Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, Part 1
First let me preface this review by thanking all loyal Farscape fans especially www.SaveFarscape.com. Without their efforts and the fans preserverence this show would have never returned.
Where we last left off….
After narrowly preventing the invasion of Earth, and having escaped from their many enemies, John and Aeryn had finally decided to tie the knot. Meanwhile Scorpius aboard his new Command Carrier revelled over some hidden belief that John would return to him, wether he wanted to…or not. And as Aeryn Sun accepted Johns proposal of matrimony a truly alien ship decended as we watched the final horrifying images: D’Argo appears to enter a form of hyper-Sadness as he watches his two best friends reduced into a pile of beads, and the last words some thought we may ever see from Farscape: To Be Continued.
Some time later…..*massive explosion sound*
Farscape is BACK! With a drip not a BANG!
Throughout this Part 1 we see another John Crichton, presumably at a later date, talking to Scorpius. This John seems near death, and he’s aboard a Moya that also appears severely injured, however no one else is with him. Hmmmm. Could this be the OTHER John Crichton?!? Or simply a sign of things to come? Most likely the latter as there’s no fresh explaination of the “Twins”. In any event, Aeryn narrates and explains that we won, but John apparantly will die. Eep! The end at the beginning?
Then we have the BANG!
Scarran and Peacekeeper warships open fire upon each other upon a
backdrop of a gorgeous blue planet surrounded with rings. And finally the words fans have waited to see flash across the screen: Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars. (I was so reminded by Wing Commander III, I still can’t shake it!)
And we are off, as we find our aquatic Mr.
Burns scouring the floor for tiny bits and pieces of our heroes, John Crichton and Aeryn Sun. He swallows them all up like so many bits of Marjools. As our Little Dominar spots a fish behind him he leaps and swallows that as well! D’Argo helps Rygel back aboard and they use Naranti on the boat to ‘taste’ each chip to figure out if it’s John or Aeryn (ewww!).
Meanwhile we find the Grand Chancellor Marrik (Hey it’s Mr. Flax! Didnt Chiana kill you in Season 2?) and Mele-on Grayza are an item now, and Dear ol’Scorpius has pre-emptively attacked, and started the War between Scarran and Sebacean races. Along with Scorpi is a very HOT Sikozu, now sporting the Cloud Strife hairdo. I knew that bastard Scorpius was up to something!!
Chiana is reunited with D’Argo, and she has new eyes implanted by the Bene Tlielax, I mean Grunshlik (The bastard from Season of Death) and the diagnosin. Our crew is filled in on the details of the War, and Grunslik explains the Scarrans were already invading.
The scene shifts to my personal favorite character Captain Braca. He is sporting a catapiller under his lip for some reason, but his crew of Prowlers eats up a Scarran Dreadnought under the council of Scorpius and Sikozu. Damn Sikozu is hot, anywho…. Just as the fight starts to get good, we switch back and find Crichton and Aeryn revived by the Diagnosyn. They of course jump the gun (pun intended) but eventually are forced to play 20 questions with the Eidolons. This gives him the opportunity to pull a recap of the general storyline (Shakespeare is suing).
Meanwhile Scorpius oddly removes himself from the battle although they are winning (Later it will be mentioned the PKs have lost every single battle). Why? Because John Crichton is alive. Clearly Harvey was not joking in the end of Season 4 when he said Scorpius could “hear” him, even if he was lying about wormholes.
Strangly enough however is the race that crystalized John and Aeryn are the Eidolons! The same race from the beginning of Season 4 (“What was Lost” series), the mythical race of Peace whacked our good friends! Strange indeed. Their leader also happens to be the same actress that tried to rip Aeryns baby from her stomach only a scant few episodes ago, but let’s just ignore that, it’s good to see the familiar faces. The Eidolons explain that they have a young man who is their closest match to the Old Eidolons we’ll just think of him as the young Jedi Padawah for now.
Pre-op or Post-op?
Mele-on seems to understand Scorpius pretty well. She clearly seems to be manipulating Marrik (The PK leader), she also is carrying his child. Or perhaps even Crichtons baby, they did get it on after all….
Back at the WaterWorld Crichton learns that Rygel is now carrying his and Aeryns child due to eating up the beads that contained them. “I want this ‘miracle of life’ the frell out of me!” -Rygels best line of the night. Speaking of, John Hardy did a tremendous job as did Rygels puppeteers. Aeryn meanwhile acts like a downer and hints that the only reason she is going to have the baby is because John wants it. Yikes, not a good start to being a Mommy.
The Scarrans finally get their due, and we are reintroduced to Emperor Starleek and war Minister Ahkna. They learn that Crichton is alive (Through Grunshlik presumably, but my money is still on Scorpius) and decide to send a division to subdue him and seize his knowledge. Anyone else think the Scarrans are pretty damn cool as a bad race? I do. Anyway…
John and Aeryn decide to get married. And the Minister? The same gal that tried to chop Aeryns baby out, but I digress. 
As the Eidolon recites a human marriage ceremony the sun is blocked out by a Command Carrier strangly rememiscant of the Vorlons arriving at Centauri Prime.
As they flee, Naranti realizes this race is the same race from the Planet of Peace. As the Maurader arrives John and D’Argo joke about who it is. “Come on bet me!!” John has a vision with Harvey, which is the best vision to date. Harvey is both Einstein and Dr. Strangelove combined, and he tries to convince John to join him. 
Harvey plants the thought that John should travel to visit the Ancients, which is very very subtle. What’s not so subtle is what John writes upon the chalkboard. I couldn’t see it all at once, but it said “–CK YOU” and “FU– YOU”. You figure it out. Again we see John in bed upon a devestated Moya but the scene is very confusing and seems to happen in the future, because John finally decides to give Scorpi-Sue the wormhole knowledge:
You want to see it? The thing youve been chasing my ass all over the universe for? Torturing me, my wife, my friends for. You want to see it? Say Please. Scorpius repeats each immediately. Pretty please. With a cherry on top. Happy Birthday. Now, get out of my sight.
Whoa did John give it to him, and that’s why he’s lying in bed lamenting?!
Naranti tells them they must travel to Arnesk to reunite the Eidolon race. And of course to visit Jool! Who I personally could never stand in the series, but damn, they gave her a makeover! But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back aboard Moya D’Argo makes a few bad jokes, and Pilot makes a promise to protect the new passengers.
Now is it just me or does Pilot sound different? Someone hand Mr. Tupi a lozenge!
The Diagnosyn and Grunshlit deliver to Aeryn a device she can use to transfer the baby….basically a 2 foot long heavy piece of cylandic metal…I don’t even want to know where she is supposed to ‘stick’ that in herself, let alone Rygel… Scorpius and Sikozu negotiate passage also aboard Moya, mainly because it’s the only way they can safely travel through PK Space. Little do they know Scorpius is marked for Death by the Peacekeepers.
And did I mention Sikozu is hot? I’m also curious what happened to her Bioloid subplot…
Now we have time for a exposition. Rygel receives a message from his Cousin Veeshan, and he begs Rygel to return and share the throne with him to unite the 600 billion Hynerians against the invaders (Unclear if it’s PK or Scarran, probably both). This is clearly a setup for some point later… Back at Moya the Jedi Apprentice shows Chiana his Inner Eyes to which Chiana responds “Is he propositioning me?” and “Does it get bigger?” “No, but however it vibrates.” Okay enough!! hehe. on the Command Carrier the leader of the PKs contemplates surrender to the Scarrans with Mele-on Grayza. I guess that PK leader didn’t watch Season 4 and Mele-on’s suicidal tendencies.
The Scarrans order a full attack upon Arnesk while John and Aeryn take a 2nd attempt at being married, this time through Rygel. It’s an odd scene to watch as the lovely Sikozu lights the candles with her fingertips before extinguishing it in her mouth. I’m not kidding! Rygel meanwhile is bitching up a storm, and Aeryn finally gets fed up and points her gun at him which prompts the obvious “Honey, you’re pointing a gun at the baby.” once again the marriage is interrupted, this time by a breaching harness. 
As Moya comes under attack by a strange type of Pirate that are really sentries for the Peacekeepers. Also if you’re the observant type you may have noticed Moyas lights throughout the First Part are much dimmer than usual. Another sign of dark things to come… The “Pirates” are really Wookies along with a Peacekeeper officer which Scorpius tries to bluff with his now outlawed codes. And John is forced to kill once again… A funny scene ensues when John uses Scorpius as a living shield while taking out the officers, and D’Argo and Aeryn have a heart to heart talk about how she really is a warrior, not a mother, and she’s only doing this for John. Yikes, not again!
Also we learn Chiana can do neat things with her new eyes including see through Moyas hull, cool!
Chiana and Sikozu ambush the Pirates, and I kid you not Chiana pulls off a scorpion kick that puts Carrie Ann Moss to shame. Sikozu also kicks a few butts as well, almost appearing like the aforementioned Matrix as she defies gravity and moves slightly faster than possible. The pirates are defeated and Moya flees in a brand new CGI Starburst where she is taking damage as she Starbursts, it was pretty cool!
Here Crichton returns to Arnesk we meet the madeover Jool. She kicks some ass as well, then realizing it’s Crichton she mounts him and informs him that she always knew he wanted her and he would come back. Then Aeryn and Rygel show up, spoiling the fun.
“Get your own fantasy, they’re having my baby!” -Rygel
As Jool leads them into the Temple she mentions to John not to embarass her so naturally he whistles at the beauty as they enter, and the sound travels loudly throughout the temple over a series of Tiered Wise Guys in Robes. You know they’re smart ’cause they wear robes.
We re-meet the Eidolons from the beginning for Season 4. And naturally they’re a bunch of stubborn gits like all “advanced” races. They are led by a guy who acts suspiciously like a Jedi Master to his Padawah from the WaterWorld. After a boring series of dialogue, Crichton cuts to the chase and loads his weapon causing a discharge. As Stark grovels the Eidolon orders Aeryn and John “Do your jobs Peacekeepers!” indicating a 12,000 year old relationship with their race, at least…
Another chance for preposition as Aeryn informs Crichton that Rygel will have his baby in days rather than months! Aeryn tells him she has the name for the baby which is a rather large hiccup.
“You better have my dinnah ready when I get back on that ship now!” -Crichton to Aeryn
On Arnesk, Scorpius realizes they’ve been there too long and attack is imminent. Crichton tries to take the inhabitants of the Temple with him, but only the Jedi Master will join them. Crichton also asks Jool but she refuses and kisses him dearly on the forehead…uh oh…this is a bad sign. Rygel and Stark (a great comedy team throughout the 4 seasons) are playing with the large, um, well that thing that will transfer the baby. The Scarrans arrive and both Moya and Arnesk are in range…
Crichton and the rest beg Moya to Starburst, but she is too scared that the Scarrans will attack her before she can complete the energy needed to Starburst. Meanwhile the Scarrans move omniously closer. Jool appears on the Coms informing the Scarrans they are a peaceful planet and they welcome them. The Scarrans offer no replies and John fears the worst. 
In a fantastic CGI sequence we watch as Jool and the entire temple along with a small part of the continent are destroyed in a massive blast. What happened to Bracas Carrier in orbit? Personally I never liked Jool in the Series, but was quite shocked at her death.
Moya attempts to Starburst finally and the Scarrans blow off her tail. The crew is forced to abandon Moya, knowing the Scarrans will hopefully leave her alone (but why?). Chiana and D’Argo board Lola and cloak hoping the Scarrans cannot detect them. The rest take a Transport Pod and arrive on-board the Scarran flagship, and Aeryn pulls the old-west trick of having to remove a dozen different weapons from various parts of her body. They instantly realize Rygel is carrying Aeryns baby and seperate him under threat of torture and death. By the by, it is Scorpius that facilitates the answer of who the traitor is. I still think it’s him even though the Emperor then tears out his heat prevention and coolent rods from the side of his head (literally).
Sikozu rushes to his aid and closes the wound. Scorpius still spilling and spitting blood screams to John to give them nothing. Back aboard Lola, Chiana uses those new eyes of hers to analyze the Flagship for vulnerabilities. A scene then ensues where Chiana and D’Argo uncomfortably but sweetly discuss hints at their future. D’Argo still wants to farm and make wine, and although Chiana smiles, she doesn’t seem to have warmed too much to the idea from the last time she heard it.
John is probed by the Emperor who finds that John has developed immunity to which he strangly responds “I always speak the truth” He even seems surprised himself that he said it, which means it could’ve been Harvey, or perhaps even Katoyas Training. Crichton informs Starleek that he can ride the wormholes but does not know how to use them as weapons. To prove it, he offers to take the Emperor on a trip to meet Einstein back in Frosty’s Funhouse (Also aka Kansas: In the Winter)
Instead we find a strangly familiar scene as John and Arch-Enemy are waiting for a Wormhole. Harvey advises they simply blow up and take the Emperor with them. (Why is it Harvey always tries to smoke cigs?) The Eidolon reveals to Aeryn she is indeed Human, and his race removed part of Humanity from Earth back 27,000 years ago and forcefully evolved them into what they now call “Sabacean”. The Eidolons made the Sabaceans their “Peacekeepers” because no other race had ever met Humans. After the Eidolons were destroyed and/or disapeared the Peacekeepers had no one to guide them and thus fell into their current pattern of Peace through Force. (Cool! Finally my questions were answered!)
Just when we thought the series couldn’t get any darker, 
War Minister Ahkna orders an aide to cause Rygel to die of natural causes, taking Aeryn and Johns baby with him. We’re left with a cliffhanger as the woman brings a small glass close to Rygels face then the scene ends with the War Minister proving her point to Aeryn by destroying the cloaked Lola along with D’Argo and Chiana. What is going on folks? All our heroes can’t die like this, can they? And naturally we have a commercial at the end of which we will find out it was all an illusion, or a dream, or something, 
right?!?
Finally the wormhole arrives and Crichton and the Emperor speed down the Rabbit Hole to the Ancients Backyard. Einstein is dark and menacing as usual, and Scarrans don’t learn quick. Einstein toys around with the Scarran Emperor a bit, before freezing him entirely and informing John that perhaps the time has come to remove the knowledge altogether. 
“This is your Universe. This is your Universe, on wormholes!”-Crichton crushing a snowball
Surpisingly though the Emperor seems to have matured a bit. But meanwhile Sikozu is trying to convince the rest to attempt escape when John returns.
Sikozu influences the crew. Or perhaps I just needed an excuse for yet another picture!
Through part 1,
As we return to Rygel she is about to inject him with death, but the Emperor stops the nurse and kills her, saving our buddy Rygel! one down, two to go! And then we see a touching scene familiar as the one from the end of Season 1, except instead of John holding D’Argo, it’s D’Argo holding Chiana, and breathing his final breaths of life into her to keep her alive. Honestly folks, this was a touching scene with some great music. Though if we started pulling at that whole “Vacuum” thread, we’d unravel the entire sweater, so lets move on!The Jedi Master Eidolon has been learning about Scarrans and finally he knows enough to influence..erm, well I guess manipulate them! He uses the Eidolon Jedi Mind trick which involves a blue glow. Yes, a blue glow, no nothing else. This causes Emperor Starleak to become a docile puppy who will grant peace and co-existance for just a few extra mining colonies and only if John will stand by his sign as he signs it as a sign of his now slight, superiority. I swear some of the cast rolled their eyes too as the Emperor put his arm around Crichton.
Back on the Command Carrier Grayza finally whacks the PK leader because she wants to assasinate the Scarran leader and launch a full assault against the Scarrans, while he wants to negotiate.
Finally, D’Argo and Chiana are saved, by none other than Jothee!! Jothee now looks almost like a full blooded Luxan, and he’s large and in-charge, with a ship far superior even to Lola, and far better cloaking technology. 
Fortunately War Minister Ack!-no! blasts the Eidolon right in the face, and that ends that pretty much. The Emperor orders them all killed. The crew forces Stark to take the Jedi Masters thoughts as he dies thus providing the important plot point in Part 2! Just as Rygel is about to pop, we are left with the gas being pumped into the prison cell and Aeryn tells John: “You ruined my life.” once again though this time with a smile. The sceen shifts back to the dying Crichton aboard Moya as he watches a vision of a Wormhole weapon destroying a Dreadnought (Once again I’d swear this the other John, and that memory is from Season 3) But this cliffhanger is nothign compared to the roller-coaster ride through the first 90 minutes! I have to admit it started a lot better than it finished, and became a bit too predictable in the end. But Farscape is back in a big way.
I loved this first part of the miniseries however and I personally rate it a piping hot 31,999 out of 10, however I added an extra point for Sikozu making it an even 32,000. What did you think?
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This Farscape epsiode review is ©2004 LexxLurker.
and not for reproduction without the authors express permission
The FARSCAPE names, characters and everything else associated with the series are the property of The Jim Henson Company, Hallmark Entertainment, Nine Network, and in association with The Sci-Fi Channel and the BBC.