Well, I liked it and thought it worth watching, although I would agree on some of the annoyances. Admittedly, I think anything scifi is generally worth watching (something I often hide from other people as this is considered very weird if you are a woman). And no, I don’t really think it gets that much better.

Farscape!!!!! First of all, you’re very welcome to borrow; I do have all of this one on DVD. Second, this is a really fantastic primer/skip-it-or-watch-it guide: http://liztellsfrank.com/2012/04/03/farscape-the-complete-skip-itwatch-it-guide/ (‘ware some foul language in the guide).

Disclaimers to Farscape: the first season is very iffy, especially the first 2/3. And there continue to be some lousy eps throughout (mostly with the exception of season 3, which is probably the most exceptional arc of television I’ve ever seen–though some of the wow factor works best in retrospect), because Farscape lives by the motto “go big or go home.” So sometimes it fails spectacularly, but when everything goes right, it’s phenomenal. It’s also very quirky in some respects. Some of this is the Henson Co., and some of it is Australia (with the exception of the actor playing the protagonist and some of the writers/producers, the whole cast and crew is Australian, which brings a really unique–at least to a North American perspective–slant on a lot of the visuals and the humor). But it’s the kind of show that has more than one episode in which vomit is a plot point, and quite a lot of the show feels a bit like an acid trip. Very much The Odyssey meets Alice in Wonderland in space. And if that sounds more off-putting than intriguing, then this will never be your show.

But if you’re intrigued, then I’ll continue my plug. It is, fundamentally, a space opera retelling of The Odyssey (with some twists): it’s all about journeys and home and family and love, and somehow it manages to be really sincere about these giant and potentially tired themes without being melodramatic or trite. It earns the emotion, and there’s no reset button: everything has a cost. It also knows not to take itself too seriously (one big failing of BSG, in my book, is its inability to laugh at itself), but it knows that the ability to laugh at itself is also serious business. It takes the all-American hero and puts him in a situation where none of that means anything, which is a really fascinating study in taking a normally privileged character and trying pretty deliberately to take that privilege away (though admittedly it’s not always as successful with this as it could be). And Aeryn!!! Oh, I’d need another comment for how much I love Aeryn Sun, who flies better than Starbuck, has no need for the bluster of Starbuck, and has one of the most amazing emotional arcs in television (especially through season 3; season 4 gets a bit iffy again, especially if Aeryn is your main pov character, as she is mine–but it’s still worth watching, for sure). And I defy anyone not to cry over the puppets. (I, incidentally, do not tend to be very weepy over my entertainment, but Farscape regularly reduces me to all-out sobs. It’s a very emotionally-oriented show, as opposed to, say, an intellectually-oriented one. That’s not to say that it isn’t smart, because it is, but rather than trot out all the complexities of life, it aims at many of those deepest-held human values and explores them with a great deal of gusto. Of the other shows in my repertoire, it perhaps reminds me most of Babylon 5, in terms of scope and narrative values, though I think B5 does plot better and Farscape does character better. And has more bodily fluids of all sorts.)