We Are The Scaper Army: The Final, Final Farscape Frelling Farewell Con Report

November 17^th, 2011 marked the end of an era. At least it felt that way when approximately 300 Scapers gathered at the Marriott LAX hotel in Los Angeles for the truly final Creation Entertainment-sponsored Farscape convention. The fans started arriving and hanging out in the hotel lobby on Wednesday before the official start of the con to catch up with each other and meet new fans while sharing hordes of Australian goodies such as Tim Tam cookies in a multitude of flavors, a few bags of the sadly discontinued Velvet Crumble, Vegemite, and little clip-on koala bears brought to the con by the Australian Scapers. There were newbies and old hands in the mix from places as far-flung as Sweden, Britain, Germany, all across Canada and the U.S., and France; and a wonderful feeling of family that lasted the entire weekend.

The weekend was full of boisterous cries of “Hell Yeah!” and tearful hugs as well as impromptu reenactments of John and Aeryn’s elevator dance as well as the sight of four or five leather-clad fans skipping down hallways. The Marriott hotel’s personnel seemed extremely tolerant of these gatherings of fans and such activities as using the large-screen TV for a massive re-watch of Farscape that ran until 5 a.m. in the morning. It was a joyful meeting of family that often included the Australian actors, such as Rebecca Riggs and David Franklin. While down in the Dealer’s Room, Lani Tupu was selling gorgeous prints of his current art projects and Virginia Hey had come with her soaps and candles to sell. Both actors were extremely approachable all weekend.

One of the nicest quiet events of the weekend was the presentation of “Scaper Army” blankets to each of the actors and crew, who seemed to truly cherish the gifts along with the card signed by many fans. The blankets were designed by Sprite Lady and the project was run successfully through the Terra Firma bulletin board. Another beautiful project was the raising of a little over $4,000 for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) in honor of Ben Browder’s birthday. This charity event is an annual project run by Angela Dean through her blog at www.benbrowder.net.

Before discussing Ben’s first appearance at the con, it would be remiss of this reporter not to describe just how special the cast and crew of Farscape truly are as evidenced by the gifts given to us at the Friday Night Cabaret. It has become a tradition of Creation Entertainment to ask actors from the various shows spotlighted at the con to put together short acts. This year gave us a lovely acoustic guitar solo and a really funny puppet show, but the two best acts by far were the sets presented by our beloved actors who played villains on Farscape. First was the amazing jazzy singing of Rebecca Riggs. She appeared on stage wearing a mixture of Glinda the Good Witch and The Wicked Witch of the West, complete with white frilly tutu, black and white striped stockings, and a sequined black vest and crooned and belted out powerful songs about how witches are just misunderstood good guys and a strong message to young girls to be who you want to be. 

Then along came David Franklin in white shirt, thin tie and fedora to tell us in song the very last chapter of Meeklo Braca’s storied career in Vegas and beyond. But besides being funny and talented with a line, David gave us (with the help of Anthony and Kristy Raven Kilna) a farewell gift. He had shot a wonderfully poignant video expressing his sadness about the end of these conventions. Many sniffles could be heard in the audience at its end. You can watch the video that David graciously uploaded on to YouTube.

Sunday morning bright and early, approximately 15 actors from the various genre shows including Ben, David Franklin, Wayne Pygram, Rebecca Riggs, Lani Tupu, and Virginia Hey joined at least 300 fans at the Charity breakfast. Time was tight and scheduling snafus abounded, but again the graciousness of the Farscape actors and especially Ben and Wayne, who both insisted on visiting every table even though it slightly delayed Ben’s presentation saved the event for a lot of fans. Ben looked like Nick Naught with his dark gray shirt, gray-striped tie, and dark suit. He even had Nike runners on his feet (and they served a practical purpose given how jam-packed his day was with photo ops, interviews, autographs, and “Meet and Greets”). So, when he sat down at our table directly across from another gentleman who was also similarly attired and even had Nick’s signature fedora, both guys did a double take and we had a good laugh.

Directly after the Breakfast, Ben showed up in the auditorium and greeted fans before beginning his talk. We all felt slightly melancholy that this would be the last appearance for Ben at a Farscape convention and the topic of his talk was how time passes and all the changes that occur. He then did something that was totally unexpected and for anyone who knows how historically protective Ben is about his family, unbelievably touching. He introduced his proudest projects from the past 18 years, his children, Milo and Imogen. Both were put on the hot seat when Ben stepped up to the microphone usually reserved for fan questions and asked them individually who the best actor was (their mom), who the best pole vault teacher was (their dad), and other fun questions. Then, to top off the surprises, Ben introduced his project coordinator of the past 24 years, his wife, Francesca Buller.

He proceeded to bring us closer by trusting us with the ups and downs of his past year which included the passing of two people close to him and the illness of his wife. His eyes filled with tears as he spoke of the day he shaved Francesca’s hair after the start of chemo treatments for breast cancer (about which she thankfully has received a clean bill of health). He then canvassed the room for the number of Farscape weddings and babies. There had been quite a few in the past 11 years since the start of Farscape. During his discussion of fandom and change, a new fan stood patiently at the Q&A mic very pregnant with a next generation Scaper. Ben had fun talking to her about the new baby and incipient childrearing challenges which ended up with a surprise hug.

Another fun exchange occurred that further promoted Ben’s message about learning and growing from the challenges life throws you as well as how beautiful the Scaper family can be was with a newly engaged couple. It seems that during the previous night two Scapers who had met at the previous year’s con, one an Australian and the other American, became engaged.

Milo and Imogene, Ben’s kids, had Ben demonstrate fathering skills by throwing out comments from back stage. The closeness of this family was very evident as well as the fun they have together. For example, the very last question Ben was asked during the oh-so short time he was with us was if he had been surfing recently. During his answer in the affirmative, his 14-year old son exuberantly burst on to the stage and cheered while leaping in the air behind his father when Ben admitted with chagrin that his taller son had for the first time stolen his wave.

The presentation ended on two high notes. Francesca, Ben, and their two kids each lead us in the Farscape cry of, “Can I Get a Hell Yeah?” and we brought down the house. Then, after Rockne O’Bannon and Ricky Manning, former Executive Producers of Farscape, spoke briefly, every Farscape actor and crew in attendance came out and gave a bow to a standing ovation.

Later that evening as the con wound down, we vowed that we would find a way to continue meeting because the weekend proved how much a family the fans, cast and crew of Farscape had become. Please read Ricky Manning’s wonderful and quirky retrospective on Farscape cons here because it brings home just how meaningful these annual get-togethers are to everyone.

Thank you Ben for sharing your public life with us over the past 10 years and for trusting us with your private life at this very last Creation con. Your generosity is truly appreciated.