continuing s3
Jul. 12th, 2010 10:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivendellrose"Voices of Authority" through "Severed Dreams" - Spoilers for these episodes and the whole series through the cut.
Voices of Authority
Draal, while fruitier than a jello salad, is still adorable. Finding the First Ones, according to him, will be "fun!" Tell that to Ivanova - she does not seem to appreciate the humor of the situation.
Then there's Julie Musante, the Ministry of Peace political officer. I... kind of like her. I mean, she's amoral, vicious, and kind of obnoxious, but I enjoy her as a character, and... well, she makes Sheridan uncomfortable. And I still kind of enjoy people who do that, as fond as I am of him. Also, while her 'screw everything that moves' attitude is a bit... interesting, and I'm never quite sure what I think of her from a feminist point of view (painting overt female sexuality as bad and predatory, etc), I have to admit that I enjoy the hell out of the awkwardness when her clothes just sort of disappear in Sheridan's quarters. His expression so clearly says that he wishes he could run and hide behind Delenn. At least it does to me. *Coughs* And then, to make matters worse, Ivanova appears in his quarters... and reacts like she's walked in on her big brother snogging someone. As should be. One of the things that fills me with joy about this series is that there is never, but never, an attempt to paint Sheridan and Ivanova in an even faintly sexual light. They're friends, they're comrades, they'd die for each other, and I'd go so far as to say they love each other, but dear god, not that way. You don't see enough non-biologically-related relationships between men and women in fiction that fall into that category, and it's a good thing to see.
I also adore the conversation between Delenn and G'Kar as G'Kar tries to get Delenn to let him in on the secrets floating around the station. He's so charming and determined, and she so obviously has no interest whatsoever in chatting with him but can't politely get rid of him, apparently. "Hmm, look, I'm leaving the fruit stand... okay, fine, I'm seriously contemplating buying this random ugly gold chain. It's ugly... maybe I could use it as a belt? Hmm... it doesn't really go with my dress... are you still talking to me?" I don't know why, but I found that whole scene quite amusing.
And of course, the meat of the episode... Marcus and the beginning of his passion for Ivanova. Also the end of his early attempt to pretend to be stoic. Wow, he lasted, like, a whole episode. Now we have the Marcus I know and love, nattering on about how the First Ones are French and how, sure, he'll put a bucket on his head and pretend he's the Vorlon god Boojit. Fantastic. ♥ And Susan totally dissing these super powerful aliens until they get annoyed and agree to help. She's made of pure, iron-plated awesome, I swear.
Dust to Dust
I admit, my first thought on seeing this episode title on the menu was "huh?" But my second thought, on seeing G'Kar in the scene selection, was "ohhhhhh, THIS ONE." This one, also known as "G'Kar hits rock bottom, and begins his rather shocking bounce back up."
Of course, there's also the sort-of main plot with Bester, who is in full form in this episode. "You think of me as something bright and pleasant, filled with candy and toys for small children." Yes, Bester, that's exactly what Garibaldi means by thinking he'd like to use you as a pinata. Oh, how I love you.
This is also the episode with the single most ill-suited actor ever to play a Minbari. Seriously. Go to the scene where Sheridan & co. confront Bester with their handy mind-block of Minbari telepaths. The guy standing behind Sheridan during this scene? Looks like he was cast to play a Narn and then suffered an extreme makeup mishap. His face is too long, the nosepiece makes him look faintly cross-eyed, and he manages to look both drugged and somewhat constipated throughout the whole scene. Now, watch, now that I've said that someone will inform me that it's actually someone I adore, or some other thing that totally makes what I've said look totally asinine and bitchy, and yes, I've already been told that apparently they had a rotating stable of about 12 actors to play the various aliens, but... for god's sake, people. Surely someone could have seen him in that and gone "...uh, hang on, I think this one might not quite be what we're after. Maybe we should put him off to the side or something, where he won't be quite so distracting." Because honestly, I spent whole scene not so much listening to what Sheridan was saying as thinking "my god, there is a man who should never have been made up as a Minbari and might, in fact, be enough to cure me of my xeno-kink for the whole species."
...He wasn't, of course. But it was momentarily disturbing.
Kosh's... 'intervention,' I'll call it, on G'Kar seems a lot more morally disturbing than I'd remembered. G'Kar is already so screwed up in this episode, and then Kosh just tootles along, rips open his mind and sticks in visions of G'lan and his father and all other sorts of things in order to manipulate him, and inspires him with the knowledge that some (himself, presumably, or more generally the Narn) must be sacrificed in order for the rest to live. Um. I'm all for self-sacrifice, it's a great thing, and of course I adore what G'Kar becomes through this intervention, but... let's just say I'd forgotten in the time since my first viewing exactly how dubious it is that Kosh is just kind of like "doo dee doo, let's see... Here you go, have a religious experience and do what I want, k? Thnx bai."
Also, I love how we get a switch in this episode. It appears for a while that G'Kar has gone down the side of the bad, and that Bester might actually not be such a terrible guy to have on our side... aaand then the end of the episode clears everything back up by having G'Kar submit gracefully to justice and accept his punishment for his attack on Londo, while Bester reveals that dust is really a psi-corps production and that they're just pissed they've never gotten a high power telepath out of it and don't want it among non-human species. Just to make sure you don't start to trust him or anything silly like that. Don't worry, he's still evil!
Exogenesis
Not actually as terrible as I'd remembered, but still a pretty "meh" episode. Memorable mostly for one of the most appallingly weird lines of all the bizarre things that Marcus says over his tenure in the series. Naturally, it's of Ivanova. "I sense in her a key as yet unturned." Said in a tone that... I don't even know how it's supposed to sound, but I gotta say, it came off faintly pervy. Dude, Marcus... if anybody in this situation here is a key as yet unturned, it's you. We don't know it yet, but it's you.
Honestly, I'm not sure what the hell JMS was trying to do with that line, but.. it didn't work for me. And then Franklin's all "dude, you are SO not her type," which... did I miss the bit where Franklin knows Ivanova's 'type?' Or is he referring to the fact that Marcus isn't actually a horrible sleazy traitor who will break Ivanova's heart and try to destroy the station, because that's the only common thread I can think of between her two romantic interests we've seen so far (not to mention the third that we would have seen her go for if CC hadn't sort of back-handedly saved the day by leaving the show and thus ensuring that at least Ivanova would not be the one falling for the Ultimate Sleaze of the Universe, also known as Byron. Are we meant to take it that Ivanova and Franklin are close (something that I'd never particularly seen)? Are we meant to think that he's got a thing for her himself? Are we meant to think that he's rooting for her and Garibaldi? I have no freaking clue. This whole scene is a mystery to me.
I do love the bit where Marcus takes out the guy by having him activate the denn'bok right into his face. ♥ Don't get me wrong, even in this episode, I love Marcus. I always will. It's just that the whole "key as yet unturned" thing kind of tweaks me because it a) makes no sense, and b) reminds me of the asinine story of which we do not speak, so. You know. Anyway.
In other news, Ivanova sucks at subtlety. She's trying to figure out whether Corwin can be trusted... so she first asks him out on what sounds like a date, panics the poor boy, then asks what sound like questions leading to something totally different and then kicks him straight out without even letting him finish his coffee when he gives her exactly the answer she sounds like she's fishing for, like any good (and panicked) young officer would. Seriously, wtf. And then she throws the mysteriously-appearing roses right at Marcus, with a nasty remark so ambiguous... that he thinks she's encouraging him. Hoooooo boy is that ever the beginning of a problem, right there. The Boy's comment on all of this was "Ivanova's not very good with emotional stuff, is she?" Thinking ahead for a long moment, I replied, "ha, no. No, she really, really isn't."
Messages from Earth
Wherein Marcus gives Ivanova eggs and bacon, and makes Garibaldi and Sheridan drool. And Garibaldi tells G'Kar that his singing is not appreciated by the rest of his cell-block, even if he is the cheeriest inmate ever held in prison anywhere. Oh, G'Kar. ♥
This is also a big episode for my current OT3 - Sheridan, Delenn, and Lennier have quite a big day of it, running off to try to destroy the Shadow ship on Mars. We get a fantastic shot of them doing Dramatic Walking (tm) through the White Star as they leave, and I want to make an icon of it very badly. And then, apparently in an effort to get used to having him around and accept him into the fold, Lennier starts doing his back-handed subservient bossing routine, where he convinces Sheridan to go and get some sleep. I find this bizarrely charming, and terribly sad considering how things end up.
And Delenn, you saucy wench, telling Sheridan you'll watch him sleep and make sure he doesn't fall. Tricky, tricky, stepping into the first phase of marriage rituals without him having the foggiest clue that's what you're doing. ♥
Of course it's the Agammemnon that shows up, because the universe likes to provide Sheridan with maximum possible angst. And poor Lennier is obviously convinced that Sheridan is insane during the battle. Good thing he's used to Delenn ordering him to do things that don't make any sense. (Random Minbari note: The two... gunners, I guess, at the front of the bridge? One of them grins adorably when they successfully make the jump within the atmosphere, and then covers up and looks serious again very quickly. I wanted to snuggle her. Thereby proving that no, it's not just Delenn, or Lennier, or any of the main Minbari. I just love the Minbari in general. They're so totally cute. ♥
Marcus, too, is getting placed for maximum angst - by going in and having his cheery little "I made a diagram of my place in the chain of command" conversation with Ivanova, finally getting her warmed up and laughing at him... and then stupid Clark interrupts and declares martial law. So much for all his hard work. Seriously, I do wonder what would have happened if they hadn't been interrupted right then. Nothing too exciting, I'm sure - Ivanova was bound to remember herself and push him away sooner or later, but right in that moment she looks so happy and willing to give him a chance that it just breaks my heart. They're so cute. ♥
Point of No Return
In whichLwaxana Troi the third wife of the old Centauri emperor shows up on the station to tell Londo's fortune. I do like Majel very much in this episode (particularly when she's all "whatever, a Narn in the lift with me, SIIIIIGH this is the most boring trip ever" ♥), and I enjoy most of her plot, particularly the bit about Londo being emperor, and Vir being emperor as well. It's very "Macbeth." Of course, Londo is apparently too stupid to realize that, hello, Vir is younger than him, so he could very easily just inherit after Londo dies being as how Londo appears to have no children (which strikes me as odd, given that Centauri society is clearly painted as being one of those inherited-nobility, strong family-duty kind of cultures).
Related to this, I may possibly be the one person in B5 fandom who cannot make proper sense out of Lady Morella's prophecy about the things Londo must do to save himself from the fire? I get the bit about saving the eye that does not see - that looks like a clear reference back to the Centauri relic that he saves with Morden's help back in "Signs and Portents." Which makes me think that, in actuality, it's possible that these things he must do to save himself are actually things that are not good, potentially? Unless I'm wrong and it's another eye that doesn't see that he must save. The guide suggests a reference to Londo's lost eye, which I say doesn't make sense, but I will suggest that it might refer instead to the fake eye that he gets, the one that they use for spying from time to time. Wasn't there something about that being used in a way that was important? It's an eye that does see, though... so I'm not sure about that.
"Do not kill the man who is already dead." I've always assumed this referred to Sheridan, presumably when Londo has to avoid killing him despite the keeper's control in the far future. He has Delenn and Sheridan both held captive, there, and is trying not to kill them, right? That's why he has G'Kar kill him. If I remember right.
And then "failing those, at the last, he must surrender himself to his greatest fear, knowing that it will destroy him." It seems to me that this is meant to be G'Kar, since Londo saves the day (and prevents himself from killing the man who is already dead) by letting / having G'Kar kill him. But... I don't know, it seems slightly more than hyperbole to say that G'Kar is his greatest fear, particularly at that point in their relationship. For god's sake, I think they're well past that, by then. Unless his "greatest fear" is just meant to be death, which... duh, of course it's going to destroy him, that's sort of the point. I don't know. I just feel like these could have been written better or something, and that I'm not entirely satisfied with them.
Severed Dreams
First, I just have to say - I love this episode so very much. I mean, really. So much. ♥ So so so so so much love. It makes me so happy that when it was over I just kind of sat on the couch glowing from sheer love for it.
I feel rather sorry for the poor acolyte who tries to stop Delenn from entering the Grey Council chamber. He so has no idea what he's going up against. Her whole speech about being the chosen successor of Dukhat, holding him when he died, her blood on his hands, his spirit in her eyes and his voice on her lips... guys, is it any wonder I love their relationship? There's just so much passion there. ♥ I can't wait til we finally see Dukhat. And then she goes straight from there to give the Grey Council the verbal lashing of their collective lives, grabs the staff right out of Neroon's (???) hands, and breaks it in two while throwing his words about presumption right back at him. Ohhhhh, how I love that woman. Scary, beautiful, and downright awesome.
And that's just when she's dealing with her own people.
When the four jump-gates appeared around the crippled station after the Earth ships deliver their ultimatum, it wasn't exactly a surprise that it was the Minbari - The Boy guessed without any trouble, and it's fairly clear of course, since we know what was going on with Delenn on the Grey Council ship. But I still got totally stupid-giddy.
"Only one human captain has ever survived battle with the Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else."
♥♥♥ So much love. God, I just adore Delenn.
After that, John's desperate attempt at expressing his gratitude and awe to her is something of an anticlimax, but it's an adorable one. Kissing her hand? Odd, but adorable. He's so clearly just bursting with emotion in that scene. And that's one thing I've been needing to remark on - I may mock the living daylights out of him, but I genuinely love Sheridan, and the way Boxleitner plays him. Some of the scenes particularly in this episode, I could picture in my mind how they would have come out if we'd still had Sinclair around instead, and... with apologies, the show would have suffered immensely, IMHO. Boxleitner walks a perfect line between 'earnest' and 'overplayed,' and I've never yet caught him slipping.
Voices of Authority
Draal, while fruitier than a jello salad, is still adorable. Finding the First Ones, according to him, will be "fun!" Tell that to Ivanova - she does not seem to appreciate the humor of the situation.
Then there's Julie Musante, the Ministry of Peace political officer. I... kind of like her. I mean, she's amoral, vicious, and kind of obnoxious, but I enjoy her as a character, and... well, she makes Sheridan uncomfortable. And I still kind of enjoy people who do that, as fond as I am of him. Also, while her 'screw everything that moves' attitude is a bit... interesting, and I'm never quite sure what I think of her from a feminist point of view (painting overt female sexuality as bad and predatory, etc), I have to admit that I enjoy the hell out of the awkwardness when her clothes just sort of disappear in Sheridan's quarters. His expression so clearly says that he wishes he could run and hide behind Delenn. At least it does to me. *Coughs* And then, to make matters worse, Ivanova appears in his quarters... and reacts like she's walked in on her big brother snogging someone. As should be. One of the things that fills me with joy about this series is that there is never, but never, an attempt to paint Sheridan and Ivanova in an even faintly sexual light. They're friends, they're comrades, they'd die for each other, and I'd go so far as to say they love each other, but dear god, not that way. You don't see enough non-biologically-related relationships between men and women in fiction that fall into that category, and it's a good thing to see.
I also adore the conversation between Delenn and G'Kar as G'Kar tries to get Delenn to let him in on the secrets floating around the station. He's so charming and determined, and she so obviously has no interest whatsoever in chatting with him but can't politely get rid of him, apparently. "Hmm, look, I'm leaving the fruit stand... okay, fine, I'm seriously contemplating buying this random ugly gold chain. It's ugly... maybe I could use it as a belt? Hmm... it doesn't really go with my dress... are you still talking to me?" I don't know why, but I found that whole scene quite amusing.
And of course, the meat of the episode... Marcus and the beginning of his passion for Ivanova. Also the end of his early attempt to pretend to be stoic. Wow, he lasted, like, a whole episode. Now we have the Marcus I know and love, nattering on about how the First Ones are French and how, sure, he'll put a bucket on his head and pretend he's the Vorlon god Boojit. Fantastic. ♥ And Susan totally dissing these super powerful aliens until they get annoyed and agree to help. She's made of pure, iron-plated awesome, I swear.
Dust to Dust
I admit, my first thought on seeing this episode title on the menu was "huh?" But my second thought, on seeing G'Kar in the scene selection, was "ohhhhhh, THIS ONE." This one, also known as "G'Kar hits rock bottom, and begins his rather shocking bounce back up."
Of course, there's also the sort-of main plot with Bester, who is in full form in this episode. "You think of me as something bright and pleasant, filled with candy and toys for small children." Yes, Bester, that's exactly what Garibaldi means by thinking he'd like to use you as a pinata. Oh, how I love you.
This is also the episode with the single most ill-suited actor ever to play a Minbari. Seriously. Go to the scene where Sheridan & co. confront Bester with their handy mind-block of Minbari telepaths. The guy standing behind Sheridan during this scene? Looks like he was cast to play a Narn and then suffered an extreme makeup mishap. His face is too long, the nosepiece makes him look faintly cross-eyed, and he manages to look both drugged and somewhat constipated throughout the whole scene. Now, watch, now that I've said that someone will inform me that it's actually someone I adore, or some other thing that totally makes what I've said look totally asinine and bitchy, and yes, I've already been told that apparently they had a rotating stable of about 12 actors to play the various aliens, but... for god's sake, people. Surely someone could have seen him in that and gone "...uh, hang on, I think this one might not quite be what we're after. Maybe we should put him off to the side or something, where he won't be quite so distracting." Because honestly, I spent whole scene not so much listening to what Sheridan was saying as thinking "my god, there is a man who should never have been made up as a Minbari and might, in fact, be enough to cure me of my xeno-kink for the whole species."
...He wasn't, of course. But it was momentarily disturbing.
Kosh's... 'intervention,' I'll call it, on G'Kar seems a lot more morally disturbing than I'd remembered. G'Kar is already so screwed up in this episode, and then Kosh just tootles along, rips open his mind and sticks in visions of G'lan and his father and all other sorts of things in order to manipulate him, and inspires him with the knowledge that some (himself, presumably, or more generally the Narn) must be sacrificed in order for the rest to live. Um. I'm all for self-sacrifice, it's a great thing, and of course I adore what G'Kar becomes through this intervention, but... let's just say I'd forgotten in the time since my first viewing exactly how dubious it is that Kosh is just kind of like "doo dee doo, let's see... Here you go, have a religious experience and do what I want, k? Thnx bai."
Also, I love how we get a switch in this episode. It appears for a while that G'Kar has gone down the side of the bad, and that Bester might actually not be such a terrible guy to have on our side... aaand then the end of the episode clears everything back up by having G'Kar submit gracefully to justice and accept his punishment for his attack on Londo, while Bester reveals that dust is really a psi-corps production and that they're just pissed they've never gotten a high power telepath out of it and don't want it among non-human species. Just to make sure you don't start to trust him or anything silly like that. Don't worry, he's still evil!
Exogenesis
Not actually as terrible as I'd remembered, but still a pretty "meh" episode. Memorable mostly for one of the most appallingly weird lines of all the bizarre things that Marcus says over his tenure in the series. Naturally, it's of Ivanova. "I sense in her a key as yet unturned." Said in a tone that... I don't even know how it's supposed to sound, but I gotta say, it came off faintly pervy. Dude, Marcus... if anybody in this situation here is a key as yet unturned, it's you. We don't know it yet, but it's you.
Honestly, I'm not sure what the hell JMS was trying to do with that line, but.. it didn't work for me. And then Franklin's all "dude, you are SO not her type," which... did I miss the bit where Franklin knows Ivanova's 'type?' Or is he referring to the fact that Marcus isn't actually a horrible sleazy traitor who will break Ivanova's heart and try to destroy the station, because that's the only common thread I can think of between her two romantic interests we've seen so far (not to mention the third that we would have seen her go for if CC hadn't sort of back-handedly saved the day by leaving the show and thus ensuring that at least Ivanova would not be the one falling for the Ultimate Sleaze of the Universe, also known as Byron. Are we meant to take it that Ivanova and Franklin are close (something that I'd never particularly seen)? Are we meant to think that he's got a thing for her himself? Are we meant to think that he's rooting for her and Garibaldi? I have no freaking clue. This whole scene is a mystery to me.
I do love the bit where Marcus takes out the guy by having him activate the denn'bok right into his face. ♥ Don't get me wrong, even in this episode, I love Marcus. I always will. It's just that the whole "key as yet unturned" thing kind of tweaks me because it a) makes no sense, and b) reminds me of the asinine story of which we do not speak, so. You know. Anyway.
In other news, Ivanova sucks at subtlety. She's trying to figure out whether Corwin can be trusted... so she first asks him out on what sounds like a date, panics the poor boy, then asks what sound like questions leading to something totally different and then kicks him straight out without even letting him finish his coffee when he gives her exactly the answer she sounds like she's fishing for, like any good (and panicked) young officer would. Seriously, wtf. And then she throws the mysteriously-appearing roses right at Marcus, with a nasty remark so ambiguous... that he thinks she's encouraging him. Hoooooo boy is that ever the beginning of a problem, right there. The Boy's comment on all of this was "Ivanova's not very good with emotional stuff, is she?" Thinking ahead for a long moment, I replied, "ha, no. No, she really, really isn't."
Messages from Earth
Wherein Marcus gives Ivanova eggs and bacon, and makes Garibaldi and Sheridan drool. And Garibaldi tells G'Kar that his singing is not appreciated by the rest of his cell-block, even if he is the cheeriest inmate ever held in prison anywhere. Oh, G'Kar. ♥
This is also a big episode for my current OT3 - Sheridan, Delenn, and Lennier have quite a big day of it, running off to try to destroy the Shadow ship on Mars. We get a fantastic shot of them doing Dramatic Walking (tm) through the White Star as they leave, and I want to make an icon of it very badly. And then, apparently in an effort to get used to having him around and accept him into the fold, Lennier starts doing his back-handed subservient bossing routine, where he convinces Sheridan to go and get some sleep. I find this bizarrely charming, and terribly sad considering how things end up.
And Delenn, you saucy wench, telling Sheridan you'll watch him sleep and make sure he doesn't fall. Tricky, tricky, stepping into the first phase of marriage rituals without him having the foggiest clue that's what you're doing. ♥
Of course it's the Agammemnon that shows up, because the universe likes to provide Sheridan with maximum possible angst. And poor Lennier is obviously convinced that Sheridan is insane during the battle. Good thing he's used to Delenn ordering him to do things that don't make any sense. (Random Minbari note: The two... gunners, I guess, at the front of the bridge? One of them grins adorably when they successfully make the jump within the atmosphere, and then covers up and looks serious again very quickly. I wanted to snuggle her. Thereby proving that no, it's not just Delenn, or Lennier, or any of the main Minbari. I just love the Minbari in general. They're so totally cute. ♥
Marcus, too, is getting placed for maximum angst - by going in and having his cheery little "I made a diagram of my place in the chain of command" conversation with Ivanova, finally getting her warmed up and laughing at him... and then stupid Clark interrupts and declares martial law. So much for all his hard work. Seriously, I do wonder what would have happened if they hadn't been interrupted right then. Nothing too exciting, I'm sure - Ivanova was bound to remember herself and push him away sooner or later, but right in that moment she looks so happy and willing to give him a chance that it just breaks my heart. They're so cute. ♥
Point of No Return
In which
Related to this, I may possibly be the one person in B5 fandom who cannot make proper sense out of Lady Morella's prophecy about the things Londo must do to save himself from the fire? I get the bit about saving the eye that does not see - that looks like a clear reference back to the Centauri relic that he saves with Morden's help back in "Signs and Portents." Which makes me think that, in actuality, it's possible that these things he must do to save himself are actually things that are not good, potentially? Unless I'm wrong and it's another eye that doesn't see that he must save. The guide suggests a reference to Londo's lost eye, which I say doesn't make sense, but I will suggest that it might refer instead to the fake eye that he gets, the one that they use for spying from time to time. Wasn't there something about that being used in a way that was important? It's an eye that does see, though... so I'm not sure about that.
"Do not kill the man who is already dead." I've always assumed this referred to Sheridan, presumably when Londo has to avoid killing him despite the keeper's control in the far future. He has Delenn and Sheridan both held captive, there, and is trying not to kill them, right? That's why he has G'Kar kill him. If I remember right.
And then "failing those, at the last, he must surrender himself to his greatest fear, knowing that it will destroy him." It seems to me that this is meant to be G'Kar, since Londo saves the day (and prevents himself from killing the man who is already dead) by letting / having G'Kar kill him. But... I don't know, it seems slightly more than hyperbole to say that G'Kar is his greatest fear, particularly at that point in their relationship. For god's sake, I think they're well past that, by then. Unless his "greatest fear" is just meant to be death, which... duh, of course it's going to destroy him, that's sort of the point. I don't know. I just feel like these could have been written better or something, and that I'm not entirely satisfied with them.
Severed Dreams
First, I just have to say - I love this episode so very much. I mean, really. So much. ♥ So so so so so much love. It makes me so happy that when it was over I just kind of sat on the couch glowing from sheer love for it.
I feel rather sorry for the poor acolyte who tries to stop Delenn from entering the Grey Council chamber. He so has no idea what he's going up against. Her whole speech about being the chosen successor of Dukhat, holding him when he died, her blood on his hands, his spirit in her eyes and his voice on her lips... guys, is it any wonder I love their relationship? There's just so much passion there. ♥ I can't wait til we finally see Dukhat. And then she goes straight from there to give the Grey Council the verbal lashing of their collective lives, grabs the staff right out of Neroon's (???) hands, and breaks it in two while throwing his words about presumption right back at him. Ohhhhh, how I love that woman. Scary, beautiful, and downright awesome.
And that's just when she's dealing with her own people.
When the four jump-gates appeared around the crippled station after the Earth ships deliver their ultimatum, it wasn't exactly a surprise that it was the Minbari - The Boy guessed without any trouble, and it's fairly clear of course, since we know what was going on with Delenn on the Grey Council ship. But I still got totally stupid-giddy.
"Only one human captain has ever survived battle with the Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else."
♥♥♥ So much love. God, I just adore Delenn.
After that, John's desperate attempt at expressing his gratitude and awe to her is something of an anticlimax, but it's an adorable one. Kissing her hand? Odd, but adorable. He's so clearly just bursting with emotion in that scene. And that's one thing I've been needing to remark on - I may mock the living daylights out of him, but I genuinely love Sheridan, and the way Boxleitner plays him. Some of the scenes particularly in this episode, I could picture in my mind how they would have come out if we'd still had Sinclair around instead, and... with apologies, the show would have suffered immensely, IMHO. Boxleitner walks a perfect line between 'earnest' and 'overplayed,' and I've never yet caught him slipping.
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no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 10:21 am (UTC)The ‘one who is already dead’ – I’ve always thought of it as being Morden (legally dead, and possibly killed at Z’ha’dum along with Sheridan only to be rebuilt by the Shadows). Spare Morden and his associates, and perhaps the Drakh would have picked another world as their base of operations.
‘Surrender yourself to your greatest fear’, agreed that I don’t think that’s G’kar – even in “Midnight on the Firing Line”, Londo seemed more resigned to his inevitable death, not fearful. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s accepting the Keeper that’s his greatest fear – the loss of control and accepting that he’s helpless to save Centauri Prime.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 03:58 pm (UTC)Okay, that's a really good point that I hadn't considered. Sounds like the way to go with that one!
Accepting the Keeper does make sense in terms of accepting helplessness, surrendering his delusions of grandeur so to speak. I'll have to keep that in mind as I watch up to the end, see if it looks like it plays out.
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Date: 2010-07-13 07:41 pm (UTC)Yes! I adored their relationship, and just how comfortable and normal and old-friends they were around each other. Good move on JMS's part.
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Date: 2010-07-13 09:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-07 06:01 am (UTC)Oh, man, this. I love that about their relationship as well. I'm assuming that she met Sheridan not too many years after Ganya died, and he kind of became a stand-in big brother for her.
(I sort of have an OT3 of them and Garibaldi--it battles with my Ivanova/Garibaldi/Franklin OT3--but I'm so very glad they never tried to insinuate anything between Ivanova and Sheridan on the show.)
Kosh does act a bit dubious toward G'Kar, doesn't he? Oh, Kosh.
Marcus's "key" line...yeah, I can see it as pervy as well. (Consider Marcus, uh, KIND OF IS A PERV in canon even before you get to That Story. *facepalm*) On the other hand, it might just be Marcus getting poetic, and he actually doesn't mean anything horrible by it.
And then Franklin's all "dude, you are SO not her type," which... did I miss the bit where Franklin knows Ivanova's 'type?' Or is he referring to the fact that Marcus isn't actually a horrible sleazy traitor who will break Ivanova's heart and try to destroy the station, because that's the only common thread I can think of between her two romantic interests we've seen so far (not to mention the third that we would have seen her go for if CC hadn't sort of back-handedly saved the day by leaving the show and thus ensuring that at least Ivanova would not be the one falling for the Ultimate Sleaze of the Universe, also known as Byron.
*sporfle!* Heh, you do have a point here...
Are we meant to take it that Ivanova and Franklin are close (something that I'd never particularly seen)? Are we meant to think that he's got a thing for her himself? Are we meant to think that he's rooting for her and Garibaldi?
Of all of them, I'm sure you know which I'd like to think it is. ;) But seriously, I think we're supposed to read it as them being close: they do get to have some meaty conversations, like the one in "GROPOS" about fathers, and the one somewhere else in S2 about religion. That, and he's known her for two years longer than Marcus, so maybe we're meant to think he's just making a statement about Ivanova's less-than-tolerant attitude toward Marcus's bounciness.
Although I also like the idea of him having a thing for her himself. Maybe I'll change my answer to "all of the above." *g*
I never really got the prophecy either, but I think Morden as the man who's already dead works fairly well, as does accepting the Keeper for the last bit. (G'Kar's eye, though...nah.) I don't think it was very well-done, either. I wish she'd just said he'd have three more chances, and that he'd know them when he came upon them or something.
"Severed Dreams" pretty much = me spending an hour going, "OH HELL YES!" Emotional high point of the series, for sure.