Farscape: Season 4 Box Set

Now that word has arrived that we have the concluding mini-series (and thanks to all of my fellow 'scape fans for writing to Sci-Fi channel without which this would never have happened), I decided to take the plunge and buy season 4 to refresh my memory of what happened to Crichton and his merry band of pransters. Man what a great season. For those that need to know, this boxed is only different in one way from the individual two disc sets with season 4 episodes. It's cheaper. No other extra features besides a nice little box to put them inside. A pity I was hoping for something extra but, hey, with gas prices I'm happy I could save a few bucks. There are a number of strong episodes this season (and only one or two that I thought was absolutely lame)

In "Crichton Kicks" we are introduced to a new recurring character Sikozu as she crashes into the ship Crichton has taken refuge on in order to escape pirates interested in harvesting Leviathans. He's just about gotten his mathematical formula ready to go when she destroys part of it and they have to team up to stay alive. "What Was Lost" is an outstanding two part episode where Crichton hooks up with his buddies and sees Scorpious humiliated by a peacekeeper named Grayza who has delusions of grandeur. Finally Crichton finds Aeryn on Moya with her new friend Scorpious. It seems Scorpi saved her life and, as such, Crichton has a new shipmate.

The trilogy of"Unrealized Reality", "Kansas" and "Terra Firma" finds Crichton and the rest of Moya's crew traveling to Earth but at the wrong time. Eventually, they find the right time but, unfortunately, their timing leaves something to be desired. The concluding three part episode "We're so Screwed" takes the series in an entirely new direction with Crichton mastering much of the wormhole information that's been locked in his head. It seems the Scarrans have taken Aeryn hostage in hopes of using her as bait to get him to give up the wormhole technology so the Scarrans can rule the known universe. Finally, we get the coda for season four (and the set up for the mini-series). "Bad Timing" ties directly into the preceding three episodes concluding the story arc with Crichton learning that the Scarrans may try to invade Earth. Crichton's only choice is to try and close the portal to Earth but will he ever be able to get back?

Picture quality is outstanding on each disc with a sharp, crisp high definition transfer. The 5.1 soundmix takes full advantage of the format and the sound has tremendous presence. The extras are numerous with the second and third season bloopers, interviews with cast, deleted scenes, set, prop and costume galleries, early make-up tests (which is really quite fascinating). Each indvidual box comes with a booklet with character histories, season four overviews, episodes synopsis and interesting photos. Special featurettes include "Cool Farscape Facts", "On the Last Day" where we get behind the scenes footage for the season four wrap session,"The Story So Far" which gives a brief update on the series to season four, "Villains", the usual "Alien Encounters" bits and "Farscape Trailers".

All in all another exceptional season. I do miss the commentary tracks. While they didn't have to be on every single episode, I would have enjoyed them on "Bad Timing" and the "We're So Screwed" trilogy. I suppose you can't have everything but I am quite happy that "Farscape" is returning even if only in a limited capacity. A pity that Sci-Fi blundered and cancelled it making us wait this long for the resolution but, hey, at least we have it.

The fourth, and ultimately final, season of Farscape saw astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) and Aeryn (Claudia Black) end up together as the seeds of what will be an uneasy alliance between Crichton and Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) are planted when Scorpius saves Aeryn's life. War begins to brew as the reptillian-esque Scarrans now seek the wormhole technology Crichton knows to rule the universe, no matter the cost. The series finale, appropriately entitled "Bad Timing", ends on a heck of a cliffhanger and both Crichton and Aeryn are blasted to bits, leading way to the recent, and outstanding, mini-series Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars. While the fourth season of Farscape wasn't the best the series had to offer, it was still exceptional sci-fi TV that continued to soar in new and innovative directions. In the end however, despite suffering the untimely fate of cancellation, Farscape did what shows like Babylon 5 and the various Star Trek series' couldn't do: continue to be original, intelligent, and just plain amazing, even while facing the inevitable threat of cancellation. And by the time the Peacekeeper Wars are over, one can't pray for a better way to send off this supremely original and fantastic series.

Season four came out the way I would have liked it to; Great. Episodes like Kansas and Terra Firma really set a bar in the way the series can throw twists at you. Aside from those two, most of the other episodes are great, especially the latter half of the season. Some episodes, IMO, were really lame like "Coup by Clam" and "A Perfect Murder", but they are easily negated by the relentless perfection that consumed most of the other episodes.

Fans of the series are sure to love the final four, which in a way sort of mirrors the final four of season three. I won't spoil anything, but the end of the series leaves fan wanting A LOT more. Cliffhangers can be deadly, especially one of this magnitude. Once you finally catch up on all 88 episodes, watch the mini-series on October 17-18, it's sure not to dissapoint.

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