Your Reviews
You sent us your reviews of John Quixote, and here's our three top picks from those we received. Remember, if you've got something to say about a Farscape episode - send us your review.
See the Farscape fan reviewer Roll of Honour.
Will Jordan
We all know that Farscape tends towards the uncomfortable side of weird, but John Quixote really takes the biscuit. Crichton and Chiana are sucked into a fantasy computer game with apparently no means of escape.
There are all sorts of surreal images created in this strange mish-mash of a story; Aeryn dressed as a damsel in distress in a great comedy turn by Claudia Black, Rygel using his flatulence as a flame thrower, Crais as an ogre. Most of the cast (old and new) are there in various strange guises and everyone seems to be having a good time.
Many of the generic twists of the genre are replicated here, such as the old "Are we really out of the game?" question. But it's still orchestrated in such a way as to be surprising, if only mildly.
This is obviously intended to be a light hearted episode, and in that respect it succeeds quite well. The cast hams it up admirably, and it's nice to see old hands like Stark and Zhaan back again, even if only as guests.
Although the idea of seeing familiar dramatic actors in comic roles is appealing at first, the joke tends to wear thin after a while. The actual computer game world is too cartoonish to be interesting, whereas a more conventional approach might have served better.
But it does have quite a satisfying ending, and it's worth slogging through the distinctly off-beat humour to see Crichton’s emotional completion of the game.
Graham
So, after last season’s tribute to Chuck Jones, we get ‘Super Mario Farscape’, Ben Browder’s take on the video game industry, - a sort of Matrix with laughs. The programme was certainly confusing, with numerous tricks and turns.
However, it isn’t really acceptable to grab as many pop culture references as you can think of, stuff them into 45 minutes and then call it a programme. I spent more time trying to work out where the bits had all come from, rather than enjoying the show.
Were there any positives? Well, as usual the principal actors threw themselves into it all with skill and gusto, and seeing Claudia Black as a simpering southern Belle was a surprising pleasure.
I think you could say that the programme was uncomfortably self-indulgent, and if it had followed on from the dreadful opening three episodes it would have been all over for me. Except, of course, for that last haunting line, "I heard I was a princess". It summed up perfectly how John and Aeryn’s relationship has soured - alas our beautiful Peacekeeper is no longer John’s Princess.
Stephen Brennan
Farscape always goes one step further. It likes to be innovative and stretch the minds of its audience. John Quixote is no exception.
From the moment Crichton and Chiana were plunged into the game, the episode began to gather momentum in the crazy world of 'Mario-Moya'. The cast seemed to relish the chance to play new versions of their characters.
This episode was in many ways similar to last season's 'Revenging Angel' and 'Scratch and Sniff' due to its 'alternate world in my head' plot and unusual camera angles - which at times were too unusual for their own good.
It was good to see the return of previously departed characters and even better to see less of their irksome replacements, although the ending did leave me wondering how anyone who didn’t know Stark has any chance of winning.
Overall an incredibly satisfying episode which tips its hat not only to The Brothers Grimm and Douglas Adams for leading the way in sci-fi and fantasy, but also to the merchandising companies who follow on the trail of all successful programmes.
