I grew up watching Farscape and have formulated my own theories through the years about the more vague parts of the space opera’s canon, but one of the best I’ve ever heard came from a thoroughly unexpected source. A sitcom episode aired in late 2010 that showed one of its characters speculating about Farscape canon, and it has stuck with me ever since. The exchange was only ever a vehicle for a larger joke, but I’m convinced the sitcom character in question was really onto something.
Farscape was canceled in 2003 after four seasons, but Syfy then greenlit a two-part miniseries in 2004 called The Peacekeeper Wars so that showrunner Rockne S. O’Bannon could wrap up loose ends. The Farscape characters continued their adventures in a series of comic books, but haven’t returned to the screen since the end of The Peacekeeper Wars. I’d love a Farscape revival, even if just to answer some of the many questions I still have. Until then, theories like the one I heard in a sitcom 14 years ago are pretty much all I have to go on.
Abed’s Farscape Theory In Community Season 2 Explained
Danny Pudi’s Community character caught my attention with his Farscape theory
In Community season 2, episode 10, “Mixology Certification,” Danny Pudi’s Abed Nadir shares a theory about Farscape‘s wormholes and how they work. The wormholes are a huge part of Farscape‘s premise, as they account for how Commander John Crichton (Ben Browder) ended up stranded so far from Earth. Crichton’s primary goal for most of the show’s run was to use another wormhole to get home. However, Aded’s theory being true would mean Crichton’s plan was always likely to be doomed. In short, Abed suggests that the wormholes are pᴀssages through time, as well as space.
“It’s possible that the wormhole Crichton fell through moved him through not only space, but also time.”
– Abed in Community season 2, episode 10, “Mixology Certification.”
If Abed is right, then Crichton could be either in the distant past or in the very far future after falling through the wormhole in Farscape‘s first episode. Either instance would mean Crichton returning to a planet populated by people other than those he left behind. If Crichton is in the far future, which seems to be the option Abed favors, then Earth may not even exist at all anymore. Using a wormhole to get back may allow Crichton to travel back to present-day Earth, or it could transport him simply through space to where his home planet once was.
Community’s Wormhole Theory Answers One Of Farscape’s Biggest Peacekeeper Mysteries
Sebaceans are essentially just humans under a different name
Most of the Peacekeepers belong to the Sebacean race, and Sebaceans look identical to humans. This fact is directly addressed throughout Farscape, and Crichton even uses it to his advantage on several occasions when he needs to blend in. However, O’Bannon’s space opera never solidly explains why an alien race so far across the galaxy just looks like ordinary humans. There are a few teases within Farscape, but no canon explanations. If Abed’s wormhole theory is right, then it can extend to this particular piece of Farscape lore.
As Abed mentions in “Mixology Certification,” Crichton’s wormhole taking him to the future could mean that Sebaceans are just humans that are further along in the evolutionary cycle. Although Sebaceans have certain quirks that serve as a disadvantage, like an aversion to warm environments, they also live for far longer than humans. So, either by natural progression or sci-fi intervention, the Sebaceans’ shared physical appearance with humans could canonically be due to their origins on planet Earth.
Why Abed’s Take On Farscape’s Wormholes Is So Perfect
Community hit on something that is tricky to disprove
What’s so great about Abed’s Farscape theory in Community is that it slots so brilliantly into the space opera’s canon. Of course, this doesn’t mean he’s right, but it’s a very hard task to prove him wrong – if not impossible. So, it can either be ignored if you don’t agree with it, or accepted into your own personal head canon if you think it all lines up. This is the basis for pretty much any solid theory, especially for sci-fi shows like Farscape.
If Earth really is gone after the wormhole spits Crichton out in the show’s premiere, then pretty much everything he tries to get home is in vain.
Plus, if true, Abed’s wormhole theory casts an entirely new light over Farscape, which is a bit depressing but also very intriguing. If Earth really is gone after the wormhole spits Crichton out in the show’s premiere, then pretty much everything he tries to get home is in vain. It gives him nothing to go back for, and makes him seem even more fortunate to have found a new family against all the odds that Farscape stacks against him.
