Identified Flying Objects

[icepixie]

I remembered that the third season was where Farscape got very into plot arcs and even more into crack than it was, but I'd forgotten it was also the season where they basically turned into as close to BDSM as you can get on basic cable. Well, "Won't Get Fooled Again" aside. This has never been an image I needed in my head.

Also, they abruptly decided they were a horror show. Gaaaahhhh, "Eat Me" is going to give me nightmares for weeks. Also, it starts the Two Johns arc, and...I'm not sure I can wade through that again. Maybe I can skip some parts when it starts dragging.

*

Picture from yesterday evening:



I think the darkening at the corners is the actual effect of moonlight, but I'm not entirely sure it wasn't something weird my camera was doing. I made a cropped version, but that introduced a lot of noise. I suppose I can just consider that a deliberate effect...

Comments

[bulleteyes]

I loved Farscape when it began. I did not know anyone else at the time who was watching it and I was not computer literate so I was not online. Once it started heading into torture and pain it was not something I could do anymore.

I had begun to notice how many different science fiction shows changed during and right after the height of the X Files run. Shows that had been fun and light took radical shifts; Sliders is one big example and then Farscape took the same turn eventually. When a show was not getting the ratings that Sci-Fi Channel wanted the producers sent it into a dark, nasty area where it had not been headed previously. I am a long time science fiction fan so it was really interesting to see what a strong influence that one popular show had on so many others that were struggling.

[icepixie]

Can it be blamed on XF, though? FS started right after what was arguably the biggest year for XF (1998), and only changed after XF was well into its downslide. If FS was being influenced that way, I would think it would've started off darker than it did.

I do think a certain darkening of the show was seeded from the last four episodes of season one on. The Aurora chair put John through the mental ringer, and if they were going to follow through on that--which I'm glad they did, rather than brushing it off--a darker tone was inevitable, because the show became basically about John's descent into insanity. They as much as telegraphed where they were going by putting Stark in those first episodes with the Aurora chair anyway. I think with Virginia Hey's departure from the show, though, they seemed to give themselves permission to make everything surrounding John's growing madness darker as well. For example, "...Different Destinations," the first one after Zhaan dies, is just depressing as hell, especially for a one-off episode on a planet they never return to.

[bulleteyes]

I wish my reply was nearly as well thought out as yours ;) I know X Files was on the downside but it set a precedent. It had a slow build and once it caught on it kept rolling even if the numbers did slide.

Farscape was due to be cancelled due to low ratings not long after the first few episodes(or so I read at the time) and that is when the change was begun.

I remember being really aggravated because I liked the show. When it began that dark change towards the end I figured they were going after one of the few sci-fi type of shows that became mainstream popular.

[missizzy]

Oh, "Won't Get Fooled Again." Working in a military law office I constantly having Crais' version of the Miranda warning running through my head...