The Worlds of Farscape Read online

  Like Babylon 5, Farscape’s writers and producers conceived of multi-episode storylines with the major story arcs spanning the entire run of the series. The series’ writers presented the characters’ stories in a variety of ways, including flashforwards, flashbacks, time travel, dimensional shifts, differing points of view, all with a tongue-in-cheek satiric panache. Popular culture references were liberally scattered throughout the dialogue. This served to situate the main character, Commander John Crichton, as a human being with whom the audience could identify as well as contrast him with the beings he met. Whereas most science fiction series situate humans as the norm with some non-human being as the “other” to examine humanity through the lens of otherness (for example, Spock in Star Trek, Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation), Farscape situated the human as the other. An astronaut who was a theoretical physicist John Crichton was presented as a man lost, a man who did not have all of the answers, and a decidedly non-macho male, who nonetheless could be considered a hero on a quest (à la Joseph Campbell) as could the major female character, Officer Aeryn Sun. With several plot diversions along the way, series creator Rockne S. O’Bannon and Executive Producers David Kemper and Brian Henson conceived of the love story between the major characters from the beginning and allowed it to proceed, to its logical conclusion. However, they were not averse to letting the characters argue, fight, and part when necessary. The writers were also not averse to killing off major characters when the need arose, doing so several times over the course of the series.

  Through the Wormhole

  Astronaut John Crichton is a physicist who has developed a theory that involves “skipping” off the Earth’s atmosphere as a means to counter Earth’s gravity when launching vessels into space. On the day that he tests his theory, his module Farscape 1 is propelled through a wormhole and shot through space. He exits the wormhole in the midst of a battle between a Peacekeeper (PK) battalion and a biomechanoid living ship of a species called Leviathan. The Leviathan ship, whose name is Moya, was herself a prisoner of the Peacekeepers. She is attempting to escape, crewed by three other prisoners: a Luxan warrior named Ka D’Argo, a Delvian priest named Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan, and the deposed Hynerian emperor, Dominar Rygel XVI.

  The Peacekeepers are trying to recapture Moya and the escaped prisoners. Crichton’s ship accidentally hits a PK prowler, killing the pilot, the brother of Captain Bialar Crais. Moya evades recapture using Crichton’s theory to aid in “starbursting,” a propulsion technique whereby the ship can jump across vast distances of space. Moya cannot starburst on her own because she wears a “control collar,” a device used to pacify her and prevent escape. Officer Aeryn Sun is part of the prowler patrol attempting to recapture Moya. As Moya starbursts, Aeryn’s prowler is sucked into the wake and she travels with the ship to its next destination. Crais vows revenge on Crichton and the first season revolves around the crew’s attempts to escape from Crais and the bounty hunters who seek the reward Crais has offered for their recapture.

  Crais will be a recurring character throughout three seasons of Farscape. The first season finds him disobeying orders and pursuing Crichton, even into the Uncharted Territories. Crais is determined to kill Crichton and avenge his brother’s death. Eventually Crais will realize that the death was accidental, and he will become an unlikely ally for Crichton as Crichton attempts to elude the Sebacean-Scarran hybrid Scorpius, who is determined to acquire Crichton’s knowledge of wormholes. Crais will “bond” with the hybrid spaceship Talyn, Moya’s offspring, and together they will sacrifice themselves in an unsuccessful attempt to kill Scorpius (“Into the Lion’s Den Part II: Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” 3.21).

  Aeryn’s capture by the crew of Moya leads to her irreversible contamination, the Peacekeeper’s term for any Peacekeeper that comes in too close contact with alien species: the penalty is exile or death, and most choose death. Aeryn however joins Moya’s crew; we will learn that she is no ordinary Peacekeeper. The crew experiences many adventures, many life threatening, all dangerous. As noted, Season One episodes revolve around Moya’s crew trying to protect Crichton from Captain Crais, who wishes to avenge his brother’s death. Not completely selfless, the other crew members wish to evade recapture and return to their homes one day.

  Although Moya’s crew is bound together by their desire to escape the Peacekeepers and return home, they grow into a “family” over the course of the first season. Refreshingly this family contains no patriarch or matriarch, although Carlen Lavigne points out that Moya could be considered a mother figure, given that all of Moya’s crew are reliant upon her home space, and Pilot, who controls Moya’s functions, could be considered a father. There was some jockeying for position as Moya’s captain following the escape and for some time afterwards, nevertheless each character brings his or her own strengths to the family. Decisions are made by consensus; however, during the first season decisions are always made in the interests of the child.

  One of the most unique plotlines during the first season revolves around the ship’s pregnancy, certainly the first time of which I am aware that a space ship bred. As noted, Leviathans are physically bonded to a pilot, who controls their internal functions and provides navigation, nevertheless they can breed. Moya, we learn, was part of a Peacekeeper experiment designed to create a hybrid, a Leviathan warship. Named Talyn after Aeryn’s father, the hybrid ship is male and covered with weaponry. However, Talyn becomes increasingly unstable, eventually going insane. Talyn does not need a pilot since he is a hybrid; however, he does need a corporeal being to provide control functions and navigation, which a pilot would normally provide to a Leviathan. Talyn temporarily bonds with Aeryn, but is consumed with jealousy over her feelings for Crichton. Aeryn rejects Talyn after Talyn tries to kill Crichton. Crais and Talyn bond and leave the others to find their own destiny; however, they eventually return to Moya and sacrifice themselves to save Crichton and company.

  At the end of Season One, Aeryn is badly wounded and needs treatment. Specifically she needs a graft of a piece of nerve tissue from a genetically compatible donor. Such a donor would probably be available only on a Gammak base, a top-secret military installation, which just happens to be close to their location. Obviously the crew would like to avoid such a base, since they are all wanted by the Peacekeepers for various reasons. But by this point in time, Crichton is falling in love with Aeryn and will risk everything to find help for her. Scorpius, a half–Scarran, half–Sebacean hybrid, captures Crichton. Scorpius has developed a device that allows him to extract memories from neural tissue. Scorpius places Crichton in his Aurora chair and learns that Crichton possesses wormhole knowledge. Crichton escapes from Scorpius, but Seasons Two and Three revolve around Scorpius’ quest to recapture Crichton and steal the wormhole knowledge from Crichton’s brain. Scorpius uses a variety of techniques to steal that knowledge, even creating a clone of himself and implanting it into Crichton’s brain. These tactics will cause Crichton to go mad slowly, so slowly that no one notices. Season Four shows Crichton and crew fighting back against those who would use the wormhole knowledge as a bargaining tool and a weapon; Crichton lets all know that he will detonate such a weapon of mass destruction in order to save his friends and family.

  Scorpius is the result of the Scarran rape of a Sebacean woman (Peacekeeper is their job, their species is Sebacean—genetically similar to human). Scorpius wants the wormhole technology implanted in Crichton’s brain by the Ancients so that he can exact revenge on the Scarrans for their rape of his mother, and hence his own birth, as well as their torture of him after birth. Crichton and crew realize that if Scorpius obtains the wormhole technology then he (and the Peacekeepers) will have a weapon of mass destruction and be able to rule the universe, eventually finding their way to Earth. Each member of Moya’s crew, including Crichton, has one major goal and that is to return home, right old wrongs, and find peace. Crichton wants to return to Earth, and he wants to take Aeryn with him. Along the way, he will be forced to a
lly himself with Scorpius as he learns of Scorpius’ desire to destroy the Scarrans.

  As mentioned previously, John Crichton is meant to serve as “us”—the audience; he serves as the window through which we observe the wonders and dangers of the universe beyond Earth and even upon Earth as well. Yes, Crichton is truly an Alien in the part of the universe where he finds himself after his journey through the wormhole, and as Telotte notes, “that circumstance repeatedly motivates a fundamental examination of just what it means to be human” (26). No one in “known” space or in the Uncharted Territories has ever encountered Homo sapiens before. Crichton looks like a member of a species called Sebacean; however, it is quickly established that he cannot be Sebacean because his body contains bacteria unknown in this part of the universe. Moya’s fellow prisoners are surprised when they discover that he does not have internal translator microbes, which are injected into all beings at birth in this part of space (“Premiere” 1.1). Imagine Crichton’s problem: He looks like a member of a militaristic police force that frightens most beings to which it comes into contact. Hence Crichton is scary by virtue of his looks; to humans, he is a very attractive man. As he tries to survive in a hostile environment, he becomes increasingly hard and bitter, gradually descending into madness as the Scorpius clone worms its way into his psyche. He becomes increasingly dangerous to the alien species to which he comes in contact, and he earns—deservedly or not—a reputation for death and destruction, until finally he is willing to destroy everything in order to protect his friends, his lover and their child, and the knowledge of the location of Earth.

  Beyond the Wormhole5

  The Farscape Universe—Peacekeeper-controlled space, the Uncharted Territories, Tormented Space—we journeyed to and through them all, with Crichton and crew. Along the way we were thrilled and chilled, gladdened and saddened, furious and frantic, often at the same time, in the same episode. Executive Producer David Kemper’s statement “On this show, I want to be afraid. I need to be unsettled”6 was as true of the viewer as it was of those in charge of production. As one of the few people who has written about Farscape, Jes Battis notes that the series is considered “cult” because the fans “truly admit to loving [the] program” (“Transgressive” 78). And, if the 2012 Dragon*Con can serve as an illustration then Scapers do love the program still and are, at the very least, an enthusiastic and loyal group of people who miss it.

  I for one do miss Farscape very much and am greatly surprised at the lack of critical attention and scholarship on the series. Hence, this collection, the purpose of which is to celebrate the series and examine concepts, characters, and themes that have not been studied previously. The collection, although not specifically divided this way, first presents essays that examine themes running throughout the series. Secondly, several characters from the series are discussed in detail. Several of the authors also contributed brief notes designed to discuss an aspect of the series that was particularly worthy of notice albeit in more concise form than usually found in a traditional academic essay. These essays, what I term inter-chapters, also address characters or themes of the series.

  J. P. Telotte, who has written and presented on Farscape in other collections, here talks about the series in terms of its “accidental” origins and how the series resonates with its audience, many of whom discovered the series by accident. Ensley F. Guffey discusses how the Peacekeeper-Scarran conflict provides a mirror for examining the policies and rhetoric of the Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. from the end of World War II until the fall of the Soviet Union. Robert L. Lively examines that same conflict, as well as various characters, through the lens of the Wisdom Tradition, which proposes that evil is the result of a lack of self-identity and self-knowledge. Michael G. Cornelius, in his inter-chapter, shows that Dominar Rygel’s tendency to fart when anxious and afraid serves to humanize him—which is especially important given that Rygel is a puppet with a half dozen or so people providing mobility, animation, vocals and more—to the other sentients traveling on Moya, noting that this biological process actually removes some of the mystique of his royal status and makes him no better—or worse—than anyone else aboard Moya. Billie Jo Mason follows Crichton, Crais and Scorpius on their mythic journey, à la Joseph Campbell, noting that each character vacillates between being a hero, an anti-hero, and a villain (yes, even Crichton). I examine the various emotional and sexual relationships that occur on the series, doing so through the lenses of the Triangular Theory of Love and the principles of evolutionary psychology. Poet Jessie Carty studies Ben Browder’s foray into the writer’s room via the two episodes he wrote for the series. Another of my essays describes the female characters of the series and how the six women who reside upon Moya over the course of the four seasons (Aeryn, Zhaan, Chiana, Jool, Noranti, and Sikozu) create a community, learning that they can rely upon each other to do what is necessary to survive. Michael G. Cornelius explores the living ship Moya’s status as both a sentient being and a home place/space where other sentient beings reside. Elizabeth Leigh Scherman’s essay examines the nature of disability and its presentation on Farscape, especially ways in which the series subverts the very idea of the concept through its presentation of characters such as Noranti and Traltixx, as well as how even Crichton can be considered as disabled in this part of the galaxy. In my inter-chapter I propose a theory of why it took Aeryn Sun so long to admit her feelings for John Crichton and begin a true relationship with him. Ensley F. Guffey discusses the tendency of male characters in historical fact as well as various fictional works to give their weapons female names in his inter-chapter. In the final full-length essay Tanya R. Cochran investigates the myth of the Scapers and their attempts to save Farscape from cancellation. The collection ends with Jessie Carty’s application of a poet’s perspective to the opening credits’ voice-overs occurring throughout the series.

  As Battis noted in his full-length examination of Farscape, there are myriad other analyses that need to be made with respect to this award-winning and ground-breaking series. Perhaps this collection will ignite a spark. I do so hope that the next treatment of the series will not be so long in coming.

  Notes

  1. Commentary by Rockne S. O’Bannon for the first season episode “Thank God It’s Friday ... Again.” In this commentary O’Bannon discusses the excitement of having Rowan Woods direct for Farscape as Woods is a very famous director in Australia.

  2. Comment by Ben Browder, “SyFy Twentieth Anniversary Special,” Broadcast on 10 December 2012. The section on Farscape occurs at about the twentieth minute into the two-hour special.

  3. “In the Beginning: A Look Back with Brian Henson,” Special Feature, Farscape Season One DVD. See Appendix C for a complete citation.

  4. Comment by Brain Henson, “SyFy Twentieth Anniversary Special,” Broadcast on 10 December 2012.

  5. I have included a List of Characters and an Episode List in Appendices A and B, respectively. Farscape’s writers and producers created a lexicon of colorful phrases, character and place names, and so on for use in the series. I have not included those here. The companion guides (see Appendix C) as well as Jes Battis’ book on Farscape (see below) can be consulted for those terms.

  6. Interview with David Kemper, Farscape: The Official Magazine, number 2 (Sept./Oct. 2001).

  Works Cited

  Battis, Jes. “Farscape.” The Essential Cult TV Reader. Ed. David Lavery. Louisville: University Press of Kentucky, 2010. 104–110. Print.

  _____. Investigating Farscape: Uncharted Territories of Sex and Science Fiction. London: I. B. Tauris, 2007. Print.

  _____. “Transgressive TV.” The Cult TV Book: From Star Trek to Dexter, New Approaches to TV Outside the Box. Ed. Stacey Abbot. New York: Soft Skull Press, 2010. 77–83. Print.

  Booker, M. Keith. Science Fiction Television. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004. Print.

  Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 3d ed. Novato: New World Library, 2008. Print.
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  Ginn, Sherry. “Exploring the Alien Other on Farscape: Human, Puppet, Costume, Cosmetic.” The Wider Worlds of Jim Henson: Essays on His Work and Legacy Beyond The Muppet Show and Sesame Street. Eds. Jennifer C. Garlen and Anissa M. Graham. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2013. 228–240. Print.

  _____. Our Space, Our Place: Women in the Worlds of Science Fiction Television. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2005. Print.

  Johnson-Smith, Jan. American Science Fiction TV: Star Trek, Stargate and Beyond. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2005. Print.

  Jowett, Lorna. “Representation: Exploring Issues of Sex, Gender, and Race in Cult Television.” The Cult TV Book: From Star Trek to Dexter, New Approaches to TV Outside the Box. Ed. Stacey Abbot. New York: Soft Skull Press, 2010. 107–113. Print.

  Kemper, David. “Ladies Rule!!!” Farscape: The Official Magazine 4 (Jan./Feb. 2002): 63–66. Print.

  Lavigne, Carlen. “Space Opera: Melodrama, Feminism, and The Women of Farscape.” Femspec 6.2 (2005): 54–64. Print.

  Telotte, J. P. The Essential Science Fiction Television Reader. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2008. Print.

  “TV Guide Names the Top Cult Shows Ever.” TV Guide 29 June 2007. Web. 23 May 2008.

  Farscape, the Impossible and the Accident

  J. P. Telotte

  In an effort to explain the cult appeal of the science fiction series Farscape, Jes Battis opts for pointing to what he sees as its very “impossible” nature, as a show “too strange and vast to conceive of, too weird and idiosyncratic to make, and too outrageously wonderful to be canceled” (“Farscape” 104). Of course, we have to acknowledge that the series was conceived by Rockne O’Bannon and Brian Henson, made, at least for four years, and then, lamentably, canceled. But noting such obstinate facts avoids actually confronting the show’s rather slippery status, its “too”-ness at which Battis points, and that, I would suggest, is paradoxically responsible for both its demise as a broadcast series and its continuing existence as a cult text. I would like to qualify that “impossible” description of Farscape from the vantage of what might seem like an equally difficult or dodgy descriptive turn of phrase, the accident, for I believe that vantage will allow us to better understand the series’ appeal, while also framing Farscape as a particularly revealing example of how all effective cult texts function.