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Summary: BEST SHOW ON SCI FI
Review: This is an incredible series. It has alot of things different from your standard Sci Fi fare. Try it you cant go wrong!SAVE FARSCAPE!
Rating: 
Summary: Farscape Season 2 DVDs Begin With a Disapointment
Review: Well, the Second Season of FARSCAPE has started out on dvd with the release of the double DVD from the folks at ADV Films. It contains two dvds with a couple of episodes on each, but overall the package is something of a disappointment. The first DVD holds the first two episodes of the 2nd Season of FARSCAPE, "Mind the Baby" and "Vitas Mortis." Well, technically, "Mind the Baby" is the second episode of the season because originally, the plan was to start the season off with an episode called "Re:Union," but it was felt that the fans needed to know what happened to Crichton, Aeryn, and D'Argo immediately after the end of the first season finale "Family Ties." "Mind the Baby" is the story that concerns the rescue of Crichton and D'Argo by Aeryn, the deal she has to strike with one-half of our villainous duo, Crais and Scorpius, and the search on the part of the other half of the duo for Moya and her offspring, Talyn. This is very much a character-driven episode in which the actions and motivations of much of the cast are explored in new ways, and where Crais may well surprise viewers with his actions, although he appears to be playing a dangerous game with Scorpius throughout. While Chiana, Zhaan, and Rygel have very little to do in this story, it is one that lays a lot of groundwork for the rest of the Season 2 material, and hints at several ominous aspects of the season. The second episode on this first DVD, "Vitas Mortis," brings Crichton, Zhaan and D'Argo to a planet in search of a Luxan who turns out be an ancient Orican, one of the Luxan holy women, whom D'Argo agrees to aid in her Ritual of Passage. When she instead invigorates herself and regains her youth, it is Moya who suffers, however. The story has some very good character development in it, and the relationship between Chiana and Aeryn becomes clearer. D'Argo shines in this story, and that is all too the good. The second DVD begins with "Taking the Stone," the tale of Chiana's joining a gang of drug-taking, risk-taking young men and women on a Royal Cemetary Planet, as a result of her trying to come to terms with her brother's (supposed) death after the life disc she has implanted in her stops working. Aeryn and Crichton go down to the planet where they try to retrieve her, while Rygel makes off with spoils from the planet's cemetary plots - as it turns out, haunted spoils. This is a somewhat weak episode in many ways, but certainly gives Gigi Edgley's Chiana a starring role and goes into her motivations and background a bit more without becoming too obvious. Another episode that is a lead-in to upcoming plots and material for Season 2, but still a weak episode. The DVD positively sparkles, however, with the fourth episode, "Crackers Don't Matter," in which the arrival of the alien T'raltixx on Moya puts the crew at odds with one another in very spectacular (and somewhat violent) fashion. It is an episode that has Crichton playing the knight in tarnished armour, and features some wonderful characterisation and over-the-top acting by various members of Moya's crew - including Pilot. Where this double DVD set fails to please is in the special features. First, the episodes on these DVDs are only about 45 minutes long, indicating no additional, unseen material in them, although there are two deleted scenes on each DVD. The first DVD has two scenes from "Mind the Baby" and nothing from "Vitas Mortis," while the second DVD has a scene each from "Taking the Stone" and "Crackers Don't Matter" (and this latter one is a marvellous scene that really should have been on the DVD version episode). I have no idea whether there were other deleted scenes that could have been added to this DVD set or not, but this material seems somewhat skimpy when all is said and done. There is only one commentary version on this double DVD, and that is Claudia Black and director Ian Watson on "Crackers Don't Matter." The commentary has little to do with the episode itself, but does reveal a lot about Claudia Black, acting, and some directorial wisdom. However, there should have been commentaries on this for each of the episodes to really make the DVD worthwhile. The rest of the special features - the John Crichton Backstory, Ben Browder Actor Profile, Alien Encounters, Farscape Alien Slang - are all *text* files that contain nothing that isn't elsewhere on the internet. I don't know how much input Henson had to this "content" but it is highly disappointing and seriously annoying on a double DVD that cost ...at regular prices! The Conceptual Artwork features are quite good, but when it comes down to it, this pair of DVDs cost far too much for the most part, especially in light of some of the special features on the British DVDs that seem to come out more frequently than the American ones. When all is said and done, the Season 2, Volume 1 FARSCAPE double DVD is worth the cost merely to have the four episodes on an excellent quality medium, but is still far pricier than other products of its sort. ADV Films is doing an injustice to the folks who love FARSCAPE and want the series on DVD, but there is no other means to get the episodes short of purchasing the UK DVDs (and a player to view them on) or to just tape them off the television. I have very mixed feelings about the quality of this DVD, but the commentary for "Crackers Don't Matter" makes up for this in some ways.
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