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Part One:
 t's back. "Farscape"
resurfaces after a year's absence, ushered back to life by fan outrage that
was so loud The Powers That Be at the Sci-Fi Channel (which owns the show)
saw fit to grant the makers of the series 4 hours (plus commercials) to tie
up all loose ends and finally send the series off with a bang. Considering
the lackluster way the series ended (with lovers Aeryn and Crichton turned
into crystals by an alien ship, of all things), anything that erased the
memory of such a lousy cliffhanger would be a step up.
With "Farscape: The
Peacekeeper Wars", series creator Rockne S. O'Bannon and series writer
David Kemper have decided to make a mini-series that continues the
adventures of our favorite space fugitives instead of just tying up loose
ends. In fact, ex-Peacekeeper Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black, "Pitch
Black") and human astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) gets
literally put back together in the first night's first 10 minutes. The two
are told by buddies D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe) and Chiana (Gigi Edgley) that
it's been 2 months since their "death", and the galaxy is caught
up in a full-scale intergalactic war between the Peacekeepers and the
intimidating Scarrans, a race that looks like a cross between a T-rex and an
upright lizard. Very, very mean lizards.
Forced back into the fray by his arch nemesis
Scorpius (Wayne Pygram), a Peacekeeper commander, Crichton has to put
aside his plans to live happily ever after with Aeryn and raise their
impending baby, who by a stroke of bad luck is presently growing inside
the belly of ex-royalty Rygel, a floating, troll-like muppet voiced by
Jonathan Hardy. Scorpius wants Crichton to create a weapon of mass
destruction using his wormhole technology and defeat the Scarrans, but
Crichton isn't having any of it. Instead, Crichton reunites with Jool
(Tammy McIntosh) at a relic temple where he hopes to find salvation in an
ancient race of mediators. Alas, this is "Farscape", and all of
Crichton's well-laid plans have gone to hell and back by the hour mark.
With an ear toward satisfying the show's diehard
fans, "Peacekeeper Wars" brings back everyone who ever appeared
in the series for longer than two episodes (if they're still alive, that
is), and does it in such a way as to not appear pandering. Jool, for
example, has a perfectly good reason to return. The same for Stark (Paul
Goddard), who is as crazy and skittish as ever. Even when old regulars
aren't given much to do (David Franklin as Braca, for example), it's still
great to see them back. The script by O'Bannon and Kemper moves the
characters around without any trouble, and the mini-series looks and feels
like just another lengthy 3- or 4-episode story arc that the show is known
for.
Speaking of which, the fact that the
"Peacekeeper Wars" mini-series doesn't really improve on the
look and feel of the show may be its Achilles Heel. Except for hardcore
fans that will watch anything with the "Farscape" moniker
attached, there is a reason the show, despite being critically acclaimed,
never caught on with the average fans -- hence its cancellation at the end
of a confusing and muddled Season 4. Having said that, I'm not sure if the
mini-series will convert any new viewers to the series, which would be a
shame if the mini-series was also a test by the Sci-Fi Channel to gauge
interest in reviving the series. (The ratings for the mini-series will
answer that question in a few days.)
On the technical side, except for some CGI space
battles in the beginning, the special effects and sets are familiar. Which
is to say there's nothing overly extravagant or expensive to attract new
eyeballs. If you liked the show, you'll love the mini-series. If you never
cared for the series, I'm not sure if you'll even bother to turn in for
the second night. If the mini-series was allocated a big budget, it
doesn't show up onscreen. Although this criticism may prove irrelevant,
since this is only the first night. Perhaps director Brian Henson and
company are waiting to bring out all the stops for the concluding second
night. One can only hope.
Then again, it's not as if anyone familiar with the
show is turning in for the supposed big budget. It's always been the
characters that attracted most fans to the series in the first place. The
interplay, the humor and biting exchanges, between the various characters
come through in all their wacky glory, as if there had been no yearlong
hiatus between the end of the series and this mini-series. No surprise,
since the script by O'Bannon and Kemper has made it top priority to stay
true to the characters. Also, the relationship between Aeryn and Crichton
has continued without a moment's pause. Still in love, alternating between
cutesy love-talk and bad-to-the-bone professionals, neither Crichton nor
Aeryn seems to have changed at all, which is a good thing.
It's to Ben Browder and Claudia Black's credit that
their characters click so well. They're so good together one is prone to
suspect a romance between the two beyond the show. Of course the fact that
they're both married to other people may hinder that slightly. Knowing
that there's nothing going on in their private lives (as it relates to one
another, that is) only makes their chemistry onscreen all the more
incredible. Despite their characters having "hooked up" early in
the show, Black and Browder have effortlessly maintain the spark through
four seasons. Aeryn and Crichton's love affair isn't just believable, it
feels real. Spaceships and lizard-like aliens notwithstanding, of
course.
As the first night wraps up, one can't help but get
the feeling that the second night is determined to do something big. If
the mini-series is indeed the final adventure of the "Farscape"
crew, and with no prospects of a new series in the works, then I wouldn't
put it past the filmmakers to kill off either Crichton or Sun at the end
of the second night. After all, O'Bannon and company have never made any
efforts to toe the genre lines since the show's inception, and I doubt if
they'll cut and run now that they've been given 4 hours to make their
mark.
Part Two:
 ith the
second night of the 2-day "Peacekeeper Wars" mini-series winding
down, we do see more of the promised big budget. While still not as
visually captivating as one would like for the series swan song,
considering the platform (a made-for-TV mini-series), it's not bad. Fans
of the show will feel right at home, and newcomers will be slightly
impressed. Slightly.
With the Peacekeeper-Scarran war in full swing, the
crew of Moya find themselves lost at the bottom of the water planet and up
to their necks in flooding ocean water. They make it to the surface, where
they take refuge in a destroyed city, making a last stand that mirrors
"The Alamo"
and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's last hurrah. With his plans for a
peaceful end to the war literally blown to hell, Crichton has taken
desperate measures. With the knowledge of wormhole weapons unleashed
within his mind, Crichton fights to stay alive, save his friends, and find
time for Aeryn to give birth. What's a human astronaut with one too many
one-liners and pop culture references to do?
Although the ending of night two doesn't close the
doors on the series' return from the depths of cancellation, the death of
a major character certainly puts a damper on things. Then again,
considering that the mini-series is concerned with war on an intergalactic
scale, it makes sense, and is even appropriate, that not all of our
favorites will survive unscathed. In fact, if you count some of the
semi-regulars, the mini-series actually kills off three characters. One
bit the dust on the first night, and another character is exposed to be a
Scarran spy in the second night.
For the most part the script is still tight, hitting
some good marks during the chaotic gun battles in the destroyed city. As
Scarrans swarm all over them, our heroes must make one last stand after
another, even as Aeryn struggles to, quite literally, give birth in the
middle of exploding ordinance. The second night's middle hour is probably
the mini-series' most brilliant sequence, with all the characters given
their due. Chiana and D'Argo finally come to terms with one another. Also,
D'Argo mends fences with his son Jothee (Matthew Newton), now a fearsome
warrior and leader.
Unfortunately the film's finale is a bit of a
letdown, not only because it's mostly anti-climactic, but also because the
script seems encumbered by a need to deliver a ham-fisted message about
war and peace and the means to achieve the latter. One could relate it to
the current situation in the world right now, but that would be giving
O'Bannon and Kemper too much credit, especially since the whole thing
comes across as ridiculous and silly onscreen. Even so, the conviction
with which Ben Browder delivers the hackneyed lines almost made me
believe. Almost.
Nevertheless, as a send-off to the
"Farscape" universe, "Peacekeeper Wars" is a major
success. The conclusion is a lot more satisfactory than the nonsense that
fans were left with at the end of Season 4, that much is for sure.
Although it's odd that O'Bannon and Kemper sort of chickened out at the
end with the possible death of another major character. Why not just do
it? Why make a sudden U-turn of Disney-esque proportions? Considering how
the mini-series had off-handedly killed off a major character already, one
wonders why the filmmakers were so hesitant to knock off another one,
especially since the death of this particular character would have been
much more impactful, not to mention making a lot more sense.
But of course the answer is obvious: if too many main
characters died, and the ratings for the mini-series turned out to be
spectacular, what would become of a second series? Money, as they say,
talks. In this case, O'Bannon and Kemper sold out. Which is a shame,
because "Farscape" has always been a show that didn't
compromise. To see it resort to deus ex machina to save one of its main
characters reeks of pandering to the Powers That Be. As a diehard fan, I
expected this particular main character to die. Not because I wish it, but
because it makes sense, and because it's the only logical way for
the series to end.
Having said that, they better make a second
series after such a blatant compromise of artistic standards. The old
"Farscape" would never have stood for this. Then again, the old
"Farscape" hadn't been cancelled yet, and cancellation does
strange things to people.
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