I think I read an interview once where Beltran said he had a blast shooting the episode with Virginia Madsen. I'm glad he enjoyed making it more than we enjoyed watching it.
To be fair, he wasn't thrown very many bones by season 4.
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RTTP: Babylon 5
- Thread starter JeffZero
- Start date
I think I read an interview once where Beltran said he had a blast shooting the episode with Virginia Madsen. I'm glad he enjoyed making it more than we enjoyed watching it.
To be fair, he wasn't thrown very many bones by season 4.Yeah people have been trying to make sure to use spoiler tags for future stuff. As long as you're ahead of the episode that is currently talked about you should be good to avoid spoilers.
I'm generally considering all episodes that OP has rewatched to be fair game as far as unmarked spoilers go. He last saw "Believers."
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
Its going to get more difficult to discuss episodes now that they are getting heavy plotwise in S2. Right now im in the middle of the 5th episode The Long Dark. Dr. Franklin is made out to be kind of a creeper. That forehead stroking lol
edit: Also lol at the Drazi stuff in an earlier episode.
edit: Also lol at the Drazi stuff in an earlier episode.
Nice! Thank you both. So I'm ahead. I'm watching right now Episode 16 of Season 2 and since I watch two to four episodes a day I'll probably stay ahead of the OP.
I'll try to post some thoughts on the episodes that the OP has already seen tomorrow.
Thanks!
I want to apologize if the usual quality is a bit lacking in tonight's write-up; I'm just quite tired is all! If I ever do anything with these outside the site for some reason, I'll probably tidy this one up.
As far as I'm aware, "Survivors" has a generally average reception. As far as I'm aware, so does "Believers". They aired back-to-back, they're both single-word plurals, and they're both regarded as patently average. Yet I really like the former, and I'm not as keen on the latter. Tonight, we'll explore a tacky episode and its weak-kneed ending, but we'll pay our respects to the powerful little Michael Garibaldi character moments along the way.
President Luis Santiago is en route to Babylon 5 for an important political appearance. (Too bad we never actually see him!) Serving as his head of security is guest Lianna Kemmer, a young woman with a deeply personal grudge against Garibaldi. He's quickly implicated in a terrorist attack -- not by Kemmer, mind you, she's still fighting for the good guys despite her clouded perception -- and what we get from the setup is a hackneyed action tale. Garibaldi will soon be on the run through the station bumping into increasingly goofy combat, like a tattooed alien who swings a metal chain around and smacks a plastic crate with it which somehow causes sparks to fly. Or better yet, the trio of backup thugs who descend down the chains like Streets of Rage mooks from an upper level soon thereafter.
Mercifully, there's still content to enjoy in-between the cumbersome kerfuffle, and we largely have Jerry Doyle to thank for that. Doyle delivers a convincing performance as a hard-on-his-luck, haunted man of 37 (hey, thanks, in-show graphic) who's been lured back to the bottle. It's a little unnerving, watching Garibaldi wrestle with his inner demons while staring at some free alcohol, given the actor's known struggles with alcoholism. But it's only unnerving because Doyle plays this to an almost eerie perfection.
Other highlights include Londo verbalizing his recognition that he and Garibaldi are not so dissimilar, followed by G'Kar offering to have Garibaldi spirited away so that he can work on behalf of the Narn. Both scenes are effective case studies in the dueling ambassadors, and they both work better than the dozen Lianna scenes. The problems here can't be totally leveled at actress Elaine Thomas, either -- they're inherent to the script itself, which works on a more reasonable level whenever it isn't tied to the ongoing thriller plot of a Homeguard agent or tries to give Garibaldi compelling lines with Lianna.
Too bad that's the crux! The big comedown gives us Garibaldi versus the man who has perpetrated the bombing efforts, a fairly forgettable agent named Cutter. Garibaldi does Big 90s Action Hero stunts until Cutter's no longer moving, and a crisis is averted. Ivanova has gotten a couple of much-needed snarky one-liners, Lianna forgives Garibaldi for the death of her father many years ago, and President Santiago's visit goes off without a hitch. I'd cheer, but I just can't bring myself to care enough. I wouldn't call "Survivors" the worst episode thus far -- there have been a couple which have at least matched its roughness -- but I'm not sure there's been a worse line by a major character than this clunker from Garibaldi:
"17 years ago, you and I both died... and yet... somehow, we both survived..."
I leave you with a twist of fate. Marc Scott Zicree wrote the above line, but he went on to pen Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's immaculately-received "Far Beyond the Stars" some four years later. His catalog of works post-B5 is really quite handsome. Yet he also wrote "Survivors". He tried for something bigger, and I can respect that, but I'd say that whatever magic Zicree would one day summon for DS9 and other assorted works, it's not quite here yet.
As far as I'm aware, "Survivors" has a generally average reception. As far as I'm aware, so does "Believers". They aired back-to-back, they're both single-word plurals, and they're both regarded as patently average. Yet I really like the former, and I'm not as keen on the latter. Tonight, we'll explore a tacky episode and its weak-kneed ending, but we'll pay our respects to the powerful little Michael Garibaldi character moments along the way.
President Luis Santiago is en route to Babylon 5 for an important political appearance. (Too bad we never actually see him!) Serving as his head of security is guest Lianna Kemmer, a young woman with a deeply personal grudge against Garibaldi. He's quickly implicated in a terrorist attack -- not by Kemmer, mind you, she's still fighting for the good guys despite her clouded perception -- and what we get from the setup is a hackneyed action tale. Garibaldi will soon be on the run through the station bumping into increasingly goofy combat, like a tattooed alien who swings a metal chain around and smacks a plastic crate with it which somehow causes sparks to fly. Or better yet, the trio of backup thugs who descend down the chains like Streets of Rage mooks from an upper level soon thereafter.
Mercifully, there's still content to enjoy in-between the cumbersome kerfuffle, and we largely have Jerry Doyle to thank for that. Doyle delivers a convincing performance as a hard-on-his-luck, haunted man of 37 (hey, thanks, in-show graphic) who's been lured back to the bottle. It's a little unnerving, watching Garibaldi wrestle with his inner demons while staring at some free alcohol, given the actor's known struggles with alcoholism. But it's only unnerving because Doyle plays this to an almost eerie perfection.
Other highlights include Londo verbalizing his recognition that he and Garibaldi are not so dissimilar, followed by G'Kar offering to have Garibaldi spirited away so that he can work on behalf of the Narn. Both scenes are effective case studies in the dueling ambassadors, and they both work better than the dozen Lianna scenes. The problems here can't be totally leveled at actress Elaine Thomas, either -- they're inherent to the script itself, which works on a more reasonable level whenever it isn't tied to the ongoing thriller plot of a Homeguard agent or tries to give Garibaldi compelling lines with Lianna.
Too bad that's the crux! The big comedown gives us Garibaldi versus the man who has perpetrated the bombing efforts, a fairly forgettable agent named Cutter. Garibaldi does Big 90s Action Hero stunts until Cutter's no longer moving, and a crisis is averted. Ivanova has gotten a couple of much-needed snarky one-liners, Lianna forgives Garibaldi for the death of her father many years ago, and President Santiago's visit goes off without a hitch. I'd cheer, but I just can't bring myself to care enough. I wouldn't call "Survivors" the worst episode thus far -- there have been a couple which have at least matched its roughness -- but I'm not sure there's been a worse line by a major character than this clunker from Garibaldi:
"17 years ago, you and I both died... and yet... somehow, we both survived..."
I leave you with a twist of fate. Marc Scott Zicree wrote the above line, but he went on to pen Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's immaculately-received "Far Beyond the Stars" some four years later. His catalog of works post-B5 is really quite handsome. Yet he also wrote "Survivors". He tried for something bigger, and I can respect that, but I'd say that whatever magic Zicree would one day summon for DS9 and other assorted works, it's not quite here yet.
"Infection"
This episode's greatest flaw isn't that it's aggressively bad as much as it's aggressively boring. Lousy sci-fi punctuated by scene after scene of uninteresting characters talking about shit that I don't care about. There's an especially bad chunk of exposition early on between the dude from NCIS and Franklin which I can't believe made it to the final cut.
Being the first episode filmed, there's also clear signs that the cast and crew are still trying to work their way into the series, with lots of broad performances, choppy editing and some especially bad special effects. My favorite shot is infected dude shooting some rando with his lightning zapper and the victim just stands there, holding his arm up to shield his eyes.
There's also pacing problems, with a full eight minutes to go after the excruciatingly terrible final confrontation. Granted, some of the episode's best scenes are in those eight minutes. The Garibaldi/Sinclair scene was well-meaning, albeit with on-the-nose dialogue but I really liked the Franklin/Ivanova scene, which ends ominously.
Too bad the rest sucked ass.
This episode's greatest flaw isn't that it's aggressively bad as much as it's aggressively boring. Lousy sci-fi punctuated by scene after scene of uninteresting characters talking about shit that I don't care about. There's an especially bad chunk of exposition early on between the dude from NCIS and Franklin which I can't believe made it to the final cut.
Being the first episode filmed, there's also clear signs that the cast and crew are still trying to work their way into the series, with lots of broad performances, choppy editing and some especially bad special effects. My favorite shot is infected dude shooting some rando with his lightning zapper and the victim just stands there, holding his arm up to shield his eyes.
There's also pacing problems, with a full eight minutes to go after the excruciatingly terrible final confrontation. Granted, some of the episode's best scenes are in those eight minutes. The Garibaldi/Sinclair scene was well-meaning, albeit with on-the-nose dialogue but I really liked the Franklin/Ivanova scene, which ends ominously.
Too bad the rest sucked ass.
PhoncipleBone
Banned
This has been my favorite thread to follow in some time. I have debated about doing RTTP threads on some sci-fi shows and writing short reviews after each episode, particularly Farscape and Fringe.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
"Infection"
This episode's greatest flaw isn't that it's aggressively bad as much as it's aggressively boring. Lousy sci-fi punctuated by scene after scene of uninteresting characters talking about shit that I don't care about. There's an especially bad chunk of exposition early on between the dude from NCIS and Franklin which I can't believe made it to the final cut.
Being the first episode filmed, there's also clear signs that the cast and crew are still trying to work their way into the series, with lots of broad performances, choppy editing and some especially bad special effects. My favorite shot is infected dude shooting some rando with his lightning zapper and the victim just stands there, holding his arm up to shield his eyes.
There's also pacing problems, with a full eight minutes to go after the excruciatingly terrible final confrontation. Granted, some of the episode's best scenes are in those eight minutes. The Garibaldi/Sinclair scene was well-meaning, albeit with on-the-nose dialogue but I really liked the Franklin/Ivanova scene, which ends ominously.
Too bad the rest sucked ass.
That one is probably the worst of the first season. It wasnt particularly offensive to me though. Exposition Hallway though lol
BlackLagoon
Member
Just a nitpick - the epsiode was written by story editor Larry DiTillio, not jms.
Also back from water_wendi's discussion about this episode, she felt it should have been some explanation in the episode as to exactly why Ivanova needs to be breaking the law to talk to her father. I looked it up, and apparently there were some lines about it in the script, but it got cut for time.
I have a soft spot for it since I missed it the first time it aired, so it was an exciting new episode when I
bought the show on VHS
Just a note, Zicree only had a story credit on Far Beyond the Stars, the actual script (teleplay) was written by producers Hans Beimler and Ira Steven Behr. Which means that either Zicree submitted a script that got rewritten to the point that little of the original dialogue remained, or Behr and Bimler wrote the script based on an outline provided by Zicree. (Going by the Star Trek wiki it looks like it was the latter.)
I like Zicree for his work on the third season of Sliders. That show had devolved into a complete mess, and he came in and gave the characters a clear goal to work towards and made the show more science fictiony than it had ever been. Seems like he Kickstarted a little indie sci-fi series, Space Command, a few years back. Looks a bit cliched for my tastes, but it has a bunch of B5 folks like Mira Furlan and Bill Mumy in it, so I'll probably watch it if the opportunity presents itself.
I think DS9's earlier religious endeavors are weaker than what comes later on, which is a little ironic considering it's a larger focus in the beginning. I don't find much of the early-seasons Bajoran religious focus bad, but flat is a good word for it, yeah. By contrast, I actually really enjoy "The Sisko Trilogy" of Season 3's "Destiny", Season 4's "Accession", and Season 5's "Rapture". Season 6's "The Reckoning" is kind of a cheesefest and I'll also grant that the late-seasons Pah-wraith inclusion is... well, I love DS9's final seasons, but it's... it's questionable.
But I do dig that Star Trek tried, if that make sense. And I really like Kira (I'm sure no one would eeeever have suspected) so it's easier for me to hop into the religious stuff.
Battlestar Galactica's take is... something.
I think I read an interview once where Beltran said he had a blast shooting the episode with Virginia Madsen. I'm glad he enjoyed making it more than we enjoyed watching it.
Me too. Good for him, ha. It's kind of an insufferable episode. You know which Chakotay's-been-thrown-to-the-wolves episode really had an impact? "The Fight". Season 5. Chakotay must box. Now that's a terrible hour of television. Bizarre cuts, snore-inducing segues, Beltran's same-face staring at the camera for long bouts of nothing. Top it all off with technobabblegeddon.
This Wednesday, Chakotay. Must. Box.
Others have already tackled this question amicably, but I'll throw in my two cents: we're basically spoiler-tagging stuff when it pertains to anything beyond wherever I currently am. Honestly, this thread's fast become such a wonderful collaborative effort that I almost feel bad for dictating the ongoing cut-off point for spoiler-speak, but I guess it makes sense. I'm the OP, after all, so we'll all collectively march to my [glacial] tempo.
Welcome aboard!
The Drazi are something else.
"Infection"
This episode's greatest flaw isn't that it's aggressively bad as much as it's aggressively boring. Lousy sci-fi punctuated by scene after scene of uninteresting characters talking about shit that I don't care about. There's an especially bad chunk of exposition early on between the dude from NCIS and Franklin which I can't believe made it to the final cut.
Being the first episode filmed, there's also clear signs that the cast and crew are still trying to work their way into the series, with lots of broad performances, choppy editing and some especially bad special effects. My favorite shot is infected dude shooting some rando with his lightning zapper and the victim just stands there, holding his arm up to shield his eyes.
There's also pacing problems, with a full eight minutes to go after the excruciatingly terrible final confrontation. Granted, some of the episode's best scenes are in those eight minutes. The Garibaldi/Sinclair scene was well-meaning, albeit with on-the-nose dialogue but I really liked the Franklin/Ivanova scene, which ends ominously.
Too bad the rest sucked ass.
The Garibaldi/Sinclair scene is the best part of the ep. The rest ranges from boring to rough to so bad it's good. The alien's makeup job and Sinclair hamming it up to talk him into standing down -- that's comedy, man. I legit find it funnier than at least a quarter, if not a third or more, of the intentional jokes the writers toss into characters not named Ivanova!
Wonky, subpar episode, but not without its saving "graces."
D'aww, thanks. Farscape and Fringe are pretty great, so I'd totally sign up for those if you're game. I have a particularly poignant relationship with Farscape; I was a young teenager full of problems when it left the airwaves and I threw myself into the Save Farscape campaign with reckless abandon, meeting some amazing people along the way.
Ooh. This makes sense. Thanks for the intel!
Oh man, I remember Sliders. Season 3 was... uhh, was that the John de Lancie season? I remember liking that season, but also I was like 8 or something and I kept squeaking that Q was chasing Q-Ball.
I looked up Space Command just last night before bed while researching Zicree. I'm basically in the same boat; I think it looks pretty cliched, but I'm happy to give it a shot if it ever makes it out. Seems the original Kickstarter campaign was back in 2012, and there's some considerable apathy in the comments section, but to his credit Zicree's been very open and communicative right on through to this year.
You really should post some impressions, especially when it comes to the wham episodes. Just use spoiler tags generously and it'll all be good.
I think that "Believers" is pretty memorable because it has an inherently interesting goal. On the other hand, the only thing I remember about "Survivors" is that it's the first episode where we see Earthforce 1. That's a pretty cool ship, isn't it?
The religion stuff in the early DS9 seasons wasn't too bad, but I did find it a bit on the boring side. The show also seemed to want to have its cake and eat it too by presenting the Bajoran religion as a sham (Kai Winn) and sincere (Kira) and just space aliens. I can see what the producers were going for, but it seemed to be more than they could really handle, especially since it seemed to be synonymous with the politics in the early seasons as well.
The pah wraiths on the other hand, are just a terrible idea executed in a terrible way. I couldn't believe it when they decided to turn such a nuanced character like Dukat into the avatar of the evil space aliens. And what they did in the series finale. Give me stuff like "Sleeping in Light's"
dinner party
The middle season religion episodes were stronger, but I don't think that I never really liked what they were trying to do with the prophets.
The religion in that show is one of the reasons why I gave up on it.
BlackLagoon
Member
Hah, I contributed a bit to the Save Crusade campaign. We actually managed to get an ad in Variety. Fun times.
Seems I was wrong, it was season 4 I was thinking of. That's when the SciFi Channel took it over and Zicree was in charge. It was the one where they were looking for the homeworld of the Kromaggs. Season 3 was movie rip-off of the week.
I don't think de Lancie was in Sliders, it's not on IMDB at least. Are you thinking of another show/actor?
Yeah, I dig it! Could have done without the strange synth football theme accompanying all its shots, but the design is solid.
I hear you. And yet I adore Dukat start to finish, somehow. I'm sometimes uncertain if my massive love for all of DS9 has a lot to do with its impact on me as a kid. I can openly agree that this stuff was handled poorly toward the end and yet the show's seventh season is one of my ultimate boyhood nostalgia hooks.
Stellar!
..You ever get the feeling a memory's been programmed into your head? I'm getting that feeling now. I could have bet money de Lancie was in it in a recurring villainous role. I had specific memory flashes of being excited to see him in Sliders.
And yet... I was thinking of Rickman, the third-season bloke played by two separate actors, neither of whom looks or acts like de Lancie in the slightest.
Hot on the heels of a disappointment, "By Any Means Necessary" tries to be great and stumbles just enough to kick it down to good. But good is, as the word might just imply, good. Especially in the first season! We start things off with a very disagreeable Narn, who makes the fatal mistake of not listening to Ivanova. As the series will prove many times over, this is never, ever a wise decision. He dies, his shipment of goods dies with him, and the premise is quickly revealed to us: there's a real problem with the budget here on Babylon 5, and it's causing overworked and underpaid dockworkers to make mistakes. To make matters worse, the station was built on the cheap, probably because PTEN was a B-tier network.
When the Narn dies, his ship causes enough structural damage to take out a leading dockworker's brother. Grief strikes, and the union considers striking, too. A woman named Neeoma Connoly, representing the union, shows up and gets several strong scenes with a conflicted Sinclair. This is where the episode's strengths really begin to come to light. It's remarkably savvy at realistically portraying the inner pangs of bureaucracy. For a while, Sinclair himself is kind of the de facto villain here, because Connoly is fighting the good fight for better working conditions and his hands are just tied. There's no two ways around it. This is a raw deal and it's easy to sympathize with the victims.
Also, uh, this happens.
See, G'Kar's in the midst of a holy time for the Narnian people, and he really, really needed a flower that was aboard the doomed Narn's doomed vessel. Turns out, Londo's got one, and hijinks ensue. Well, hijinks involving threat of imminent death. It's a good thing Jurasik and Katsulas have world-class chemistry, because I must confess bits of this lagged or felt off. But honestly, I blame it on some early-series woes; Ragash III and the kidnapped nephew are Londo's (very reasonable) rationale for screwing with G'Kar's head like this, but back when I watched "Born to the Purple", I made a nod to the funky buddy cop vibe in his comedic jest about G'Kar. And that was just a couple of episodes after the premiere. Maybe this is one of those "just me" moments, but I feel like the early dynamic could have used some work in the consistency department. At least we're back on track now!
Along comes a spider named this jackass. Orin Zento is deliciously slimy, and he's all-in on the Rush Act. We should fear the Rush Act, because it's exclaimed darkly several times before it happens. And when it does happen, Sinclair is given no recourse but to agree to military intervention to get the dock back on-schedule. The well-represented bureaucracy continues, with Senator Hidoshi legitimately empathizing with Sinclair's plight. I want to emphasize, I love this.
That's why it's so unfortunate that the episode climaxes the way it does. With all this build-up, we're certainly rooting for a peaceful resolution, but the scene is just too schmaltzy for its own good. The dialogue when Sinclair's gambit goes off is a little cringe, the directing a little... Disney Channel sitcom. Sinclair twists the wording of the Rush Act to give him full control, and he plays Zento like a fiddle, which is fun and fitting. But the way the whole crowd of dockworkers turns into a literal laughtrack? Rough. The way Garibaldi leans into Connoly's personal space with a, "that means you, kid!" when Sinclair says no charges will be pressed? Rough. The schmaltz is real here, and it pulls the episode down with it.
Thankfully, "By Any Means Necessary" gets its act back together in the denouement. G'Kar gets his plant, Londo gets some credits, Sinclair gets ready for some much-needed sleep -- props to Michael O'Hare for pulling off sleep deprivation really, really well, by the way -- but not before Hidoshi sends him a message. Babylon 5 has made some powerful enemies today.
Earth is seeming less and less savory lately...
"The Fight" is abysmal, hammy to the max. Coupled with "The Disease" and "Course: Oblivion", people like to call the the three the series' second trilogy of terror, haha.
(After "The Darkling", "Rise" and "Favorite Son" in season 3 was the first.)
Maybe it's the happiness in knowing we both survived.
Oh god. I still remember the terrible UPN trailer for it. "Prepare to be teased... pleased... and seized by desire..."
You know the pain of the UPN trailers, too? A kindred soul, truly. Even as a boy, I felt a certain uncomfortable dirge whenever they played.
Did I make that up? Did I recite it from memory? Did I cobble it together from the wreckage of several trailers? It doesn't matter. What matters is that that's how bad they were. Every time.
I promise, fellow B5 fans, jb and I will somehow miraculously turn the conversation back to the relevant show. Eventually.
Did I make that up? Did I recite it from memory? Did I cobble it together from the wreckage of several trailers? It doesn't matter. What matters is that that's how bad they were. Every time.
I promise, fellow B5 fans, jb and I will somehow miraculously turn the conversation back to the relevant show. Eventually.
PhoncipleBone
Banned
GREEN DRAZI!
I know you made that trailer up but I swore I saw that episode.
But yeah, I'll be watching a B5 tonight and writing something up to maintain the thread's equilibrium, haha."The Parliament of Dreams"
This isn't a great script but it is notable just how much more confident the production seems. The first season of this series was filmed out of order, often dramatically so. "The Parliament of Dreams" was filmed eighth but aired fifth. The two episodes that aired after it were filmed before. "Believers", which airs tenth was filmed fifth and so on. And in the most impressive example, the finale was filmed twelth in order (for all the needed post-production). Later seasons were filmed mostly in order, I'm guessing to take pity on the actors as they got increasingly arc-heavy.
But taken for what it is, I mostly liked this episode. There's some decent Minbari world-building, some comedy that actually worked (I laughed hard when G'Kar and Na'toth repeat the assassin's threat to him and then boot him out. Great comic timing from the actors) and some decent chemistry between Sinclair and Catherine. It's nothing groundbreaking or anything but it was a pleasant watch.
This isn't a great script but it is notable just how much more confident the production seems. The first season of this series was filmed out of order, often dramatically so. "The Parliament of Dreams" was filmed eighth but aired fifth. The two episodes that aired after it were filmed before. "Believers", which airs tenth was filmed fifth and so on. And in the most impressive example, the finale was filmed twelth in order (for all the needed post-production). Later seasons were filmed mostly in order, I'm guessing to take pity on the actors as they got increasingly arc-heavy.
But taken for what it is, I mostly liked this episode. There's some decent Minbari world-building, some comedy that actually worked (I laughed hard when G'Kar and Na'toth repeat the assassin's threat to him and then boot him out. Great comic timing from the actors) and some decent chemistry between Sinclair and Catherine. It's nothing groundbreaking or anything but it was a pleasant watch.
Thanks to this thread and JeffZero (and plenty of time waiting during night shifts) i rewatched the first season bar the last episode.
If it was the only season we got, i 'd say that it was bad to mediocre. However it will be redeemed in the following seasons, almost everything trully plays out great.
I laughed with Londo exploiting Garibaldi for a free drink and Lennier for a free tour to the strip show and then remembered how Molari turns out.
I will have to commend Straczynski because he treated Michael O'Hare and his Sinclair character with dignity, knowing his illness. This made me respect and like O'Hare more, a nice smiling person that stood and fought all the time.
If it was the only season we got, i 'd say that it was bad to mediocre. However it will be redeemed in the following seasons, almost everything trully plays out great.
I laughed with Londo exploiting Garibaldi for a free drink and Lennier for a free tour to the strip show and then remembered how Molari turns out.
I will have to commend Straczynski because he treated Michael O'Hare and his Sinclair character with dignity, knowing his illness. This made me respect and like O'Hare more, a nice smiling person that stood and fought all the time.
Just finished "Signs and Portents", so I've got another write-up in the queue. Expect it sooner rather than later!
PURPLE DRAZI!
Pleasant is a pretty good word for it. I like it okay. Speaking of Catherine, man, this show (especially in the first season) really knows how to introduce characters and then make them vanish for a while. I haven't seen her since G'Kar saved her. Vir's been MIA for a long stretch, too, after popping up in the first two or three episodes since his introduction, and Lennier is still largely nonexistent aside from that chat he had with Sinclair during "Deathwalker".
Yay, another recruit to the watch/rewatch squad! You zipped through the first season at about twice my speed, ha. Please consider posting thoughts at least per-season as you move along! And yeah, I've not always agreed with the things I've seen JMS say, but man, I gained some serious respect for the guy when we learned about O'Hare.
PURPLE DRAZI!
Pleasant is a pretty good word for it. I like it okay. Speaking of Catherine, man, this show (especially in the first season) really knows how to introduce characters and then make them vanish for a while. I haven't seen her since G'Kar saved her. Vir's been MIA for a long stretch, too, after popping up in the first two or three episodes since his introduction, and Lennier is still largely nonexistent aside from that chat he had with Sinclair during "Deathwalker".
And of course after "Chrysalis" Catherine is going totally MIA with the exception of her wrap-up threads in the first major Babylon 5 novel.
Yay, another recruit to the watch/rewatch squad! You zipped through the first season at about twice my speed, ha. Please consider posting thoughts at least per-season as you move along! And yeah, I've not always agreed with the things I've seen JMS say, but man, I gained some serious respect for the guy when we learned about O'Hare.
I think that Dukat was the most successful character in DS9 until the pah wraith bit. He had a full range of characterization from foe to friend and from menacing to pathos. To take all of that accomplishment and make him into a charicature with less depth than a cartoon villain is one of DS9's greatest sins. I find the show's finale unwatchable because of this.
For all the praise DS9 deserves, it planned out its story arcs in a much more haphazard manner than Babylon 5. I think that this hurt the show at times and somewhat undermined my enjoyment of it. For example, "In the Pale Moonlight" is justifiably one of the best Star Trek episodes of all time, but the conclusion doesn't ring right with me. It's one of the most grievous acts of betrayal and treachery in the entire franchise and it's entirely consequence free. It feels like the moral is "it's all right as long as you're the good guy", and that doesn't work for me at all. A similar act in Babylon 5 would work out very differently because the fallout would have been planned out from the very beginning, and it would have been a necessary part of the storytelling process.
I like this episode. There certainly can't be all that many science fiction shows out there that have stories about union negotiations. The title ties itself into the resolution, and that's enough to make this episode more memorable than something bland like "Survivors".
The other episode in the season that is primarily remembered by its title is "TKO", but for mostly the wrong reason.
I don't know if it was mentioned earlier in the show, but Babylon 5 was built with a very limited budget. For various reasons, Earth Alliance ran out of money on the project and the Minbari had to step up to make for the difference.
I'm pretty sure that the Rush Act is named after Rush Limbaugh. He had his own TV show back in the '90s and while he was less evil than he is now, he was still a horrible person.
We never saw the Narn religion exhibited in "the Parliament of Dreams", so this episode makes up for it. G'Kar is surprisingly a lot more religious than early impressions would suggest, and his whole demeanor changes when acting out his religious duties. Narn religion is also a more solemn affair than you'd imagine; it's a stark contrast to Centauri religious rites.
Thankfully, "By Any Means Necessary" gets its act back together in the denouement. G'Kar gets his plant, Londo gets some credits, Sinclair gets ready for some much-needed sleep -- props to Michael O'Hare for pulling off sleep deprivation really, really well, by the way -- but not before Hidoshi sends him a message. Babylon 5 has made some powerful enemies today.
Earth is seeming less and less savory lately...
It's also nice to get more reinforcement that Earth and the Earth Alliance government is less pleasant than you might expect. Usually, these kinds of shows work in one of two ways: the protagonist government are the good guys and any problems with it arise from either corruption or some sort of rogue element (Star Trek). The other setting is where the main government are evil and are one of the main antagonists (Blake's 7). In Babylon 5, neither is true. The main characters work for the Earth government, and the Earth government cannot be considered either good or evil. It's just like a regular government and it has the capacity for both.
"Signs and Portents" is good. In fact, it's really good. It's the best episode to-date, full of subtle twists and laying the groundwork for so much of what is to come. It's an episode that lets newcomers ponder the show's deeper mysteries whilst richly rewarding rewatches. It's a wham. Let's dive right in to that wham.
We open on Susan Ivanova, waking up groggily at the rooster's-edge minute of 4:30 in the morn. It's an understated first scene, all things considered. She's still half-awake when she stumbles into CIC a little while later, complaining that it's never been easy for her to get up when it's "still dark outside." Unfortunately for her, it's darker outside than almost anyone presently knows, and the death of a Starfury pilot moments later is just the tip of the iceberg on that thinly-veiled metaphor.
Each of Babylon 5's seasons has a subtitle. It's an unusual approach to live-action Western conventions, right up there with each season having its own opening credits. "Signs and Portents" is the title for the first season of Babylon 5. I struggle to think of anything better-suited not only to this year, but to this particular chapter as well.
Londo's in the casino, and he's secured the Eye, a priceless artifact of his people. It's a little unfortunate that the Eye looks like a Christmas ornament on clearance January 5th at Kmart (disclaimer: yes, Kmart still exists; there's always someone who doesn't believe it) but that's budgeting for you. What matters is that Londo cares. What matters more is that Lord Kino cares. What matters more than that is the Centauri Republic cares. Kino and one Lady Ladira arrive at the station shortly thereafter, with Kino eager to obtain the Eye and Ladira -- a seer, as it happens -- experiencing a painful vision of Babylon 5's destruction.
While this is all going down, we return to the raider subplot previously established in an earlier episode, albeit not especially well-conveyed as an ongoing plot point. That problem lies with prior content, but it would have been handy if "Signs and Portents" did a slightly better job reintroducing them, because I have a recurring problem whereby I scratch my head a little bit trying to get caught-up on what's going on with this threat every time I hit this episode. It's not much of a quibble, though, because we're given plenty of content here, and -- as a result -- plenty of fun early-series Starfury action. Sure, the VFX are rough, but it's got heart, and Garibaldi's got some nifty tricks up his piloting sleeve.
Meanwhile, some weird dude who probably wears too much cologne and wants to talk to you about your business portfolio stars strolling around the station asking each of the ambassadors what they want. He doesn't seem to understand basic human conversational structure, despite being human himself, because his question precludes the notion that there has been prior language leading up to his inquiry. He has no qualms with leaving the meaning of his inquiry entirely shrouded in mystery, either. I don't wish to derail this write-up into a discussion on the intricacies of linguistics, so I assembled a visual demonstration of Mr. Morden's troubling verbal value.
I trust this clears things up succinctly.
G'Kar wants Narn to feast on Centauri ashes, Delenn seems to think she knows who Morden is and tells him to leave, Kosh definitely knows who Morden is and really tells him to leave, and Londo? Oh, Londo thinks Morden's nuts, but gets frustrated into telling him exactly what he wants, which is Centauri Prime lifted out of its own ashes. This answer in particular seems to greatly satisfy the cube of smiles known as Morden.
Ivanova leads a pack of Starfuries (what a sentence fragment) to chase after a ship, but Sinclair soon realizes they've been played like -- you guessed it -- fiddles. Ivanova's team is called back, and not a moment too soon. The raiders arrive, targeting Babylon 5 directly. A fierce battle ensues, and I totally forgot the station comes under attack so early into the series. I have a thing with both B5 and DS9 where I always perk up in the rare events that the titular station is directly under attack. Granted, spoilers for later,
one of those times in B5 involves a completely random one-off early Season 5 encounter with some hostile alien race while we view things through the perspective of a couple of painfully goofy cheeseballs, but broadly speaking,[/I this is always a big event.]
Can we take a second to admire the noble Starfury?
The raiders are destroyed thanks to a kindly bit of Derring-do, but Alpha 9 is lost in the battle. I don't know who Alpha 9 even was, but he's dead, and that's sad. The seer shows Sinclair her vision, and he is, as the kids are blogging, "legit shook." Lord Kino played Londo like, um, if you didn't expect me to say fiddle then you haven't been paying attention. Thing of it is, Kino really wants the throne, and I bet he was testing Londo when he told him that. So he orchestrates his own kidnapping, dragging Londo right on into it. A couple of bodyguards are slain as a result, because Kino is a jerk. The lead raider is a jerk, too, and they're big honking jerks together while the raider locks up Kino because of aforementioned fiddles, but then a ship that looks like a spider pops up out of nowhere and blows them all to Kingdom Come.
I'm sure it was nothing.
"Signs and Portents" is my favorite episode of Season 1 and only "And the Sky Full of Stars" comes close. One major reason is that it flips the expectations for what the show is about and tells us that there's a lot more hiding in the shadows. It's a little unusual in that there's only an A and a C plot with no B plot in sight
. There are a million things going on here and they interconnect with one another in interesting ways.
As pointed out, Morden and the way he approached the different ambassadors and the wide range of reactions. Delenn and Kosh obviously have similar responses, but Londo and G'Kar do so with one another as well. It's only on closer inspection that you realize that they aren't quite saying the same thing. What an initial viewer might not notice is that Morden met with the representatives of four major powers, but he didn't meet with the fifth representative: Sinclair for Earth Alliance.
This episode also has that great scene where G'Kar and Londo argue while waiting for the elevator with the human trapped between them.
I love that the different seasons have different opening credits. The first and second season ones are fairly similar, but the later ones are completely different in tone. The fifth season one is my favorite as it condenses four whole seasons of story into a 45-second segment. Unfortunately, they're all so full of spoilers that you can't link them for newbies.
What may get overlooked is that while Londo is a washup as far as mainstream Centauri society is concerned, he's still well-connected enough that his support can be important to someone with Imperial ambitions.
(there's actually no C plot either)
As pointed out, Morden and the way he approached the different ambassadors and the wide range of reactions. Delenn and Kosh obviously have similar responses, but Londo and G'Kar do so with one another as well. It's only on closer inspection that you realize that they aren't quite saying the same thing. What an initial viewer might not notice is that Morden met with the representatives of four major powers, but he didn't meet with the fifth representative: Sinclair for Earth Alliance.
This episode also has that great scene where G'Kar and Londo argue while waiting for the elevator with the human trapped between them.
What's also cool about title is that it promises that there's a lot more to come.
I love that the different seasons have different opening credits. The first and second season ones are fairly similar, but the later ones are completely different in tone. The fifth season one is my favorite as it condenses four whole seasons of story into a 45-second segment. Unfortunately, they're all so full of spoilers that you can't link them for newbies.
It's nice to see more about Centauri culture and politics. Most alien cultures on Babylon 5 are relatively original. The exception are the Centauri who are pretty much straight up Imperial Romans with their noble houses and emperors. Still, this storytelling shortcut does serve to ground their society and give it a bit more of a personable feel than the more alien cultures. It's also interesting that it's called the Centauri Republic even though it's clearly a monarchy, but that kind of non-truth is common in modern day Earth as well.
What may get overlooked is that while Londo is a washup as far as mainstream Centauri society is concerned, he's still well-connected enough that his support can be important to someone with Imperial ambitions.
Fascinating! I love the finale, warts and all. I feel like Dukat had an incredible run start to finish. I love "Waltz" for example.
He's cracked by then and I totally buy it,
but I understand why plenty of fans do not. Without that episode, however, Dukat's total madness in the last season and a half would ring false to me.
but I understand why plenty of fans do not. Without that episode, however, Dukat's total madness in the last season and a half would ring false to me.
Ha, yep. My friend told me about this earlier. It's a great reference.
This is a really interesting way of phrasing it. I agree, there's no B-Plot but there is, in essence, a C-Plot.
The seasonally shifting credits routine is legitimately one of my favorite things about Babylon 5. I wish more shows would do it. Farscape changes its music for the third season (and changing Crichton's narration for the third and fourth seasons) which is cool. But Babylon 5 changes everything, every time.
4 > 3 > 5 > 1 > 2 for me, going off of memory, for the "OPs". But my off-site Babylon 5 diehard friend agrees with you on 5 being best; I feel I should be fair and tell you that, ha.
I'm noticing this as well. I majored in anthropology, so rewatching/rereading space opera and high/dark fantasy has been very rewarding for me. I look for cultural cues in every nook and cranny. There's plenty to be found within each of the major races, to be sure, but none of them actually carry a complete image of something from the real world except the Centauri.
He's a well-connected wash-up. I like that explanation, too.
BigWeather
Member
Babylon 5 is my favorite sci-fi TV show of all time. I remember tuning in for the pilot with my wife and my best friend and in subsequent years after each episode dissecting, postulating, etc. Kind of like what people did with say Lost but in this case it actually paid off! Yeah, S1 is a little rough and S5 a bit weak (but that's to be expected when they expected to be cancelled so crammed S4 and S5 into S4 then were given the fifth year they always wanted) but I'm hard pressed to come up with much better world building in sci-fi. At least not "hard(ish)" sci-fi.
Anyhow, I haven't seen it (well, in one go) since it originally aired. I've held off on owning the show for a couple of reasons: 1) waiting for blu-ray, 2) frustration that while the show was filmed in widescreen the effects were generated (on Amigas!) in fullscreen (yeah, I get why, but I guess I always hoped they'd regenerate them). I've given up,though -- fewer TV shows are coming out on blu-ray so what hope do we have that they'd ever do B5. Also, I don't think anyone will undergo the effort to re-do all of the space scenes in widescreen (heck, are the original wireframes, etc. even still around?).
Soooo... What is the version to own? Amazon has a "complete" set for $104 that seems to have everything but two of the movies. This is no longer on streaming, right?
This thread has me really, really wanting to watch / read along with you. Major props JeffZero for this thread!
Edit: Also I'm *still* bummed about the cancelled Starfury space combat sim that was supposed to come out in the late-90s. Got a poster (sadly very beat up now) advertising it from E3.
Anyhow, I haven't seen it (well, in one go) since it originally aired. I've held off on owning the show for a couple of reasons: 1) waiting for blu-ray, 2) frustration that while the show was filmed in widescreen the effects were generated (on Amigas!) in fullscreen (yeah, I get why, but I guess I always hoped they'd regenerate them). I've given up,though -- fewer TV shows are coming out on blu-ray so what hope do we have that they'd ever do B5. Also, I don't think anyone will undergo the effort to re-do all of the space scenes in widescreen (heck, are the original wireframes, etc. even still around?).
Soooo... What is the version to own? Amazon has a "complete" set for $104 that seems to have everything but two of the movies. This is no longer on streaming, right?
This thread has me really, really wanting to watch / read along with you. Major props JeffZero for this thread!
Edit: Also I'm *still* bummed about the cancelled Starfury space combat sim that was supposed to come out in the late-90s. Got a poster (sadly very beat up now) advertising it from E3.
Had a little bit of a lull today. I'm watching "TKO" tonight (oh boy) and I'll do a write-up tomorrow!
That's a cool way of describing it. I agree!
Awesome post! I'm happy to have given you some fun read-through! I totally think you should join us in a rewatch. We've got like five or six people doing it at this point, which rocks.
I wish I had been old enough to have had such an experience with Babylon 5. I did watch almost every episode with my grandmother, and I had favorite characters, favorite episodes, the whole nine yards, but I was barely 9 years old when it ended so I didn't have friend group hangout events and between-ep discussion. I've had a blast rewatching the series as an adult though and seeing it again through wide first-time eyes, though!
That's a cool way of describing it. I agree!
Awesome post! I'm happy to have given you some fun read-through! I totally think you should join us in a rewatch. We've got like five or six people doing it at this point, which rocks.
I wish I had been old enough to have had such an experience with Babylon 5. I did watch almost every episode with my grandmother, and I had favorite characters, favorite episodes, the whole nine yards, but I was barely 9 years old when it ended so I didn't have friend group hangout events and between-ep discussion. I've had a blast rewatching the series as an adult though and seeing it again through wide first-time eyes, though!
BlackLagoon
Member
Ah, Gerrit Graham, another of those actors who kept showing up everywhere in the 90s. Wonder if he retired or something after Now and Again got cancelled in 2000, very few credits in the last two decades.
It's a shame nobody's meme-ified that scene. Seems applicable to a lot of situations. "I want it all back the way it was."
Sigh, no they didn't. I can't for the life of me understand how this misconception came to be so wide-spread and long lasting. To repeat myself from earlier in the thread: Only a small part of season 5 was moved into season 4. S4 was basically going to end with Intersections in Real Time (
Sheridan being tortured
the end of the war with Earth would finish during the first part of season 5 while Byron is setting up shop on B5
a certain cast departure aside.
Warner demanded the production crew turn over all copies of the CGI data after the show ended, and then proceeded loose them all sometime during the 2000s. So aside from some "illicit" models recovered from an artist who worked on the B5 game, it's all gone.
Also, I believe the pilot was the only episode with CG generated mostly on Amigas. They started replacing them with Pentium PCs and DEC Alpha workstations for the series.
It should be on that go90 thing for those in America at least.
It almost got a hail mary as an original Xbox launch title, but Havas, Sierra's new parent company, was a bunch of dicks and wouldn't sell the rights to the people trying to make it happen until it was too late. To think they filmed a bunch of FMV for it at the B5 studio, written by Christy Marx (Grail) and directed by Janet Greek (The Coming of Shadows), and now that footage is (at best) just rotting away in Activision's basement.
Just in time for the glorious return of Zima!
BigWeather
Member
Yeah, definitely going to re-watch, just have to find the right version. How are you watching? I am curious if I'll perceive it any differently at 45 (with adult kids) versus in my early 20s (with no kids). I might even convince my wife and my best friend (still my best friend) to do the re-watch with me. =)
BigWeather
Member
That's interesting -- I don't know how that misconception became so wide-spread. Maybe because tonally S4 felt so different from S5 (what with the B-plot being promoted to the only plot). Also, my perception may come from at the time hearing that no, it wasn't getting renewed for S5 and, what with S4 being soooo arc-heavy, surely S4 was S4+S5. Reinforced when we did get a S5 and it seemed so much slower paced.
That's a damn shame. Though I imagine the models could be recreated (though it'd be time consuming) if WB were motivated. Which of course they won't be. B5 won't get a reboot like so many shows have, sadly. Was likely too niche to begin with and with so many of the main actors gone. =(
Ah, had no idea. Thanks for the info!
Fantastic! I'll use that for now. As far as owning it, anyone know what the collection to get is?
Uggggh! That would've probably been enough for me to go XBox rather than PS2 at the time.
weemadarthur
Member
Jeff catching up to me has me running scared, and watching Eyes.
OMG the first thing I see is Jeffrey Combs. He actually is a nice looking dude, why does Star Trek insist on painting him blue?
The second thing is an evil guy. You can tell because he is scarred. And sounds like Jeremy Irons. And the camera lingers on his face while he goes Grrrr just in case you missed it.
So I learned a couple things.
Don't push Sinclair unless you can cite section and subsection of the law code better than he can.
Don't send a pissed off Ivanova out to drink alone, although this should have been obvious. Hmmm. Maybe Garibaldi didn't forget her, maybe he just wanted to see what would happen.
And Jeffrey Combs is always there for everyone to beat on. Poor guy.
OMG the first thing I see is Jeffrey Combs. He actually is a nice looking dude, why does Star Trek insist on painting him blue?
The second thing is an evil guy. You can tell because he is scarred. And sounds like Jeremy Irons. And the camera lingers on his face while he goes Grrrr just in case you missed it.
So I learned a couple things.
Don't push Sinclair unless you can cite section and subsection of the law code better than he can.
Don't send a pissed off Ivanova out to drink alone, although this should have been obvious. Hmmm. Maybe Garibaldi didn't forget her, maybe he just wanted to see what would happen.
And Jeffrey Combs is always there for everyone to beat on. Poor guy.
BigWeather
Member
Regarding the Lurker's Guide, wasn't that on a server called hyperion or its link contained hyperion or somesuch? Lurker's Guide was the first Internet site I ever visited, the day I got the Internet at home in the late 90s. It was a revelation. Sure, I had used the Internet, like Usenet, in college, but this was different. I remember back then we got connected through our newspaper company and part of signing up is you had to take a one hour class at some rented place in a strip mall to learn how to use Netscape Navigator and e-mail. Boggles the mind to think of that today, haha.
The villain of this episode is portrayed by Geroge Martin's son, the Beatles manager G. Martin not the writer. This was, by far, the worst acting i saw in this show, i was laughing all the time.
I remember Combs playing the the Weyoun the Vorta Diplomat, he did a great job there. He did well in this episode too but i mostly know him from his DS9 role.
Also, i really like Ivanova as a character. A woman, an officer no one wants to mess with.
BlackLagoon
Member
Yeah, it was hyperion.com, the Hyperion class heavy cruisers (seen in A Voice in the Wilderness Part 2) were named after it. There was a dispute over the name Hyperion, so they moved to midwinter.com in early 97.
There are two things about the opening of Season 5 that puts it over the top. The first is the way the years visually fade into and out of the picture, and the second is how the quotes and the imagery is a retelling of the first four seasons.
I loved how the costumes of the Centauri are based on Napoleonic French fashion. You'd think that 18th century French and Imperial Rome don't mix that well, but it flows together rather well.
On a side note, I'm reading a historical novel right now, and the sheer level of cultural detail in it is incredible. Sadly there's no way for a fictional world to have such detail, but I'm glad that Babylon 5 tried as hard as it did. It really does make the universe feel more authentic.
I don't know if there's any need to go with a Blu-ray version of the show. The show was shot pretty dark so that they could cut corners with the sets and I hear that it's already noticeable on the DVDs.
You'd have wanted to play that on PC with a proper joystick anyways. Into the Fire controlled differently than any other space before or since, but there's no doubt that it would have been pretty complex.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
ive been making my way slowly through season 2. Its been pretty good so far. Not going to comment on a lot of stuff until what i want to talk about is current with the threads pace.
One thing i did not know about Babylon 5 before starting this was Harlan Ellisons involvement. JMS created something great and having Ellison to spitball with sounds like the best possible outcome for keeping things straight,
edit:
Also Londos ability to cheat at gambling using a certain prehensile appendage is totally wtf lol
One thing i did not know about Babylon 5 before starting this was Harlan Ellisons involvement. JMS created something great and having Ellison to spitball with sounds like the best possible outcome for keeping things straight,
edit:
Also Londos ability to cheat at gambling using a certain prehensile appendage is totally wtf lol
Worf's foster father visits Susan Ivanova, revealing himself as a Russian Jew who was close with her dearly departed father, in this -- the nonstop beat-drop heavy-metal intergalactic martial arts phenomenon of the century. Kick back, order an extra-large with mushrooms and little Centauri anchovies, and admire the keen fighting spirit of the galaxy's biggest moderately racist underdog success story. You won't want to miss a single frame of "TKO".
Garibaldi's got a friend named Walker Smith. Walker is a well-known martial arts superstar who stood up for himself against the tedious bureaucracies of the boxing world's seedy inner circle, which earned him a ticket to B5 and a career filled with ruin. He really wants to participate in the Mutai, and you should care because you're a red-blooded lover of grown men losing blood. There's nothing quite like Walker Smith. His dialogue includes "I'm a spaceman" and telling Garibaldi to "stroke off". He arrives on a passenger liner called the White Star and immediately begins calling aliens "snakeheads" and "ET". He's grossly intolerant of anyone who suggests he merely step away from the ring, even when that ring involves a deadly sport not fit for human physicality. Walker is no Ranger.
An older fellow who is definitely Asian because "TKO" is most assuredly stereotypical continually tells Walker Smith to stand down but Walker Smith is later approached by a more sagely fellow who is definitely something of a Native American stereotype. The sagely fellow won't actually do anything but mimic Garibaldi for the remainder of this riveting episode. Walker, our hero, our idol, our Holyfield, will train for the big day he'll break his bones. We'll cheer him on.
Ivanova's religion is explored when her Rabbi friend tries to convince her to sit Shivah. She insists her duties do not allow for such occasions, so he talks to Sinclair and asks if she can be excused. As this is a standalone episode of science fiction series Babylon 5, the station is allowed to experience a lull in trouble, so Sinclair approves. I want to break character for a moment to say that I strongly approve of these religious scenes for reasons I've mentioned in a previous write-up. In fact, the entire Ivanova plotline in "TKO" would have been genuinely strong if it weren't for one pivotal mistake we'll address in a later paragraph. That's right, I'm literally teasing you with future content in which I express disappointment in a 23-year-old editing decision. Get on my level, Electronic Arts.
Pictured above: Chakotay, too, must box.
Half a dozen insults and one gratuitous beat-up scene later, Walker Smith is primed and ready for the ass-kicking star-studded buzzword of the 23rd century, so we brace ourselves for his date with destiny. He gets punched in the head at least twenty times by a quiet, powerful alien champion. I'm no boxer, but I got in more than my fair share of scrapes as a young street rat and I'm pretty sure our fair Walker would have been dead before the tenth blow. That's okay, though. It's okay that the choreography in this episode is painful both literally and figuratively; it's okay that the producers fail to understand or willfully choose to ignore that fighting is not supposed to involve two people throwing full force into temple punches again and again and again until one or both of them has had enough. It's fine.
Now here's where the Ivanova B-Plot begins to quake beneath the weight of Walker Smith. I mentioned editing but neglected to explain. Director John C. Flinn III had a vision called dissonance. You see, steely-nerved Susan finally lets free the floodgates. She cries, and Claudia Christian is terrific. She lets the anguish and bitterness escape her eyes, forgiving her father in front of six extras, a charismatic Rabbi, and Jeffrey Sinclair himself. But the scene is smacked in the head like a poorly-constructed fistfight. Multiple times during Susan's breakdown, we're zipped back to Walker Smith spewing blood. Now back to directorial vision. This is probably supposed to be deep. It's likely some sort of metaphor for letting go of one's something-or-other in order to reach a more enlightened spiritual whatever-the-fuck. That's cute and all but the results are unpleasant. Instead of inner awakening, I felt like I was the one being hammered by a so-called snakehead. I do not wish to feel snake-hammered whilst attempting to empathize with a favorite character's pitch-perfect catharsis. This isn't why I signed up for Babylon 5. This is Babywrong 5.
In the end, Walker's name is immortalized, chanted by a crowd full of episodic aliens and a lanky grinning Centauri, and he walks off the stage to the tune of his billion-dollar sponsor, the one and only Zima. He's woven his way into our hearts, us sports fans, like a worm that tugs at our insides and provides us with a certain sporadic discomfort. And as the credits roll, and Garibaldi says he's the best, we realize that the point of "TKO" has escaped us for over two decades. It isn't about the will to win, it isn't about the chance to grieve. It's about Michael Garibaldi's false idols, and it's seeding the darkness that will haunt him for years to come.
It's enough to drive a man to drinking.
I promise I'll post replies to various posts when I'm next at my laptop tonight. Just scrambling to get this latest write-up submitted for the time being!
It exists all right. While most fans would pick "Infection" as the weakest episode of Season 1, but I'd choose "TKO" as the winner. It might be a perception thing because the previous episode was "Signs and Portent" and I remember dying to find out what the follow up was going to be, and it ended up being this stinker.
For my money, the Ivanova B plot is actually quite decent, and I remember being entertained by it, but the A plot was such a drag that any good qualities get overwhelmed.
I don't know if there really is a way to make a boxing episode work. The problem is that unless boxing is a major theme in the show to begin with, the audience is supposed to start investing into an event that probably has never been brought up before and will never be brought up again.
BlackLagoon
Member
Yeah, he poked his nose wherever he wanted. When you get midways through the third season you might want to watch out for "Sparky the Computer" which Garibaldi has some fun times with...
Flinn was of course normally B5's director of photography, but got to direct a few episodes. He also got to stretch his acting muscles a few times, like in the next episodes where he wants his day in court...