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Show:		7.0
Picture:		7.0
Sound:		6.0
Extras:		7.0
Score:		7.0

Director(s):	Various
Writer(s):	Various (Anthology)
Starring:	Anthony Simcoe • Ben Browder • Claudia Black • Gigi Edgley • Johnathan Hardy • Lani Tupu • Paul Goddard • Virginia Hey • Wayne Pygram
Genre:	Sci-Fi • Television
Website:	http://www.henson.com/fantasy_scifi.php?content=farscape
Release Date:	November 17, 2009

List Price:	DVD - $57.99
Amazon:

 I’ve always been a huge fan of the Muppets, so the concept of Farscape intrigued me from the start. After all, this is Muppets in space way before Muppets From Space. What’s not to love about that? Luckily, I wasn’t disappointed.

The 26 disc set - released 10 years after the show began - follows John Crighton, an astronaut who accidentally enters a wormhole and finds himself in another galaxy far, far away. Of course, this isn’t just any galaxy. Nope, this galaxy happens to be one in which a huge war is being waged, and John (Ben Browder) finds himself right in the middle of it. While John is trying to figure out what the hell is going on, the ironically named Peacekeepers make things very hard for him and his newfound friends. Among these allies are the lovely Aeryn Sun, D’Argo, Rygel XVI (both a Muppet and former royal), Pilot and Zhaan, whom you might come to know as “the naked blue chick.”

The first two seasons of the show are fabulous. The plot is complicated enough to draw the viewer in, yet still pretty easy to follow. Most of the characters are pretty likeable, even if Zhaan is a little crazy. But once season 3 starts, the confusion commences. The plot gets so twisty and crazy that I got more lost that John Crighton in the wormhole. Suddenly dead people aren’t really dead after all, and that's the least crazy thing that happens. Pretty soon it begins to sap too much effort to keep up with, although the DVD set does makes it easier with all the episode commentaries.

One of the high points of the series is the characterization. Sometimes the villains will join Crighton and his crew about Moya, the living ship they inhabit, and the audience gets to see a whole other side to them. This is how Aeryn Sun’s journey begins, which brings us to another high point: her love/hate relationship with John. Although Aeryn Sun is one of the Peacekeepers and starts off as a prisoner, she defends John from Crais, whose brother was killed by John’s ship passing through the wormhole. Ok, so her defense is kind of mean, as she basically insists he is too stupid to have planned murder, but once she is a fugitive and has no choice but to stay with him, they seem to work things out. Now that’s love for you.

Effects for the set aren’t that great. The CGI is pretty low-budget for the most part and some of the Muppets look like they might be the homeless crowd kicked off of Sesame Street, but all in all, the show is pretty decent. Anyone who loves the Muppets, Brian Henson, or sci-fi in general should definitely pick it up.

Bonus Features

There are a ton of special features on this DVD set. Along with 31 audio commentaries, behind the scenes interviews and the original TV promos, there are also several deleted scenes and featurettes. Farscape Undressed was my favorite. Originally aired on TV before the third season, it explains a lot of what Farscape is all about, which is nice for those of us who got a little confused. Also, the three documentary pieces are pretty interesting, especially In the Beginning: A Look Back with Brian Henson. There’s quite a bit of bonus material (I think the case says 18 hours or more) so I would definitely suggest pacing yourself. Or you could always skip Listening In with Composer Guy Gross, because it’s totally lame unless you’re a tech nerd. The sound quality isn’t too great on some of the featurettes, but most of them are worth checking out.