The Farscape Fan Favorite only interacts with one character the entire series

The author Jonathan Klotz
| Published 27 seconds ago

Farscape may be known as a “puppet show,” but it has some of the best writing in a sci-fi series, between John Crichton's organic growth and Erin Black's ability to turn even the weirdest storylines into brains. storytelling. That's the only reason why Farscape So did Harvey, a version of the evil Scorpius that exists only in Crichton's head, a stunt character who became a fan favorite despite his obvious limitations.

The Invisible Frannie by John Crichton

First appears in episode four, Crackers Don't Matter. Farscape In Season 2, Scorpion's hallucinations are assumed to be part of T'raltixx's mental manipulation, but then Scorpion appears again and again in moments of high stress. The hallucinations even began to prompt Crichton to take certain actions, most notably not to kill the real Scorpion, before finally revealing themselves to the human mind. The hallucinations were the result of a neural chip implanted by Scorpius while torturing Crichton; ironically, the Scorpius clone discovered the truth in another torture session from another an alien whom it helped Critton defeat.

Crichton dubbed the Scorpius hallucination in his head Harvey, named after James Stewart's classic The Invisible Rabbit. Since then, Harvey has appeared several times each season, sometimes as a visible hallucination that none of the others have. Farscape the characters could see because he didn't actually exist, as well as other times in Crichton's mindscape where he gave helpful advice, such as Jimmy Cricket being made of skin-tight skin.

A genius way to engage a Scorpio

Writers Farscape made the choice to have Scorpius' version of the neural implant to keep the villain from getting involved so his evil plans wouldn't fail regularly. That way they could bring in Wayne Peagram, explore different parts of Crichton as represented by Scorpius, and keep the sense of danger around the real villain. Harvey may have been a mental clone of Scorpius, but eventually became his own hero.

Harvey appeared for Crichton in Hawaiian shirts and in a moment that showed Peagram's talent, even playing drums like Ringo Starr. These unusual appearances led fans and Crichton alike to view Harvey as more of an ally than an enemy, and indeed he was, but only in the same way as a real Scorpion: to further his own ends. Until then, actually Farscape ended, Harvey was able to fulfill his goals and the reason he was programmed in the first place, but in the spirit of the series, it wasn't quite the way he intended in Season 2.

Farscape is the only one science fiction series I can imagine took what could have been a one-off gimmick for one episode and managed to turn Harvey into a lasting part of the show's legacy. Stargate SG-1 turned the stunt episode into one of the show's best episodes, but they never included Apophis showing up in an outrageous suit or debating how Easter is celebrated. Farscape managed to do a lot with very little thanks to sharp writing and a talented cast, and Wayne Peagram's impeccable Harvey is a prime example of what a little creativity and a willingness to defy the rule book will do.