Michael G. Munz

The official website of Seattle sci-fi/fantasy author and geek Michael G. Munz

  • Novels
    • Memory of Dragons
    • Zeus Is Dead
      • Praise for Zeus Is Dead
    • Zeus Is Undead
    • The New Aeneid Cycle
      • A SHADOW IN THE FLAMES
      • A MEMORY IN THE BLACK
      • A DRAGON AT THE GATE
    • MYTHED CONNECTIONS
    • Four Fantastical Ways to Lose Your Fingers
      • Get it FREE!
  • Geek Notes Blog
    • Blog Archive
    • Farscape Re-Watch
    • Michael Reads Percy Jackson
  • Bio
  • Contact
  • Press

Farscape Rewatch: “A Bug’s Life” (spoilers)

August 4, 2013 By Michael G. Munz Leave a Comment

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Season 1, Episode 18: “A Bug’s Life”
***1/2 out of *****

“Under the circumstances, those commandos are primed to shoot at anything they do not trust. The only thing that is over is our chance to take them buy surprise. This is a disaster, Crichton. It is a grave misfortune that uniform did not fit me.”

When Moya encounters a Peacekeeper marauder with no affiliation with Crais, John masquerades as a PK captain and winds up having to deal with a body-jumping intelligent virus while maintaining a fake accent[1].

This episode does what Farscape so often does: take a classic sci-fi premise and inject its own Farscapian twist: while the virus itself is pretending to be someone it isn’t, so to are most of Moya’s crew. It’s a double-ruse that creates a nice bit of additional flavor until it finally falls apart and everyone is shouting with guns pointed at each other.

That said, while it’s above-average and certainly one of the better eps of the season, it doesn’t blow me away. It’s serviceable, it works, it’s fun, and it’s a major element in setting up the rest of the series due to a single stroke of a knife, but on it’s own? I can’t ever get too excited about it.

I think part of the reason is I never quite buy the whole “intellent virus” concept. I realize this is likely unfair of me, given all that I DO buy in the course of watching this series, but it bugs me[2] just enough to put me off a little. Besides, if all it needs to lay a million spores is an hour inside a single host, how is it possible that it never had an hour at any point prior to when Larraq’s group caught up to it?

“Nerve” is next. And those of you familiar with the series all know what that means…

Last line:
“Why would I ever mention it?”

Other Comments:
I’ve seen this ep a few times, but I honestly didn’t remember the commandos all jumping out of the marauder like they do at the beginning. Nifty.

You know, it’s entirely possible that none of the rest of the series would have ever happened if it weren’t for Chiana. No Chiana, no key to the box. No key to the box, no virus escape, no Aeryn being stabbed, no need to go to the gammak base, no meeting Scorpius…

——
[1] John, not the virus. Well, the virus, too, come to think of it.

[2] No pun intended.

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Filed Under: Farscape Tagged With: Geek Interest, Rewatch, Science Fiction

Subscribe to my newsletter and get a FREE copy of Four Fantastical Ways to Lose Your Fingers!

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to my Newsletter!

Farscape Rewatches

  • COMPLETE EPISODE LIST
  • SEASON ONE
  • SEASON TWO
  • SEASON THREE
    • S3E1: “Season of Death”
    • S3E2: “Suns and Lovers”
    • S3E3 & 4: “Self-Inflicted Wounds”
    • S3E5: “…Different Destinations”
    • S3E6: “Eat Me”
    • S3E7: “Thanks for Sharing”
    • S3E8: “Green Eyed Monster”
    • S3E9: “Losing TIme”

About Me

I'm a Seattle-based speculative fiction author and geek. Lately I'm writing the sequel to my award-winning comedic fantasy, Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure!
[Read more...]

Read My Books:


B089LY6VFP cover

Memory of Dragons: A Contemporary Fantasy Adventure

Price:
$4.99

Purchase at amazon.com


B01GF5QWGE cover

Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure

Price: $3.99

Purchase at amazon.com


B01GF5QWGE cover

Zeus Is Undead: This One Has Zombies

Price: $5.99

Purchase at amazon.com


B01GF1CT1A cover

A Shadow in the Flames (The New Aeneid Cycle Book 1)

SALE! $0.99

Purchase at amazon.com


B01G9P1JN6 cover

A Memory in the Black (The New Aeneid Cycle Book 2)

Price: $2.99

Purchase at amazon.com


B01JKJLD98 cover

A Dragon at the Gate (The New Aeneid Cycle Book 3)

SALE! $2.99

Purchase at amazon.com


B00EUU0588 cover

Mythed Connections (short story collection)

Price: $0.99

Purchase at amazon.com


B072XXDTV7 cover

Four Fantastical Ways to Lose Your Fingers

Price: $0.99

Purchase at amazon.com


COMPLETE BLOG ARCHIVE
TWIN PEAKS RE-WATCH BLOGS
FARSCAPE RE-WATCH BLOGS
MICHAEL READS PERCY JACKSON

Search:

Popular Posts

  • Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters – Ch 6 posted on January 11, 2015 | under Michael Reads, TSoM
  • Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters – Ch 11 posted on January 29, 2015 | under Michael Reads, TSoM
  • Michael Reads Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters – Ch 10 posted on January 25, 2015 | under Michael Reads, TSoM