It was the Dawn of the Third Age of Mankind

[Mal]

Babylon Squared

It's morning. You're getting ready to go to work. You pull on your pants; you fasten and then zip, or zip and then fasten?
​

What kind of question is that indeed?!? Here you got a couple hours to kill with you're freaking CO, and this is the best you can do? Granted, I have often found myself at a loss for conversation material when stuck on a long ride with my boss, but then again, we haven't been friends from back in the day - from back on Mars. I don't know his girlfriend, he hasn't pulled out all the stops to get me a line through to my old ex (on that note, would Garibaldi's life have been better or worse if he could stalk Lise on facebook?).

My point is these two guys have a ton to talk about - Jeff & Sakai, Garibaldi & Lisa, not to mention the hole in Sinclair's head (seems like a nice safe place to discuss any ongoing progress Michael has made in that direction). For cryin' out loud, if how you get dressed in the morning is the best boss-banter Garibaldi can come up with, no wonder he was fired from his last four jobs!

In plot-B, the Gray Council offers to make Delenn Queen. Happy Days. I guess this set of Nine Platonic Kings don't exactly believe in Democracy and elections! So instead, like our own Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore, these Satai (what is plural for Satai?), pick the chosen of Dukat, now that is has been 10 years since he passed beyond the veil. And of course the Council loves their Affirmative Action - 3 seat quotas for each of the 3 castes.

Delenn will follow "Valen and the 9 who were." Since we know that Sinclair formed the Gray Council over nine hundred years ago, well, hmmm... 10 leaders in 900 years seems a bit low don't you think? I know Minbari live to be 120 or even more, but i doubt they could have served as leader for an average of over 90 years each!

And now to the meat of 1x20 Babylon Squared: the flying dutchman. The answers to the following questions can be found in War Without End, but like Miles Edward O'Brien, I too hate temporal mechanics!

Question 1: When Sinclair touches Intel Bunny Suit man and is flung across the room, which One is it?
Question 2: When Zathras is trapped under a beam and Intel Bunny Suit man comes to help him, which One is it?
Question 3: Fasten then zip, or Zip then Fasten?

Argh! I'll be damned if I can get it all straight! But then again, neither really can Joe:

For the record: fasten-zip.

 

[Forbin]

Zip-fasten here.

 

[Reverend]

Delenn will follow "Valen and the 9 who were." Since we know that Sinclair formed the Gray Council over nine hundred years ago, well, hmmm... 10 leaders in 900 years seems a bit low don't you think? I know Minbari live to be 120 or even more, but i doubt they could have served as leader for an average of over 90 years each!

I wouldn't take that statement too literally; Dukhat after all was certainly not one of the original nine. It's certainly more symbolic than anything else.

Question 1: When Sinclair touches Intel Bunny Suit man and is flung across the room, which One is it?

Delenn.

Question 2: When Zathras is trapped under a beam and Intel Bunny Suit man comes to help him, which One is it?

Delenn.

Question 3: Fasten then zip, or Zip then Fasten?

Fasten zip.

 

[Mal]

Zip-fasten here.

how does that work? are you very thin? cause i kind of suck my stomach in, fasten, and the i'm able to easily zip. i think if i tried to zip first, the zip would just keep coming apart.

 

[Mal]

The Quality of Mercy

I'll be in touch - touch this!
​

The episode follows the wacky antics of Londo and Lennier, as Mollari is ordered by the future and fabulous Regent (pastels!) to forge a closer relationship with potential allies. While Delenn is away, the boys can play. Londo, naturally, takes our young padawan to a strip club (while conveniently forgetting his own wallet - don't pretend you've never done the same). We get the first (?) mention that Minbari become violent when they drink. And then Londo takes the veritable math wizard to play poker. Mollari gets his dick all in a twist, and the resulting hijinks are disappointing to say the least. The only redeeming part of the episode is the male-bonding: Lennier lies to help Londo save face, a fact that is very important for There all the Honor Lies. Their bonding here is a nice beginning to their relationship, which I always appreciated most in Convictions.

Meanwhile Franklin has started his down-below clinic, a forum he uses to help the Underground Railroad in A Race Through Dark Places. He discovers that a quack doctor (with an attractive and available daughter) is using an alien execution device to heal his patients. He is pissed. But he will likely get laid, so it's ok in the end. Since Garibaldi will get shot in the very next episode, it's probably good that Franklin discovers the machine now. He'll need to take extreme measures to save Michael in Revelations, and of course the machine is the death of Marcus in Rising Star.

In 1x21 Quality of Mercy, the machine is to be used on a murderer sentenced to mind-wipe, a concept far more satisfyingly portrayed in Passing Through Gethsemane. Talia does the pre-scan; something similar was recorded in Deathwalker, and might prove useful after Divided Loyalties.

Thus, while the quality of Quality of Mercy is somewhat lacking (even the strip club is not really that hot - have you people seen Caprica - now that's a club!). Still, the show is set-up for a half-dozen other parts of the B5 'verse, and yet I don't think I'd miss it if it were to disappear, say, like B4.

At least Susan comes off better. Even if she won't take off her clothes without dinner and flowers first

 

[Mal]

Chrysalis

Cats!
​

And so Babylon 5's inaugural season comes to a close, and I wonder, if B5 were made today, would it be made the same way? For people of my parent's generation, everyone knows where they were when they heard JFK had been assassinated. But for people of my generation, that pivotal moment in history has been replaced with a different memory: 9/11.

It's hard to imagine B5 (or DS9 for that matter) being made today. And if it were, would Season 1 have ended with something more like the nuclear bombing of San Diego? Would that (like nBSG's nuking of Caprica and all the other colonies) have resonated more with today's audiences? See, it's not just the SFX that would have changed with time...

Protip: President Clark talks just like President Ford!

Watching 1x22 Chrysalis through for the Nth time, I find myself drawn to scenes that might have been pretty below-the-radar the first time through. For example, we see this guy:

That's right, Ironheart's fellow super-teep is the lurker who gives Garibaldi the crucial lead to Petrov's killer, a name: Devero, who hangs out at the casino. In the grand scheme of things, these names sort of fall by the way-side (Devero himself is dead by the end of the hour), but the super-teep's presence raises a whole host of new questions (at least for me).

Did super-teep scan Garibaldi? Had he scanned Devero? What about Petrov? Super-teep claims he had no idea what scared the bejeezus out of Petrov, but come on, do you really believe that?!? And if he knew, then why wouldn't he have told Garibaldi that Petrov feared Devero was planning to kill the President (I assume that was what scared Petrov half to death).

Another question - we know Franklin's clinic is already set up down below: was he already helping teeps this early in the show?

Delenn take the last step, and steps into her cocoon after seeing the face of a Vorlon. Londo allows Morden to solve the Narn problem in Quadrant 37. G'kar goes hunting for answers to who did it. People on Earth give Sinclair the cold shoulder when he tries to tell them that the President was assassinated.

Sinclair and Sakai finally get engaged, and they take Susan and Garibaldi out to Fresh Air, the finest restaurant on B5, although I'm beginning to think it's the only restaurant on B5.

You have forgotten something

 

[David cgc]

The fact that Fresh Air delivers pizza is certainly a strong supporter for that theory.

 

[Mal]

Points of Departure

They actually had fresh oranges on the transport. I haven't had an orange in almost two years. I used to dream about them. Grapes, nectarines, plus - the black ones not the red ones - I mean, it's amazing what two years on the rim can do to you.
​

WTF! B5 Season 2, and welcome Captain Happy Orange Juice That said, there is a surprising amount of meat in this season opener.

Here's a question - I didn't watch B5 until it had already ended, but the interwebs inform me that Season 2 started on November 2nd, 1994, only one week after Season 1 ended! It seems like the only summer hiatus was for the month of September - between The Quality of Mercy and Chrysalis. That seems pretty weird to me?!? How did it work for you guys who actually saw B5 first run?

2x01 Points of Departure is pretty much all plot A. The Trigati comes out from retirement to commit ritual suicide at the hands of Sheridan Star Killer. Missing from the ep are Londo, G'kar, Na'toth, Talia, Garibaldi (is out cold), Vir, and Kosh. On the flip side, we meet Keffer (ugh...), and we do get a cameo by Admiral Leyton ("Commander Sinclair is being reassigned").

We see the very famous scene of the Gray Counsel at the Battle of the Line choosing Sinclair's ship to capture. In later years (Atonement and ITB) we'll get far more texture as to what was going on behind the scenes ("The truth points to itself"), but for now, this bit is very tantalizing.

I don't like the rationale for suddenly telling us that Minbari souls are being reborn as humans. I LOVE the concept, it just feels sort of rushed. Lennier's explanation (things have been set in motion, changes are coming), seems sort of ok while you're watching, but really, when you think about, it all seems so forced.

I think the revelation would have been far more satisfying if it had come as a result of Garibaldi's investigation into the hole in Sinclair's mind. As it stands, it seems kind of insane for the Minbari to trust this most vital piece of information to Sheridan Star Killer, and as a result, to the Pretender, President Clark!

Susan certainly gets along with Sheridan quite well. Much better, I think, than with Sinclair.

If there is a doom on this station, it is because you brought it here!

 

[Reverend]

Did super-teep scan Garibaldi? Had he scanned Devero? What about Petrov? Super-teep claims he had no idea what scared the bejeezus out of Petrov, but come on, do you really believe that?!? And if he knew, then why wouldn't he have told Garibaldi that Petrov feared Devero was planning to kill the President (I assume that was what scared Petrov half to death).

The guy is on the run, not just from the Psi Corps but from Department Sigma too. Telling an EA security officer he'd scanned anyone would be an excellent way to bring down a pack of bloodhounds on his head. So if he did indeed pick up of Devero's or Petrov's thoughts (intentionally or otherwise) there wasn't that much he could do and to be blunt, why should he care if some politician is about to get vaporised? What he did do however is put Garibaldi on the right track when he could have easily said nothing, so regardless of what he did or didn't know then he meant well.
Of course it's totally plausible that he didn't scan anyone. Teeps spend most of their lives learning to block out stray thoughts and one imagines that for a powerful teep like him the clamour of all those minds must be deafening without blocks.

Here's a question - I didn't watch B5 until it had already ended, but the interwebs inform me that Season 2 started on November 2nd, 1994, only one week after Season 1 ended! It seems like the only summer hiatus was for the month of September - between The Quality of Mercy and Chrysalis. That seems pretty weird to me?!? How did it work for you guys who actually saw B5 first run?

From what I gather, B5's broadcast history was all over the place. Half of season one was scrambled out of order and I think there were a few gaps between episodes along the way. I don't recall much from personal experience, over here B5 was on at stupid-o'clock at night on channel 4 so I only caught episodes sporadically until the end of season 2.
Oddly enough I remember coming across TKO one night and thought it was a movie rather than a TV show. Say what you will about the effects, dialogue and guest characters (and I can say quite a bit) but the cinematography in season one was often pretty damn good. 'TKO' and 'Parliament of Dreams' in particular had some really well lit scenes.

I don't like the rationale for suddenly telling us that Minbari souls are being reborn as humans. I LOVE the concept, it just feels sort of rushed. Lennier's explanation (things have been set in motion, changes are coming), seems sort of ok while you're watching, but really, when you think about, it all seems so forced.

Originally this would have been played out over the first two episodes rather than wedged in here. One assumes that when they suddenly found they had to introduce Sheridan AND keep the plot threads from Chrysalis going, some things got a little cramped, plot-wise.

 

[Mal]

2x02 Revelations

Ambassador Delenn is out of that weird cocoon and she's got wings just like a butterfly! You gotta come see!
​

God, what an episode: Garibaldi, the President, Delenn and Anna.

G'kar is back from the rim, and he's found something. The "Ancient Enemy" spoken of in the Book of G'quan has returned after a thousand years! The Narn government is going to send an expedition to Za'ha'dum. Londo warns Morden, and also quips Why don't you eliminate the entire Narn homeworld while you're at it.

Meanwhile Franklin and Sheridan take "Extreme Measures" to cure Mr. Garibaldi, who awakes to say, What's up Doc? Talia scans him and they figure out that it was Garibaldi's Second who was behind the whole thing.

Aside: What is the Second's name? Is not giving him a name all these episodes intentional, along the line of his doing a The Prisoner salute (the same as Bester's salute) - in that show everyone was a number (I am not a number, I am a free man!). Right at the end of the ep Garibaldi calls him Jack, thus ruining the entire running gag. Unless there is some rule in the B5 'verse that in infamy all nameless villains shall be known, not by their Christian names, but only as... Jack.

Jonny's sister Lezzy (who was Anna's lover long before John) comes to visit, and they go out for dinner at... 1 guess where they eat. Jonny thinks Anna is dead because of him, but we learn that she was going to take the assignment on the Icarus anyway (for far more background, read The Shadow Within). We never see Lezzy again: Jonny's family is represented through his father from here on out.

Lastly,

Sheridan probably doesn't want to hear this, but original Anna was way hotter (and, I think, a better actress) than Gilbert.

Things fall apart. The center cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, the blood dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned. The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. Surely some Revelation is at hand, surely the second coming is at hand!
...
​

The darkness comes again, but now I know, that twenty centuries of stoney sleep were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle. And what rough beat, it's hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?​

 

[David cgc]

We never see Lezzy again: Jonny's family is represented through his father from here on out.

Not quite. We see his mother and his father (not played by Rance Howard) as a brief hallucination in... that one with the dead Markab, before the one with a lot of dead Markabs. Was it "Knives?" I think it was "Knives."

 

[Mal]

We never see Lezzy again: Jonny's family is represented through his father from here on out.

Not quite. We see his mother and his father (not played by Rance Howard) as a brief hallucination in... that one with the dead Markab, before the one with a lot of dead Markabs. Was it "Knives?" I think it was "Knives."

who are these people!??!

and what did they do with jon's real dad?!?!

 

[Forbin]

Yah, Beth Toussant is approximately five times hotter than Melissa Gilbert.

 

[Reverend]

^I think it's safe to say that both John Sheridan and Bruce Boxleitner would take issue with that opinion.

 

[Mal]

^I think it's safe to say that both John Sheridan and Bruce Boxleitner would take issue with that opinion.

he might agree, but he'd never admit it

 

[Warped9]

Yah, Beth Toussant is approximately five times hotter Melissa Gilbert.

Seconded.

 

[Forbin]

^I think it's safe to say that both John Sheridan and Bruce Boxleitner would take issue with that opinion.

Agreed, but he may not have seen her in that blue jumpsuit on TNG!

 

[Reverend]

On a more serious note, this actually highlights a pet peeve of mine regarding casting practices on TV shows in general. I often get mildly annoyed when I see an actress cast (seemingly) just because of her looks rather than acting ability or being right for the part.

It's not such a big deal in this case as Beth Toussant can act just fine, though she felt a little too young to be Sheridan's wife, even if the message was 5 years old.

I think the worst case of this I've noticed in B5 was that union leader women from 'By Any Means Necessary'. A good looker but can't act her way out of a soggy paper bag with about as much personality and again, she was a bit too young to make be believe she had earned a position of respect. Perhaps a better actress could have compensated for that and made one believe it, but that's rather moot.

It can occasionally backfire of course; it's no secret that Jeri Ryan was cast for nothing else than her ability to look good in a catsuit, but she went ahead and turned in a remarkable performance regardless.

 

[Forbin]

It can occasionally backfire of course; it's no secret that Jeri Ryan was cast for nothing else than her ability to look good in a catsuit, but she went ahead and turned in a remarkable performance regardless.

Oddly enough, though I hated Enterprise, I feel the same way about Jolene. Over the course of the show she really impressed me with her acting abilities.

As for B5's extras - wow, they hired a few stinkers, didn't they? How about the mother of that family touring Downbelow? The one where the daughter's ball rolled over to Doc Frankiln when he was on walkabout? She outstank Brown section!

 

[Reverend]

^ I wouldn't necessarily put that down to bad acting so much as characterisation. I've met people exactly like that.

I agree about Blalock, she was defiantly one of the more interesting characters on that show. I'd be easier to take her seriously though if they didn't persist in that juvenile T&A nonsense.