Farscape 4.5

Fantasy

Claudia Black	Aeryn Sun
Ben Browder	Jonathan Robert Crichton
Virginia Hey	Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan
Melissa Jaffer	Utu-Noranti Pralatong
Anthony Simcoe	General/Captain Ka D'Argo
Gigi Edgley	Chiana
Paul Goddard	Stark
Wayne Pygram	Scorpius/Harvey
Raelee Hill	Sikozu Svala Shanti Sugaysi Shanu
Alyssa-Jane Cook	Gilina Renaez

Director	Tony Tilse; Geoff Bennett (II); Andrew Prowse; Rowan Woods; Ian Watson (II)
Producer	Sue Milliken; Andrew Prowse
Writer	David Kemper; Justin Monjo

This last ever sequence of Farscape episodes is as effective and powerful a climax as those of earlier seasons. The three-parter "We're So Screwed" (a title censored by the BBC in the UK) starts with "Fetal Attraction", in which the crew of Moya attempt to rescue the pregnant Aeryn Sun from her Scarren captors and end up starting a dangerous epidemic on a space station. They get Aeryn back and lose Scorpius; in "Hot to Katratzi", the necessity of saving his worst enemy--who just knows too much to be left a captive--forces John Crichton to gate-crash the Sebacean-Scarren peace conference and bluff his way to success. Seemingly betrayed by Scorpius, John snatches victory in "La Bomba", striking another deadly blow against the Scarren empire. The title of the last episode "Bad Timing" refers both to the show's cancellation--the cast and crew felt real bitterness towards the SciFi Channel over this--and to the cliff-hanger ending; the crew of Moya have to prevent a Scarren ship finding its way through the worm-hole to Earth. Farscape was perhaps the best ever television space opera and certainly the most sexy, stylish, funny and dramatic; it will be greatly missed.

On the DVD: Farscape, Series 4 Part 5 presents the shows in 16:9 format with impressively loud Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The special features include a documentary about the cancellation of Farscape, in which the cast talk about their shock and grief and fans talk about the "Save Farscape" campaign. There are a couple of extended versions of scenes from these episodes and an extensive blooper reel, much of it hilarious. Also included is an illustrated glossary of terms from the Uncharted Territories and a collection of interesting facts about these last four episodes. --Roz Kaveney