Your Reviews
Here's the top reviews we picked for Terra Firma.
See the Farscape fan reviewer Roll of Honour.
Graham
Several sci-fi series have looked at first contact situations, but none have done it as well as this. In a really taut 45 minutes the episode dealt with so many different subjects that I lost count, but without losing track. And with Chiana at the photo-op trying to seduce a senator, Noranti’s Christmas carols, and Rygel’s sampling of the delicacies of Earth, it had something for everyone.
All the cast put in superb performances, but once again Claudia Black was stunning. Her wavering uncertainty, her being human without being human, were both handled superbly. There was a classic Aeryn moment, where, with tears pouring down her face, she blazes away with her pulse pistol at an invisible alien. Beautiful, vulnerable and tough, she is convincing in all ways.
The episode also took liberties with its target audience - the good old US of A. Presenting the "9/11" excuse so starkly, and so showing an unpleasant side of American thought ("We’re the only nation on earth that is trustworthy"), it seriously risked alienating its viewers Stateside.
Maybe it wasn’t those poor episodes that dumped the ratings. Maybe Farscape just got too uncomfortable for some people.
Nik Kraakenes
This episode was actually quite startling for a sci-fi show, especially a spaceship series. Genre shows rarely mess with the real world; even shows set there like Buffy and X Files only really reflect their own internal logic.
But here Farscape takes us out of the usual fare and thrusts us into to a post-September 11 world. After playing the main "strangers in a strange land" laughs last week, this episode was far moodier, and threatening.
There was a palpable sense of dread that Grayza's assassin would really kill someone - someone with a name. Even then it was quite a shock when DK and his wife were murdered. On top of this was the edginess of Crichton as he dealt with being a stranger at home.
The weakest part of the show was also its most amusing. Grayza's method of communication with her agent was very simplistic, but the fact that Braca is unknowingly engaged in a rather sticky menage-a-trois with her and Scorpius left me chuckling for a long time. It seems the rather slow build up this series has now paid off and Crichton is about to embark on a new phase of his career.
Lars Arndts
Terra Firma is a solid episode. I enjoyed it very much. It was an entertaining actioneer that built up to an exciting finale. But it wasn’t the epic tearjerker I always envisioned this episode to be.
"How so?" you say. Well, John’s return to Earth is probably the single most important event that could’ve happened on the show. It is the turning point of the series, the moment supreme we’ve waited for years to see. That’s why I always though that John wouldn’t return to Earth until the finale, or at least the final season. It would be a fitting conclusion to John’s arc and the show itself.
Instead we get a mundane, by-the-numbers Farscape episode that slightly trivialized Crichton’s return. It wasn’t a bad episode by any means, but it lacked drama.
Everything was slightly off, or rather reserved. Crichton doesn’t get a grand welcome. People’s reaction at the sight of the aliens John brought with him is limited to one "My God". Instead of being quarantined, John and his friends are allowed to wander about on Earth. John’s module and D’Argo ship aren’t impounded for further study. And in the end John is allowed to leave and go back through the wormhole with Moya.
What I missed in this episode was a sense of realism. Of the world’s reaction to this wondrous event. Sadly, none of this was addressed.
Instead of all this, Farscape does what it does best - delivers an exciting actioneer that ends with an impressive fight sequence. As impressive as those scenes were, they felt out of place.
I liked Terra Firma for what it was. A run-of-the-mill, alien critter shoot ‘em. But that wasn’t really what this episode should’ve been about.
