Farscape was one of the most creative, imaginative and
enjoyable SF series ever to air on the Sci-Fi Channel. Detailing the adventures
of astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder), who is testing a new spaceship
prototype in the orbit of Earth when he gets sucked into a wormhole and winds up
isolated on the far edge of the galaxy. Running for four seasons, Farscape was
produced by the late Jim Henson’s company--a.k.a. the Muppet guys--under the
guiding hand of his son Brian. It was a unique blend of science fiction, drama
and comedy, with Crichton making often hysterically funny comments on the wild,
outer-worldly goings-on through his late twentieth/early twenty-first century
pop-culture prism. And the Jim Henson Company produced some truly magnificent
aliens for the series that were really out of this world.
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Yet despite the popularity of the series, as well as the fact that it had been
renewed by the Sci-Fi channel for both the fourth and fifth seasons in advance,
Farscape was cancelled shortly after its fourth season in a stunning, unexpected
move by the network. The final episode ended with a major cliffhanger, with the
gang aboard the living ship Moya landing on a water world, where Crichton and
Aeryn (Claudia Black) were unexpectedly shot by the natives and both reduced to thousands of tiny
crystals. To make matters worse, Chiana (Gigi Edgley) had been struck blind, and
a growing galaxy-wide war was brewing. Yet despite the news that it had been
unceremoniously dumped by the Sci-Fi Channel, Farscape’s producers had added a
defiant "To Be Continued" logo at the very end of this episode.
And they lived up to their word. In fall of 2004, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars
ironically premiered on the very same channel that dumped the original series.
It was a three hour (with commercials, it was four hours long) mini-series that
not only wrapped up the cliff-hanger, but wrapped up the entire series storyline
as well. The war that had been threatened for so long between the fascist
Peacekeepers and the brutal Scarran regime has finally erupted when a fleet of
Peacekeeper ships under the command of Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) ambushes a Scarran
convoy in the rings of a Saturn-like planet. Scorpius, one of the series’ more
malevolent villains, is resigned to fighting a war that the Peacekeepers will
most likely lose. Yet once Crichton and Aryen are regenerated, Scorpius--who
mentally senses that Crichton lives once more--abandons his post to go back on
the hunt for him. Crichton still holds the key to a super-powerful wormhole weapon in his
mind--one that may tip the balance of the war in the favor of whoever has it.
Yet the Scarrans are also hunting Crichton and company, as well. 
The Peacekeeper Wars is a spectacular, enjoyable adventure on an epic scale. The
entire original cast is back--both human and non-human. And while it would
have been better to see some of the miniseries’ story revelations played out
more broadly over the course of a final season, the plot twists in the
miniseries are no less appreciated, and are just as shocking. Even if you’ve
never seen an episode of Farscape, The Peacekeeper Wars still stands by itself
as solid SF entertainment. While it may really be a love letter to the die-hard
Farscape fans who demanded an ending to their beloved series, the miniseries
still fills in the background information that's needed for a person who
has never seen the show. The Peacekeeper Wars--with its second disc filled
with extras--is very enjoyable to own on DVD, because
it’s a grand, space operatic adventure that can be enjoyed over and over again.
--SF