One bad and two good things for the discerning fan

[selenak]

Okay, firstly, I'm somewhat ticked off at FFN. My last DS9 story Two of Us was there for about an entirely peaceful day and got four nice reviews, and now suddenly has disappeared. Considering it's harmless gen, not second person, in format etc. I really have no idea why. Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just me?

Secondly, persistence paid off. I finally managed to cajole the net to let me watch the last thirty minutes of part II of The Peacekeeper Wars.



Let's get the nitpicks out of the way first so I can indulge in more squeeing. My number one nitpick is still Sikozu. She is, after all, smart. Why would she believe the Scarrans would ever consider to free the Khalish? There is no precedent for them doing something like this, and certainly not for the actions of one spy. Sorry, even leaving the huge continuity problems with Sikozu's either bioloid or resistance or both background aside, this just doesn't wash. I can only hope this was what Ralee Hill was referring to when saying she hopes a scene between Sikozu and Scorpius won't get cut because without it, Sikozu's actions in the two-parter would be inexplainable, and that said scene will be on the DVD.

Okay, now on to the goodness: you know, I guessed D'Argo was toast. Couldn't be Chiana because D'Argo was the one who got all the little character scenes, from the ones with Aeryn to the ones with Jothee to the ones with John, AND Chiana agreed to go with him to Hyneria. That settled it. But it didn't make his grand finale any less moving.

"Three is not such a bad number." You have a variety of triads through both parts. John, Aeryn and the baby, obviously. Also John, Aeryn and Rygel, who carried them back to life and then carried their child. An old triad, Chiana, D'Argo and Jothee, which is finally absolved when Chiana gives Jothee D'Argo's sword. You have Aeryn, John and Scorpius - the camera very deliberately frames John between Aeryn and Scorpius when he starts to engineer the wormhole. You have, in the end, Scorpius between Grayza and Staleek, and isn't that an enigmatic scene. They symbolize the two sides of his heritage, Peacekeeper and Scarrans. Children in this miniseries: John's and Aeryn's child, Grayza and her child with unknown parentage, Harvey, the child of John and Scorpius, dying for the last time when the wormhole knowledge is erased from John's brain, and Scorpius, who is the child of Scarrans and Peacekeepers, of war and hate. In his last appearance, is he irritated that his driving force is gone (for the moment) or actually pleased that his two halves have come together in an uneasy truce, meaning there will be no genocide of either side? Impossible to tell.

What I was missing was an The Day the Earth Stood Still reference, because John was obviously playing Klaatu here, complete with symbolic death and ressurection, and geek that he is, I think he would know this movie.

You can tell this was truly meant to be a finale (as opposed to all the other Farscape cliffhanger endings): John, who by the end of season 4 had a body count behind him that wasn't just hundreds but thousands, is finally able to save not just the lives of his personal circle but hundreds and thousands of lives as well, with the good, hard look at Armageddon he provides. He's more at peace than he ever was in any ending since Family Ties. So is Aeryn. And along with everyone in the universe, I'm ever so relieved to see Aeryn back as a strong personality and free from all pod appearances. She rocked!

They all stand at the beginning of a new journey, not just John and Aeryn: Chiana and Rygel, Scorpius, and Stark. Stark's last scene, leaving the mask behind, mirrors and yet couldn't be more different from him leaving the mask behind for John after The Choice. Back then, the only one at peace had been dead TalynJohn. Stark was in torment, and so was MoyaJohn, especially after hearing the message. Now Stark has guided his last soul across, it seems. No more torment by being between two sides. I'm awed.

The final scene was shamelessly shmaltzy, but given how the minseries got there, I find myself not objecting. (As opposed to the John-proposes-to-Aeryn scene from Bad Timing. Good luck to John and Aeryn and little D. Although, you know, they could have named him after Rygel as well for good measure, so I'll pretend D doesn't stand just for D'Argo but for Dominar.*g*

Random thoughts: The John/Scorpius is alive and well, what with "the thing a man does when he's in love" and "say pretty please". *g*

Braca: not the beardy type. Otoh, he must rejoice now the competition is out of the way.

Can't think of a purpose for the scene with Grunshlik and Sikozu other than to hint they might have gotten of the planet before it exploded, which I would like to believe. Am still irritated at my poor Sikozu having fallen to plot-over-character.

This being said, Scorpius' "You destroyed something unique" is, for him, an intriguing admittance that he cared. Natira didn't get that much.

So, will John, Aeryn & kid go to Hyneria with Chiana and Rygel? And will Rygel even be welcome there now that the Scarran threat is gone? I know the script had a scene indicating cousin Bishan got killed after his first conversation with Rygel, but canon is only what's on camera.

Lastly, penknife finished her 1602 story. Ah, Elizabethan superheroes, how do I love you, let me count the ways. It's here.

Comments

[bimo.livejournal.com]

Good thing you finally managed to watch the last 30 minutes of The Peacekeeper Wars. Having enjoyed a full and thankfully running version of the two-parter the day before yesterday, I was already looking forward to reading your comments *g*

Word to Sikozu's strange "out of character-ness". While I felt that the other characters have been picked up more or less where the writers had left them in Bad Timing, this incarnation of Sikozu seemed rather different from the haughty, intelligent, independent and quite snarkful Kalish I had come to appreciate and love.

Now back off to mourn Harvey. I knew was a goner for dramaturgical reasons, since any kind of survival on his part would have spoiled John's final redemption (and also the beautiful and carefully inserted parallels to the death and redemption of TalynJohn in season 3), but I'll really miss him.

The short scene with Harvey as Einstein was absolutely priceless.

[bimo.livejournal.com]

Oh, and out of curiosity I just went to FFN to check on Two of US. Right now, the story seems to be back where it belongs :-)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Alas, poor Harvey, yes. It was inevitable in any filmic product that was meant to be a final word on the show, though, for the reasons you name. And his demise was carried off in suitable surreal and geekish style with the 2001 thing.

Whereas there was no reason for the Sikozu character assassination other than "we need a surprise here!".

Still, I loved the rest so much that I'm still feeling mellow...

[mylexie.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to say I loved Two of Us. I read it a few days ago but I'm so busy that I haven't given you feedback yet, so, here goes.

I really like your view of Quark (and would love it if you could write something about his relationship with Odo sometime). Normally, I'd find the idea of him and Jadzia in a romantic relationship just a bit ridiculous, but it made me feel that it might just work in some way. Perhaps because it didn't happen.

You know, I wish the story had bene longer. More details. You wouldn't happen to feel like writing 7 years worth of Quark&Dax - Quark/Dax, would you? *grins*

More DS9 fic!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Thank you! You know, I did write Quark 'n Odo (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2011538/1/); it's a crossover, but you don't have know Farscape to understand it, as all the info about the one FS character who shows up is in the story itself. And Quark's Day (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1862238/1/) has his relationship with Odo and his relationship with Dax as red threads throughout the tale.

As for whether Quark/Dax would have worked: who knows. It's as likely or unlikely as Rom/Leeta. In any case, I loved their friendship on the show, and did feel for Quark as by season 6 it was pretty clear it was more to him...

[mylexie.livejournal.com]

I've read Quark's Day, but I must have missed the crossover. I'll read that soon! :)

I just love Rom/Leeta, because they're both so sweet.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

My new drabbles apparently disappeared briefly from ff.net, but are back up now.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

My story is now back as well. Huh, to quote Malcolm Reynolds.

[illmantrim.livejournal.com]

grins

Never say never. The ratings here in the US were astronomical. Unless brian henson outright says no, I believe there will be at least a tv movie if not another mini-series, at some point, though it may take another two years to get that...

many of the stars have indicated they would be willing to return...

And now that you have seen the end i can just say.. we never saw D'Argo's body, nor his actual death... not the actual deaths or bodies of the Eidolons... so with Farscape's luck, impossibility may create reality and we may see new adventures some day soon...

Some adventures were never meant to end...

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

Unless he was pulling our legs, Anthony Simcoe either posted to the SciFi Board or had an interview, and confirmed that he will not be returning in any future Farscape incarnations, because he didn't want to undercut the power of D'Argo's death. He said something to the effect that "future Farscape adventures will go on without me," but that what a way to go out for his character!

[illmantrim.livejournal.com]

whatever works...
I have noted though that even the most moral of characters cave at the mention of enough money... but it was indeed, as Mr. Worf might have said, A good day to die.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

I had a discussion about Sikozu with someone else, actually. My take isn't that Sikozu necessarily believed they would free her people, but that she'd given up hope of anything but defeat coming from fighting them - and for a gigantic part of the mini, that was the realization everyone was coming to, that the Scarrans were going to be the winning side, because they had the military power and were pretty ruthless to the losers. I think her character arc was paralleling Crichton's - she ran out of options, and made some terrible ethical compromises to protect the people she cared about, at a high personal price. Like Crichton, she was backed into doing the single thing she'd wanted to avoid. She could be read as a dark mirror of Crichton; the spectre of failure, and its costs, that haunts the road Crichton's walking.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Hm, that's intriguing, and so far the explanation that makes the most sense to me.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

I think so... all she said was, I believe, "They said they would free my people", not that she thought they were going to, not what had driven her to accept - she really didn't have time to explain why she did what she did. She did seem quite desparate, and desparation seems to be the only thing that'd drive her to quite that extent of betrayal.

I've forgotten the exact wording of the scene. But it could, of course, be that the missing scene gives some skewed context. It could be that, in context, "going to free my people" means they were going to kill them all if she didn't. (As per Blake's 7's throwing a trapped interrogator a gun, and when he complains that he was promised a way out, telling him that's more of a way out than he ever gave his victims.)

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

This explanation makes sense to me too. I just finished watching the whole miniseries about 15 minutes ago, so I'm still a little overwhelmed by it. I had forgotten some of the complexities of the characters and the plot of the whole series, since it's been a couple of years since I've watched it. That said, I loved this ending to one of the best shows I have had the pleasure of watching. I loved the ending, full of hope and promise, after all the darkness they have had to pass through. I'm still sniffling over D'Argo..

On Sikozu's betrayal

[sizequeen.livejournal.com]

Wasn't there some kind of indication is season four that Sikozu was a traitor? I remember there was some AU ep in which Sikozu kills John? Or something like that? Maybe that's the first hint about Sikozu's possible disloyalty.

Re: On Sikozu's betrayal

[selenak.livejournal.com]

It's not Sikozu double-crossing our gang (and/or Scorpius) that I object to. It's the reasoning given for her betrayal. Because there is no way the intelligent woman I saw in season 4 would ever believe the Scarrans would set her people free as a thank you.

(There is also the fact she risked life and limb repeatedly for Scorpius, i.e. would presumably need a powerful reason to sell him out. The others on Moya? Well, frankly, given that Crichton on one occasion nearly went psycho on her and shot her just because she couldn't produce Aeryn's whereabouts out of thin air, and that she never hit it off with the rest of the gang, I would have no problem with her leaving them behind, which she already did when going with Scorpius in Bad Timing.)

However, redstarrobot provided an explanation for Sikozu's behaviour which actually makes sense, see her reply above.

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

Can't think of a purpose for the scene with Grunshlik and Sikozu other than to hint they might have gotten of the planet before it exploded, which I would like to believe. Am still irritated at my poor Sikozu having fallen to plot-over-character.

I think there's definitely more to it than we got to see on-screen, since she was in character for the rest of the miniseries, particularly in the scene where she does not understand how Aeryn can consider herself not Crichton's superior but his equal. Scorpius' enigmatic line about allowing her to complete her last mission for the Scarrans and her scene with Grunchlik also indicates to me that this might be picked up in a continuation, which is looking more and more likely with the phenomenal ratings it got.

So, will John, Aeryn & kid go to Hyneria with Chiana and Rygel? And will Rygel even be welcome there now that the Scarran threat is gone? I know the script had a scene indicating cousin Bishan got killed after his first conversation with Rygel, but canon is only what's on camera.

Since the main Crichton story has been resolved, I think the best threads a sequel could pursue is either the troubles that occur when they try to get to Hyneria, or the Nebari resistance (my only real miniseries complaint was not enough Chiana, and that her cool new eye power wasn't even utilized in the second episode). Or if I'm not being too greedy...both!

re: the Eidolons, when we were talking about them earlier, I didn't bring this aspect up, since you hadn't seen the end yet, but now that you have, I was glad that they didn't cause the peace, but facilitated and sanctified the talks, if you will, after the decision had already been made. I never considered them a deus ex machina, since we had been aware of them being a part of Farscape past history for over a season of story and almost three years of our time, and in the miniseries the history was brilliantly interwoven with PK and human history. But I am glad that the impetus for peace happened first, and then they were there to help the process rather than the other way around, so that the peace wouldn't be reliant on their influence to survive.

I adored the final scene. It just felt emotionally so right after all that had happened, and although I could see it coming, when they named the baby D'Argo, I completely lost it (for the fifth or sixth time!). The last half hour or so was such an emotional rollercoaster ride, I barely kept it together at all! I think it would be right to say that whether Farscape continues or not, the story of the series is now complete. The miniseries was not a sequel, but a conclusion. I even noticed parallels with the first episode and the final. How John fixes the DRD, and when he bandages it, treats it very paternally, and then tells it to go play, paralleled with he and Aeryn telling their child that the whole galaxy will be his playground. From the first to the last, this a complete story now. The future projects will be the sequels. And with the PK/Scarran thing resolved, the wormhole thing resolved, Harvey resolved, John and Stark's mental states resolved, etc. etc, I think it's time for the slug and the gray girl to get their stories told! Speaking of which, how touching was it that Rygel wanted to hold and protect the baby?

[selenak.livejournal.com]

re: the Eidolons, when we were talking about them earlier, I didn't bring this aspect up, since you hadn't seen the end yet, but now that you have, I was glad that they didn't cause the peace, but facilitated and sanctified the talks, if you will, after the decision had already been made.

I was very happy with the way the Eidolons were handled as well. If they had just sent out a giant "be peaceful" wave to everyone, it would have felt as a cop-out, but the Eidolons as contributors, negotiators and, well, the intergalactic UN, worked very well indeed, and as mentioned earlier their history and the Sebacean/Human history tied all the hints given earlier in the show to a beautiful wrap.

I think it's time for the slug and the gray girl to get their stories told! Speaking of which, how touching was it that Rygel wanted to hold and protect the baby?

Very. And "I don't care what you say, he's got my nose". Awwwww. Amen to more Chiana and Rygel stories! If they do make another movie, I'm all for a Nebari and/or Hynerian special.

[hobsonphile.livejournal.com]

Congrats for making the net cough up the rest! *g* Now you can read all the spoilery posts I've written the past week, most of which focus on the Stark side of things, admittedly. astrogirl2 and redstarrobot are bad influences on me. *g*

soulonds9 (yes, I made him watch) and I were discussing the miniseries last night, and I think his most interesting observation was this: For once, the two lowest ranked Moyans- Stark and Rygel- had to be noticed and protected at all costs because they were carriers of something central to the plot. *g* Go Rygel and Stark! *g*

Did you notice how Stark shrieked when Rygel got hit? It tempted me again to declare Rygel/Stark my OTP. *eg* theirloveconquerstheclasswar!

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, Rygel/Stark were adorable together in season 3, but I have to remain with my original Farscape OTP. (See icon.) More kissing!*g*

And hey, I read yours and A.'s for the Stark observations, and kernezelda for the John and Scorpius side of things. (And the John/Scorpius side of things.*veg*). Now I'll have to look up kixxa for the Rygel side of things...

And yes, I'm so glad my favourite Hynerian and your favourite Banik (not mine - I like him, but I have this really soft spot for Sikozu!Stark, so he's my second favourite) got some dramatic attention.