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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 30, 2017 21:27:38 GMT -5
Also, I LOVE how the ISN is really a character in itself as the series continues, very foresightful in this era of media bias. I agree alot of the early episodes are very Trek-like in both theme and their episodic nature. Early one, there was definitely a feeling of some episodes being far more important than others.. but as the series when on, those unimportant one-offs became less and less frequent. Signs and Portents (the actual episode, not the season title) is when I felt like "This is something more than Star Trek-style sci-fi." Up to that point, every story was resolved by the end, things move on, we had the threat of the week, etc..; that episode was different. You sit there, watching Morden asking everyone "What do you want?" and wonder WTF is up with this guy. Then, by the end, you have an idea that there are really sinister forces behind this guy and something big is brewing. It also happens in "Mind War," both with Bester and the Psi Corp and when Catherine Sakai encounters the Walkers of Sigma 957 and G'Kar dispatches Narn fighters to rescue her. On the one hand, we see other mysterious aliens in the galaxy and on the other, we see that G'Kar acts without self-interest. His explanation of the Walkers, to Catherine, hints at bigger things beyond the station, that we will see again. That's when I started seeing that there was more to this series and I didn't want to miss episodes (though I did originally miss Legacies and Babylon Squared). I think the ep that really sold me was Bester's first appearance, that was went it was clear there was going to be a long term plot and character development. Lanier arriving helped alot, too, though. He has a great arc over the course of the show, |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 1, 2017 0:27:52 GMT -5
Episode 6:  Guest Stars: William Allen Young (District 9, Moesha) as jason ironheart, Felicity Waterman (Die Hard 2, Knots Landing) as Ms. Kelsey, and Walter "Nuclear Wessels" Koenig (Duh!) as Bester. Episode synopsis: The episode opens with a wing of Star Furies order a ship to surrender. They bear an Omega symbol and are not from B5. The ship refuses and a wave of energy hits the squadron, wiping it from existence. meanwhile, on B5, CDR Sinclair is getting some lovin' from Catherine Sakai, who tells him she is meeting clients for another planetary survey. He has to go deal with budget cuts. The transport ship that destroyed the Black Omega fighters arrives at B5 and docks. Talia has been hired by Universal Terraform to mediate negotiations with catherine and is heading to the meeting, when she picks up Garibaldi's thoughts as he undresses her with his eyes, while standing behind her. She elbows him in the gut (Jerry Doyle and Andrea Thompson were married or at least involved, when this was shot). At the meeting, Catherine secures the contract to survey Sigma 957, a planet in a disputed area, which requires authorization from one of the parties in the dispute. Enter G'Kar, who says no. Catherine goes after him and argues, claiming G'Kar is trying to get at Sinclair, through her. he replies that not everyone on the station is who they appear and his rebuke was to safeguard her life. he says she can try going over his head. Meanwhile, two Psi Cops arrive. These are the enforcement agents of the Psi Corps. They go directly to Sinclair and start hitting him with telepathy and it royally Ps him off. They are after a fugitive named Jason Ironheart, who murdered a researcher and who is to be considered armed and dangerous. Sinclair isn't buying all of this. They demand to speak to Talia, who had been a student of Ironhearts and force her to submit to a deep scan, which causes pain. Sinclair is about to go upside Bester's (head Psi Cop) head when he backs off. Talia is dismissed and runs into ironheart. He tells her about the experiments of the Psi Corps, to increase telepathic abilities and try to create a stable telekinetic (1 in 10,000 are TK; but, most are clinically insane). They succeeded in him; but, they want the power to create assassins who can kil by cutting off a blood vessel. He is trying to prevent them from getting him and dissecting him. he has tapped into the ability to manipulate energy, not just matter. While this goes on, G'Kar contacts Narn and asks for a squadron of heavy fighters to be dispatched to Sima 957. Catherine is conducting her survey of the area, after going above G'Kar's head, and runs into a disturbance that saps her ship's power. She sees a massive alien ship cross her path. It disappears in a jump gate and she drifts helplessly towards Sigma 957. She is rescued at the last minute by a Narn fighter, whose pilot informs her that G'Kar ordered them to watch over her. They tow her back to B5. Jason Ironheart has sealed off a section of the station and talks to Talia, who convinces him to talk to Sinclair. Sinclair believes his story and offers to get him off the station. bester has been monitoring and he and Ms Kelsey (his aide) set up an ambush. Bester tries to use a "cutout" command word and Ironheart hits him with a blast, as he gets off a PPG shot. Ms Kelsey is blasted into a spot on the floor and Bester is out. Ironheart's power is growing out of control. he leaves in his ship, which is enveloped in energy and he communicates that he has grown beyond the physical. he gives Talia a gift and she is hit with a mental blast. Bester is sent packing, though not without making some threats, and Catherine catches up to G'Kar and asked why he rescued her and what did she see. G'Kar sees an ant crawling on a plant and explains that they are as ants to what walks through Sigma 957. They could easily get stepped on and that there are things in the universe beyond comprehension by their races. The episode ends with Talia slowly moving a keepsake penny with her mind. Tremendous episode that was a game changer! This is the one that, to me, served notice that this was a very deep show, with a bigger tale to tell than just the individual episode story. We are introduced to Bester, the greatest villain of the series and one of the most fun. G'Kar shows that he is not the one dimensional schemer that we have seen previously. We get an inkling that there are other races out there beyond comprehension, much like the mysterious Vorlon, who we have already seen, via Kosh.  If you thought Walter Koenig was just Chekov, you haven't seen Walter Koenig really act. He did a fine job in that role; but, rarely got much to sink his teeth into. JMS gave him Bester and he transcended his previous work. bester is a low key schemer and manipulator. he never tells the full truth but he doesn't lie, either. He has plans within plans and parades around in a Gestapo-like black Psi Cop uniform. Bester will come back for further visits and they are always some of the best episodes of the season. The character is named for SF writer Alfred Bester, whose The Demolished Man tells the story of a psychic detective, who must solve a murder, in a world where murder doesn't exist, due to telepathic police. Later in the series, bester will be given the first name of Alfred. Koenig was originally supposed to play Knight #2, in "A Sky Full of Stars;" but, a heart attack made that unlikely and he was shifted to a lighter demand episode, this one. Patrick McGoohan was contacted about doing A Sky; but, was out of the country when filming was to take place and had to pass, though he wanted to do it. JMS had also talked about doing an homage to The Prisoner, with McGoohan, which never came about. In this episode, Bester gives the fish-eye salute and "Be Seeing you," that was a staple of The Prisoner.  The Walker ship is a fantastic piece of design and effects work, looking wholly alien and mysterious. We will see the ship again, down the road. For now, they are a mystery and represent ancient alien races, beyond those we have seen so far (except maybe the Vorlons). They will be known as the First Ones, by the Minbari, the oldest of the known races.  Jason Ironheart represents the power of telepaths, if pushed to the limit. This helps set up that telepaths are potentially dangerous individuals. Bester and his kind represent the fascist authority which governs these potential weapons and they are researching for sinister purposes. Ironheart warns that the Psi Corps has growing influence over the Earth Government. Telepaths are a minority and one that is distrusted and feared by the general populace. A lot of Psi Corps lore is brought up on this episode, adding to the bits from Ivanova, Talia and Lyta. Telepaths will me major players and Maguffins in the series. Jason had a relationship with Talia and his gift boosts her abilities, which makes us wonder about her future. In the pilot, Lyta is exposed to the mind of a Vorlon and is deeply affected. The plan was that her powers would increase over the series and have major repercussions down the road. When Pat Tallman decided not to do the regular series, that role was shifted to Talia, with Jason being the catalyst. As we will see later, Andrea Thompson's decision to leave the series will alter destiny again. JMS had backdoors to remove characters, due to actor changes, and slot new ones in, as with Laurel Takashima being replaced by Susan Ivanova and ben Kyle being replaced by Stephen Franklin (and Jeffrey Sinclair by John Sheriden). There are some really great effects scenes in this episode:    Lastly, we see that G'Kar has an altruistic side, as he acts to protect Catherine. based on previous episodes and his refusal to allow Catherine clearance to enter Sigma 957, we believe that his call to Narn is to send ships to destroy her, as an attack on Sinclair. Instead, he rescues her, with no favor asked. We find out that G'Kar has much knowledge about older races, though more an awareness, rather than the answers behind them This is the first step along the transition of G'Kar from being the mustache-twirling villain we see in the pilot and early episodes into the hero and religious figure he will become. That transition, as well as Andreas Katsulas' performance, ia one of the real joys of the series. This episode is damn good science fiction, with real science, as well as good television. it is filled with compelling characters, interesting situations, a layered plot, and tremendous visuals. This would be a real hallmark episode for the series and showcase what you could see, if you tuned in each week.  |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 1, 2017 21:05:52 GMT -5
Episode 7:  Guest star: Tristan Rogers (General Hospital) as Malcolm Biggs Episode synopsis: A minbari poet is on the station, visiting Delenn, before heading out on a tour that leads to appearances on Earth. After a gathering, she is attacked by a shadowy figure and stabbed. She is brought to Medlab and stabilized. Garibaldi remarks that this is the 6th attack on an alien and that he has heard rumors about a group, called Homeguard, who are anti-alien/pro-Earth. Garibaldi investigates. meanwhile, Malcolm Biggs, an old flame of Ivanova's, arrives on station and runs into her. he wants to pick up where they left off, but Susan is a bit cool to him. They do agree to meet for drinks. Ivanova also has to receive two detainees dropped off by the Centauri. They are a pair of young Centauri who ask for Ambassador Cotto. Vir is called and it turns out the male of the pair is Vir's cousin and that Vir has exaggerated his position. The couple left Centauri Prime because they are in love, but have been promised in arranged marriages to other. Londo gets involved and tells them they all must make sacrifices. Garibaldi encounters a suspect named Roberts, who has a knife with blood on it. Roberts denies involvement but expresses sympathy to Homeguard. Garibaldi arrests him for possession of the knife and runs tests on the blood. Later, the Centauri couple are attacked and the male is badly injured. The Minbari poet confronts Londo about his attitude, making him reflect on his own arranged marriages (to 3 wives, of whom he refers as Famine, Pestilence and Death). Garibaldi comes across a video of Malcolm Biggs talking to Roberts. Sinclair decides to go under cover and shows Ivanova the footage. They arrange a meeting, where Sinclair spouts Earth-first rhetoric. Meanwhile, G'Kar stirs up an alien crowd to take matters in their own hands and station security has to break it up. Sinclair meets with Roberts in a secluded sector, where 6 others appear, in stealth suits, which block light. It is new tech that the Homeguard acquired. Sinclair's loyalty is to be tested, by murdering the ambassador of the Abbai, an alien who recently arrived on the station. Sinclair and Ivanova make their move and security soon shows up and arrests the men. Londo tells the Centauri lovers that they will be sent back; but, a cousin of his will meet them and take them into a sort of foster care, where, after a period of time, they will be allowed to wed. This will appease the two families, as they will gain status.     Tristan Rogers is suitably oily, as Biggs, and it is pretty obvious from the start that he is a likely suspect in the attacks. He does a fine job with the role; it just isn't set up to amount to much. The episode basically establishes the growing xenophobia among some humans and the darker elements back home, which have come to Babylon 5. Sinclair wants them shut down fast, which leads to his actions, which put him at odds with the League, until the attackers are caught. In the midst of this, Sinclair and Ivanova question the previous attack on Kosh, from the pilot. They question how poison could be administered through his encounter suit. Sinclair remarks that the only two people to see a Vorlon's body, Dr Kyle and Lyta Alexander, were both suddenly recalled to Earth. This adds to the mystery of the Vorlons. It it tied into this rising xenophobia or something else? This is a fairly average episode that mostly adds background detail to the season arc, without adding much to the central story. The series kind of falls into the pattern, for the next few episodes with the exception of the next episode, "And A Sky Full of Stars." That one will delve further into Sinclair's missing hours, from the Battle of the Line. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 2, 2017 22:29:04 GMT -5
Episode 8:  Special Guests: Christopher Neame (Kaiser Wilhelm, in Edward the King, aka Edward the VII, on PBS) and Judson "Didn't get a credit in Star Trek II" Scott (The Phoenix and Joachim, in Trek II, the Wrath of POd producers). Episode synopsis-A man arrives on the station and checks into quarters, where he soon meets a comrade, who says he has identified the target and holds up an image of Sinclair. Meanwhile, a security officer is accosted by two men, to whom he owes a substantial amount of money. He swears they will have their money soon. We later see him in front of Garibaldi and Sinclair, who interrogate him about gambling debts. he states he is within the limits set for station personnel; but, the chief and the commander aren't buying it. They suspend him, pending investigation. The mysterious duo are assembling a device and need a power supply.  We later see it handed over by the security officer, who is also expecting to be taken off the station. While this goes on, Dr Frankling examines Delenn. She asks about what he did, during the war. he says he was approached about notes from an encounter with Minbari. He refused to hand them over for bio-weapons research and that he destroyed them (as we will see in the movie, "In the Beginning."). he then asks Delenn what she did and she brushes off the question. Sinclair has a nightmare about the war and awakens to a silent station. he dresses and heads to C'n'C; but, no one is there. He meets one of the two visitors, known as Knight 2. We see Delenn, in the morning, telling garibaldi that she had a meeting with Sinclair and he never showed. Garibaldi can't raise him on the link and goes to his quarters. he finds the link but no Sinclair. He alerts C'n'C and sounds the alarm. Sinclair is strapped into a virtual reality cybernet and is interrogated about what happened during the Battle of the Line. The two Knights represent parties who don't believe Sinclair's official story. They use drugs and VR scenarios to try to get to the heart of things. Knight 2 takes a break; but, they learn that the station is being turned upside down for Sinclair and up the drugs, despite the danger. Sinclair sees an image of himself strapped into a frame, surrounded by grey robed figures.  He is hit with a blast of energy from a staff of some sort. Sinclair blacks out. Garibaldi's aide has called in all hands, including the crooked officer. garibaldi questions his inclusion and the aide, Jack, says that the man's debts were cleared. Garibaldi checks and sees that the officer, Benson, has a flush account and has made several payments. He doesn't buy it and goes looking for Benson. he finds his body, after Benson was murdered by Knight 1. Knight 2 questions Sinclair and posits a theory that the Minbari surrendered because taking Earth would pose too high a cost and took in Sinclair to be an inside agent, to destroy from within. Sinclair laughs that off and points out that the Minbari were easily winning the Battle of the Line. The Knight's questioning brings up the words from the Minbari assassin, from The Gathering, as Sinclair is hit with a vision of what really happened. His men are being destroyed left and right and he goes on the attack. His stabilizers are hit and het sets a ramming course. His ship is hit with a beam of energy and pulled inside a Minbari cruiser. He is strapped dwon to a gurney and brought before the robed figures and interrogated. he briefly breaks free and grabs a hood, revealing Delenn. He is struck down and blacks out. Sinclair reacts to this vision by breaking free of the cybernet, causing a backlash that hits Knight 2. Sinclair stumbles out, suffering from delusions that he is still on the Minbari cruiser. he fires at a security guard, then Knight 1. Garibaldi takes out the Knight and Sinclair fires on him. Finally, Delenn arrives and talks him down. Later, in Medlab, he is purged of the drugs. Garibaldi tells him that Earth is taking Knight 2, though his brain is fried, so he won't be of much help with their investigation of the conspiracy faction. Sinclair later goes to Delenn's quarters to thank her. She asks if he has any memory of the event and he says no and leaves. We then see another Minbari, with a triangle symbol on his forehead, appear and tell Delenn that if he regains his memory, he will have to be killed. delenn agrees. Sinclair goes to his quarters and records an entry in his personal log and states that he now remembers and once to know what the Grey Council were up to and why he was released, no matter the cost. Excellent episode that finally answers what happened to Sinclair and also reveals it to him. We see that Delenn has a connection to this event and is there watching Sinclair. We still don't know why he was taken, why he was released, and why the Minbari surrendered though. This makes us want to come back for the answers.  Christopher Neame is excellent and has some great scenes with Michael O'Hare. originally, the part was intended for Walter Koenig, who suffered a heart attack and it was decided that the role would be too much for him. Instead, they offered him the Bester role, which turned out to be a major bonus for him. The next intended Knight 2 was Patrick McGoohan, who was interested; but, out of the country filming and couldn't meet the production schedule. this would have been fantastic, as the episode has several parallels to The Prisoner. As Knight 2, McGoohan would have gone from Number 6 to Number 2. If only...Neame does a fine job, though. The interrogation scenes are straight out of The Prisoner playbook, recalling the episode "Once Upon a Time," when Number 2 is shut up in a locked room with Number 6 and the Butler, with only one or the other to survive. We learn little more about who was behind this, as this plot point was pretty much forgotten, aside from falling into the background detail that there are anti-alien factions on Earth and this suggests that some have government connections. It weaves conspiracy into conspiracy. The Minbari interrogation of Sinclair will factor into the season arc; but, Knight 2 will not. However, it does relate to events we will see at the end of the season. Mira Furlan plays Delenn's part well, here, acting mysterious and asa friend. She is a tremendous actress and the scripts (especially the JMS ones, like this) really feed her great material. Janet Greek is the director and she is one of the favored series directors, directing 11 episodes, including several key ones |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 2, 2017 23:00:09 GMT -5
Just for fun:
Total Eclipse of the Heart
Gladiator
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2017 6:24:15 GMT -5
Cody, I only watched Mind War and I just went through all three pages and glanced at your reviews and this show isn't an easy show to do a review on and sadly, I did not watch much of Babylon 5 at all. I was working lots of overtime and did managed to watch the last season of this show and sadly I did not know that this show ended right there in year 1998.
I learned that this show lasted 5 seasons and saw Mind War at a friend place and he was excited about this show and I couldn't quite understand what he was telling me. So, I literally forgot all about it - until I saw this reviews.
Great Job Cody and I've wished that I could contribute more ...
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 4, 2017 1:55:53 GMT -5
Episode 9:  Guest Stars: Sarah Douglas (Superman I & II, Conan the Destroyer), Robin Curtis (Trek 3 & 4) as Ambassador Kalika, Cosie Costa (Remo Williams) as Abbut, Aki Aleong (Outer Limits, Tales of the Gold Monkey, V, Farewell to the King, tons of tv) as Sen Hidoshi. Synopsis-A Minbari ship docks on B5 and a passenger is going through customs when na'Toth attacks her, shouting "Deathwalker!" After she is pried off and the victim taken to Medlab, Na'Toth is questioned and states she is Jha'Dhur, known as Deathwalker, a war criminal from the Dilgar War (Earth's first big intergalactic conflict, prior to the Earth-Minbari War). She was responsible for the death of Na'Toth's grandfather. Sinclair is skeptical, as the victim appears too young. G'Kar comes along and bails out his aide. Meanwhile, Talia has been hired by Kosh for negotiations and is told to scan a weird dude, named Abbut. She finds that he can't be scanned and then Kosh says the negotiations can begin. Abbut talks gibberish and Talia gets a headache. Sinclair checks on the victim and Dr Franklin says she is recovering remarkably. They find evidence that suggests she is a Dilgar, even though they were believed wiped out at the end of the Dilgar War, when their sun went nova, including a Dilgar uniform. It seems she is Deathwalker. G'Kar tells Na'Toth that her blood oath will have to wait as Deathwalker was to meet with the Narn Regime to bargain for a discovery. Sen Hidoshi contacts Sinclair and tells him that the victim is to be sent on to Earth as soon as possible. Sinclair talks about her being Deathwalker and Hidoshi brushes this off. Deathwalker reclaims an elixir from Franklin and says it is her life's work, a serum that retards aging. Londo now expresses interest. She says she had been harbored by the Wind Swords, members of the Minbari Warrior Caste. Sinclair meets with Lenier and asks him about this. Lenier can't believe the Wind Swords would harbor a war criminal and agrees to look into it. G'Kar tries to negotiate and deathwalker says he can have the elixir, if he brings her the head of Na'Toth. G'Kar storms off. Sinclair announces to his staff that Deathwalker is to go to Earth and Garibaldi can't believe it, since Earth turned the tide against the Dilgar. G'Kar stirs things up with other League ambassadors to block Deathwalker from heading to Earth. A vote is called for a war trial and the vote goes 2 to 3, with Lenier casting the decisive votae against, for the Minbari. Sinclair confronts him and he admits that the Wind swords did harbor Deathwalker and the government tried to cover it up. The lesser planets are up in arms and a Drazi Sun Hawk warship jumps in and threatens the station if Deathwalker isn't turned over. other League ships show up in support. Sinclair negotiates a compromise to share the elixir formula and try Deathwalker. deathwalker then reveals the secret: an ingredient required must be harvested from a live donor. So, for immortality, someone else must die. She says the worlds will fall upon themselves like wolves to achieve it, as her lasting revenge. While all this is going on, Talia has a second set of negotiations, with more nonsense, when she is hit with a terrible psychic image. Kosh then announces that the negotiations are over. Abbut then removes his "pimp hat" and reveals that he is a cyborg, with a cranial implant. He removes a data crystal and hands it to Kosh. Kosh later shows up as Deathwalker is leaving in her ship, when a Vorlon ship comes along and blasts her into atoms. Sinclair asks Kosh why and he says "You are not ready for immortality." Talia later meets with Garibaldi and Sinclair and tells of her encounter with Kosh and Abbut and that it dredged up an image from a scan of a serial killer, the worst she ever had. Garibaldi identifies Abbut as a Vicker, a cyborg that can record anything, including telepathic communication. They theorize that Kosh may have a weapon against Talia, if needed. So, this is a really weird one. The Deathwalker stuff is classic Nazi scientist stuff, straight out of Operation: Paperclip (where German scientists were brought to the US for weapons research, including Werner Von Braun and the rocket scientists, who formed the basis of the space program). It was somewhat timely, as the Serbian-Bosnian war had been going on, with many atrocities. The war would come to an end the following year and Slobodan Milosevic, after being deposed, stood trial for Serbian war crimes. Mira Furlan, who played Delenn, and her husband, director Goran Gajic, were forced to flee the former Yugoslavia, when death threats were made, after they refused to take sides in the wars. Gajic is a Serb and Furlan Croatian, a situation that angered both sides. As such, this was a hard time for her and B5 came along when she was a displaced actress, seeking work. She holds it and its fans in high regard, as it became her new family. The really weird stuff is Abbut.  The guy looks like a 5th rate pimp and talks total bollocks. Then, he takes off the hat and gets even weirder.  What Kosh is up to is anyone's guess, though Sinclair and Garibaldi's theory, at the end, suggests Kosh is interested in Talia's abilities. This will factor in more, down the road. It also comes into play when Andrea Thompson decides to leave the series and her character was written out, though that use probably wasn't part of the original plan.  Can I just add that Andrea Thompson was smoking in this show? The costume designer gave her clothes that hugged a very nice figure and she had a tremendous presence. Plus, that husky voice.......    Sarah Douglas is deliciously evil as Deathwalker, as is per usual (she usually played a baddie). The make-up isn't too heavy and gives her a slightly leonine appearance. The twist of the serum requiring a sacrificial victim is a nice mind-f@#$. The Vorlons' actions and Kosh's words (and his stuff with Talia) makes the Vorlons even more mysterious. They seem to be against anything that might elevate the lesser races, yet, they are on B5, in the form of Kosh. Why? We really want to know what is up with them; but we have to wait a very long time to get the full answer. Frustratingly, we get dribs and drabs.  Robin Curtis gets buried under the Abbai make-up and doesn't contribute a whole lot to the episode.  This is one of the first times we see a Drazi ship. So far, they have been mostly background aliens; but, they get more involved in the series and have some comical moments, as well.  We also get to see the Abbai ships, adding flying saucers to the mix. They turn out to have some cool energy weapons, that are seen much later in the series. The ultimate ship, though, still belongs to the Vorlon...  That ball of energy is generated from the tentacle things and then zooms on to destroy deathwalker's ship. Pretty tidy. A decent episode, with a lot of philosophical stuff, though the Kosh/Abbut/Talia stuff is rather distracting and ends up serving no real purpose, in the saga. This feels rather Trek, except for the ending, which is far darker than Trek usually got. That is part of what I liked about B5; it tread into darker territory, where Trek often feared to go. When it did, the Federation usually remained untainted. B5 always showed that the line between good and evil is heavily blurred, under the best of circumstances. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2017 8:41:07 GMT -5
Andrea Thompson is one of those television ladies that wears an uniform well and I remember watching her as Commander Krennick in 7 shows on JAG and earlier as Det. Jill Kirkendall in NYPD Blue.
I have a friend of mine that will let me borrow all seasons of Babylon 5 DVD's for me to watch in October when I have time to watch it.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 4, 2017 12:36:23 GMT -5
Episode 10:  Guest stars: Tricia O'Neil (STar Trek Next Gen-"Yesterday's Enterprise", Piranha 2) as M'ola, Stephen Lee (WarGames, Nash Bridges, Dark Angel, Robocop 2) as Tharg, Jonathan Charles Kaplan (Life with Mikey) as Shon, Silvana Gallardo (Falcon Crest, Centennial) as Dr Maya Hernandez. Synopsis-We see a family of the Onteen race, father Tharg, mother M'Ola and bot Shon in Medlab, being examined by Dr Franklin. The boy is ill but Franklin says he can be treated. In private the parents remark that no cure was found on their homeworld and they must prepare the boy for the inevitable. Dr Franklin assures them it can be fixed with a simple operation. The parents object on religious grounds. They believe that the body is sacred and cutting into it severs the soul, which would destroy Shon. Franklin tries to reason, to no avail. he offers an alternative, non-invasive treatment. Later, his colleague, Dr Hernandez, chastises him that the treatment wont work and he snarls at her for her arguing with the parents. He says he is buying time for them to come around and bets her a steak dinner. While treating Shon, Franklin gives him a "glopet egg" from the planet Placebo, to comfort him and give him something positive to focus on. Shon adores the glowing mass, which is really just industrial goo. When the treatment doesn't work, Franklin lays it on the line to the parents; but, they won't budge. he threatens to take it to the commander and sees Sinclair about ordering it. Sinclair doesn't want to set a precedent and Franklin reminds him of Ben Kyle's operating on Kosh ("The Gathering"). Sinclair says to find another alternative, first. The parents appeal to Sinclair, since they have no ambassador. As such, Sinclair is bound to represent them. He says he understands their position, but must also see to the child's welfare. he promises a ruling in 24 hours. The parents feel he will side with Franklin and appeal to the major ambassadors. G'Kar turns them down, as they offer nothing to the Narn Regime. Londo says his government will not back him. Delenn says that the Minbari refrain from interfering in the affairs of other religious beliefs and must remain neutral. Kosh is just mysterious. Sinclair meets with the boy, who says he would like to live, but not with the operation. Sinclair meets with Franklin, who dismisses the parents' objections and beliefs. Sinclair reluctantly refuses to give permission and Franklin storms off. The parents tell their son he is facing his fate bravely and leave. Franklin and Hernandez prepare for surgery after they leave and go through with it, saving the boy's life. After the operation, the parents see the boy and Franklin expects them to be happy. They realize what has happened and call the boy a demon and pull away, cursing Franklin. The boy is in tears. Sinclair yells at Franklin for disobeying and Franklin says he stands by his actions and will suffer any consequences to save life. The parents later return and apologize and wish to discharge their son. They have brought a "travelling robe, " for his great journey to come. As Franklin and Hernandez finish work, she shows him files on the Onteen. he sees the entry about a "travelling robe," and runs out, distressed. He uses his passkey to override their door and finds them around the lifeless body of Shon, who has been killed in a cleansing ritual, to purify his soul. Franklin offers his resignation to Sinclair, who refuses it; this time. Franklin is chastised and assures he will use better judgement, next time. The episode ends with Franklin sitting their, caressing the "glopet egg." There is a subplot where Ivanova, who has "station fever," gets the chance to take out a Star Fury wing to answer a distress call from the liner Asimov, which has broken down in raider territory. The wing escorts it to B5, when Ivanova spots a raider ship. They jam it and it bolts. She breaks formation to pursue, against Sinclair's orders (nobody is listening to him, in this one). She flames the raider, then more appear on her scanner. We later see the Asimov arrive at B5 and offload (it's too big for the docking bays). Ivanova arrives in one of the Asimov's shuttles and says she had a problem with her Star Fury.       If this seems very Star Trek, it is probably because it was written by David Gerrold, who wrote "The Trouble with Tribbles," and several Star Trek novels. DC Fontana was another Trek conenction, as she wrote the previous "War Prayer," and would pen two more episodes. The clash of cultures is a regular Trek plot, as is Franklin's actions (though mcCoy would be more persuasive, and grouchy). However, unlike Trek, the parents are not swayed from their beliefs and the culture doesn't see the "error of its ways." They follow through with their beliefs and the child still dies. It is a very dark ending, though it is slightly marred by Richard Biggs overplaying it. Its not a favorite episode, though it serves as character development for Franklin and it has a really good script. It just seems over-wrought. The raider subplot is mostly distraction, though it has some cool visuals. I always liked the arrowhead design of the raider ships and was sorry to see them go, after the first season.  It's basically an update of the Northrop Flying Wing  which inspired the Stealth Bomber and fighter    The Asimov is a luxury liner, which makes several appearances in the series. Think of it as a cruise ship, in space. The round section rotates to create gravity. Of course, its name is a tribute to legendary sci-fi author Isaac Asimov. This episode led to a major argument with a close friend, about Trek vs B5, as I argued that the series was more mature and had better writing, with more rounded characters. he pointed to this episode as turning him off the series, due to Franklin's actions and Richard Biggs' overstated performance. I counter-argued with better episodes and the point about how Trek would have resolved the episode. I eventually got him to watch the rest of the series and he became a fan. However, many of these early, almost stand-alone episodes were deal breakers for casual viewers. They did feel like Trek-lite and B5 never had the money Trek did. I actually was about ready to bail on the series, after a couple of more of these types of episodes, before watching "Signs and Portents. The first season is very uneven and you do have to kind of push through the weaker episodes. You are rewarded at the end of the season and it really starts to come together in the second season (with a couple of hiccups). After that, there are only one or two weak episodes, until the 5th season, when they had to fill time, before getting to the plots they held back, after it appeared that season 4 was going to be the end (its conclusion was supposed to carry over into the 5th season, but was resolved, instead). Our next one is a Garibaldi episode, that delves into his past. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 4, 2017 19:48:59 GMT -5
Episode 11: "Survivors"  Guest stars: Elaine Thomas (Not much, aside from The Bold and the Beautiful) as Lianna Kemmer, Tom Donaldson (Crossroads) as Cutter. Synopsis-ISN announces that President Luis Santiago will be visiting B5 to present a new fighter wing. preparations are underway and the Cobra launch bays are being refitted for the new ships. Garibaldi and Ivanova are surveying in a ship when an explosion erupts, launching a crewman in space. Another crewman, Nolan, is taken to medlab. major Lianna kemmer, of the Presidential Security detail arrives and demands to investigate the Cobra bays herself. She is cold towards Garibaldi, who knows her, from her childhood. Garibaldi goes to the Zocalo and goes after a suspect. he is getting pretty rough when Sinclair pulls him off and demands an explanation. Kemmer's father was a friend of Garibaldi's from when he worked security on Europa. It was a rough area and Garibaldi was drinking heavily. Kemmer helped pick him up and dry him out, when he was killed by people who Garibaldi POd. He spiraled into alcoholism and was reassigned. Lianna resents him for the death of her father and his own alcoholism. Sinclair is called by Franklin when Kemmer interferes in treating Nolan, who says there was a bomb and utters Garibaldi's name. Sinclair doesn't believe Nolan's dying words but kemmer insists Garibaldi be suspended, pending investigation. Sinclair has no choice and does so. Garibaldi heads to his quarters and finds Kemmer and her aide, Cutter searching his quarters. Cutter emerges with schematics of the bays and a bag of Centauri duckets. garibaldi knows a frame when he sees it and goes on the run. kemmer puts out an APB, which Sinclair cancels, stating she has a personal grudge. Ivanova ties up comm channels so Kemmer can't easily contact Earth to overrule Sinclair. Garibaldi confronts Londo, who pleads ignorance and gives Garibaldi money to help. Kemer's aide is sent to their ship to use comms there. Garibaldi goes to G'Kar, who denies involvement and offers sanctuary, if Garibaldi will work for the Narn Regime. he refuses and leaves. He tries to buy aide from N'Grath, but is refused. he heads off and runs smack into the Drazi criminal he attacked, and two of his buddies. the commence to stomping Garibaldi, who is saved by Sinclair. Zeta Wing, the new squadron arrive and are told to prep in the Cobra bays for immediate launch when the President's ship arrives. Garibaldi goes to Downbelow, the lower echelons of th station, to hide out with the poor and destitute of the station. Sinclair receives a message from Gen Netter to cooperate with Kemmer. garibaldi hides out in a bar and succumbs to pressure and starts drinking. Kemmer easily finds him blind drunk, uttering "Drunk again, Uncle Mike," a common phrase from childhood. garibaldi is hauled in and Sinclair still maintains that bias is clouding her judgement. garibaldi's aide Lou Welch has been investigating Nolan and brings in Homeguard literature and bomb components. It seems he is the bomber and it went off prematurely. The finger is then pointed at Cutter, as he "found" the frame evidence. he links in that the bays are cleared and launch can commence when the president arrives. Garibaldi says to sweep again and Kemmer agrees. They find explosives on the doors, enough to destroy the wing and half the station. Cutter knocks out Kemmer and Garibaldi takes him out. Later, Garibaldi chastises himself for crawling back into a bottle and Sinclair says to go easy on himself. Garibaldi reconciles with Kemmer, before she leaves.   Nice Garibaldi episode, which gets into his past and his battles with the bottle. Alcoholism will factor into his character quite a bit, through the series. It even helps provide a way for Tracy Scoggins to bond in the 5th season, when her character was not being accepted by fans. Her past with alcohol helps turn Garibaldi around and made her more sympathetic and the fans lightened up on the character.  Elaine Thomas is fine as Lianna, but not exceptional. The character never returned and the actress had a very brief career (5 credits, on imdb). This episode does factor into the season arc, as Homeguard rears its ugly head again and we see that the president may be in danger from them. After this, we have one more character-building episode, before we get a major step forward in the season arc and really rev up the series. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 4, 2017 20:24:54 GMT -5
Episode 12:  Guest stars: Katy Boyer (Lost World: JP, The Island) as Neeoma Connoly and John Snyder (Warriors, Crocodile Dundee) as Orin Zento Synopsis-The docking workers are overburdened and the seams are starting to show. An accident involving a Narn ship brings things to a head. The dockers need more resources and Earth Giv refuses to budge. Sinclair tries to negotiate as talk of strikes spread among the workers. Their representative Neeoma Connoly tries to calm things and work with Sinclair. earth Gov threatens to invoke the Rush Act, which would give them legal authority to put down the strike by force. Sinclair tries to work out a solution but Earth sends a negotiator to handle the situation. he refuses to budge and pushes for the Rush Act to be invoked. When it is, Garibaldi and his men are sent in to quell the strike. Violence erupts and Sinclair pulls them out. he has been told by sen Hidoshi to end the strike by any means necessary and says he will allocate some of the military budget to help the docking workers, satisfying their demands. Hidoshi later commends Sinclair for finding a solution, but says he has made further enemies. Sinclair shrugs it off. While all this goes on, G'Kar is waiting for a G'Quan Eth plant, for a religious ritual. The Narn ship was carying it and it is destroyed in the accident. There is only one other on the station and Londo has it. he taunts G'Kar and G'Kar offers to buy it. Londo names an outrageous sum and G'Kar goes to raise it. When he has it, Londo refuses to sell, in retaliation fro the invasion of Ragesh 3 ("Midnight on the Firing Line"). G'Kar has Na'Toth steal a Centauri religious statue and Sinclair has to get involved. he orders the return of the Centauri statue and confiscates the G'Quan Eth plant as a narcotic substance. he then turns it over to G'Kar; but, Londo says it is too late for the ritual. Sinclair reminds G'Kar that the ritual is supposed to take place with the first rays of the Narn sun and that the light won't reach them until later, allowing G'Kar to perform the ritual. G'Kar thanks him.    Fairly inconsequential episode as all it does is provide background detail for further budgetary and labor problems on B5, when Sheriden must deal with new problems. It furthers the battles between G'Kar and Londo, but turns the tables, as G'Kar is the more sympathetic and Londo acts like a Richard. G'Kar's religious convictions are a glimpse into another side, a side which grows across the series. That is one of the few definitive elements of this. The only other consequence is to add to Sinclair's enemies, which factors into the season finale. This episode is also one of the most political in tone. The Rush Act is named for conservative radio host; aw hell, Right-wing windbag, Rush Limbaugh, who was foaming at the mouth in this era. Limbaugh was noted for anti-union stances and the act allows the suppression of a strike by any means necessary. It was a wartime law that has been carried further; but, requires Senate approval. The concept is based, historically, on the Matewan Massacre, in West Virginia, as seen in John Sayles' Matewan . Kathryn Drennan was the writer of this episode and then-wife of JMS and it was her creation. Political parallels are frequent in the series, but few were quite so contemporary. Most were more allegorical. The ironic thing is that the B5 production company would undergo its own labor unrest, which led to some strained relationships, behind the scenes. Even "Hollywood Liberals" weren't immune to labor difficulties. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 4, 2017 22:44:16 GMT -5
That was one of my favorites.. the thing with the plan was hilarious, and the union stuff was the first really good look at Earth's government and how it worked.. it really laid the groundwork for the main plot later. I never made a connection to Rush Limbaugh.. that's great!
I remember being a little annoyed by ep 11, as by then Garabaldi was my favorite character, and I didn't like him retreating to alcohol so quickly and easily, but in retrospect it was fine, and was a pretty decent character spotlight.
I never liked ep 10 much.. I feel like it was meant to be a political statement more than have anything to do with B5
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 4, 2017 23:04:07 GMT -5
That was one of my favorites.. the thing with the plan was hilarious, and the union stuff was the first really good look at Earth's government and how it worked.. it really laid the groundwork for the main plot later. I never made a connection to Rush Limbaugh.. that's great! I remember being a little annoyed by ep 11, as by then Garabaldi was my favorite character, and I didn't like him retreating to alcohol so quickly and easily, but in retrospect it was fine, and was a pretty decent character spotlight. I never liked ep 10 much.. I feel like it was meant to be a political statement more than have anything to do with B5 I don't know about a "political statement," as much as defining Dr Franklin as someone who will defy all authority to save a life. He previously spoke of defying Earth Force when he destroyed his notes on the Minbari, rather than let them be used to create weapons (further expanded in "In The Beginning."). Here we see he defies Sinclair and the boy's parents to save the boy's life. However, he also learns there are consequences. We haven't seen him faced with the deaths of humans, due to not aiding the war effort. His planet stood on the brink of destruction until Sinclair was pulled onboard the Minari ship. Here, he faces the consequences of his actions, since he made a rash decision, without consulting the history of the culture he chose to defy. One of Babylon 5's main themes is that decisions have consequences. Every choice leads to a set of actions, which lead to an outcome. Some lead to beneficial conclusions, others to destruction. The message is be very careful about how you choose, as the consequences may be greater than you think and may occur years down the road. Franklin's actions removes the boy from his culture. In their eyes, his body has lost its soul and is a shell. They perform a ritual to put the body at peace. Franklin arrogantly assumed that the parents would see reason, as he defined it. he never considered that "reason" and science doesn't necessarily outweigh thousands of years of teaching and tradition. Had it been more overtly political, I think the end would have had the parents swayed to Franklin's point of view and a happy ending. I don't think the episode is making a point about religions that find themselves at odds with science. It does show the parents consulting with science. The problem is that there are limits that they feel science can go, without destroying their soul. Science has made it possible for humans to be implanted with microchips that can provide data to doctors, yet many feel that allowing microchips to be planted in their body is an invasion of their privacy and a step towards giving up control of their body to government authority. I would argue that the episode makes more of a philosophical debate, rather than a political statement; but, then one perosn's philosophy is another's politics. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 4, 2017 23:49:15 GMT -5
I feel like assisted suicide was a big topic at the time, and the was trying to make the aliens look as dumb as possible in allowing their kid to die, thus pointing out how silly it is. Maybe it was just overwriting and/or overacting, though.
I agree that decisions having consequences is a HUGE theme (I'd say the main one, actually)
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Post by brutalis on Jul 5, 2017 8:18:07 GMT -5
The 1st season of B5 was one of those situations where you either got "it" and fell in love with the series immediately or it struck hot AND cold at times making you wonder if you should keep watching. For me it was love at 1st viewing since there was so little true science fiction around outside of Trek and it was nice to have a series trying to be different and yet similar at the same time. I had a friend who was entirely "blah" about it other than for G'Kar and he did perk up a bit when Bester arrived but my friend would only watch occasionally and not follow B5 regularly. Another friend just went insane over B5. So different ends of the spectrum yet it managed to catch lots of viewer attention.
It truly was the actors though that hooked me because the leads and secondary's were so damn intriguing and not just one shade of acting. New names never before seen and the known names combined with "classic" stars (truly great to see Mumy and Koenig again) that were more than just stunt casting combined to making B5 something special. That Straczynski gave all of the actors such wonderful lines and arcs and moments to shine individually or with others helped the series to grow and build every season.
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