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Farscape Season 1, Vol. 10 - Nerve/The Hidden Memory

Farscape Season 1, Vol. 10 - Nerve/The Hidden Memory

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $17.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Big Bang for your Buck
Review: It's really nice to be able to stay up-to-date with our favorite television shows as they are now while still being able to look back from time to time. Right now, as FARSCAPE enters its fourth season, I still enjoy going back and watching the old DVDs. Each one has something excellent to offer; volume 10 has a LOT of excellent stuff to offer.

The Sci-Fi channel's FARSCAPE series distinguished itself by taking a solid (if rather common) concept of an astronaut from the present thrown across the universe into a strange galaxy inhabited by even stranger lifeforms and drenching the entire series with character, creativity, and charm. Episodes "Nerve" and "The Hidden Memory" help to not only continue this tradition but mark a major turning point in the series for characters and plot-lines.

For those who haven't yet seen the previous episodes, the basic story is this: meet John Crichton. John has been having a bunch of pretty bad days since his flight of the NASA spacecraft Farscape 1 where he was sucked through a wormhole into an interstellar battle halfway across the universe. After a few unfortunate mishaps (whoops, didn't mean to crash into that ship and send it spiralling into that asteroid - no, siree), Crichton finds himself the target of the Peacekeepers (a collection of tyrants, closely physically resembling humans, seeking to extend their control over the galaxy) and one Peacekeeper Captain Crais, seeking vengeance for Crichton's accidental killing of his brother (the pilot whose ship spiralled into the asteroid). He takes up ship with a group of escaped convicts: the Worf-esque Luxan warrior D'Argo, the Delvian (and very blue - literally) anarchist priest Zhaan, the deposed Hynerian ruler Rygel, and the outcast Peacekeeper Aeryn.

Flash forward to this episode. After an unfortunate incident in the previous episode during which Aeryn received a Peacekeeper knife to the ribs, Crichton notices a sharp downturn in her condition - namely, her vomiting blood and coming very close to death. The only way to save her is to infiltrate a hidden Peacekeeper base and bring back a tissue sample. After arriving, Crichton finds himself involved with former love intrest Gilina (from episode 7, "PK Tech Girl") and the utterly evil Scorpius, the leader of the base. Of course, Crichton soon finds himself in a lot of trouble, thus establishing Scorpius as the new supreme villain of FARSCAPE.

The story works out superbly, thanks in part to the signature directing of FARSCAPE (unorthodox, but very effective) and the superb acting that the cast is able to pull off, once again. Ben Browder (as Crichton) adds his usual genius and personality to the role, proving once again that the Emmys far too often overlook certain actors; Wayne Pygram, playing the role of the seclusive and almost frightening Scorpius, does a fine job playing a character that many others would downright fail at. Lani Tupu later enters as Crais, managing to put in even more hatred that usual and making his role even more convincing than it usually is. All of this is held together by great writing: Crais is hate-crazed, Scorpius is the ultimate thinking villain, and Crichton has all the usual one-liners and wisecracks. What more could you want?

The price of the DVD may seem a bit high to some for only two episodes, but these ones are definitely worth your time. If you enjoy science fiction at all, you owe it to yourself to take a look at this one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Danger Will Robinson. Beware The Chair!
Review: Poor John Crichton. Up to now he's had to evade a crazed Peace Keeper Captain hellbent on revenge. What could happen next? How about a cold calculating alien villian trying to torture Crichton into divulging the secrets of how to make a wormhole.

A two part episode that introduces Scorpius, John Crichton's new antagonist, and Stark- a banek slave. Two of the best episodes of the first season. They set into motion much of the storyline for the 2nd season. The first ep starts with Aeryn dying from a wound she sustained in A BUG'S LIFE. John is forced to go down to a PK gammek base and try to procure the treatment to heal her. He's joined in this dangerous mission by the seductive Chiana. They run into a past aquaintance in a PK tech named Gilina. She obtains the needed cure for Officer Sun, but John is discovered shortly after. The 2nd part deals with the base's commander, Scorpius, suspecting that Crichton is a spy puts him in the "chair". The chair is a memory extraction device that rips the memories from your head and shows them on a viewer. In the interrogation, Scorpy discovers Crichton too is involved with wormholes.

The combination of the calm malevolence of Scorpius and the crazed almost manic cellmate of Crichton's, Stark, create a wonderful contrast of characters. A must have for the Scaper fans out there.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: farscape # 10 nerve/the hidden memory
Review: the actual show is good but if you try using it in your dvd player it may not read it because it contains computer information which confuses the dvd player causeing it to malfuntion i was told the is called a dual layering but it works good on you computer

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A personal mission, an old flame, and a new enemy!
Review: This is the first two part episode of Farscape, and it is one packed with Farscape drama and action at its best. The show opens not long after the events of the previous episode, "A Bug's Life". It turns out that Aeryn Sun's injury is worse than first expected, and without a vital nerve transplant, she will die in a matter of days. To save her, John Crichton seeks a transplant at the only available source within reach-a Peacekeeper base. Impersonating a Peacekeeper, and with some distraction provided by Chiana, Crichton infiltrates the base to get the transplant. While there, he meets an old friend who gives him a hand in getting what he needs. But Crichton is discovered by the Peacekeepers, and comes face to face with a new enemy far more dangerous than any before encountered by Crichton and crew--Scorpius. Now, Crichton's comrades must struggle to save Aeryn from death, and Crichton from the hands of Scorpius.

All of this unfolds in a two part adventure with plenty of action, suspense, drama, and twists to keep you on the edge of your seat. With this two part adventure, Farscape's excellence reaches a new level.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The alien women in Crichton's life all gang up on him
Review: Volume 10 of Season 1 of "Farscape" is basically a two-part story necessitated by the fact that pretty much every woman in the life of John Crichton (Ben Browder) is complicating his life to maximum. In "Nerve" the chain reaction starts with the news that the wound Aeryn (Claudia Black) suffered earlier is going to prove fatal. In a desperate effort to say her life, Crichton infiltrates a secret Peacekeeper Gammak Base, taking along Chiana (Gigi Edgley), which seemed like a good idea at time. On the base Crichton runs into an old friend, Gilina Renaez (Alyssa-Jane Cook), who clearly wants to do a lot more than just help our hero with his mission. He might be able to survive all this if it were not for his encounter with Scorpius (Wayne Pygram), a Scarren-Sebacean hybrid who is basically the Peacekeeper version of Joseph Mengele. Scorpius likes to put people in his Aurora Chair and have a nice time ripping memories from their minds and he has gotten the idea that Crichton knows something interesting.

"The Hidden Memory" continues the story as Crichton's crewmates now have to figure out a way to rescue him without them all falling into Peacekeeper hands. Of course, this is when Moya's child decides that now would be a good time to be born. With Chiana and Rygel (Jonathan Hardy) remaining aboard to keep an eye on the birth of the new leviathan, Aeryn, D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe), and Zhaan (Virginia Hey) storm the Peacekeeper base. However, as if the threat of Scorpius was not enough, it turns out that Captain Crais (Lani John Tupu) has arrived to bring Crichton to justice. The contrast between Scorpius and Crais is interesting, with the former offering a coolness to counter the hot headed behavior of the latter. However, Crichton, who has a most interesting cellmate, might be more in danger from Gilina, who wants to know whether or not Aeryn is competition for the Earthman's affection. Meanwhile, Moya is about to give birth to a surprisingly strange offspring.

Clearly these two episodes up the ante for the "Farscape" crew as we get to the end of Season 1. The birth of Moya's child is the dominating event of this period but clearly significant things are being set up for the future with regards to Scorpius. The two memorable confrontations here are between Crais and Aeryn as well as between Crichton and Gilina. At this point in Season 1 "Farscape" was getting into a bit of a rut, where one of more of Moya's crewmembers would get themselves in a fix and Crichton would save the day. It was certainly nice to see the situation reversed for once and you also get the sense that the show is starting to develop some significant story arcs. Taken together, "Nerve" and "The Hidden Memory" can be seen as the point where the story starts getting a lot more series as some substantial elements are put into place.


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