Revenging Angel

The first time I watched Revenging Angel I absolutely loved it. It was so different, so OUT THERE, that it was impossible not to love. The episode came on the heels of a rather dark two parter that ended in tragedy, so the change of pace was definitely needed.

This is most often referred to as, "The Animated Episode," of Farscape, and that's partially true. About half of the episode is animated in the Chuck Jones Roadrunner & Wile E. Coyote style, and that part of the episode is wildly entertaining.

The rest of the episode is live action. Some of it is in the real world, some of it is in Chrichton's head, with a cartoonish spin on reality. The live action stuff isn't quite as good as the animated scenes, but it's still fun.

The shock value and sheer whimsy of the episode loses a little of it's punch on rewatches (if you know what's coming, it doesn't quite have as much impact), but it's still a lot of fun on repeat viewings.

This episode was one of a handful of episodes that showed that there were no limits as to what the writers and producers would do with Farscape (short of violating broadcast standards). That's part of what won Farscape such a loyal fanbase.

This is by no means a "great" episode. It has very little bearing on the overall plot, the episode comes across as goofy and ridiculous, and some may even say that it is the point at which Farscape "jumped the shark."

But that's just what makes it so damn lovable.

This is definitely one of my favorite episodes. Like so many other episodes, it shows us the internal struggle in John's mind between him and Harvey, the Scorpius clone. But while some of the previous struggles have been bizarre and surreal, this takes the goofiness of their struggles to a whole new level. Bringing John's upbringing into play again, John starts envisioning the ongoing arguments and fights between himself and D'Argo as Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons, bringing a new level of nostalgic appeal to the series, and making for some hilarious, Looney Toons-style antics. Overall, this is by far one of the most enjoyable and hilarious episodes in the entire series. Anyone watching Farscape should look forward to watching this episode.

The animation was done by composer Guy Gross' father Yoram's animation company.

And it appears that Yoram really had a handle on giving us a fresh perspective on Warner Bros. Cartoons, particularly "road runner".

If you think this episode is giving us a nod to the relationships between KaD'argo and Crichton, or Aeryn and Crichton, or even Scorpy and Crichton- you're wrong.

This episode basically is about only one thing: and that would be this mysterious spaceship that D'argo found during "suns and lovers". Which he has named Lo'La in memory of his wife.

The cartoon aspects come in to play because of Crichton's comatose condition... so in that respect it is a documentary on how D'argo and Crichton always argue... which was also the basis of "scratch and sniff".

From this point on Lo'La becomes part of the weekly narrative of Farscape all the way until "the peacekeeper wars".

But this isn't to say that there are a lot more things happening in this crazy episode. The animation just brings in that side of Crichton's personality.