starting s3
Jul. 5th, 2010 12:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivendellrose*Flails* I need happier B5 icons, seriously, because I am so damned happy about starting S3. S2 is great, very fun and wonderful, but S3 is where my poor, confused little heart starts bouncing up and down going "yes! This is it! This is the show as I really remember it, this right here!" And the exuberance even seems to translate over to the production - it's like the whole production team is pointing at things and saying "look! We have a budget! The walls aren't made of cardboard anymore! We've made it!" ♥♥♥
Ahem. And now for the spoilery version.
Matters of Honor
Once again, the CGI takes a step forward over the break between seasons, and it is a beautiful and good thing. Things are looking a lot less fuzzy, a lot less like I should be holding an old Nintendo controller for the bits outside the station. Also, the called out the change to the Medlab set in-show, which pleases me, as, hello, it's pretty obvious that's not the same set anymore. For one thing, the stippling on the wall no longer looks like it was done by one really tired and cranky set guy with a single worn-out sponge. Bless them, they're moving up in the world. Speaking of which, I had to cheat and check the Guide to confirm that they did definitely update Delenn's makeup in this season. Which is good. I was getting a little sick of the edges of her crest trying to peel off her face - every time she got a close-up I felt like I needed to reach out and try to press the damned things down. Granted, this is not a show that was intended to be seen on modern huge-ass TVs, but... still. Also, I was pleased to notice that no, I hadn't misremembered - the back of her hair does appear to be growing out of the bottom of the crest, now. Still no reasonable explanation for the bit at the top that looks like it's growing under the crest, but I'm pretending that it's a very fancy arranging job or something. Oh, god, and costumes. The fabric of Delenn's costume doesn't look cheap anymore! Hooray! It moves! It swishes! And my god that green dress looks nice on her, but that's beside the point (or is it?). And Lennier isn't wearing couch-fabric anymore! It's all so wonderful!
And we finally have Marcus. My B5 cast is complete. Seriously, I was missing that faintly-creepy little bastard so much at the end of S2, I nearly cheered when the episode selection made it obvious he'd be getting introduced in this first episode of the season. Goodness, he's so grim, though, early on. "I don't talk much unless I have something to say." Right, I'll make a note of that for later. I suppose that making jokes about the Vorlon god Boojit or whatever it was was a vital and well-thought-out piece of oratory, then. :P But I :P because I love him. ♥
I also :P because the Tolkien in him was so obvious that the Boy, after only the teaser sequence, said "he's pretty much Strider, isn't he? So... he's one of the Rangers, I'm guessing?" Yes, yes he is. ♥ He even meets Delenn and Lennier under suspicious circumstances in a bar. Bless. And Lennier tests Delenn's drink for her (♥) because apparently if anyone's going to go into a psychotic, paranoid rage... we'd rather it be him? Because we can easily incapacitate him because he thinks holding his fingers in a funny version of the "rock on" gesture is a good battle tactic? Oh, whatever, it's sweet and gallant and I love him anyway. I will say, however, that Marcus' Clever Ploy of summoning them to the bar, bringing them non-alcoholic drinks, talking rather openly for a while about the Rangers, and then getting up and leading them away (while Delenn wears her oh-so-subtle 'don't look at me I'm a member of the Grey Council!' cloak with the hood on and Lennier wears his with the hood down because he's only worried about getting something nasty on his pretty new rust-colored robes (They're actual fabric, not upholstery! He doesn't want to get them dirty!)... all of this is clearly a good way to not draw the attention of anyone in Down Below, right? Of course it is. Which is why they're immediately followed and then attacked. Oh, Marcus. You're not really very good at this, are you?
But I don't mind, because them getting attacked in the corridor leads to something wonderful - Delenn actually gets to kick ass for once. ♥ So fantastic. Granted, Mira goes a little bit overboard with the heavy-breathing after (really, sweetie, the fight only took a few minutes, and you're not meant to be having an asthma attack - just tone it back a few notches, please), but I don't care! Delenn got to fight with the denn'bok! And she did a good job! Let's all sit back and make a note of this, please - Delenn can fight on her own. This will be important later, as the producers (I'm looking at you, JMS) will clearly forget it entirely.
And then we get Delenn's first courtship gift to Sheridan - an absolutely gorgeous new spaceship. God only knows how she got this thing built, since last we heard she didn't have all that much influence left on Minbar, but... all things so far in this season considered, I think she all of a sudden remembered "oh yeah, I still have friends and favors to call in, and I can still be haughty and bully and manipulate people with the best of them! I can do whatever I want as long as it doesn't involve the Warrior caste!" ♥
"We've been having some difficulty with the Warrior caste" clearly means "They don't like me, Neroon is in my old spot on the council and he hates me because Branmer loved me more than he loved him, and they would have rather killed themselves than given you one of our ships, anyway. So we'll use the Religious caste!" ...Because, now that I think of it, Sheridan still doesn't know the Worker caste exists, does he? o_O Do we ever get that bit cleared up for him, or is it kind of like that tiny little "oh, didn't I mention that I was the one who ordered your species utter destruction?" detail that Delenn keeps leaving out of conversations?
Someone should probably have told JMS that making up your own language for your cultures really only works when you're, you know, a linguist. It's better avoided by the civilian population, honestly. You just end up making your poor actors sound like morons. Not that there's anything wrong with the bits of Minbari we get, it's just... it doesn't sound like a real language. Like, at all. I don't even know how to explain why it doesn't (I really do need to make![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
maymargaret watch this show, as I'm sure she could write me a lovely essay about what's wrong with Adronato), but it's clearly wrong on the ear. And in Billy Mumy's mouth, poor guy, although that might also be the strong mid-western accent. Whenever we get him saying something and Delenn saying the same thing it's kind of... awkward. And then I have to remind myself that lots of planets have a north. (This subject (and my totally fail attempts to play linguist) makes a return of sorts in "Passing Through Gethsemene.")
Londo appears to think he can just tell Morden "oh, we've got everything we need, bye now!" Ha. Ha. Ha. Yeah, I'm sure that'll work really well. The fire trick with the map when Morden is showing what territory his 'associates' want to claim is pretty nifty-looking, though. And I love the nearly-subliminal noises we get from the Shadows when Morden starts to walk away and then turns back with, "oh, one more thing."
"Why do we not want the Shadows to know we can make a jump-point?" Because we're not stupid, guys, and we'd like to have a capability that our enemies don't know about. Helloooooo. It does not take a tactical genius to figure this out - trust me, I'm totally shit at chess.
Awwww, G'Kar is so happy toruin everything finally find someone who believes him about the Shadows. Poor G'Kar. And then we get the end, with Morden and the Psi-Cop hanging out in the office at Earth Dome. Ouch. I'd forgotten about that bit.
Convictions
Lennier will do penance for lying and telling the annoying guy in the docking bay lobby that he has a terrible, deathly contagious disease. Oh, Lennier. Please watch that tiny little amoral streak of yours. It's going to cause you trouble in the future. But you're so adorable now that I just can't bring myself to care. ♥
And then he is struck byforeshadowing of his eventual humiliating downfall a random explosion. In all seriousness, I have to say... having seen this scene again, with the events of "Objects at Rest" in mind... I may have been ever so slightly too hard on JMS in terms of that event. This scene is totally the other side of that coin, and while it pains me horribly to admit it, when viewed with the latter in mind, it does make some degree of sense. I still want to slap him for the whole "diary" concept (because that was just plain stupid and out of absolutely nowhere), but this scene combined with the later one does make for a really interesting view into Lennier's descent. I will hold out judgment on whether the rest of the descent makes sense this time around. So far, all I can really say was that this scene was absolutely agonizing for me in context of the future.
Bless her, Delenn is so distraught at Lennier's situation (although really, banging feebly on the glass? Could they at least have gotten something tough enough that Mira could throw her weight behind that so she didn't look quite so ineffectual and stupid? Minbari are supposed to be much stronger than they appear (...or at least they were in the original show notes - did we abandon that concept at some point along with the androgyny?), and her tapping at the glass just looked silly. Give the poor woman something she can really bang on, please. And Londo, demanding that Franklin give Lennier the best possible treatment 'because he saved my life.' He's such a bombastic little shit, even when he means well. I think they're going to be trying a bit harder to save Lennier because of who he is, Londo, not because he saved your pathetic little life. Not to mention, I rather suspect that Delenn probably has more weight to throw around on this issue than you do at the moment.
Although if it's money we're talking about (and I do sometimes forget that's actually a possibility, since this isn't Star Trek) I wonder if Delenn might not be in such good shape, given she may very well be paying for the White Star and its crew out of pocket? How does that whole thing work? I mean, she must be funding them somehow, and presumably it's not through the Minbari government because, hey, Delenn's not really part of that anymore. One doesn't imagine that Minbari, with their "service is a sacred duty" ethic pay their ambassadors and so on very well, but perhaps she's saved up a lot of her discretionary budget? And when, exactly, did I become the sort of person who looks at a show like this and starts thinking things like "I wonder how they can afford a standing crew for a ship that they have to hide?" Whatever. If Londo wants to pay Lennier's medical bills with his blood money from working with the Shadows, I have no problem with that.It'll give Delenn more money to use when she buys Sheridan his super-special Fleet of Awesome wedding present.
I forgot to mention earlier (because I was distracted by the sudden improvement of the special effects etc.) but Sheridan is rather testy this season. So much so that it gets called out later by Ivanova and Franklin. He's also lost some weight, presumably because he was tired ofJMS Franklin harassing him about his tummy. Altogether looking more heroic and leaderly, and feeling that he must show it off by unbuttoning his shirt and sticking his link down his pants. Oh, Sheridan. ♥
"Sheridan stuffs his link down his pants and agrees to go in to negotiate." I just had to reiterate that point in a direct quote from the Guide, because... a sentence like that just begs to be quoted. Particularly out of context. So perfect.
I do love Londo staying by Lennier's side in Medlab - it's very sweet and charming ("because then I will have to start talking again, and we don't want that, do we?" or something like that ♥), and it's a good moment to be reminded that yes, we really do still like Londo, even though he's a total bastard at the moment. Also a very nice contrast with the beautiful and glorious bit with him and G'Kar stuck in the lift. I admit - I have a special fondness for these scenes, as the first one in which G'Kar laughs and laughs and laughs about getting to see Mollari die without having to so much as touch him was my very first exposure to B5, long long ago when I accidentally ran across it flipping channels as a teenager. I remember having not the faintest clue what was going on, but loving the big orange guy anyway. Because he's just so damned adorable. And he still is. ♥ The Boy and I laughed out loud along with him during this scene - it's just too perfect. Particularly the (slightly eerie) reprise of the Fishies song. "Not many fishies left in the sea / Not many fishies, just Londo and me." Oh, G'Kar. ♥♥♥
I find it interesting that, particularly in the 90s, every actor in the world seemed to have the same way of playing crazy, particularly crazy-bomber crazy. See, you speak very softly and calmly for a little while AND THEN YOU SHOUT AND SPIT AND SCREAM!!!!! With FIVE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!! BECAUSE THAT! MEANS! CRAZY!!!!! And then you speak very calmly again. Was this something to do with the Oklahoma City bombing, or Timothy McVeigh, or...? Just some kind of acting zeitgeist? And do people still do it? I just realized it's been so long since I've watched much of a current TV show that I probably wouldn't know. Maybe that's still the accepted way of establishing "by the way, this character is bugnuts!" and I just missed the memo.
Lennier is alive! (The Boy said he was worried for a bit that this was the Terrible Thing that I'd admitted happens to Lennier. I laughed at him. A lot. Because no, this is much less horrible than what really happens to him, alas, poor boy.) And is reawakened by the memory of the silly joke Londo told him! "Heard it," he tells Franklin, looking extremely tired. ♥ I also note that he holds off on waking up until Delenn is there (awww... finally. Where the hell has she been this whole episode, anyway? Trying to transfer funds so that she wouldn't have to let Londo pay Lennier's bills?) And then says perhaps he should have stayed in the coma. Bless. ♥ Lennier also says he saved Londo because "all life is sacred. But when the object of your actions does not share that belief... ahh, I fear that I have served the present by sacrificing the future." To which I say... sort of. And also that he saved Londo by instinct - he clearly didn't have time to think in that situation, whereas, with this doubt in his mind, one wonders if perhaps he would have still saved Londo if he had had time to think. One also wonders whether this thought here has any bearing on his future decision about Sheridan. I doubt it does, but... it's an interesting parallel, and something to keep an eye one while I'm chewing my fingernails and wishing things would magically turn out better this time through.
A Day in the Strife
Argh, look, it's the beginning of Franklin's drug-addiction plot! It's handled pretty well here, and I do like that Garibaldi notices and tries to talk to him about it because, hey, addiction is something that Garibaldi knows a lot about and he's right that they have a lot in common that is the root of both their problems. It's sweet that he's trying to help. (Also,icepixie, you'll be happy to know that in the scene where Ivanova and Michael are horsing around in the bar or whatever (with swing music and swing dancing in the background! I'm so glad that swing will be back!) she grabs Garibaldi's knee. Thank you ever-so-much for passing your contagious OTP over to me, I would probably have never noticed that before. I will be dropping this, however, so that I can properly appreciate adorable Marcus... whenever he comes back.)
Annoyingly sanctimonious Narn wants G'Kar's job, is willing to toady to Londo for it in an exceedingly awkward and uncomfortable scene made ever so slightly more uncomfortable by my suspicion that the actor underneath all that makeup is a person of color. Um. I can't help noticing that I'm pretty sure all the "good" Narn in this episode... are played by white guys. I'm just guessing here, but judging by facial structure... I really hope I'm wrong about that, that's all I'm saying. And no, I'm not going to IMDB to confirm/deny, because if it's a confirm I will spend the rest of the series paying attention to that and getting increasingly annoyed if it continues, and I'd really rather not, thank you.
Anyway. Good things! Sheridan gets a visit from his Narn buddy from the Strieb ship (haha, Streib, Whitley Streiber, "Close Encounters," yes, we get it, JMS). Sheridan says he's not sure what Earth Force would say if he started showing up places with a Narn bodyguard. Awesome Narn guy says that they would say "There is a man who will live to be 150." Awww. But we are saved some awkwardness, because he's going to go off now and be G'Kar's bodyguard, I think, isn't he? I seem to remember something about that.
On a totally unrelated G'Kar note... how much do I love his new costume with the awesome motley leather vest? So very much. ♥ It swishes and swoops, and Andreas is an actor who should always have something to swish and swoop. Because he's just awesome like that. He doesn't over-use it, but it adds that extra little bit of drama to the way he moves, and it's a beautiful piece of costuming anyway. The Boy registered disappointment, however, that G'Kar has lost his shiny green breastplate.
And Londo is sending his conscience away to go live on Minbar. Poor Vir. And Londo misses Delenn's friendship, which she seems to indicate wasn't ever there to begin with. Poor Londo. Hell, poor Delenn, too, if for no better reason than that she seems to feel like she needs to insist that they were never friendly. (Friends, I'll easily believe that they never were. They were friendly at times, however. Or possibly Delenn just figured out that she could manipulate Londo by pretending to be friendly with him. Knowing her, that's always an option.)
The Death-by-Arrogance probe deserves a quick call-out, too. I love the idea of a species so paranoid and arrogant that they send out a probe that asks almost 600 questions, which will then blow up any people it finds who can answer the questions. One does wonder, what if you send the wrong answers? Will the probe let you live, or just blow you up anyway?
Passing Through Gethsemene
First note: Are Brad Dourif and Bill Mumy, like, from the same small town in the middle of the midwest? Because I swear to god, they have the same accent. It was intensely weird listening to the two of them talking about God and Valen and all of that, because completely lost track of the conversation at a few points because I was realizing that I could only barely tell their voices apart.
(Let's see... IMDB says Huntington, West Virginia, 1950 for Brad, faintly upper-class judging by his school and the fact that apparently his dad was a champion golf player, and for Bill... who has hilarious hair... blah blah band, blah blah "Space Cases," blah blah apparently he's in the DS9 episode "The Siege of AR-558"... oh, up at the top, DUH... California. So that'd be a "no," then. Ha. Might be a generational thing, as they were both born in the early 50s and what I'm hearing does read to me as a very classic 1950s kind of accent? Once again, I Am Not A Linguist, sigh. I stand by my statement that they have very similar voices and emphasis and all, however. Somehow. I'm just Very Wrong about why that might be.)
Lennier does rather a lot of the talking in that scene, anyway, despite the questions being asked of Delenn, which presumably is a good way to make up to Mira for all her great big huge 'let me tell you about the Shadows' speeches. And give Bill something to say. Which is undeniably a good thing, it's just rather amusing to watch their dynamic. My in-show interpretation is that letting him answer questions like this is Delenn's way of helping to train Lennier... and also her way of getting to space out and think about Sheridan and plot her next big move, while she's supposed to be working on ambassadorial stuff.
On another weird accents note, I think this is the first time we have a Centauri (the telepath) who doesn't even make a token effort at doing the awesome accent that Peter Jurasik made up for Londo. He's not wearing the fangs, either. Londo's right, the Centauri really are moving away from their great traditions of the past. :P
I really do like this episode - Brad Dourif has always been my favorite always-plays-a-crazy-killer actor, but, as that title notes, it's easy to figure out why he's in a show... because he always plays a crazy killer. So, not so much with the mystery even the first time around. Still, it's a neat story.
Plus, we get Lyta back! And she's crankier and creepier than ever! Seriously, I love Lyta despite all her creepiness and crankiness, entirely because she's not as whiny and woe-is-me as Talia. If someone had made Talia do the bit with the Centauri telepath, she would have had her hand stapled to her forehead, oh-my-corset-is-too-tight fainting spell breathy voice I'm so very dramatic... and I would have wanted to kill her. Not to mention she would have gone onto this sanctimonious crap about how it was against the rules. None of that from Lyta. Lyta does not care about the rules. Lyta does not particularly care that getting into the Centauri's mind gives her a headache. Lyta says she'll fry all his synapses if he doesn't let her in. And Lyta has gills, now, because Kosh is using her in some very interesting way that is obviously not at all sexual, nope, not a bit. Yeeeeaaaaaah. Creepy! But whatever. She's still my favorite telepath short of Bester, who is just fantastically evil and adorable and fun. And also coming back soon-ish, if I remember right. But that's the end of what I've seen for now. :D
Ahem. And now for the spoilery version.
Matters of Honor
Once again, the CGI takes a step forward over the break between seasons, and it is a beautiful and good thing. Things are looking a lot less fuzzy, a lot less like I should be holding an old Nintendo controller for the bits outside the station. Also, the called out the change to the Medlab set in-show, which pleases me, as, hello, it's pretty obvious that's not the same set anymore. For one thing, the stippling on the wall no longer looks like it was done by one really tired and cranky set guy with a single worn-out sponge. Bless them, they're moving up in the world. Speaking of which, I had to cheat and check the Guide to confirm that they did definitely update Delenn's makeup in this season. Which is good. I was getting a little sick of the edges of her crest trying to peel off her face - every time she got a close-up I felt like I needed to reach out and try to press the damned things down. Granted, this is not a show that was intended to be seen on modern huge-ass TVs, but... still. Also, I was pleased to notice that no, I hadn't misremembered - the back of her hair does appear to be growing out of the bottom of the crest, now. Still no reasonable explanation for the bit at the top that looks like it's growing under the crest, but I'm pretending that it's a very fancy arranging job or something. Oh, god, and costumes. The fabric of Delenn's costume doesn't look cheap anymore! Hooray! It moves! It swishes! And my god that green dress looks nice on her, but that's beside the point (or is it?). And Lennier isn't wearing couch-fabric anymore! It's all so wonderful!
And we finally have Marcus. My B5 cast is complete. Seriously, I was missing that faintly-creepy little bastard so much at the end of S2, I nearly cheered when the episode selection made it obvious he'd be getting introduced in this first episode of the season. Goodness, he's so grim, though, early on. "I don't talk much unless I have something to say." Right, I'll make a note of that for later. I suppose that making jokes about the Vorlon god Boojit or whatever it was was a vital and well-thought-out piece of oratory, then. :P But I :P because I love him. ♥
I also :P because the Tolkien in him was so obvious that the Boy, after only the teaser sequence, said "he's pretty much Strider, isn't he? So... he's one of the Rangers, I'm guessing?" Yes, yes he is. ♥ He even meets Delenn and Lennier under suspicious circumstances in a bar. Bless. And Lennier tests Delenn's drink for her (♥) because apparently if anyone's going to go into a psychotic, paranoid rage... we'd rather it be him? Because we can easily incapacitate him because he thinks holding his fingers in a funny version of the "rock on" gesture is a good battle tactic? Oh, whatever, it's sweet and gallant and I love him anyway. I will say, however, that Marcus' Clever Ploy of summoning them to the bar, bringing them non-alcoholic drinks, talking rather openly for a while about the Rangers, and then getting up and leading them away (while Delenn wears her oh-so-subtle 'don't look at me I'm a member of the Grey Council!' cloak with the hood on and Lennier wears his with the hood down because he's only worried about getting something nasty on his pretty new rust-colored robes (They're actual fabric, not upholstery! He doesn't want to get them dirty!)... all of this is clearly a good way to not draw the attention of anyone in Down Below, right? Of course it is. Which is why they're immediately followed and then attacked. Oh, Marcus. You're not really very good at this, are you?
But I don't mind, because them getting attacked in the corridor leads to something wonderful - Delenn actually gets to kick ass for once. ♥ So fantastic. Granted, Mira goes a little bit overboard with the heavy-breathing after (really, sweetie, the fight only took a few minutes, and you're not meant to be having an asthma attack - just tone it back a few notches, please), but I don't care! Delenn got to fight with the denn'bok! And she did a good job! Let's all sit back and make a note of this, please - Delenn can fight on her own. This will be important later, as the producers (I'm looking at you, JMS) will clearly forget it entirely.
And then we get Delenn's first courtship gift to Sheridan - an absolutely gorgeous new spaceship. God only knows how she got this thing built, since last we heard she didn't have all that much influence left on Minbar, but... all things so far in this season considered, I think she all of a sudden remembered "oh yeah, I still have friends and favors to call in, and I can still be haughty and bully and manipulate people with the best of them! I can do whatever I want as long as it doesn't involve the Warrior caste!" ♥
"We've been having some difficulty with the Warrior caste" clearly means "They don't like me, Neroon is in my old spot on the council and he hates me because Branmer loved me more than he loved him, and they would have rather killed themselves than given you one of our ships, anyway. So we'll use the Religious caste!" ...Because, now that I think of it, Sheridan still doesn't know the Worker caste exists, does he? o_O Do we ever get that bit cleared up for him, or is it kind of like that tiny little "oh, didn't I mention that I was the one who ordered your species utter destruction?" detail that Delenn keeps leaving out of conversations?
Someone should probably have told JMS that making up your own language for your cultures really only works when you're, you know, a linguist. It's better avoided by the civilian population, honestly. You just end up making your poor actors sound like morons. Not that there's anything wrong with the bits of Minbari we get, it's just... it doesn't sound like a real language. Like, at all. I don't even know how to explain why it doesn't (I really do need to make
maymargaret watch this show, as I'm sure she could write me a lovely essay about what's wrong with Adronato), but it's clearly wrong on the ear. And in Billy Mumy's mouth, poor guy, although that might also be the strong mid-western accent. Whenever we get him saying something and Delenn saying the same thing it's kind of... awkward. And then I have to remind myself that lots of planets have a north. (This subject (and my totally fail attempts to play linguist) makes a return of sorts in "Passing Through Gethsemene.") Londo appears to think he can just tell Morden "oh, we've got everything we need, bye now!" Ha. Ha. Ha. Yeah, I'm sure that'll work really well. The fire trick with the map when Morden is showing what territory his 'associates' want to claim is pretty nifty-looking, though. And I love the nearly-subliminal noises we get from the Shadows when Morden starts to walk away and then turns back with, "oh, one more thing."
"Why do we not want the Shadows to know we can make a jump-point?" Because we're not stupid, guys, and we'd like to have a capability that our enemies don't know about. Helloooooo. It does not take a tactical genius to figure this out - trust me, I'm totally shit at chess.
Awwww, G'Kar is so happy to
Convictions
Lennier will do penance for lying and telling the annoying guy in the docking bay lobby that he has a terrible, deathly contagious disease. Oh, Lennier. Please watch that tiny little amoral streak of yours. It's going to cause you trouble in the future. But you're so adorable now that I just can't bring myself to care. ♥
And then he is struck by
Bless her, Delenn is so distraught at Lennier's situation (although really, banging feebly on the glass? Could they at least have gotten something tough enough that Mira could throw her weight behind that so she didn't look quite so ineffectual and stupid? Minbari are supposed to be much stronger than they appear (...or at least they were in the original show notes - did we abandon that concept at some point along with the androgyny?), and her tapping at the glass just looked silly. Give the poor woman something she can really bang on, please. And Londo, demanding that Franklin give Lennier the best possible treatment 'because he saved my life.' He's such a bombastic little shit, even when he means well. I think they're going to be trying a bit harder to save Lennier because of who he is, Londo, not because he saved your pathetic little life. Not to mention, I rather suspect that Delenn probably has more weight to throw around on this issue than you do at the moment.
Although if it's money we're talking about (and I do sometimes forget that's actually a possibility, since this isn't Star Trek) I wonder if Delenn might not be in such good shape, given she may very well be paying for the White Star and its crew out of pocket? How does that whole thing work? I mean, she must be funding them somehow, and presumably it's not through the Minbari government because, hey, Delenn's not really part of that anymore. One doesn't imagine that Minbari, with their "service is a sacred duty" ethic pay their ambassadors and so on very well, but perhaps she's saved up a lot of her discretionary budget? And when, exactly, did I become the sort of person who looks at a show like this and starts thinking things like "I wonder how they can afford a standing crew for a ship that they have to hide?" Whatever. If Londo wants to pay Lennier's medical bills with his blood money from working with the Shadows, I have no problem with that.
I forgot to mention earlier (because I was distracted by the sudden improvement of the special effects etc.) but Sheridan is rather testy this season. So much so that it gets called out later by Ivanova and Franklin. He's also lost some weight, presumably because he was tired of
"Sheridan stuffs his link down his pants and agrees to go in to negotiate." I just had to reiterate that point in a direct quote from the Guide, because... a sentence like that just begs to be quoted. Particularly out of context. So perfect.
I do love Londo staying by Lennier's side in Medlab - it's very sweet and charming ("because then I will have to start talking again, and we don't want that, do we?" or something like that ♥), and it's a good moment to be reminded that yes, we really do still like Londo, even though he's a total bastard at the moment. Also a very nice contrast with the beautiful and glorious bit with him and G'Kar stuck in the lift. I admit - I have a special fondness for these scenes, as the first one in which G'Kar laughs and laughs and laughs about getting to see Mollari die without having to so much as touch him was my very first exposure to B5, long long ago when I accidentally ran across it flipping channels as a teenager. I remember having not the faintest clue what was going on, but loving the big orange guy anyway. Because he's just so damned adorable. And he still is. ♥ The Boy and I laughed out loud along with him during this scene - it's just too perfect. Particularly the (slightly eerie) reprise of the Fishies song. "Not many fishies left in the sea / Not many fishies, just Londo and me." Oh, G'Kar. ♥♥♥
I find it interesting that, particularly in the 90s, every actor in the world seemed to have the same way of playing crazy, particularly crazy-bomber crazy. See, you speak very softly and calmly for a little while AND THEN YOU SHOUT AND SPIT AND SCREAM!!!!! With FIVE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!! BECAUSE THAT! MEANS! CRAZY!!!!! And then you speak very calmly again. Was this something to do with the Oklahoma City bombing, or Timothy McVeigh, or...? Just some kind of acting zeitgeist? And do people still do it? I just realized it's been so long since I've watched much of a current TV show that I probably wouldn't know. Maybe that's still the accepted way of establishing "by the way, this character is bugnuts!" and I just missed the memo.
Lennier is alive! (The Boy said he was worried for a bit that this was the Terrible Thing that I'd admitted happens to Lennier. I laughed at him. A lot. Because no, this is much less horrible than what really happens to him, alas, poor boy.) And is reawakened by the memory of the silly joke Londo told him! "Heard it," he tells Franklin, looking extremely tired. ♥ I also note that he holds off on waking up until Delenn is there (awww... finally. Where the hell has she been this whole episode, anyway? Trying to transfer funds so that she wouldn't have to let Londo pay Lennier's bills?) And then says perhaps he should have stayed in the coma. Bless. ♥ Lennier also says he saved Londo because "all life is sacred. But when the object of your actions does not share that belief... ahh, I fear that I have served the present by sacrificing the future." To which I say... sort of. And also that he saved Londo by instinct - he clearly didn't have time to think in that situation, whereas, with this doubt in his mind, one wonders if perhaps he would have still saved Londo if he had had time to think. One also wonders whether this thought here has any bearing on his future decision about Sheridan. I doubt it does, but... it's an interesting parallel, and something to keep an eye one while I'm chewing my fingernails and wishing things would magically turn out better this time through.
A Day in the Strife
Argh, look, it's the beginning of Franklin's drug-addiction plot! It's handled pretty well here, and I do like that Garibaldi notices and tries to talk to him about it because, hey, addiction is something that Garibaldi knows a lot about and he's right that they have a lot in common that is the root of both their problems. It's sweet that he's trying to help. (Also,
icepixie, you'll be happy to know that in the scene where Ivanova and Michael are horsing around in the bar or whatever (with swing music and swing dancing in the background! I'm so glad that swing will be back!) she grabs Garibaldi's knee. Thank you ever-so-much for passing your contagious OTP over to me, I would probably have never noticed that before. I will be dropping this, however, so that I can properly appreciate adorable Marcus... whenever he comes back.)Annoyingly sanctimonious Narn wants G'Kar's job, is willing to toady to Londo for it in an exceedingly awkward and uncomfortable scene made ever so slightly more uncomfortable by my suspicion that the actor underneath all that makeup is a person of color. Um. I can't help noticing that I'm pretty sure all the "good" Narn in this episode... are played by white guys. I'm just guessing here, but judging by facial structure... I really hope I'm wrong about that, that's all I'm saying. And no, I'm not going to IMDB to confirm/deny, because if it's a confirm I will spend the rest of the series paying attention to that and getting increasingly annoyed if it continues, and I'd really rather not, thank you.
Anyway. Good things! Sheridan gets a visit from his Narn buddy from the Strieb ship (haha, Streib, Whitley Streiber, "Close Encounters," yes, we get it, JMS). Sheridan says he's not sure what Earth Force would say if he started showing up places with a Narn bodyguard. Awesome Narn guy says that they would say "There is a man who will live to be 150." Awww. But we are saved some awkwardness, because he's going to go off now and be G'Kar's bodyguard, I think, isn't he? I seem to remember something about that.
On a totally unrelated G'Kar note... how much do I love his new costume with the awesome motley leather vest? So very much. ♥ It swishes and swoops, and Andreas is an actor who should always have something to swish and swoop. Because he's just awesome like that. He doesn't over-use it, but it adds that extra little bit of drama to the way he moves, and it's a beautiful piece of costuming anyway. The Boy registered disappointment, however, that G'Kar has lost his shiny green breastplate.
And Londo is sending his conscience away to go live on Minbar. Poor Vir. And Londo misses Delenn's friendship, which she seems to indicate wasn't ever there to begin with. Poor Londo. Hell, poor Delenn, too, if for no better reason than that she seems to feel like she needs to insist that they were never friendly. (Friends, I'll easily believe that they never were. They were friendly at times, however. Or possibly Delenn just figured out that she could manipulate Londo by pretending to be friendly with him. Knowing her, that's always an option.)
The Death-by-Arrogance probe deserves a quick call-out, too. I love the idea of a species so paranoid and arrogant that they send out a probe that asks almost 600 questions, which will then blow up any people it finds who can answer the questions. One does wonder, what if you send the wrong answers? Will the probe let you live, or just blow you up anyway?
Passing Through Gethsemene
First note: Are Brad Dourif and Bill Mumy, like, from the same small town in the middle of the midwest? Because I swear to god, they have the same accent. It was intensely weird listening to the two of them talking about God and Valen and all of that, because completely lost track of the conversation at a few points because I was realizing that I could only barely tell their voices apart.
(Let's see... IMDB says Huntington, West Virginia, 1950 for Brad, faintly upper-class judging by his school and the fact that apparently his dad was a champion golf player, and for Bill... who has hilarious hair... blah blah band, blah blah "Space Cases," blah blah apparently he's in the DS9 episode "The Siege of AR-558"... oh, up at the top, DUH... California. So that'd be a "no," then. Ha. Might be a generational thing, as they were both born in the early 50s and what I'm hearing does read to me as a very classic 1950s kind of accent? Once again, I Am Not A Linguist, sigh. I stand by my statement that they have very similar voices and emphasis and all, however. Somehow. I'm just Very Wrong about why that might be.)
Lennier does rather a lot of the talking in that scene, anyway, despite the questions being asked of Delenn, which presumably is a good way to make up to Mira for all her great big huge 'let me tell you about the Shadows' speeches. And give Bill something to say. Which is undeniably a good thing, it's just rather amusing to watch their dynamic. My in-show interpretation is that letting him answer questions like this is Delenn's way of helping to train Lennier... and also her way of getting to space out and think about Sheridan and plot her next big move, while she's supposed to be working on ambassadorial stuff.
On another weird accents note, I think this is the first time we have a Centauri (the telepath) who doesn't even make a token effort at doing the awesome accent that Peter Jurasik made up for Londo. He's not wearing the fangs, either. Londo's right, the Centauri really are moving away from their great traditions of the past. :P
I really do like this episode - Brad Dourif has always been my favorite always-plays-a-crazy-killer actor, but, as that title notes, it's easy to figure out why he's in a show... because he always plays a crazy killer. So, not so much with the mystery even the first time around. Still, it's a neat story.
Plus, we get Lyta back! And she's crankier and creepier than ever! Seriously, I love Lyta despite all her creepiness and crankiness, entirely because she's not as whiny and woe-is-me as Talia. If someone had made Talia do the bit with the Centauri telepath, she would have had her hand stapled to her forehead, oh-my-corset-is-too-tight fainting spell breathy voice I'm so very dramatic... and I would have wanted to kill her. Not to mention she would have gone onto this sanctimonious crap about how it was against the rules. None of that from Lyta. Lyta does not care about the rules. Lyta does not particularly care that getting into the Centauri's mind gives her a headache. Lyta says she'll fry all his synapses if he doesn't let her in. And Lyta has gills, now, because Kosh is using her in some very interesting way that is obviously not at all sexual, nope, not a bit. Yeeeeaaaaaah. Creepy! But whatever. She's still my favorite telepath short of Bester, who is just fantastically evil and adorable and fun. And also coming back soon-ish, if I remember right. But that's the end of what I've seen for now. :D
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Date: 2010-07-05 09:30 pm (UTC)Re: Delenn's budget, though, I always figured the White Stars were supplied by the religious and worker castes, since those council members followed her out when she broke the council. But you'd think (and I often think this about all the races) that she'd have a full ambassadorial staff, not just one aide. Maybe she makes extra money pimping out Lennier.
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Date: 2010-07-05 10:55 pm (UTC)You're totally right about that. The only time we even see the subject getting discussed by them, that I can think of, is the little telepath girl in the first season, who wants to know how she'd get paid if she was to live with the telepaths on Minbar, and Delenn seems embarrassed by the whole subject, like it's very gauche or perhaps even a teensy bit obscene (if you wanted to stretch the point a bit).
I always figured the White Stars were supplied by the religious and worker castes, since those council members followed her out when she broke the council.
Good point, I'd forgotten about that. And the religious caste in particular is totally behind her about the war with the Shadows by that point, aren't they? So it would make sense they'd be willing to help.
But you'd think (and I often think this about all the races) that she'd have a full ambassadorial staff, not just one aide.
You really would, wouldn't you? It seems like an awfully bare-bones operation for all the races other than Humans. Of course, maybe all the races feel the same way about B5 as Londo and Vir say the Centauri do - like it was pretty much a joke, a good way to get rid of washed-up politicians and useless third sons (or whatever) who don't have any hope of anything better. Obviously Delenn's a bit of an outlier there, but that was because she had her whole Destiny in mind and needed to keep track of Sinclair/Valen.
Maybe she makes extra money pimping out Lennier.
Awwww, poor Lennier. And with as shocked as he looks about everything to do with anything sexual, too. *Hugs him*
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Date: 2010-07-05 10:35 pm (UTC)When I rewatched I was very surprised by how not-a-surprise Lennier's turn should have been. It was led up to, the entire time.
Also, I would like Delenn's green dress.
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Date: 2010-07-05 10:46 pm (UTC)They so were. There's subtext and then there's... I don't even know. They just were.
It was led up to, the entire time.
I still say it's shocking how far he goes, but... I don't know, I have a feeling that by the end I may not even believe that. I remember him being overtly jealous during S4 (possibly even as early as S3, although not in the bits I've gotten to, yet), particularly during the whole shal-fan or whatever it was called... the extremely unfortunate "woohoo" bit. And he's definitely both jealous and angry at a lot of points in S5, it just... threw me completely for a loop how far he took that anger, the first time. And the diary. Oh, god, the diary. Unless we actually see him scribbling away while listening to the 23rd century equivalent of Dashboard Confessional, or unless we're meaning something like
Also, I would like Delenn's green dress.
God, so would I. I'd like any of her 3rd season clothes, I think. Strangely, The Boy does not think she's attractive. I'm trying to figure out if he has the reverse of my xeno-kink, or what.
Edited to fix a typo.
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Date: 2010-07-05 10:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-05 10:58 pm (UTC)Of course, now I have the mental image of Lennier sitting around writing in his diary and listening to angsty pop music. It may never leave my head.
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Date: 2010-07-07 05:39 am (UTC)Also, icepixie, you'll be happy to know that in the scene where Ivanova and Michael are horsing around in the bar or whatever (with swing music and swing dancing in the background! I'm so glad that swing will be back!) she grabs Garibaldi's knee. Thank you ever-so-much for passing your contagious OTP over to me, I would probably have never noticed that before.
Contagious OTP! Bwah! I love that other people start seeing it after I point it out. (My evil plan is wooooooorking!) I actually got
And yeah, I noticed that the first time through. I was also shouting at the screen for Michael to ask her to dance. Siiiigh. Such a lost opportunity.
(And yes, swing dancing! Swing is my favorite ballroom dance, and I too am very happy it will be back!)
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Date: 2010-08-04 06:27 am (UTC)He's not wearing the fangs, either.
Oh, thank god someone else noticed the fangs. I wasn't sure if they're fake or not--is there confirmation somewhere?
Brad Dourif's episode was intensely predictable, wasn't it? I think it was mostly because he ALWAYS plays the crazy killers, but they also went out of their way to put in some foreshadowing and then place some blinking neon lights around it. There's him relating the Gethsemane story RIGHT THEN, and the news report that just HAPPENS to be about the mindwipe, and oh, gee, I can't IMAGINE what he's going to turn out to be and then have happen to him...
I love Lyta kind of a lot, even though she is nuttier than a fruitcake, and really, really cranky. And yes, she's way better than Talia. I wish she could've been in S1-2.