A Niner Watches Babylon 5 (NO spoilers, please)

[Reverend]

^It would have been strangely appropriate to see Zack break into a song and dance number...

As the title episode for the season I was expecting something more epic, so perhaps that influenced my judgement. I imagined that some disaster would happen that threatened the galaxy, instead this episode introduced plot elements that I cannot imagine will be resolved by the finale.

"No boom today..."

Speaking of Sheridan, he and Delenn are having a baby. This came as a huge shock, except for the fact that I knew this was going to happen ever since War Without End. Sheridan also knew, but I'll accept his shock as the reality of the situation setting in.

If you recall from way back in 'Z'ha'dum', Sheridan's logic RE:time travel doesn't include pre-destination paradoxes. He thought what he saw was the result of him heeding Delenn's warning...which is admittedly pretty dumb for a supposedly skilled strategist and tactician, but there you are. Jonny boy has a few blindspots; personal relationships, people with substance abuse issues, not using nuclear wepons and temporal mechanics are right at the top of the list. His reaction to her being pregnant may have been more of a "Bugger, I thought I dodged this bullet! Now I have to sit through 291 Minbari pregnancy rituals."

 

[JoeD80]

The main plot was about Lyta turning into a terrorist and scaring everyone by threatening to break a crowd into some sort of musical number. Luckily, Sheridan put a gun to her head and saved us all from the horror. He's not such a bad President after all.

That's always been one of my favorite scenes; Lyta is so caught up in her power she doesn't realize that she can still be defeated until she hears the PPG power up.

The set-up here would have been more interesting were it not being set 2 years after the show ends. Perhaps the movies will follow up on it because the show almost certainly wont

Part of it is Joe's intentionally structuring the show so that the story still goes on even after the show ends. Also, the planned feature film that unfortunately didn't get made would have taken place 2 years later, but the main points are resolved here: now Garibaldi has a way to get rid of Bester's blocks, the Psi Corps headquarters has finally been attacked directly, and Lyta is the doomsday Telepath. Also recall that there was some more setup in the Psi Corps episode when the fleet of ships standing by in Hyperspace was revealed.

 

[David cgc]

Speaking of Sheridan, he and Delenn are having a baby. This came as a huge shock, except for the fact that I knew this was going to happen ever since War Without End. Sheridan also knew, but I'll accept his shock as the reality of the situation setting in.

Well, he also had no idea how old their son was in WWE, and given that he and Delenn are two different species, he may well have assumed that they adopted at some point. Given that he's deeply concerned about complications when he talks to Franklin, he probably still thinks this may be a false alarm or somehow misleading.

I don't think it really counts a spoiler to confirm that Sheridan's paranoid delusions are just that, and Delenn is currently pregnant with the same son who will one day manage to get his parents locked in a dungeon in bombed-out Centauri Prime.

 

[Forbin]

I really hate the way the crew treats Lyta in these late episodes. She pulled their asses out of the fire once or twice, and deserves better.

According to Pat Tallman, the cast even treated HER that way for a while - fallout from being in character.

 

[Pauln6]

Part of it is Joe's intentionally structuring the show so that the story still goes on even after the show ends. Also, the planned feature film that unfortunately didn't get made would have taken place 2 years later, but the main points are resolved here: now Garibaldi has a way to get rid of Bester's blocks, the Psi Corps headquarters has finally been attacked directly, and Lyta is the doomsday Telepath. Also recall that there was some more setup in the Psi Corps episode when the fleet of ships standing by in Hyperspace was revealed.

I really wanted to see that Telepath War movie. I also wanted to see them spring Talia on us again. Kosh took recordings of her mind early on and could have given Lyta a trigger to reassert her nicer personality with more powerful telekinetic powers to help bring down Psi Corps from the inside. It would have been a nice twist if she'd already done that so that Talia was now a sleeper agent within the Corps.

 

[TheGodBen]

Objects in Motion (***½)

Lennier is gone, Londo is gone, G'Kar is gone, Lyta is gone, Garibaldi is gone, Ivanova left a year ago, Sheridan, Delenn and Franklin are all about to leave... at this rate the finale is going to be Vir, Lochley and Zach sitting around making small talk. Is this why people cry when watching the finale, because of the awkwardness of three people that don't know one another trying to have a conversation? I know that 40 minutes of watching that would drive me to tears.

The show is really winding down now, I feel that if I look closely enough at the background I'll see people taking the sets down. Perhaps it will be visible if they release the show on blu-ray. This show isn't ending with a bang, but a whimper, which is fine by me because this show has had plenty of bangs in its time. The only thing I didn't like about this episode was that it had a plot, something about Garibaldi being assassinated, it wasn't anything to write home about and it continued to set up a plot that doesn't seem likely to be followed through.

The core of this episode was the sense that all this is coming to an end as everybody leaves the station. G'Kar and Garibaldi get good send-offs, Lyta gets a send-off where everyone hates her, except perhaps for Zach who feels bad that he never got to learn if she's a natural redhead. Poor Zach, what a tragic end. One the other hand, Franklin has enough sex for the both of them with that Martian woman. The episode ends with Sheridan and Delenn deciding to go on a five mile walk of the station, which reminded me of this awesome ad for some reason. Ah, Northern Ireland, you've brought these islands so much tragedy, but then you make an ad like that and remind everyone why they were fighting for you in the first place.

 

[Forbin]

This show isn't ending with a bang, but a whimper, which is fine by me because this show has had plenty of bangs in its time.

No bang today...

Trust me, Babylon 5 ends with a bang.
And, oddly enough, sort of, you do see one of the crew, sort of, striking the set. Sort of.

Crap, I'm tearing up just thinking about it.

 

[David cgc]

Lennier is gone, Londo is gone, G'Kar is gone, Lyta is gone, Garibaldi is gone, Ivanova left a year ago, Sheridan, Delenn and Franklin are all about to leave... at this rate the finale is going to be Vir, Lochley and Zach sitting around making small talk.

Actually....

 

[Neroon]

This show isn't ending with a bang, but a whimper, which is fine by me because this show has had plenty of bangs in its time.

No bang today...

Trust me, Babylon 5 ends with a bang.

well... sort of

 

[JoeD80]

The only thing I didn't like about this episode was that it had a plot, something about Garibaldi being assassinated, it wasn't anything to write home about and it continued to set up a plot that doesn't seem likely to be followed through.

The idea of the story suggested by Harlan Ellison is that Security was so busy preparing for the one assassin that they didn't realize the Narn assassin was there as well, who ends up shooting the same person they were trying to protect. Joe wanted Harlan to write the script, but he passed on the opportunity.

 

[Reverend]

Joe wanted Harlan to write the script, but he passed on the opportunity.

For the umpteenth time it seems. I have to admit I've always found it curious how Harlan, an accomplished sci-fi writer, credited as a conceptual consultant all the way through the five years the show was running, who came up with the basic premise, or b-plot of several episodes never got around to writing an episode himself. I wonder if just flat didn't want to.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Harlan doesn't actually do much writing anymore. I'm not sure he likes it much. These days he seems to live on his fame. Not that I blame him...

 

[JoeD80]

Harlan just had a short story published earlier this year. Since he's had hundreds of writing credits spanning 50+ years my guess is that he likes it. As for B5, Joe suspected that Harlan didn't want to encroach on his Universe too much and was content to make suggestions and be a "cheerleader from the sidelines."

 

[Hound of UIster]

Joe wanted Harlan to write the script, but he passed on the opportunity.

For the umpteenth time it seems. I have to admit I've always found it curious how Harlan, an accomplished sci-fi writer, credited as a conceptual consultant all the way through the five years the show was running, who came up with the basic premise, or b-plot of several episodes never got around to writing an episode himself. I wonder if just flat didn't want to.

Health problems.

 

[TheGodBen]

Objects at Rest (***½)

Sheridan and Delenn are gone, Dr Franklin is gone, that Narn guy is back... the finale is going to be awful.

Funny story, a few years ago there was a guy that was secretly in love with my girlfriend. It wasn't really a secret because everyone knew that he was in love with her, but we chose to pretend we didn't know, and in private we worried that he might just be creepy enough to try and kill me. I bring this up because on the few occasions where we were alone together and had to make small-talk, he gave that look which said "I do not want to kill you, but I really want you to be dead". I saw the same look in Lennier's eyes when he and Sheridan were forced to make small-talk. It freaked me out a little. Wait, that's not a funny story. But it's rare that I get to identify with Sheridan because he's the brave hero that is guided by principles and a sense of duty, and I'm a guy that uses the anonymity of an internet forum to badmouth TV shows.

So, Lennier decides to let Sheridan die, then he decides not to, then he decides to run away and join the circus. My first thought was that Lennier was too nice a guy to do that kind of thing and I didn't buy it, but then I realised that I'm kind of a nice guy (not when I'm on here, obviously) and I'd do exactly the same thing given the circumstances. Wow, I can identify with the victim and the murdering rodent, that's neat.

Suddenly, Londo shows up. At first I didn't like this turn of events at all; even though I've come to love Londo, I felt the way his arc ended was fittingly tragic, so for him to show up acting friendly and merry felt like an undoing of his character arc. But then it is revealed that this was all a part of a nefarious plot by the evil aliens that will be followed up on 20 years later, probably leading to the situation shown in War Without End. That makes more sense than setting the finale on B5 with the dregs of the station.

Okay then, I'm off to watch the finale. It had better be good.

 

[Gov Kodos]

I loved the dinner talk with Londo, and I always thought his asking Sheriden about the wiskey and Brivari was more than his typical drinking habit. In WWE Londo revealed the keeper by drinking it under the table, so to speak. The keeper could keep him from bringing booze down from the ship, but couldn't do anything about stuff at Sheriden and Delenn's party. At least, I think that was Londo's hope so he could reveal the Keeper to them at dinner. The way Jurasik plays the scene, the regret at no alcohol available has a lot of interpretations. It was really well done.

 

[hyzmarca]

If anyone anywhere on the station had had the senseand generosity to purchase the services of a whore and unleash her upon Lenier. There were two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand people on that station. Surely, at least one of them must have been a whore.

There is no need to be picky. Lenier isn't of such refined tastes that he'd need a Centauri concubine or a Human harlot or even a Brakiri B-girl; a Pak'ma'ra prostitute would have been fine or a Drazi doxy or even a Shadow streetwalker.

"What do I want, Mr. Mordon? I want pussy, hot steamy arachnoid pussy. And some for my friend Lenier, too."

It would have been so easy, and saved the universe so much heartache.

 

[Jan]

Okay then, I'm off to watch the finale. It had better be good.

You should be warned...almost all copies of that final episode have several places where the picture gets blurred. Almost as if you're looking at it through...I dunno, water or something.

Jan

 

[David cgc]

I loved the dinner talk with Londo, and I always thought his asking Sheriden about the wiskey and Brivari was more than his typical drinking habit. In WWE Londo revealed the keeper by drinking it under the table, so to speak. The keeper could keep him from bringing booze down from the ship, but couldn't do anything about stuff at Sheriden and Delenn's party. At least, I think that was Londo's hope so he could reveal the Keeper to them at dinner. The way Jurasik plays the scene, the regret at no alcohol available has a lot of interpretations. It was really well done.

Oh, definitely. I didn't even think it was downplayed enough to count as subtext. Londo really, really wanted to not do what he was sent for.

There were two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand people on that station. Surely, at least one of them must have been a whore.

Ask G'Kar. Remember when the assassin was after him, and Garibaldi found those red panties in his bedroom? Or the season one finale, when Sinclair went two see him and three interestingly-dressed human women left his room before he came out in an open bathrobe, sipping cognac?

For that matter, I'm pretty sure the strip club where Adira worked was "special."

 

[JoeD80]

The whole Minbari not being able to drink alcohol bit finally ties into the arc...if there had been any on that ship, Londo would have been able to tell them everything.

But then it is revealed that this was all a part of a nefarious plot by the evil aliens that will be followed up on 20 years later, probably leading to the situation shown in War Without End.

Yes, the gift of the keeper is meant to connect back to that episode. The important events in that episode were already seen.