Hi all! Sorry if this is a bit rushed - like I said, hectic week! - but glad you liked the Photoshopping! I may try and make that a weekly thing, if I can get enough inspiration for it!
Parliament of Dreams
OK ... Let me say, first, that the three episodes we watched this week have completely convinced me that B5 is worth sticking with. I loved them, because they all had so much potential.
Parliament of Dreams was, to start off with, a cool premise. Aliens sharing their religious practices with each other, in order to create greater understanding - and the continual undercurrent of diplomacy and race relations involved - it just felt right for the station. I have noticed both the Minbari and Centauri celebrations in the opening credits montage before, and thought they looked interesting. It was also nice to see that, just like newspapers made of actual paper, our current religious diversity on Earth has endured into the B5 universe.
Moreover, the contrast between the Centauri and the Minbari was hilarious: I really am getting that whole slightly medieval vibe from the Centauri, with their banquets and lust for life. Londo was brilliant, too - you guys have quoted his best lines, so I won't do it again, but I was laughing out loud while watching that scene. The Minbari celebration perplexed me quite a bit more, I have to say - it seemed completely in character with their much more solemn culture, but the whole deal with it being a "marriage ceremony" (especially considering the long exchange of looks between Delenn and Sinclair) was a confusing little detail.
And, the G'Kar plotline was pure joy. I kid you not when I say I have had his little ditty stuck in my head all week. I'm really impressed with Andreas Katsulas' acting - he can change tones very deftly, from smooth to menacing to blustery to sleazy. The "pink panties" scene was just too brilliant.
Am also pleased to finally meet Na'Toth - she certainly had a good first episode!
The worst thing about this episode was Catherine Sakei. I can't pinpoint why, but she annoys me. It was nice to see a more personal side to Sinclair and the shipper in me can't help but rejoice, but I think the dialogue could have been much better in some scenes.
Mind War
This episode was slightly cheesier than
Parliament of Dreams, but to some extent, the whole "telepath" thing is hard to pull off. Someone above mentioned the scene where they scan Talia, and yep - that was a pretty good example. I thought Walter Koenig was fantastic as Bester, and I'm glad to hear he'll be back again, but I wasn't sorry to see that other girl get zapped. Her acting was TERRIBLE!
I was actually quite impressed by Talia in this episode ... again, am not sure why, but she just felt more real to me. I did love that scene in the monorail (partly because I heart the whole idea of a B5 monorail!
) ... the whole Jason Ironheart plotline was moving on a personal level and intriguing in terms of the series' future. Certainly, I am REALLY intrigued by the idea - mentioned already in
Infection - that autonomous or semi-autonomous corporations are beginning to lay down the law over the government itself.
As for the Sigma 957 plot ... again, Sakei was irritatingly predictable. But I liked the way the A and B plots dovetailed in the end: when Ironheart becomes a higher power and Sakei briefly encounters another one. The scene with G'Kar and the ant was again brilliantly carried off by Katsulas, despite initially seeming like an obvious analogy.
There's only one thing I'm confused about ... if the whole Psi Corp idea was to create a stable telepath, and the process they used turned Ironheart not only into a telepath but eventually into this non-corporeal being ... if "we were never meant to have this power" and can't harness it ... why does he give it to Talia? Presumably, he gave her a much reduced version of it? But why further propagate something he himself considered dangerous?
The War Prayer:
Again, the biggest virtue of this episode is that it opens up so many possibilities and hints at a world far bigger than just one narrative. The whole "Pro Earth" movement is a great theme, and one that never stops being relevant: it's in the great tradition of sci-fi themes that are analogous to contemprary life. From the beginning, we are introduced to Shaal Mayan as a poet and revered intellectual: not only is the attack on her cruel and barbarous in itself, but it's clearly shown to be setting back Earth's image and influence with the aliens, rather than the reverse. The Minbari already seem to have a slightly superior attitude to the humans - if anything is going to increase that, it's the Earthers living up to their stereotype.
As the human characters go, I think my favourite so far is Ivanova (though Sinclair comes a close second). In this episode, we get to see a different side of her, and what I liked most about her performance was its subtlety, somehow. It's not that Ivanova "softens" - it's that this other side of her personality co-exists with her all-business work ethic. When Malcolm (who really did look suspect from the start!) turns out to be a major agitator in the Pro-Earth movement, she takes it as an affront to her ideals, not just her emotions. Though I did find it slightly hard to believe that Malcolm and Susan had no idea about each others' beliefs - if he HAD changed, surely he'd expect her to be surprised, and if he was like that all along, surely it would have been mentioned?
Incidentally, though it worked well for the narrative of the episode, I found Sinclair's pretense to be a bit transparent: in the Mary Ann Cramer episode, we heard how he's vocal about his beliefs. He evidently does believe in Babylon 5 as a "dream given form", as a place for diplomacy. Malcolm Biggs should have been a little more suspicious, methinks.
Finally, the Centauri plotline. Again, we get some more background on the Centauri culture, with their arranged marriages between powerful families. It's not a new idea, but it's carried off well, again, this time due to Jurasik's acting. "My shoes are too tight, and I have forgotten how to dance." Again, the A and B plots join up nicely, especially since it is an exchange between alien cultures (Shaal Mayan's words) that causes Londo's change of heart.
And, since I've decided to adopt G'Kar as my "character to follow" (is that OK?) ... he has a small but noticeable role in this episode. In sharp contrast to his last (comedic) role, this time he is the main agitator among the alien population of B5, dissatisfied about the slow pace of the investigation. One line in particular was interesting: G'Kar himself is largely concerned about the welfare of the Narns, instead of having an in-principle objection to the xenophobic attacks. Still, he makes a good figurehead for the other aliens to rally round.
~~~
Right ... Am off to bed!
Night all ... hope the above made sense!
I will post my review later after I watch Parliament and the others .
This is why I shouldn't post late at night ... 
Hoped it would come up at a later time in the series! I quite like the idea of the Talia character in general - professional telepaths used in business transactions, it's an interesting take on it all.
I love it. 
