Farscape Volume 2
featuring the episodes Exodus From Genesis and Throne For A Loss
Early in Farscape’s production, the show tried to shoot episodes in two-show bursts, so as to use sets and setups more efficiently. The experiment proved to be too much of a logistical hurdle, and in the long run it’s probably a good idea that the idea was abandoned. The simultaneous filming makes it harder for each episode to establish its own identity, which can be seen in the second episode on this disc, Throne For A Loss. Filmed concurrently with I, E.T. by director Pino Amenta, this episode is a bit too stylistically similar to its companion, right down to the feel of the exterior shots (with John, Aeryn and D’Argo being the ones to leave the ship both times, of course) and the repetition of character-building 
scenes in which D’Argo and Aeryn “bond” by insulting the off-somewhere-else John. Exodus From Genesis doesn’t have quite the same limitation, as Brian Henson gives the episode a different feel than Andrew Prowse gave the premiere (although I do believe the two swapped second-unit director duties for each other’s episodes) - not least because the two shows had vastly different goals in the first place.
This discussion of production minutiae notwithstanding, these two episodes are enjoyable, and pretty much reinforce the opinions of Farscape that anyone watching the first DVD would have formed. The one thing I would add is that Exodus From Genesis attempts some CG creature work that does not quite pan out as well as the CG ship imagery does. For better or worse, the Henson Creature Shop’s animatronic aliens give the show its identity, and shots like a CG walking Rygel indicate that the show should stick to its strengths.
The Farscape DVD commentaries are among my favorites thus far, and this disc has two more strong entries. Brian Henson and Virginia Hey (Zhaan) cover the first episode, while Ben Browder (Crichton) and Claudia Black (Aeryn) take the second. It’s great that these commentaries were recorded at least a year after the episodes in question were made, because it’s nice to see the principals look back and joke and/or comment critically about where the show started, where it’s gone, and what changed along the way. The joking is very important, especially on the Browder/Black track. The cast certainly has a sense of humor and cameraderie that shines through, and gives the sense that they’re having fun making this show - which in turn makes the show more fun to watch.
The other extras on the disc are inconsequential. A video profile focuses on Aeryn, and is pretty much just a rehash of the first disc’s EPK documentary with some extra clips of Aeryn scenes thrown in. There are a paltry three images in the conceptual drawings gallery, and the Claudia Black stills in the image gallery are pretty unimaginative and uninteresting. That the images are only given about a fourth of the screen diminishes their impact considerably.