Farscape 1x19 & 1x20 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! It’s like Christmas, but better: Scorpius is finally here. Nerve Aeryn is training hardcore, and John points out that maybe she shouldn’t be training so hard with a recent abdominal wound. She aggros him, then she vomits blood. Then she collapses. John tries
Farscape 1x17 & 1x18 Through the Looking Glass The crew gathers in the dining room for dinnertime discourse (triggering to the recent Thanksgiving attendees among us): Zhaan, Rygel, and D’Argo want to abandon Moya because her pregnancy continues to interfere with her ability to starburst and thus escape pursuers.
Farscape 1x15 & 1x16 Now we’re through the doldrums, the show can get good again. We’re going to immerse ourselves in puppet trauma and human drama. Durka Returns Moya has a minor traffic accident as her starburst malfunctions due to her pregnancy. When she allows the ship she
One difference between British fantasy author Philip Pullman and American film director George Lucas is that Philip Pullman is a good writer. One similarity between Pullman and Lucas is that they both decided, many years after concluding their respective groundbreaking, critically-hailed, widely-beloved, and highly lucrative three-part works of fantastical entertainment
Farscape 1x13 & 1x14 Well, here it is: the episode widely regarded as worst Farscape ever. But first--"Rhapsody in Blue", an episode of which I have no memory. Rhapsody in Blue Everybody awakens from sexy but sad dreams. We only see John’s directly: it’s a
Farscape 1x11 and 1x12 Both episodes this week are rather dismal, yet we’re still one installment of this blog away from the episode widely considered Farscape’s worst. First seasons of science fiction television shows are functionally endurance tests. Til the Blood Runs Clear When Zhaan is in extremely
The Only Qualification for Being a Science Fiction Writer Is Being Insane A few years ago I went to Pittsburgh and at a used bookstore I bought a copy of Charles Platt’s Dream Makers which had at one point been deaccessioned from the Fort Worth public library. A few
Farscape 1x09 & 1x10 DNA Mad Scientist Now the wheels of Farscape truly begin to turn. The villain of this episode is a 7-foot-tall, quadruple-kneed ratman wearing a yellow fishnet body-stocking and a baroque set of nipple clamps. His name? Namtar. Moya’s crew visit Namtar in the hope that
Architectonically Sublime, or What? After many years of manifesting it into the used bookstore shelves before me, I finally located and acquired John Crowley’s Little, Big, in a lovely, aged first paperback edition. You might ask, “Why didn’t you just buy the book online or something, if you
An Intergalactic White Boy Grows Up Resident Alien, a SyFy/USA sitcom about a megalomaniacal alien stranded in an eccentric Colorado small town, ended recently. I’m a bit sad and a bit happy because I really enjoyed this show. I didn’t watch close to every episode, but that
Farscape 1x07 & 1x08 I, E.T. I have a historic beef with this episode. Once I watched it with headphones on and I didn’t hear my apartment building’s fire alarm, because I thought it was the alarm in Moya. I was fifteen minutes late to the evacuation.
We’re burning down the candle of 2025. Can’t wait to take the little waxy puck of this year and chuck it out the window. But before that: the cinema…How did it fare in Q3? Biggest Ws First and foremost, let me say that the Hollywood cinema tradition
Television
Farscape 1x05 & 1x06 PK Tech Girl This is the first episode that brings the sauce. Moya stops to explore a derelict Peacekeeper Command Carrier, thinking it’s Crais’ ship. It’s not, but one of Crais’ tech officers is aboard. Her name is Gilina and she’s kinda cute.
Book Review
Of late, friends and advisors have provided me with leads on books about fantasy versions of Italy, to provide touchstone references for a manuscript I’m preparing which also involves a type of made-up Italy. Of these, I have recently completed The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch, the third
Television
Farscape 1x03 & 1x04 Back and Back and Back to the Future This episode serves as a perfect introduction to the “Aged Poorly” class of Farscape Episodes. Like so many science fiction television episodes, the villain is a sexually indiscrete hot lady alien who makes false assault accusations. It’s
Television
Farscape 1x01 & 1x02 Have you ever wondered what it would be like if the Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars were a sex club? Wonder no longer: Farscape is here to tell you. I love Farscape, but it’s hard to explain why. Farscape is a show about having
Television
Season 4, Episode 8: “Green”; Episode 9: “Tonnato”; Episode 10: “Goodbye” The thing about a streaming show is that you can be done with it at any time, if you truly want to be done with it. Actually, this is true of almost everything, but most people weirdly don’t
Television
Season 4, Episode 7: “Bears” This family wedding reception-themed episode was fully one entire hour long, but it felt as long as a family wedding reception actually is. It attempted to repeat the success of Season 2’s “Fishes”, which was one hour long and stuffed with family-playing guest stars.
Book Review
Yes, I Read War & Peace! Look, it’s not classy, but I gotta take my victory lap. I read War & Peace, all one-thousand two-hundred and twenty-four pages of the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. The project did require two months and I did return the book to the library
Television
Season 4, Episode 6: “Sophie” I know what this show has come to remind me of. I couldn’t think of it for a long time, but now I know. It reminds me of the TV scripts I used to write in 8th grade that were about thinly-veiled versions of
Television
Season 4, Episode 5: “Replicants” This episode was a collection of random scenes stuffed into a pillowcase. And the pillowcase has insufferable taste in music. I resisted writing this review. I dreaded writing this review. I struggled internally about how to make this review entertaining, let alone informative. I guess
Television
Season 4, Episode 4: “Worms” And then Bear stocks went back up again! I can’t take this kind of rollercoaster ride; I fully do not like rollercoasters. But I cannot deny that this was a charming episode. Critical to its charm is that it was all about Syd, a
Cinema
I Break My Silence My silence lasted roughly ten minutes I went to see the new Superman movie with my family over the weekend. Those of you who haven’t followed me for the last twenty-five years don’t know this, but Superman is a big part of my (non-theistic
Television
Season 4 Episode 3: “Scallop” Television giveth, and mercilessly television taketh away. This episode opened with an extended montage of Syd cooking and plating a scallop under soft bisexual lighting while an irritating licensed song played. It continued, ad infinitum, until Carmy tasted the scallop and declared it perfect. This