Season 1, I think, is the bait. Cute episodes, funny episodes, intriguing characters, flirtations—not all the episodes are strong, but the potential is visible and you do want to know what happens next.
They kill you in season 2.
Then they do it
again in season 3.
Then there's season 4, the ending of which leaves you ready to kill
yourself. Or Sci-Fi Channel, for cancelling the show at that moment. Thanks so much, Wilma, for helping make the miniseries happen and bring closure. . . .
Comparing Farscape to B5, although I think B5 is closer to my heart as pure SF and because I have a history with it, I have to say Farscape has made me laugh harder—and cry harder.
Well, except for the very last episode of B5, where I missed some of the dialogue the first time because I was sobbing out loud, but that's either here nor there.
Suddenly you find you care about the characters. And some of those actors are seriously underrated. Ben Browder as John Crichton particularly, who has the gift of being terribly moving and terribly funny at the same time.