General question about S4

[Cyber-Raga]

I've recently watched Farscape for the first time. Needless to say, I absolutely loved it for many reasons.

But one thing bothered me: the first half of s4. It's not horrible, but it surely can't compete with the great second half or the previous seasons. So I was wondering why the first half had to be so "dark", less arc driven, etc.

[stlscape]

As I understand it, Sci Fi and/or the people they reported to (Universal Television Group) wanted more stand alone, "lighter" episodes (because some people felt the series was too complex for new viewers to understand), and wanted the cast re-introduced so that new viewers could understand who was who more easily. There were also a few new writers in Season 4, which (I think) made a difference as well.

[Cyber-Raga]

I see. Thank you for the info

[Dangermousie]

I liked all of S4, but I generally find that with FS, the second half of the season is better than the first, in every season.

S4 had some very good (IMO of course) early episodes: JQ (one of my very favorites), WWL (which was a good solid multi-parter, not as good as the other multiparters but still good), UR (which is so smart it hurts my head), Promises (which I love, and not just because Aeryn is back).

[so-much-4-sanity]

I think the challenge with Season 4 for me, viewing it on DVD, is that it lacks the momentum that Season 3 has. When watching I go from ITLD/DWTB into KC and WWL pretty quickly and there is a different momentum in those early Season 4 eps that are much different then the end of Season 3.

I think in the companion someone, I forget who, mentions the reintro of the cast to serve the demands of the network to bring in new viewers and that it wasn't until Promises that "they could begin telling stories again".

The change, for me, was a little off balancing, however, with more of Season 4 released, it sits a little better then initially.