Farscape Season 2, Vol. 2 2002 Horror Movie Review

The second season of Farscape expands upon and develops the characters introduced in the ambitious first season. John Crichton’s new nemesis is the deadly Scorpius, replacing Crais, who has taken the living ship Moya’s offspring on a voyage into the unknown. Moya’s regular crew—Aeryn, Zhaan, Chiana, D’Argo, and Rygel—remain as divided and suspicious of each other as ever, yet somehow manage to pull together at times of crisis. After revelations about Pilot’s introduction to Moya in “The Way We Weren’t,” the writers continue to exploit the show’s gift for surprising as well as emotionally convincing character development. In “Picture If You Will,” an old enemy returns with a truly bizarre and barely comprehensible scheme to imprison Moya’s crew inside a picture (shades of Dorian Gray, maybe?). “Home on the Remains” has a contrived plot that harks right back to classic Star Trek, with Crichton even quoting Jim Kirk (the highlight, though, is Zhaan’s transformation, which gives a whole new meaning to hay fever). “Dream a Little Dream” plays around with the crew’s perceptions of reality in a curious flashback episode set in between the first and second season, as Zhaan is put on trial for murder on a dystopian planet run by lawyers. —Mark Walker