rivendellrose | more b5 rewatch (Reply)

Epiphanies

Not one of my favorite Bester episodes (I find that I don't like him nearly as much after he's doing his whole "woe, everything I do is for my Lost Frozen Beloved!" act - he's so much more entertaining pre-angst), but it does include him razzing the hell out of Zack, not to mention his beautiful line about assuming his usual room in the brig is available. ♥

Garibaldi's ANGST also continues. Big episode for ANGST, this.

The EA pilot's whole stunned "Wow, I thought you guys were meant to be the bad guys!" / "Reports of our disloyalty have been greatly exaggerated" exchange... is cute, but a bit over the top. (Dialogue on B5? Over the top? Never! :P) Likewise, I am not overly impressed by Sheridan's whole dressing-down (not literally, you dirty-minded people!) of Lyta for causing Z'ha'dum to get blown up. Yes, it was a bad thing, yes, it caused them some serious problems, but... really? Sheridan doesn't have a whole lot of a leg to stand on with issues like this, IMHO. Oh well.

Eeeeek, the Regent has a Keeper now. Eeeeeeek. They're just so creepy!

The Illusion of Truth

AKA "Reporters are BAD AND EVIL AND HORRIBLE AND WRONG!!!" part 5,622, by J.M. They-Killed-My-Goldfish-and-Drank-All-My-Beer Straczynski. Seriously, has anybody ever gotten the story here? What did some reporter do to JMS that was so horrible that he's apparently decided they're all issued the mark of the devil along with their little notebook and pen at graduation? I certainly agree that the new media and reporters have a lot to answer for, and that there's not nearly enough oversight of what they do (Faux News here in the US is a pretty damned good proof of that...), but... damn!

I also think that a mistake was made in the casting of the main reporter in this episode. Perhaps it was intentional that he looks like Mr Morden's older brother, but a) I rather doubt it, and b) even if it was, it makes it slightly confusing.

The thing is, this episode is really well-written and interesting and all. I like parts of it (Lennier head-butting the floating camera... ♥), but I do wonder - if Sheridan feels badly enough about reporters that he says "I thought we saw the worst of it with the Shadows, the Vorlons, the war... But there's something far worse than the Shadows: reporters," then why the hell would he not at least attempt to have some oversight of what the reporter puts in his show? Why wouldn't he try to get some legal assistance, or confirmation rights (difficult in this situation, I know, but there've got to be lawyers somewhere on that station - at the very least I imagine that any normal Minbari would be able to write a contract so tight even the best lawyers on Earth would have a hard time wiggling their way out of it, given the way their "Minbari Do Not Lie" truism tends to mean "Minbari Are VERY Good At Lying Without Actually Making Overtly False Statements, And Can Talk Their Way Around Anything in the Universe Short of a Vorlon"), or... I don't know, not send him on free rein all over the station? He could have been spying on their defenses, for crying out loud! Why didn't he at least make some effort to, say, keep him away from the damned secret cryo-chambers?

Also, I have to say - keeping your responses down to short sound-bites is not, in fact, a good way to prevent your comments being taken out of context. It is, as far as I can tell, a fairly good way to ensure that they can be taken out of context, as this episode shows. What you actually want to do, from what I've heard in hearing interviews with pundits and such on NPR, is make complete statements that are complete, tight, and spoken in such a way that they can't crop out bits to incriminate you. Restate the question as part of your answer (preferably not just at the beginning or end, either). And most importantly, do not, under any circumstances, make idiotic statements like "nothing will stand in our way." Things like that can't fail to sound ominous, even if you're really just an adorable Golden Retriever puppy given Human form.

Another thing that interests me about this episode is the way Earth decided to paint Delenn, specifically, as the villain of the piece. Not the Minbari in general. Not Sheridan. Delenn. It's an opening for an interesting comment on the classic blame-the-woman syndrome.

Atonement

First, the most important scene of this episode: Zack makes nasty remarks about the Minbari seamstresses, one of them stabs him with a pin, Zack freaks out and says rightly that she did that on purpose, and Lennier coolly announces that he believes Zack is correct and he will handle it immediately... and then praises the seamstress in Adronato and tells her to use a bigger needle next time. ♥ "Yeah, and don't you forget it!" Zack tells her, as the seamstresses all giggle and go back to their work. See, this is why I love Lennier. Underneath that cool exterior is a slightly wicked sense of humor... and he dislikes Zack as much as I do. ♥

Moving on to the meat of the episode. Have I mentioned recently how much I adore Delenn and Lennier? And how dearly I love Dukhat, who does not get nearly enough screen-time in this episode? Well, I do. ♥

Unfortunately, as I love this episode, parts of it make me want to shake people (specifically the writer). First off, apparently we're meant to believe that even though the Minbari pretty much worshiped the ground Valen/Sinclair walked on, his children were so terrified of persecution that they had to leave the planet... but then, bizarrely, felt safe to come home after their sainted father had died. What? Wait, either they were afraid of being persecuted because they were half (...or whatever amount) Human, or they weren't. Also, Valen looked pretty much completely Minbari. Allowing for the fact that he made himself inexplicably known as a "Minbari not born of Minbar" (or possibly "not born of Minbari" - for some reason we get both versions of the statement in the series, and while I'm not terribly fond of the 2nd version I have to admit that it's equally applicable/possible)... dude, how upset could the ancient Minbari have possibly been about this? Are we meant to believe that they were just pissed because he'd admitted he wasn't Minbari? Or, more interestingly, is this perhaps another legacy of the whole weird thing where Catherine Sakai supposedly somehow followed Sinclair into the distant past to join him on Minbar (How? How did she even find out where he was? How... Hell, I don't even know! This is a charming idea on a "dear god, JMS, you can't ever let go of even one of your OTPs, can you?" kind of level, but the actual logistics boggle me so much that I find myself, to my horror, faintly tempted to try to find the damned novel it comes from just to see if the explanation makes even the faintest degree of sense), meaning that the whole issue is not about Valen, but, in fact, about Catherine, who would presumably not have transformed until after she'd arrived with Sinclair (if at all - not sure if that's ever established or not).

I had somehow forgotten that even in this episode, Delenn appears to immediately regret the war with the Humans and not be able to stop the progress of events. ...Yeah. Delenn can't manipulate people into doing what she wants, even though she's really super determined and convinced of it. Suuuuuuuuuuure. So, that's totally her making shit up in her head, right? It has to be. I refuse to believe that she would just this once be sitting there wringing her hands, all "woe, I cannot seem to make them do what I want!" More likely she felt a little guilty, then decided screw it, they killed Dukhat.

Quick poll:

[Poll #1603335]

I'm just curious, because I frankly can never quite make up my mind about their feelings, but there's just so much going on between them, so much wrapped up in the looks and the words and the voices they use, that I just can't quash my curiosity. Also, on a shallow level, they are both absolutely sexy, and I admit that I cannot resist either of them. So, you know. If there was ~~rampant sexing in the Grey Council's council chamber~~ beautiful, deep, spiritual love between them, I damned well want to know about it, and since they don't exist the best I can do is ask what other people think of the matter. ...And beg for fic. Because the one time I tried, Dukhat inexplicably decided to be decorous about the matter, and that made me feel terribly cheated. :P

On another, totally unrelated level, what exactly do people think is going on with the dreaming? I get the impression it's some kind of... psychic/telepathic technology that amplifies a person's thoughts and displays them in some sort of... I don't know, something like a holodeck, except it requires drinking an hallucinogenic drink for it to work? Just my guess, but it's rather intriguing. Why does a person have to have a guide in it? And why is it always some poor acolyte who's never done it before? That seems... strangely counter-intuitive. What's the point of having a guardian / guide in the Dreaming if the person going in is often more experienced?

This is also a big episode for how important Lennier is to Delenn. He walks with her in places no one else will go, and she clearly appreciates having him with her. The cynic in me notices that Lennier may have had the slightest bit of ulterior motive here, as well - if Delenn's clan refuses to allow her to go back to B5, then by coming along and going through the ordeal with her, Lennier has neatly set himself up to stay with her... and be with her when Sheridan can't. I don't think that's the reason he did it... but he'd have to be stupid not to have the thought occur to him, and while I'm sure he squashed it as quickly as he could, I can't doubt but that it preyed on him a little. Here is his opportunity! If Callenn refuses... then he gets everything he wants - Delenn, all to himself, reliant only on him, with no Sheridan anywhere to be seen (at least until he cracks and comes to try to 'rescue' her). And here's the thing - despite that, he still helps her.

That said, I don't believe for a minute that Lennier didn't believe that Delenn is marrying Sheridan to make up for her part in the war. When he says that, Mumy played it as a moment of sudden understanding - and I think it's a moment that gives Lennier a lot of comfort. Yes, she loves Sheridan... but the idea that she's marrying Sheridan to assuage her guilt makes that a hell of a lot easier for him to deal with, I'm betting. It's not just about Sheridan - it's about Delenn making herself feel better for her perceived sin, and Lennier knows how hard Delenn is on herself, that she'll never forgive herself for what she's done unless she makes amends. More to the point, the fricking episode is called "Atonement", so, if I'm honest, I'm right there with Lennier in believing that guilt plays a significant part in Delenn's decision. Besides, it's obviously not all about Sheridan, since she was pretty clearly already considering a similar set-up with Sinclair (I know the standard ret-con interpretation is that she had feelings for him but that they weren't romantic, they were just the fascination that she felt upon recognizing his soul, but... I don't quite buy that, honestly). I think she also fell pretty hard and fast for Sheridan on an emotional level, but... I, at least, don't necessarily see that as precluding the possibility that she sort of decided she was going to fall in love with him, or that she's in love with the idea of him and of them together, or any number of other interpretations that are other than pure and emotional love as she tries to play it in this episode).

All in all, my biggest issue with this episode is quite simple: With all that Delenn has done to make sure that Destiny turns out the way she wants it to - with the sheer force of will and determination and steel that we see in her in almost every other episode of this series... how the hell are we meant to believe that she would just say "Oh, no! My clan will not allow me to marry Sheridan! Now I must stay on Minbar and never return to him, let the future do whatever it will and let the calling of my heart go unfollowed!" Excuse me? That is not the Delenn we all know and love. There are 19th century pulp novel heroines who have more passion, determination, and ferocity of spirit than that. I get that it's her culture and she wants the approval of her clan and all, but... really, this is what I picture going through her head after she receives the summons: "Let's see... the folks back home have ordered me not to make the change, ordered me not to go to war with the Shadows, kicked me out of the Grey Council, forced me to break the council, and now my clan is trying to order me not to marry the guy I love? Fuck this shit. Piss off, I'm staying on B5, and if I can't have a proper Minbari wedding, I guess we'll just have to do it the Human way. John will like that better, anyway."

Instead we get "oh, woe is me, I must go home so they can harass me and tell me never to return, so I'm going to not tell John what's going on, and just scare the crap out of him by acting all weird and manic-depressive and insisting on watching him sleep one more time before I go so that I can torture myself with the knowledge that we were really close to actually being able to get married, and then he can always wonder if I just saw something I didn't like and changed my mind or whether I was stringing him along or if he should come to rescue me and start another war with my people! This is How It Must Be, because all of a sudden I am a helpless stupid heroine who can't think her way out of a paper sack!"

Garh. Their marriage has enough of the star-crosses lovers elements already. I did not think we really needed this. Surely there are loads of better excuses to bring in Dukhat and the backstory with Delenn and him and the war. Between this and the "NO MERCY!!! ...Wait, I was angry, I changed my mind!!!" Delenn comes off through the whole episode as a bit of a wishy-washy idiot, and that just makes me sad.