Been searching through Hezmana and back for Farscape merchandise? Don't know your hammond from your treblin? Now there's someone you can ask that actually knows what the frell you're talking about. Email your Farscape questions to the folks at Karlsweb. Send us an email and our resident panel of Farscape experts will try their very best to answer your question.

Q. Does Rygel do all his own stunts?

A. Dominar Rygel does most of them, but some are just too dangerous for even Rygel. For example, in Exodus from Genesis, he wanted to enter the Drak Monarch's hive, but the director thought it was much too dangerous. In Jeremiah Crichton, Rygel simply refused to walk on the beach when his throne sled was disabled, and in Won't Get Fooled Again a stunt puppet was used in when Crichton tossed D. Logan (played by Rygel XVI) down the stairwell. In Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, Rygel himself did the swimming and diving for bits of John & Aeryn. He felt it was the least he could do for them.

Q. Does Karl really exist? Or is he imaginary like the Easter Bunny or income tax refunds?

A: Yes. Goddess help us.. there is a Karl. Long story short: Karl be much too busy to stay on top of it all... what with all of Mongolia to conquer and everything so, henchman... er... henchwoman.... AmyJ is the editor and basic caretaker/dog-catcher/lightbulb-changer/stuff doer for the "core" site. Now PKBarb is the driving force behind just about everything else: the Enscapelopedia... Ep Reviews... Newscape... Interviews... you get the idea.  Check out the crew bios page for the full skinny.

Q. Karlsweb has this collage of actors like Vin Diesel and a bunch of others... what's the story behind each of those faces? Is there any key to all of them?

I've wondered why nobody asked that question before. Those are the people who are "cast" in various parts in Karlsweb's fiction. Karl started doing that from the very beginning with his Jack Crichton stories. Click here to visit the character bios.

Q. Ben Browder... What happened to him? ... I WANT TO SEE HIM IN SOMETHING, ANYTHING. Please find out what he is doing.

I know exactly how you feel! He's been very busy since Farscape ended and we've answered your question about Ben (and the rest of the Farscape cast & creative staff) in our Karlsweb Feature story Where Are They Now. Also, keep an eye on "Who's on First?" for any previous shows coming up on TV

It would be nice if he were resting up to begin filming more Farscape wouldn't it? I live in hope <G>

Q. I'm trying to find the name of the Farscape episode where John is having a dream/fantasy. He's on an examing table and Aryen is dressed as a nurse, Zhaan and Chiana are also by the foot of the table and Rygel also pops up. I want to buy the DVD that has this episode. Can you help me?

Yes! That's one of my all time favorite Farscape episodes! The more I watch it, the better I like it! The name of it is "Won't Get Fooled Again." It's from Season Two - #215. Here's a link to Karlsweb's review of the Episode:

http://starburstcards.com/KarlswebEpisodeReviews/S-02/S2-15-WGFA.htm

Q. Moya and presumably other leviathans have decks, or different tiers, right? So how do the inhabitants get from tier to tier? I've only ever seen ladders...

PKBarb: This is a straight guess, but maybe Moya's corridors are slanted and spiral around and up & down? I'll pass this on to our "Panel of Experts" and see what they come up with.

Toadie: Leviathans are organic creatures and nature just loves curves and helixes. The chances are that there are curved ramps between the decks and the only reason we've never seen them was due to the complex nature of fabricating such a thing for what would likely be a few seconds on camera. So I would have to agree with Barb in this case.

AmyJ: Well. Originally, I'd assumed that Moya's interior was sort of like the inside of a chambered nautilus, each tier or level growing out of another, sort of like a spiral. Or like the Guggenheim Museum in New York. This was based on assumption. I recall episodes where one (or more) of the characters was supposed to get from tier x to tier y and only seeing footage of them jogging down the corridors. Then they started the business with the ladders. In particular I remember the scene from OOTM where Aeryn (in Rygel's body) mentioned having to ascend Moya's tiers via a waste chute (don't shoot me if I don't have the exact term, kids. I'm rusty!) because Hynerian bodies just weren't made for climbing ladders. I'd assume then, that Aeryn-Rygel would have made use of the spiraled tiers to ascend instead of climbing up mucky-yuck garbage. So that more or less shoots my spiraled tiers idea to bits. Unless Moya has ladders and spiraling, sloped tiers.

Q. Was that actually Claudia's hair in season 4 or was it a wig?

The answer to your question is yes and yes. Claudia said that they used "hair extensions" to make her look like she'd been gone a long time. She wanted to have some kind of a punk hairdo but that was nixed by TPTB. Thank God!

Q. There was a scene in Farscape: Undressed of John & Aeryn that was never aired, at least, not that I know of. John was lying in bed, and Aeryn was in a chair reading? What episode was this from? Why did they edited out? Will it be on the DVD? Thanks!

If it's the scene I'm thinking of (black sheets, Aeryn in a man's shirt) it's from "A Human Reaction" in season one. It takes place in the cottage the next morning shortly before Aeryn puts on the dress and Jack arrives at the door.

It's on both the USA and the UK DVDs. I haven't seen the Australian season one set so I can't say for sure, but my guess is that it's on that one, too. I have no idea why they edited it out - it certainly puts an end to the speculation of did-they-or-didn't-they while they were on the false earth.

Q. The Translator Microbes are one of the niftiest little concepts on Farscape but seem to be used only for convenince's sake. For example... Here's my question: At the start of "We're So Screwed, Part 2: Hot to Katratzi", what's the deal with having Sikozu communicate with the Scarrans in (presumably) Scarran tongue when approaching Katrazi? Chiana asked her what she said and then the crew proceeded to the secret base and had no difficulty talking to any of the various races down there... What gives? Chiana even spoke directly to Jenek when she tried to kick him in the mivoks... so is it a calibration thing or what?

Amy: ET: Let's assume that translator microbes are a naturally occurring phenomenon in the environment of Denea. Either translator microbes, or perhaps a related organism with the same function, is present as either an airborne pollen or a microorganism in the water or soil that allowed the Deneans to understand the aliens. (No one would have known that this organism had this effect until ... tada... aliens arrived on Denea one day.)

I believe that often there are instances where microbes are simply insufficient to do the translation properly. Perhaps some phrases or concepts are so complicated (such as Pilot's native language) that they simply won't "filter" through to the listener. It is possible, then, that there are Scarren phrases (tenses or perhaps even dialects) that are incapable to translation. I could see where such a thing would be a strategic advantage for any warlike species to develop a more cryptic version of their own language. (A good example would be the Navajo soldiers of the US during WWII who used their own native language to prevent enemy forces from deciphering US communications.) After all, it would definitely thwart an attempt to send top secret messages via coms if your enemy has microbes that understand your language.

Toadie: I think it has more to do with how the brain works. Whenever an unfamiliar term was used.. mostly by John...the others were able to hear the English word said. It may be the Scarren language is so foreign in concept from all others that it does not translate well, meaning that they speak a 'common' tongue that can be understood by everyone as well as their own language which needs to be learned to be understood. Well.. it is possible.<G>

Q. There is a part in Mind the Baby when John & Aeryn are in pilot's Den when Aeryn says Crichton's name "John", there's a pause in the music and a look on Crichton's face. My question is: Is this the first time Aeryn uses his first name? (Considering that the conversation centered around change.)

I know she also called him John at least once before. In DNA Mad Scientist, when she was mutating into Pilot, she called him by name.

Q. In the last ever episode of Farscape (sob sob) "Bad Timing" Aeryn and Crichton are shown taking a boat trip. Well I was just wondering if I missed something, as I have a general wondering as to where the boat came from? Does Moya grow them as well? Any theory you might have will be appreciated.

That's a great question! Frankly, none of the Karlsweb folks have a clue where it came from (outside of the prop department) There was nothing in the Season 4 Companion, which has a lot of inside information on the episodes. My theory is that it was parked on the shore and Crichton & Aeryn found it when they were scouting out the planet with a transport pod.

Q. In season 1 D'Argo is paler and not as broad, in season 2 he is noticeably darker. They never gave an explanation, any theories?

I remember reading an explanation about why he's darker, but I can't remember where I read it. They felt that he looked a little too foam-rubbery, so he got a make-over between seasons one and two. They also made his prosthetics a little easier to wear. Poor Anthony was miserable during season one because he could barely move so they re-did a lot of the stuff he has to put on every day. This takes care of why the Creature Shop changed Anthony's makeup.

My theory on why D'Argo looks darker as far as the story is concerned is that he got a "sunburn" from hanging around in space above the burning gammak base in his street clothes.

Before	After

Q. I have noticed DVD's out for season 3. Do you know if there will be seasons 3 and 4 on the VHS format?

I'm afraid not. Back in January when ADV Films announced the season three release, they said that it's the first time they've chosen to restrict the release format to DVD only. I don't know about season four since they haven't announced it yet but I have a feeling they'll do the same thing again.

Q. I was wondering, does John just have the knowledge to predict wormholes, or can he create them as well?

What a great question! I'm sorry it took me so long to reply, but I wanted to run it by Karl and Amy (our "panel of experts" <G>) before answering you. Here's what we came up with:

Amy:
Here's my take. Talyn-John got the secrets "unlocked" by "Jack", but it was my impression that the device on the top of the module was the wormhole making device. Moya-John... our John... seems to know all about them; but the interpretation I have is that he can "sense" them and therefore exploit them in terms of knowing where and when they will form. (This is what I understand from his quasi-explanation to Grayza in "What Was Lost".)

Karl:
I am with Amy on this one. I think the device that they built generated high energy particles that seem to accompany wormholes. IE solar activity. Both Furlow's world and in the Premiere they mentioned solar activity. So the box with the high energy particles that irradiated Talyn-John opened a small wormhole to the local sun and Shazam! Toasted Scarrans on the barbie!

Barb
Both Johns can definitely predict them. Talyn-John could also create them thanks to Ancient/Jack unlocking the secret in his head. In other words, I agree with Karl and Amy. The displacement engine that John and Jack built could open a wormhole in an area where wormholes were likely to form.

Updated 6/27/03:

I think the answer is yes, as we've seen in some episodes like the beginning of Natural Election. However, the device on top of the module, if you're referring to what Furlow made, is a phase stablizer which allows them to fly through any wormhole. I believe it resolves the problem the PK's were having and which Linfer thought she solved. See, Infinite Possbilities, Part 1: John "What's that device?" Jack: "Phase stabilizer. Allows travel through any wormhole." And see, Incubator . . . Linfer: "I have developed a unique spectrum of negative phase shielding which will allow any craft to safely traverse any wormhole." (add'l response submitted by Karlsweb reader, FarDareisMai)

Q. Some time ago, on "Farscape Magazine" I read one article -signed by David Kemper himself- explaining the fans the events post Sept- 8th (the infamous cancelation notice data). On that article -section "The Producer's Cut"- he told us he had wrote in a hurry an epilogue for the series. At the same time he was writting, at the sets, the actors were playing the lines he had just written. Did you remember this article? So... Could you find some information about this inedit epilogue? Please, I'm very interested on knowing something about it.

When Farscape was cancelled, shooting was complete except for some "pick-up shots" from episodes previous to "Bad Timing." The only thing that was changed was "Previously on Farscape" (to show clips from the 87 other episodes) and the music-free credits. There was no epilogue filmed. Mr. Kemper and several of the Farscape cast and crew decided to leave "Bad Timing" as it had originally been filmed.

Here's an excerpt from David Kemper's article "The Last Word" in Farscape #12: "It's the end of season four the way we always wanted the end of season four to be... We didn't want to change it, artificially wrap it up."

I think the article you're thinking of was the one in Farscape #11 where Mr. Kemper talks about writing the last 11 episodes and from everything I've read there and in other aritcles, they were *always* writing and filming simultaneously!

Q. It seems like a lot of the old timers have left the Dominion Bboard. Where have they gone? How can I get there?

Yeah, I've noticed that the Dominion BB has been very different lately. There are a number of websites that have Farscape discussion BBs. Here are a few to get you started:

Terra Firma

ASciFi

Save Farscape's Frell Me Dead

Farscape World

Q. What's a sick tralkis? I see a "tralk" on the (Karlsweb) EnScapelopedia, but apparently a sick tralkis foams at the mouth...

Could you mean a trelkez? A trelkez is that two-headed bird that Zhaan tortured in "That Old Black Magic." If you want to read a little bit more about it, it's in the "Allies & Enemies" section of the Enscapelopedia.

Q.Why did Virginia Hey leave the show? Was she fired? Or did she just want out?

Virginia's health was suffering because of all the blue goop she had to wear every day. When she asked to be released from her contract, David Kemper decided to use the fact that she was leaving as a way for the show to bring Aeryn back from the dead - a trade off: Aeryn's life for Zhaan's.

Virginia says that she would have been willing to appear in a few episodes each year, but they didn't take her up on that until Season Four's "John Quixote" and "Unrealized Reality".

Q. Where was the character of Zhaan this season? Why does Chiana have an Australian accent in the 1st season DVD'S But an American accent this season? What nationality is she? What was the turning point in John and Aeryns relationship?

It sounds like you're truly hooked on Farscape, just like the rest of us!

There are some spoilers in these answers, so if you're spoiler-phobic, don't read any farther.

1. Zhaan, poor Zhaan! At the end of Season Two (Die Me Dichotomy) Aeryn was killed and they had a beautiful funereal for her. In the Season Three opener, Zhaan brought her back at the expense of her own health. She was dying and the crew was looking for a place where she could heal, but before they found one, Zhaan sacrificed her life for Moya and the crew (Self Inflicted Wounds, part 2)

2. Chiana (Gigi Edgley) is Australian. Her accent flipped back and forth several times during the show. Here's a bit of a transcript from Gigi in which she talks about Chiana's accent:

"I try to make a conscious effort to keep Chiana's accent mid-atlantic/alien. It was funny when I went into do the audition. I asked them what accent to use, and it seems all American producers have met only American aliens, and Australian producers have only met Australian aliens! So throughout series 1 she swung from polar opposites. Now she tends to be more mid-atlantic, with Nebari characteristics seeping in here and there. "

3. There was an awful lot of "on again, off again" in the John and Aeryn relationship through the four years (so far) of Farscape. Here are just a few episodes along the path for John and Aeryn:

Season One: The Flax; A Human Reaction; Family Ties
Season Two: Mind the Baby; The Way We Weren't; Look at the Princess trilogy; The Locket
Season Three: Season of Death; Green Eyed Monster; Infinite Possibilities 1 & 2; Fractures; Dog with Two Bones;
Season Four: Promises; Bringing Home the Beacon through the end of the season

These episodes are all out on DVD. Alternatively, if you can't wait for them to come around in syndication, you can read transcripts of most of these episodes on line at

http://www.johnskeedvabbq.com/Transcripts/transcripts.html
http://xenajules2.homestead.com/index.html
http://www.shriftweb.org/exodus/transcripts.shtml

Q. My question is when exactly did John Crichton get cloned?

Crichton got twinned in the sixth episode of Season Three, "Eat Me." When their transport pod broke down, Crichton, D'Argo, Jool and Chiana landed aboard a Leviathan that was drifting in space. They hoped to find materials to repair the pod, but first they met up with Kaarvok, a criminally insane dude who used to twin the other people on the ship and use them for food (yuk). Kaarvok twinned Chiana, D'Argo and Crichton, but Crichton's twin is the only one who survived.

Q. Is it true Claudia's middle name is Lee?

The only place I've seen Claudia's middle name listed at all is on the Claudia Black Unofficial Website, and they list it as Lee. It's a very professional website and I have no doubt that their information is correct. Check out the website for plenty of info on Claudia!

http://www.claudiablack.de/english/index.html

They've already let out a few snippits of information, but I don't know if we'll ever get the entire story. They may be saving what they didn't use in the miniseries for a movie as you suggested. I sure hope so, anyway.


Possible Spoilers below:

In a recent magazine, article David Kemper said, "Francesca Buller played a re-occurring Scarran, Minister of War Ahkna, who would have gone right through the fifth season, as would Duncan Young as Emperor Staleek. Jool was not done with Farscape. The fifth season and beyond would show that the Priests on Arnessk and what they did for a living may have had something further to do with the way that Farscape unfolded. But Jool needed some time on her own with these people to fulfil what I had in mind. I would have loved to have done a whole crossdressing episode with Chiana and Aeryn in man's clothes, Crichton and D'Argo in women's clothes so they could find out about the other side. That's a concept that really appealed to me."

Elsewhere, Mr. Kemper commented that since John is finished with earth, they added the baby to give him a reason to go on living.

Also, way back in 1999, Rockne O'Bannon said that in his mind, Farscape is about the end of John Crichton's life. Now, I'm not exactly sure what he meant by that, but David Kemper commented that Rockne meant that Crichton was going to live a very long time.

Q. I have been to a few small conventions in London with a couple of the Farscape actors, However i was wondering if there is going to be any plans for a Full Farscape conventions in England with all the stars?

As far as I know, there aren't going to be any full Farscape conventions in the UK. In fact, I think we've all seen our last convention where all the stars participate. Even last November in Burbank, not everyone was there.

There is one upcoming convention in the UK, but only Wayne Pygram is listed on their guest list. Here's their addy:

http://www.collectormania.com/

Also, keep an eye on our Convention News Pages. As soon as I hear about any other conventions, I'll be posting them there.

Q. Will we be kept informed of any future projects/roles that the Farscape cast will be involved in?

We're going to post everything we can learn about the cast and their new projects - whether Farscape-related or not. We have a great Where Are They Now? section with loads of information. Also, have you checked out the "Who's on First" section of Newscape? It's a listing of movies and TV shows that will be on in the near future that cast members have been in in the past.

Q. Is the Ben in Ben Browder short for Benedict or Benjamin or is it just Ben? Are the actual ages of the cast memebers available? I read with some suprise that Mr. Browder is 40. I always thought he was early to mid thirties.

Actually, Ben is short for his middle name, Benedic (no "t"). His first name is Robert and he was born on Dec. 11, 1962. He's just one of the lucky ones who look a lot younger than they are.

Here are the rest of the main cast members' birthdays:

Claudia Black gives her birthday as Oct. 11, 1973;
Virginia Hey on June 19, 1962
Anthony Simcoe on June 7, 1969
Gigi Edgley on November 16, 1977
Lani Tupu on November 4, 1964
Jonathan Hardy September 20, 1940
Wayne Pygram October 13, 1959

Q. Can you tell me when season #2 of farscape will be released in a boxed DVD set, like season #1 already has ?

As of right now, ADV has no plans to release a season 2 boxed DVD set. This could change, but it's not on their calendar yet. You might try emailing ADV. If they get enough requests, they may rethink their decision.

Here's their email address:
info@advfilms.com

Q. WITH ALL THE BUY OUTS HAPPENING IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. WHO ACTUALLY OWNS THE RIGHTS TO FARSCAPE?

Good question! Here's how it works. Whoever owns The Jim Henson Company owns the rights to Farscape. For a while, it was owned byEM.TV, with Disney eager to get their hands on it. Fortunately, the company was bought back by the Henson family a couple of years ago.

Q. Where can I find the best Farscape transcripts online? I like the ones that give info along with the dialog. Do you know any of the sites?

A. There are a couple of sites that have good transcripts. John's Keedva BBQ, Xenajules and Exodus from Genesis 

If you're feeling wealthy, you can buy a few script reprints from the following sites (if they still have them in stock):

Creation Entertainment: http://www.creationent.com/

Intergalactic Trading Company: http://www.intergalactictrading.com/

Q. Where can I find the Farscape Action figures?

A. Online places: > Intergalactic Trading Company | Dark Star | Entertainment Earth | Laughing Toys | Another Universe | Merlin Enterprises | Troll and Toad | Sci-Fi Continuum