by Sherry Ginn
The theme music for Farscape was developed by Chris Neal, his son Braedy, and the original creative collaborators for the show: Matt Carroll, Brian Henson, and Rockne S. O’Bannon. The creators had asked Chris and Braedy, under the collective name Subdivision, “to create something between ‘tribal and medieval.’” Subdivision even shared in a Golden Real Award nomination for the soundtrack of the first episode even though the network apparently did not like the theme music for the show (Farscape Encyclopedia Project; Simpson and Hughes).
The music, however, stayed, although it was reworked for the third season. Guy Gross, the composer of the new music, said: “The music for the Season Three opener was created over a 3 week period. It was decided that rather than simply create a new arrangement of the previous theme, I would compose an original theme that made gentle musical references to the old theme” (“Season of Death”).
Not being a musical scholar, until I read this I was not aware that the third season’s theme was different. Listening to the two different themes, my untrained ear does not pick up on any significant differences. Other people with whom I have discussed this, such as my spouse who has a better ear for music, do notice a difference, and find the newer music more likable. Perhaps, because of what I know of the show’s plot, the new music feels a bit slower, more cautious.
Theme music, however, was not my biggest concern as I began to work on this piece. I wanted to discuss the voice that was added to the opening credits in all episodes except “Premiere” (1.1). This voice-over changes twice in the series, and it is through this voice-over that you get a sense for how John Crichton, the main character’s relationship to his new universe, the inhabitants he meets there, and himself change.
The voice-over is not unique to Farscape. Science fiction television series ranging from The Twilight Zone to Babylon 5 have utilized them. Furthermore, Booker writes that shows such as The Outer Limits use the “tactic of opening each episode with a distinctive and easily identifiable voice-over narration that held the episodes together as a recognizable unit” (20). Whereas Farscape is a series rather than a TV show with an anthology format, this described purpose for a voice-over extends to Farscape as it guides and reminds the viewer of Crichton’s situation: he is the only human in the Uncharted Territories of space. As Billie Jo Mason writes: “Crichton’s first season title sequence voice-over sets the scene for every episode, emphasizing the quest elements of his plight and the show’s primary dramatic conflict, as well as establishing his relationship with his all-too-alien shipmates” (this collection, 64).
At the close of the first episode, Commander John Crichton (still in his IASA uniform) speaks into a pocket voice recorder. Instead of a Dear Diary, or a Star Trek-like captain’s log, Crichton addresses his reflections to his father who is also an astronaut, a hero to Crichton as well as many others back on Earth. The opening credit voice-over that will start with the next episode echoes this voice recording:
My name is John Crichton
An astronaut
A radiation wave hit and I got shot through a wormhole
Now I’m lost in some distant part of the Universe, on a ship
A living ship full of strange alien life forms
Help me
Listen please
Is there anybody out there who can hear me?
I’m being hunted by an insane military commander
Doing everything I can
I’m just looking for a way home
I have been unable to find a writing credit for the person who penned the voice-over, or a description of how it would look “on paper.” I have recreated the lines here by how I think they might have looked in a script because they sound less like prose and more like a monologue, poem, or set of spoken word lyrics and, as with a more poetic/short piece of writing, the voice-over captures a moment. These few lines give you the basic background for all of the tensions that set up the first two seasons of the series. They also remind me of the chorus or an aside in a classical play.
The voice-over changes after Season Two: by Season Three Crichton is no longer specifically speaking about wanting to find a way home. Instead he feels completely lost—not only from home—but from the person he used to be. He is still amazed at Moya, the living ship, as well as other unique places and creatures he has encountered in the Uncharted Territories; however, the other escaped prisoners are now more than mere shipmates: they are his friends. The new voice-over describes these developments:
My name is John Crichton
[I’m lost]
An astronaut
[Shot through a wormhole]
In some distant part of the Universe
[I’m trying to stay alive]
Aboard this ship
[This living ship]
Of escaped prisoners
[My friends]
If you can hear me
[Beware]
If I make it back
[Will they follow?]
If I open the door
[Are you ready?]
Earth is unprepared
[Helpless]
For the nightmares
[I’ve seen]
Or should I stay
[Protect my home]
Not show them
[You exist]
But then you’ll never know
[The wonders I’ve seen]
This second voice-over resonates with fear because Crichton has knowledge regarding wormhole technology that he knows could be detrimental to the world he comes from as well as to the rest of the universe. How can he go home again when a journey back may be dangerous to everything he knew before his Farscape mission?
I have set some of the lines in brackets because they are almost whispered, as if they were Crichton’s internal thoughts. Some discussions (e.g., Booker) of this voice-over feel that it is another voice altogether, but my ear does not hear that. My ear, and my memory of the episodes leading up to the third season, tune into how fractured Crichton’s mind has become. His fragile mental and physical existence is reflected in the third season voice-over.
The final voice-over appears over the credits for Season Four:
My name is John Crichton
An astronaut
Three years ago I got shot through a wormhole
I’m in a distant part of the Universe
Aboard this living ship of escaped prisoners
My friends
I’ve made enemies
Powerful, dangerous
Now all I want is to find a way home
To warn Earth
Look upward and share the wonders I’ve seen
This new voice-over is short and to the point. Crichton notes that he has now been away from home for three years. This voice-over takes ownership over the fact that Crichton, for good or bad, has made enemies. He has taken on the burden of needing to warn Earth about what could be coming its way. Yet there is still that part of Crichton that is amazed and awed at what he has discovered. He has changed, but he is still very human.
Telotte’s essay in this collection also touches on the idea of home as presented in the changing voice-overs when he writes: “Home, finally, is not necessarily the Earth but some place still “uncharted.” His family is the one he is in the process of creating with his Sebacean mate Aeryn, the child she gives birth to in the middle of a firefight in The Peacekeeper Wars miniseries, and those “strange alien life forms” that have become his friends, his support, even his saviors” (19). It actually surprises me that the final voice-over does not make the move to calling the other prisoners his family because all the fundamentals of family are there, from cranky uncles (Rygel), to brothers (D’Argo) and kid sisters (Chiana), and, of course, Aeryn who will become Crichton’s wife and the mother of his child. In fact as early as episode sixteen (“The Locket”) of Season Two (if not earlier), when returning to Moya after living 55 years in an alternate time line, Crichton says he is heading home (granted he will forget this alternate timeline
at the close of the episode, but the seeds of Moya being home had already been planted in the series).
Farscape started without a voice-over and this is to be expected because Crichton is thrown into a world where he has no recognizable voice. Until he is given translator microbes no one can understand him. He is suddenly the alien in a universe that was used to a variety of species. In a universe that has never seen humans, Crichton becomes the audience’s eyes, and he records his impressions, hopes, dreams, and desires as he tries to find a way back home. Crichton’s recordings are an act of hope; like a message in a space bottle to some other human, somewhere, who might hear him. The series voice-overs change as he changes, as he begins to redefine home, and determine whether or not he has a place in the universe. By sending these messages out into the universe, Crichton and the audience are given the small sliver of hope that some human, somewhere will hear him. Breaking down the fourth wall finds that a lot of science fiction fans heard him very well.
Works Cited
Booker, M. Keith. Science Fiction Television. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004. Print.
“Subdivision.” Farscape Encyclopedia Project. Web. 30 July 2012.
“Season of Death.” Wikipedia. Web. 30 August 2012.
Simpson, Paul, and David Hughes. Farscape the Illustrated Companion. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2000. Print.
Appendix A:
Farscape Character List1
John Crichton, Ph.D. (Human)—Commander, International Aeronautics and Space Administration (IASA). Crichton is testing his theory of atmospheric propulsion when he is shot through a wormhole into a distant part of the galaxy. He is visited during the first season by a race called the Ancients; they implant the information of how to construct wormholes into his memory. That knowledge and the fact that wormholes can be used as weapons make him very valuable and both the Peacekeepers and the Scarrans want that knowledge. He just wants to stay alive, get the girl, and hopefully be able to return to Earth one day (perhaps in that order).
Officer Aeryn Sun (Sebacean)—Special commando, Icarion Company, Pleisar Regiment. Aeryn is a Prowler pilot for the Peacekeepers. Born in space, she expected to die there as well. Caught in the wake of Moya’s starburst, she is deemed irreversibly contaminated by Peacekeeper High Command. Rather than return to her home and suffer the consequences of her contamination (exile or death), she chooses to remain aboard Moya (in effect, choosing exile). She falls in love with John Crichton, although it is a rocky road to happiness.
Pa’u Zotoh Zhaan (Delvian)—a priest. Beautifully blue, physiologically she is flora rather than fauna. Recognizing that she contains darkness within her soul, Zhaan strives always to restrain that violence and search for peace. She loves Moya and all of her crew, eventually making the ultimate sacrifice for them.
Chiana (Nebari)—a thief, “always looking out for number one.” Her past is not pretty, and she has problems trusting others. It will take her some time, but she will eventually bond with Moya’s crew and become part of the mission to keep Crichton’s wormhole knowledge from falling into the wrong hands.
Ka D’Argo (Luxan)—a very young male warrior. He was incarcerated by the Peacekeepers for ostensibly killing his wife, a Sebacean. In actuality she was killed by her brother. D’Argo slowly befriends Crichton, becoming his staunch ally in the fight to keep the wormhole knowledge out of the Scarrans’ and the Peacekeepers’ hands. He has a son who was sold into slavery following his imprisonment. D’Argo eventually rescues his son, but their subsequent relationship is fraught with difficulty.
Jothee (Luxan-Sebacean hybrid)—D’Argo’s son. He does not know whether he should be happy that this father finally rescued him or angry that his father “allowed” him to be sold into slavery in the first place (something of which D’Argo was unaware). He has a brief sexual relationship with his father’s lover, Chiana. Jothee will eventually become a soldier in the Luxan army.
Dominar Rygel XVI (Hynerian)—once the ruler of billions of subjects, he was deposed by his cousin and imprisoned. Now he intends to return to Hyneria and reclaim his throne. Used to having his way and being the Lord of all he can see, he still expects everyone to do his bidding. They rarely pay him any attention, but his skills at political intrigue and diplomacy, not to mention his deviousness, actually help the crew on numerous occasions.
Moya (Leviathan)—the living ship upon which Crichton and the others live. Crichton says the only Earth reference he can use to describe Moya’s size is the story of Jonah and the Whale. Moya provides all life-support functions for the beings that reside within her. She is bonded with Pilot.
Pilot (Unknown)—a member of a crustacean-like species, which is never named. Pilots physically bond with Leviathans, controlling their vital functions and serving as links with any biological entities residing within these ships. Pilot is a very young member of his species and was deemed too young to bond with a Leviathan by the Elders on his planet. However, he was so determined to see the stars that he was willing to do anything for the chance. That determination will have many unfortunate consequences.
Talyn (Leviathan Hybrid)—Moya’s offspring, produced in an experimental breeding program designed by the Peacekeepers. Their goal was to create a warship, although Talyn was unstable.
Jool (Interion)—a young, well-educated female who has not been on her own before. Kidnapped and placed in stasis so that her organs could be harvested, she is rescued by the crew. At first she vows to kill Crichton believing that he killed her cousins, then she joins the crew hoping to return home one day. Her youth and inexperience cause no end of exasperation in the other members of the crew. She eventually leaves to continue her research.
Noranti (unknown)—a refugee, species unknown. She is very old, at least in physical appearance, but says she feels much younger. She is well-versed in the healing arts and serves as medic following the death of Zhaan and Jool’s departure.
Sikozu (Kalish)—a bioloid, Farscape-speak for an android (like Data of Star Trek the Next Generation). Crichton calls her “Sputnik” because of her hair-do. Sikozu joins the crew in Season Four, but she is never really accepted, especially after she becomes enamored of Scorpius.
Captain Bialar Crais (Sebacean)—conscripted by the Peacekeepers along with his brother when a young boy. He promises his parents that he will look after his little brother, who is killed by accident when Crichton’s Farscape module exits the wormhole. Crais vows revenge on Crichton but will eventually recognize that his brother’s death was an accident. He will become Crichton’s ally in the quest to keep the wormhole knowledge from Scorpius.
Scorpius (Sebacean-Scarran Hybrid)—the result of a Scarran rape of a Sebacean woman. Scorpius is tortured during his youth: the Scarrans believe it will make him stronger as well as “kill” any Sebacean parts of his psyche. He is a high-ranking member of Peacekeeper command. The Scarrans believe that he will help them conquer the Peacekeepers. In actuality he is planning to destroy the Scarrans. He is determined to obtain Crichton’s wormhole knowledge so that he can create a weapon capable of destroying the Scarrans once and for all.
Lieutenant Braca (Sebacean)—a Peacekeeper serving aboard Scorpius’ command carrier, later Grayza’s. Braca is seduced by Grayza and appears to do her bidding. However, he is totally and completely Scorpius’ ally and all of his actions have been in support of Scorpius’ desire to conquer and destroy the Scarrans.
Commandant Mele-On Grayza (Sebacean)—Completely ruthless, she will do anything to further peace with the Scarrans as well as her career. One way in which she accomplishes this is via the secretion of Heppel oil from a gland implanted in her chest. This oil makes her sexually desirable and able to seduce and/or rape anyone she believes will further her cause. She uses the oil on Crichton who is traumatized by the repeated rapes.
Emperor Staleek (Scarran)—determined to dominate the galaxy, Staleek believes that Scorpius is working for him. He will learn how wrong he is, but by then it will be too late.
Xhalix Sun (Sebacean)—Aeryn Sun’s mother, a Peacekeeper. Xhalix chose to mate with a male of her choosing, named Talyn, as well as deciding to bear a child with this man. The Peacekeepers ordered her to kill either the child or her lover. She chose her lover, but went insane. Eventually Peacekeeper command sends her to capture Aeryn after Aeryn joins forces with Crichton.
Peacekeepers (Sebacean)—a paramilitary police force. Members are either conscripted from the general population or are bred for service. Any planet’s governing body may request help from the Peacekeepers (PK); apparently the general population does not have a say in the matter. Peacekeepers may be male or female and they have no conception of Earth’s gender stereotyping—PK females are as deadly as PK males. They could be compared to the United Nations peace keeping forces.
Notes
1. Character names and descriptions were taken from the companion volumes to the series in question. See Appendix C for the complete citation for each. The brief descriptions of the characters are my own.
2. Farscape is as known for its humor as it is for its spectacular visual effects, puppets and animatronics, production values, and writing and acting. Crichton comments upon how scary Ahkna is in the trilogy “We’re So Screwed” (4.19–4.21), and then says it must be her hat (it is rather spectacular). The joke is that Ahkna is played by his real-life wife, Francesca Buller.
Appendix B:
Series Episode List1
Season One
Season Two
Season Three
Season Four