Farscape -- The Peacekeeper Wars

[butterfly]

I... wasn't really that happy with it. But that may just be because I haven't watched enough of the show. Transcripts can't really cover emotional character transitions. If I'd watched all through Season four, I'd be used to what John becomes and not have been horrified.

I really liked Aeryn (which is great, because I wasn't such a fan, circa season two), though everything to do with the pregnancy, adorable though the finished product was, made me groan with disbelief. It was just too much, too easy, too fast for me to suspend my disbelief. But Aeryn herself was damn cool. I like who she becomes. "Shooting makes me feel better."

Of course, 'too easy' is my main problem with the John/Aeryn relationship, which was only made worse by the revelation regarding the Peacekeepers' origins. I was already annoyed that John managed to go across the galaxy and still end up in the sack with someone who looked human, now it turns out that she frelling well is human, though from a long-lost branch.

The Chiana/D'Argo stuff felt a little cheap, emotionally-speaking. The second that she said yes, I knew that one of them would die. It felt like they were using the relationship as a way of making D'Argo's death pack more of a punch, which was unnecessary, as it would have been devastating regardless. She would have been devastated regardless.

I've read the transcripts. The Jool/John moment made no sense.

I adored Chiana's new look, would have loved an explanation that, you know, explained a damn thing.

I can see her having a fairly cute relationship with Jothee in time, though.

Adored Sikozu. Damn cool, even with that whole 'spy thing'. Hot, hot, hot. I actually really liked Grayza. Interesting that we ended up with a male leader and a female one, which echoes Scorpius' lineage.

Hated the ending, which didn't just border on schmalzy, but jumped right in and danced around, splashing schmalz here and there. The baby was one of the cutest tv babies I've ever seen, though -- and how did they manage to get such a tiny one? Still obviously not a newborn (which is fine, because health and laws and such), but a tiny one, nonetheless.

Also, while I'm on a roll, the cgi for Rygel's underwater dive sucked.

It's possible that, watching the rest of the series out, the meaning that it may have for me will click (it took until the ending of season four for Angel to click for me and now I utter adore it, so...), but as of this moment in time, the PK Wars was not satisfying in any way. Especially the ending, which really did feel way too easy. Aw, the sound of the baby woke the man up from his coma-type thing. The Power Of the Newborn Shall Conquer All!

Comments

[elz.livejournal.com]

If I'd watched all through Season four, I'd be used to what John becomes and not have been horrified.

Yeah, a lot of his choices really built on where he was at in the We're So Screwed episodes. And he's also got those lingering sanity issues.

But Aeryn herself was damn cool. I like who she becomes.

That really made the whole miniseries worthwhile for me, because I really wasn't crazy about what they did to her in Season 4, but here she was *Aeryn* from the very beginning and I felt like I recognized her again, and that the romantic happy ending (even if it was over the top) was actually a good thing.

[fanaddict.livejournal.com]

I can see her having a fairly cute relationship with Jothee in time, though.

But?! Er... Really? Even after having already had an affair with him that cost both of them D'Argo's trust? Because personally I see that as the last thing that will happen between them, although I think they'll become good friends who mourn together.

I liked the first 2 hour better I think, but I felt the miniseries as a whole captured the true Farscape feel of anything can happen, and everyone is pretty crazy by this point, most especially Crichton.

[sneezydove.livejournal.com]

Yeah that Jool thing made no sense, unless she's just lonely and horny surrounded by all of those priests.

I'm fairly neutral on the whole thing. There was a lot of crap stuff--some of the actors seemed to have forgotten how they played their characters (Chiana, Pilot). Maybe Pilot was just that they couldn't manipulate Lani's voice for some reason. But I understand that when you basically just shove a whole season's worth of story arcs into four hours, a lot of it's going to ring false. A lot of it felt like "Uhhh, well we need her to have a baby so speed it up!" and "Uhhh, well we need to explain who killed John and Aeryn, so let's make them the priests from that other episode even though they looked nothing like them!"

I liked the humor. I did like the scene with John in the coma for some reason. I thought that he came out of the coma because Harvey died, not because of the baby. I loooveee Claudia Black so maybe that's why I loved that scene. She looked so beautiful when she kissed the baby on the forehead.

Chiana had a new look? (refer back to me being the least observant person ever)

So basically I agree with a lot of what you said. It's just that they had to stuff all this stuff into a short amount of time. Like the whole Peacekeeper backstory was probably going to be this huge thing in the fifth season and now it was just one line. I was okay with them basically being human because of that thing Crais said in Season 1, something like "Do you think it's a coincedence that our species are so similar?" because at least they acknowledge that's it's a little weird. That whole scene was great because John says how looking at Crais makes him homesick. So yeah, I think I was fine with the whole PK as human thing because they never ignored the fact that it was slightly odd.

Wow, I rambled for a bit, didn't I?

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

But?! Er... Really? Even after having already had an affair with him that cost both of them D'Argo's trust? Because personally I see that as the last thing that will happen between them, although I think they'll become good friends who mourn together.

Yeah, but that all got resolved. Jothee was punched, all is good with the world. I doubt that Chiana ever blamed Jothee for how that went down, since it was a deliberate attempt to break D'Argo's trust in her so that he wouldn't want to marry her and turn her into a farmer (and it's sweet that she said yes in the mini, but if D'Argo had lived, I'd have given them six months tops. Probably more like three, especially if no one was shooting at them.).

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

And I finally get the Aeryn thing, too, as she looked way hot in the mini and kicked much ass. She was neat.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I do wish that they'd had the full fifth season, because it probably would have cleared up many of my issues. Plus, they could have done the Nebari thing.

[embitca.livejournal.com]

I have just finally finished watching The Peacekeeper Wars. Despite the fact that I did tear up at the sappy ending, I agree with most of what you said. They crammed an entire season's worth of story into four hours and it just didn't work. It didn't even come close to the best story arcs of the regular series and everything was just too neatly resolved. But I've so missed seeing Crichton on my screen, so I'll live with it. It does make me want to go back and watch some of the in-series stories. It's such a shame they didn't get a fifth season. This might have been a great story spread out over at least 15 hours or so.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I wish they'd had a fifth. The mini had great potential. But it didn't have any time to breathe, just jumped from point to point. They should have cut out more plot to make room for character moments.

[embitca.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with that.