name - Crais, Talyn - but some just happened to be in the proximity on the bases, including the children of soldiers.

And he is just done. Everything has been for nothing, because now he's showing them what they all think they want, and hey, big surprise, it's something no one should have, just like he's always said. And more people are dying, even as they all watch, and there's nothing even he can do to stop it until they all agree to stop the war. And that will be on his shoulders for the rest of his life.

It's rare that you get a climactic scene in a series that actually seems worth all the trouble they've gone through, but Farscape does it so well.

[radplaidtacofan]

[bakedbakermom]

farscape spoilers (late s4) below the cut, because even though this show is 20+ years old now, i think everyone needs to watch it.

look upward and share the wonders i've seen.

the tonal shifts on this show. i know it was released weekly so binging it is definitely contributing to the whiplash but one episode aeryn sun is learning english from sesame street and then like 2 eps later she's being tortured and lizard-men are spiking her to a table so her unborn child can be cut out of her and put into someone else (because her life doesn't matter as much as the baby's, thank you for turning the scarrans into republicans).

like DAMN.

[secondjulia]

Oh no... oh NO. I did not need a new crossover to explode in my brain This is going nowhere good....

Farscape + Sandman

😦😦😦😦

So, I mean, like Hob is getting tortured by Scorpius, because he's the perfect test subject for like everything — aurora chair upgrades, wormholes, new weapons, scientific curiosity.

Scorpius *sexy voice*: You are unique in the galaxy, Hob Gadling. And unique is always valuable.

Hob: Erm, not actually unique, you know. Do you have vampires in this part of the galaxy? I could introduce you, if you'd like. Once my spleen grows back...

And Dream is getting far away from Earth because, honestly, that place is trauma and the dreams of Leviathans are a peaceful retreat into the void of space, and—

Goddamnit.

How tf did his human get so far out in space?

*sigh* Well, humans are into space these days, and Hob just has to experience All The Things.

And Dream cannot just leave him, now when big sis Death literally just encouraged him to check in with his friend!

So Dream mounts a rescue and they both end up loitering on Moya for a while, escaping horrors and real life and finding comfort in each other until Dream stalks off in a huff because he is Having Feelings and has not made that character development yet.

Dream: If we're meant to be together, we'll be together again!

Hob: Running away isn't fate, Dream! Running away is running away!

Dream *vanishes in a swirl of sand*

Hob *rubbing at his eyes because sand got in them, not because he's crying or anything*

Well, it's not like he's ever been able to expect more than five minutes with Dream. Maybe in another century—

Old woman whispers in Hob's ears.

Be forgiving, be kind. His life. His world. In his time, you will know...

...the dreamlord is with child.

"DREAM!"

combine your first real fandom with your current one to create a terrible, terrible au

[satanic-fruitcake]

i i feel like i say this every time i watch it and i KNOW the first few episodes of season 1 are often overlooked but i will always love ‘I, ET”. it’s such a good second episode. aeryn and d’argo sitting in a tree and being cunts to each other. rygel biting an entire chunk out of aeryn’s arm and eating it while maintaining eye contact. it’s so much.

“you wanna know about mud!? i know about mud.” “guy knows mud.”

the way it’s technically The John Episode but it completely de centres him. which is really the whole theme of Farscape, tbh. sorry human guy the fact that you miss Earth doesn’t matter at all right now, your sentient spaceship is dying and you’re an alien on a planet that has had no previous alien interstellar contact. someone looks this white bread human in the face and says “i don’t even know if you eat”

also “who’s Yoda?” “Just a little green guy. trains warriors.”

[pagerunner-j]

hey, kids, it's 4:30 AM and I can't sleep because I'm up angsting over medical shit, so have some more angst, this time about, um, television:

I've seen a few people theorizing about Percy's resurrection in TLoVM, which tends to fall into one of three camps:

they'll do it this week

they won't do it ever

they're holding it for next season

And my reactions to all three are pretty much as follows:

well, they better, because...

if nothing else, if Percy doesn't come back, then the kids don't get born, either, and IF ANYONE HARMS ONE HAIR ON GWEN'S HEAD, I AM GONNA CUT A BITCH And, perhaps most importantly:

I have lived through "we're going into an uncertain renewal by creating a big cliffhanger! surely this will make people want to renew us!! ...oh, fuck, it didn't work!!!" before.

So yeah. Resurrect that fucker already.

(Hell, for kinda the worst-case scenario: I was there for Farscape season 4. Initially, its network put in a two-season order for seasons 4 and 5, so the showrunners planned accordingly, with a big, dramatic Problem(tm) that occurred at the midway point. Aaaaand then the network canceled the show, nixing season 5. So season 4 ended on the cliffhanger from hell, with both leads dead, their engagement ring at the bottom of the sea, and zero resolution in sight. Suffice it to say, everyone in the fandom lost their shit. Eventually the network conceded enough to give the show the go-ahead for a (rushed, imperfect, but at least it existed) miniseries to wrap things up. But still. Moral of this story: There are no guarantees about anything. DO. NOT. TEMPT. FATE.)

[restlesshush]

Horrible little bastard puppet man character arc!!!

[astridellejo]

Hyper-rage. You know. Like Luxon hyper-rage.

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

I haven’t been able to point out a “fave” in Farscape since I started the show. But that all changed when Chiana joined the crew lol. She’s like if Mantis (or Nebula) from Guardians of the Galaxy was written to be as horny and weird as possible. I wasn’t sure how I felt about her at first, but now, I love the energy she brings to the team.

Oh, there I go again, comparing the show to Guardians. I swear, I’m not trying to. It’s just that James Gunn used so much of the show in his movies.

As a side note, I’m not sure how I feel about Stark. He seems like a random addition to the crew. I guess I’ll see how well he fits in with the team.

[mayra-quijotescx]

made a tactical error and blew my entire Kanopy ticket load at the start of the month so now I gotta sit around like an asshole for ten days waiting to find out if D'Argo and Crichton are just stuck out there in space in front of the moon they just blowed up to fuck while Aeryn circles around like ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯ and everyone else just fucking leaves

[roosterzebra]

Farscape season 3 ep 2

The Moyacule is so messy. Zhaan saved Eiryn because: 1) savior complex and b) John (her FWB) loves her; and now she's just gravitating around her new partner Stark.

Chiana cheated on D'Argo - but it was more than just having sex. If she had sex with John, Zhaan, or some rando it'd have been fine with it. They all have weird sex. But, she cheated on him with his son - crossing a boundary she (and the audience) knew was so clear that it didn't have to be said. Jothee (the son) isn't blameless, the show faults him and Chiana both; both had agency and made choices that had consequences, which Chiana admitted is why she did it. Chiana used him to get out of the relationship, but Jothee knew this was fucked and was old enough to know better. If she had sex with someone else it would have led to a renegotiated dynamic, but she crossed a line that she knew her partner would have an issue with (and rightfully so! The fuck!) Like, polyamorous cheating is messed up in general because it's breaking negotiated expectations - just cause you are able to see other people doesn't mean you can see just anyone. Not even in a veto kinda sense, but in a 'this is a clear violation of everything I am and you know this.' Not gonna miss Jothee, hope D'Argo is okay :(

Fuck I love this show

[intrepidradish]

Tldr: John Crichton saved Scorpius's life

Spoilers for the end of Farscape and the Peacekeeper Wars

I always feel like my meta is shit, and proves I'm obsessive, but here you go.

Let's talk about Scorpius's revenge. At the start of the show, he's working for the Peacekeepers to find a way to slaughter all Scarrans. He has decided that the best way to do this is using wormhole tech. He then meets John, and he realizes he needs John to succeed in his ultimate goal, genocide.

However, he doesn't really achieve genocide. Instead he achieves a peace treaty. The Scarrans live. They don't suffer, and they have a brighter, less cruel future with the Eidolons. He seems content with this outcome, but how does it satisfy his hunger for revenge?

The Scarrans aren't punished.

Let's rewind a little. That article recently about Harvey and John Crichton's trauma got me thinking. Yes John is new to trauma but you know who isn't ... Scorpius. He's trauma incarnate. He has so much unprocessed trauma. His idea of processing what happened to him is work for years, possibly decades, possibly centuries(???) to murder an entire alien race.

Which, if you know the tropes about revenge arcs, will be ultimately unsatisfying. Murdering people doesn't heal the murderer even if they deserve it (and I'd like to point out that the entire Scarran race doesn't deserve it. They even showed us a nice scarran in the show. Farscape is too morally gray to make an entire race evil. It goes against the themes.)

Scorpius is a logical guy but he's got many many things against him. He tends to think in absolutes (*gestures to the genocide*) When he gets impatient, people suffer and often die (*gestures to Aeryn's death and the 10000 slaves*). He is woefully bad at recognizing his emotions outside of which ones make his body heat up and cause physical pain (*gestures to all the time he gets angry and then feels bad about later.*)

And his solution to his trauma is murdering the Scarrans. He is inflexible in this and that is absolutely batshit crazy delusional.

Crichton sees that. Whereas other people want to (ab)use that to its logical end, more accumulated power for themselves.

Let's play a game, imagine Scorpius successfully gained access to the wormhole weapon without John. He would use it. Destroy the Scarrans and then... probably kill himself.

If you're looking at me like wtf? Hear me out.

Who really killed his mother? Scorpius did. Rape didn't kill her. Rape made her go crazy. But giving birth to Scorpius is what ultimately killed her. If Scorpius followed through with killing all the Scarrans, the only person left to punish would be himself. He wouldn't have found another solution. He wouldn't have come to terms with anything but violence and hatred, I think ultimately would lead him into suicide or at least extreme risk taking behavior. Poetically, he'd probably die from the wormhole weapon. Nice and neat. Everyone that's guilty dead at once. Maybe the rest of the universe would go too. Simple.

The fact that John was so headstrong about Scorpius's fucking crazy plan gave Scorpius several moments of pause. After all no one else was going to stop him. His plan benefited them too much!

I don't know where Scorpius started to wake up to the idea maybe he didn't want to kill everyone. We don't get a lot of insight into his thought process. I'd like to think something changed before he went looking for Aeryn, his boarding ticket for getting on Moya in Season 4. That would be after being "killed" by Grayza and buried in a ditch. Maybe he did some self reflection for once. Maybe he soured on the Peacekeepers a little. Maybe he took a look at his own fragile morality and thought 'This isn't the peace I'm looking for.'

Because on Moya, suddenly he's fine with any solution to the Scarran problem and it's less about his revenge and more about the galaxy's safety. He's also trying to appeal to John's human morality (a foreign concept for him). He's still a manipulative bastard. But he came around to this altered plan, didn't he?

Peace with his enemies. Not death .

John helped him consider alternatives. Scorpius found peace regarding his mother's death and gets to live now. How's that for some healed trauma!

[radplaidtacofan]

omg Pilot's voice in PKW ;; What did they do to my poor boy

[bakedbakermom]

favorite bits of farscape are the time when ben browder goes FULL nicolas cage and just spazzes all over everyone. more of this please and thank you.