In recent years, it has become apparent to fans both old and new, that Farscape has been incredibly underrated. Much like Joss Whedon’s ‘Firefly,’ it seems to have resurfaced many years later. Of course, with streaming services on the up, and remakes coming left, right, and center, fans are asking themselves if Farscape might be considered in the future. So, what made Farscape so good and why is it coming back?
The world wasn’t ready
Many fans and critics have said that they don’t believe the world was ready for something as daring as Farscape. Sure, the likes of Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5 had already debuted, but they still left familiarity for sci-fi fans to cling-on too, get it? Well anyway, one of the main things that have been noted was how truly original and daring creators were with the Farscape world, building scenes that no-one could have said was a copy from any worldly creation. Their ships were reminiscent of internal biology, probably because their ships are considered to be alive.
Their creatures were one-of-a-kind
They didn’t hold back when it came to their aliens, they featured some fantastic creations and designed some wonderfully complex species. It was no mean feat to create what they did, but they did it over and over again. Others have made the comparison that even super-famous shows such as Star Trek began creating a basic headpiece and claiming this is what makes an alien race, or just painting someone blue. Farscape always went all-out, which is what helped create such complex foundations for this show.
The humor was underrated
There was a lot of scope with their set up, a mixture of alien cultures allows for funny misunderstandings or miscommunications which result hilariously. From the crew ending up on earth and not understanding cultural practices, one of which resulted in Chiana flipping a curious neighbor the bird, or when John Chrichton ended up in women’s stockings. Humor can make or break a TV show, and for Farscape, it definitely worked.
The relationship dynamic was second-to-none
They really knew how to write a script, that’s for sure. They didn’t cut any corners when it came to building character personalities and relationships, which made them so enjoyable; Whether it was a romantic arc or just watching each member of the team’s interaction. Farscape has been hailed as being before it’s time, where they mastered overarching storylines over an episode-by-episode story, which is now incredibly popular in today’s television but was only really developing back in the 90s.
Producers spent a lot of time trying to make a unique show, creating something more highbrow that was usually seen in the movies and bringing it to a TV series. Inspirations for the creatures come from films such as Labyrinth and Dark Crystal, which can be seen in most of their episodes. They indeed won the hearts and minds of the fans they did have as, with most cult followings, there may not have been vast numbers of fans, but they were devoted. There has recently been talk of a Farscape movie, as the rights were obtained in 2014, but something is yet to manifest from this.
