:: theLogBook.com DVD Reviews ::

featuring the episodes Durka Returns and A Human Reaction

If the last two volumes of Farscape’s first season showed the show settling into a comfortable status quo, this one starts upsetting all the apple carts. Durka Returns marks the first major cast change with the addition of Gigi Edgley’s Chiana. Edgley fits into the ensemble quite well, and her character adds a layer of unpredictability to the crew’s relationships that had diminished as we became more familiar with them. Durka’s return is a nice use of continuity - if you’ve seen PK Tech Girl, great, but if you haven’t, all the information you need to understand Durka is laid out in this episode. (If one were to be uncharitable, one might comment that it’s a pretty small galaxy that Moya would encounter both the Zelbinion and her lost captain in a relatively short time frame, but I will refrain from such remarks.) (more…)

featuring the episodes The Flax and Jeremiah Crichton

OK, here are two good episodes that just do not flow well from each other. The Flax ends with D’Argo sacrificing a chance to find his way home to save Aeryn and Crichton, and Aeryn and Crichton doing some significant bonding in their dying transport pod. So of course Jeremiah Crichton opens up with Crichton getting royally ticked at both of them - and everyone else for that matter - and hightailing it off the ship at a highly inopportune moment. It is true that there’s often a significant gap in story time between episodes, but the opener of Jeremiah Crichton feels too much like a contrivance to manipulate the characters into the plot of the episode. (more…)

featuring the episodes Till The Blood Runs Clear and Rhapsody In Blue

These two episodes are pretty much average first season Farscape episodes. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s hard to find something to say about them that won’t be repeating myself. Till The Blood Runs Clear does set up characters and plot points that would be revisited later in the series’ run, including Crichton’s propensity to try and bluff his way out of trouble and to focus on his wormhole research to the exclusion of other concerns. (more…)

featuring the episodes DNA Mad Scientist and They’ve Got a Secret

We have here one very odd episode that doesn’t quite seem to fit the tone of the series, and another that reveals significant character backstory and introduces a major subplot for the rest of Farscape’s first season. The acting and production remain strong, so both are enjoyable to watch…but I still can’t get the bad taste from DNA Mad Scientist out of my mouth. (more…)