So I knew that Sinclair was eventually going to leave B5 but I hadn’t realized it was going to be RIGHT AWAY. When Jeff and I started watching this episode, at first it seemed as though were were watching some other show.
There don’t seem to be any episode recaps in TV.com for this season, so I’m probably going to be misspelling a lot of names and places from now on; please feel free to correct me in your comments!
I like Captain Sheridan so far, and his acting seems more natural than Sinclair’s. It’ll be interesting to see how he copes with his interactions with Minbari in the future, plus if there’s going to be any emotional fallout about all the Minbari deaths he was responsible for (don’t tell me).
I’m glad to see Ivanova in top form. Heh.
Poor Garibaldi’s still in a coma! I thought he’d be waking up this first episode; that’s what I would expect in a typical Star Trek episode, but B5 has longer-ranging plot and character arcs — one of things I’m really enjoying about the series so far.
And meanwhile, Delenn still hasn’t come out of her cocoon, though from the end of this episode it looks as if she’s going to be out by next episode. From the spoiler I saw on the cover, I assuming that she’s going to be at least part-human? Don’t tell me.
The explanation of why the Minbari stopped the war by suddenly surrending was surprising. Minbari souls being reborn in humans? And Sinclair has a Minbari soul? They also mentioned that when they questioned other human, they found the same thing.
This explanation struck me as unconvincing somehow. But why would Lennier lie? He did mention, in his monologue while tending to Delenn’s cocoon area, that he didn’t tell the humans everything. Don’t tell me.
I’m assuming we’ll be seeing Sinclair again in the series, at least as an explanation of how he got to the scarred and battle-weary state we saw him in recently. Don’t tell me. So now he’s living on the Minbari homeworld as the first ambassador from Earth. But this still doesn’t explain why the Minbari wanted him as the leader of B5, does it?
I loved the character above, the fellow who said to Lennier about Delenn: “We told her to wait, that prophecy would take care of itself. Now we are committed to the path.” What path?!? Don’t answer that. Also really enjoyed the clash between this guy and Sheridan (”If there is a doom on this station, it is because you brought it here.”)
Interesting to hear the captain talk about how rare fresh produce is; I love finding out extra details like that. Also enjoyed Ivanova’s summary of the state of B5 to Sheridan when he first arrives.
Sheridan’s quarters looks a lot more interesting than Sinclair’s. I’m really interested in the big machine on the left (screenshot above) is for.
Another difference I noticed: Ivanova is wearing heavier makeup than first Season One. Not sure if I’m crazy about that change; she doesn’t strike me as sort of woman who would pile on eyeshadow like this while on duty:
The captain of the rogue Minbari ship (Trugati? not sure of the spelling) was a great bad guy, and I especially like those hand dagger things:
“The Grey Council never tells anyone the whole truth,” he says.
By guessing the true intentions of the rogue Minbari ship (to start a war), Sheridan helps establish his expertise, but it doesn’t look as if he’s made any friends with the Minbari. Speaking of the Minbari, I love the colour/design of their ships!
It looks like this fellow’s another new regular character:
He’s a bit too “pretty boy” for my tastes and doesn’t seem that interesting so far, but I’ve been wrong before.
Garibaldi better wake up soon, though.
Next episode: Revelations
[For those who comment below: As the title of my blog indicates, I'm watching B5 for the very first time so PLEASE refrain from posting plot/character spoilers/hints about upcoming episodes, or including links to pages with spoilers (unless you warn readers that they contain spoilers). More info about spoilers here. Thanks so much! - Debbie]
10 comments ↓
Jerry Doyle (Garabaldi) checkily calls this his favorite episode–all he had to do was lay on his back the whole episode and he still received full pay.
Is this the first time we and B5 people see a Minbari Cruiser? I think only before we have seen one as what Sinclair remembered. That is, first time in B5 space in our story.
The big machine in Sheridan’s room is his communication console. Monitor and more. More than the small desktop communication devices seen before.
TV.com recaps seemed to be the same as the Synopsis on The Lurker’s Guide. Follow your link to the lurker’s guide, pick the episode, don’t look down at that Guide page, but use the navigation on the banner to go to Credits or Synopsis. They don’t seem to have spoilers.
Some of what we were left hanging with in Chrysallis was supposed to be revealed in the first two episodes of Season 2, but adding Sheridan to the story made it necessary to use 3 episodes.
I think they’re supposed to be the same quarters — the station commander’s quarters. One difference, of course, is that all of Sinclair’s personal effects are gone.
As far as I can tell, the communications console is the same one Sinclair goes to in “And the Sky Full of Stars,” finding it unresponsive in what turns out to be the start of his involuntary VR session.
According to JMS, the original plan — had Michael O’Hare remained on the show — was to immediately resolve the season one cliffhangers. (The circumstances behind O’Hare’s departure remain murky.) The need to immediately establish Bruce Boxleitner’s character pushed that back.
The Minbari semi-good-guy you liked, who’s named Hedronn in this episode but Coplann elsewhere (I think they never named him out loud here, but later wanted to give a shout out to John Copeland, their producer) is played by Robin Sachs, who does a lot of other alien work on the show from this season onward. He also played the bad guy, Sarris, in the movie Galaxy Quest. (And apparently Ethan Rayne on Buffy, though I never watched Buffy.)
It’s the “Trigati”, if I’m not mistaken. The pretty boy pilot character is Warren Keffer, who’s the squadron leader for Zeta Squadron, the new batch of Starfuries assigned to the station.
My favorite exchange in the episode was the conversation between Ivanova and Sheridan as they walk to his quarters:
“Chief of Security’s in critical condition in Medlab – thinks there’s a conspiracy concerning the President’s death. Ambassador G’Kar’s mysteriously vanished. After two years, we still don’t know what Ambassador Kosh looks like in his encounter suit. And Ambassador Delenn is in a cocoon.”
“A cocoon? As in a moth or a butterfly.”
“Yes sir. About yay high.”
“Interesting place you have here…”
The reveal as to why the Minbari surrendered at the Battle of the Line was supposed to be three episodes into Season 2. The departure of O’Hare just meant they had to move it up a bit.
I think it’s implied, if not stated outright, that since Sinclair was the Grey Council (and to some extent the Minbari’s first physical contact with a human) and because they believe Sinclair has a Minbari soul were their reasons for wanting him to command B5. I don’t think that is a spoiler for anything you haven’t seen. There were a series of canonical B5 comic books. The first story line cover Sinclair’s first week or so on Minbar, framed for murder. There are also a few other story lines, one about how Sinclair and Garabaldi met (including how Garabaldi knows about that secret Psi Corp center on Mars) and one dealing with some stuff from much later in the series.
“I can only assume I am paying off karma at a vastly accelerated rate.”
I also love the Minbari cruisers’ design. Unfortunately, whenever I see them, I can’t help but call to them: “here, fishy, fishy…”
[I tried to note something serious here, but couldn't phrase it without it being a spoiler. Sorry that my only comment is therefore flip.]
“The circumstances behind O’Hare’s departure remain murky.”
Indeed. JMS said repeatedly at the time and since that it was not due to any studio or network pressure but was necessary because Sinclair had a major back-story with the Minbari and it would have stretched credulity to have him also have a link to *another plot thread*. Which always struck me as a rather weak “reason” as *both* characters have back-stories with both of these threads.
And looking at some of his more recent comments it does increasingly sound less “planned” and more something he had to work around. But I don’t know!
As I remember the talk at the time, Sinclair’s departure was one of the trap doors JMS had ready. He always kept an alternate way of getting to major points, because TV casts can be changeable things.
I also remember all the complaining about O’Hare’s acting on the Usenet boards. I’ve always thought that the studio wanted O’Hare out for that reason. *shrug* I don’t suppose we’ll ever know. (The ironic part was how many of those who had complained, then wanted him back.) I thought his acting was deliberately understated; it was Sinclair’s nature. Difficult to do, and perhaps too nuanced for many. But I admit to coming to love Sheridan, and Boxleitner has been a favorite since “Scarecrow and Mrs. King.”
His departure was revealed to me — I don’t remember how — and I remember being so impressed that a TV show had the audacity to get rid of its lead. Another place where Bab5 was different from previous shows.
In any case, JMS, whether by choice or by force, certainly did a wonderful job weaving in the change.
I believe there was a certain amount of play with a general perception of Boxleitner as a “lightweight” actor. Which made me imagine the following exchange:
“What kind of a name is Boxleitner anyway?”
“Well, you know in a box of chocolates sometimes they put in an extra piece of chocolate to make the box heavier?”
Needless to say, this perception is quite unfounded…
Sinclair may have wanted to stay on board on Garibaldi’s behalf, but when it comes to military organizations and government you don’t get many options right? http://scifimusings.blogspot.com