Farscape Forum

Blake's Seven and Achieving Villains (was Re: Scorpius, scorpion? Nah-just a coincidence!)

Jim Henson's Farscape

: The thing is it is a very fine line to walk... You probably : know "Blake's Seven", an old SF series made in Briton... the : villains in that were always acheiving things and to the best : of my recolection (although i admit to not having seen all of : them and it was a long time ago) the show got so depressing it : got cancelled. I mean, the bad guys basically WON! ...that : said, I must admit that the show still has a strong cult : following and is considered a classic by a lot of people, so : maybe there is something to be said for the bad guys : winning....

Well, there are some apocryphal stories circulating about why the show was cancelled. The actors were getting sick of it according to one story, the producers were getting sick of it according to another, and the final massacre was supposedly filmed to prevent the clamoring fans from getting another season.

: NAHH - I just like Moya and crew too much to want to see them : beaten. Much rather watch them kick some serious Scorpius butt!

I'm not saying the bad guys should win across the board. Rather, I'd like to see them accomplish SOME of their goals. This requires that the episodes have at least two goals. One is achieved by the bad guys and one is achieved by the good guys.

Look at "The Phantom Menace" (and I am NOT inviting either bashes or defenses of STAR WARS in this thread). Regardless of what anyone thinks of the movie, two goals were achieved: Palpatine became Supreme Chancellor of the Senate and Naboo was freed of the tyranny of the Trade Federation. The good guys feel they've gained something, although the Jedi Council are clearly worried about the reemergence of the Sith. The bad guy (Palpatine) lost the war for Naboo but in the end was propelled toward the real goal he was after anyway, so the war's outcome meant nothing for him.

Something like that could help keep FARSCAPE's vision and tension on the edge. If the villains aren't completely defeated every time they run up against Moya's crew, they'll continue to seem dangerous. Of course, it would help if some recurring characters were introduced for the sake of getting killed off after a few episodes. That gives the viewing audience time to get used to them before they make their exit.

Maybe this is what is planned with Chiana, if she IS the one who dies.