LOVED this episode. Yay, I’m glad Londo chose Timov…I loved her from the moment she first appeared. It was great to meet Londo’s three wives, especially Timov. I want more Timov.
Timov: The secret of our marriage’s success, Londo, is our lack of communication.
With wives like these, it’s no wonder that Londo was so taken by that other woman (whose name I already forget) but I find it also somewhat sad. He’s obviously somewhat of a romantic at heart, after all.
Interesting that he can just divorce the other two wives without consequences, even with the Emperor’s permission. Or maybe there will be consequences, who knows? Wouldn’t the families of the divorced wives be upset? Wouldn’t those wives want revenge? Don’t tell me.
Also very interesting that one of the wives has been having an affair with G’Kar! It’s not clear whether this was the only time or it’s happened before, though I’m thinking the latter because of the wife’s casual “As always” when G’Kar says how much he’s enjoyed spending time with her.
Funny scene between Ivanova and Delenn, where they discuss how Minbari cleanse themselves and where Delenn begs Ivanova to fix her hair.
This is the first time I’ve seen Delenn without that shell thingy around the back of her head — I wasn’t sure if it came off or not, but now I know.
What’s with G’Kar’s constant headaches? Something’s going on with him. Don’t tell me. I find the relationship between G’Kar and Londo more fascinating with each episode.
Thus far, I like Londo more than G’Kar, though both are intriguing characters. G’Kar seems to make more frequent and direct attempts to kill Londo, though Londo’s potential for slaughter of the Narn is greater because of his deal with Morden.
I’m really, really hoping that G’Kar and Londo don’t succeed in killing each other. The loss of either would take away from my enjoyment of the series. Don’t tell me.
In this episode, however, I realize that although G’Kar figured out that one of Londo’s wives was involved in the murder attempt, G’Kar wasn’t directly involved. He certainly didn’t seem at all inclined to warn Londo, though.
It was good to find out more about Talia Winters. And Matt Stoner was -creepy-, and does a really good job at playing a slimeball. I wonder if we’ll see him again? Don’t tell me.
Timov: Why me?
Londo: Because with you, I’ll always know where I stand.
Interesting to find out about empaths and their capabilities in the B5 universe.
Also interesting to see Talia Winters briefly toy with the idea of leaving B5 and giving up her powers. And when she said she’d rather NOT have her powers because she hates the way people cringe when they see her…was that her ex-husband’s manipulations or does part of her truly feel this way? Don’t tell me, but I suspect the latter.
Scary to see how much power Stoner had over people. Because, of course, it means that Psi-Corps has that power. And Psi-Corps wanted Talia back to turn her into an empath as well, even against her will! I wonder how this is going to affect Talia’s loyalty to Psi-Corps? And was Matt Stoner telling the truth when he told Talia there was a “cure”? Don’t tell me.
Next episode: A Race Through Dark Places.
[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]
18 comments ↓
This was a Peter David episode, he of several very funny Trek novels. Since he’d written Trek, it was fascinating to read his accounts of realising what it was he needed to change about his first draft of the script to make it work - that people and their relationships needed to change, to not be quite the same at the end as they were at the start.
I don’t know if B5 was *the* show which broke this mould of network TV, that let in the liks of Buffy and Heroes and Battlestar Galactica where there’s an underlying story and things *change* (and actually induced such changes in later Trek shows too). But I suspect if it wasn’t the only one, it was a major part of it.
@Phil: I’m not sure when it happened wrt. B5, Peter David has also written a Star Trek ’spin-off’ series where the characters do change. Perhaps he learned that from B5.
@Debbie: Yes, Delenn having a bad hair day is priceless.
I know those are the episode numbers in order, but I find them hard to relate. I expect Season 2 to start with episode 1…
If I recall correctly, the bone on Delenn’s head wasn’t so much removed as covered by her out-of-control hair. (Which she’d grown in the chrysalis, as part of moving toward humanity.)
I thought Londo’s choice was pretty well inevitable; the last thing he’d want would be someone clingy and smothering. The only real question in my mind is whether he really knows what Timov did for him.
Without spoiling anything, it’s fair to note that the Centauri Emperor is an absolute monarch, in a court of connivers and sycophants. So when he tells Londo that something is so, it’s so — until and unless someone manages to change his mind, or his successor decrees differently, or Londo does something to fall out of favor, or any of a thousand different possibilities — or maybe not. That’s the way of such a society, especially at the levels where Londo operates.
Psi Corps is scary. As much as I would love to be in it at a high level, I’ve grown up outside its bounds, and it’s scary.
Steering clear of specifics to avoid any possible spoilers: the high-level insides of an outfit like Psi Corps are probably every bit as filled with treacherous intrigue as the Centauri court. The latter is just a bit more obvious about it.
Delenn’s bone crest is still there, just hidden by hair.
I really like the interaction between Londo and his wives in this episode. Peter David will go on to write a trilogy of Centauri-inspired B5 novels once the series was done, too. I’d recommend them- they’re a lot of fun.
I was also thrown by your numbering system! I was expecting “Season 2, Episode 1″, etc. and being kind of groggy when I found your latest review yesterday I momentarily thought I’d missed a bunch of reviews!
Londo’s beloved’s name is Adeera, I am not too sure on the spelling. Might have to pull out my Centauri Trilogy to see. I do adore Londo’s machinations with his wives, he’s personality is one of the reason’s why he’s my second favorite character (second only to Ivanova!)
It’s now safe to enjoy another Tom Smith song (Min)Barrette, or Hair (Sa)Tai, this one about Delenn and her hair. As you see on the linked page, this was inspired by this episode.
Peter David always likes choosing amusing names for his characters. Timov = vomit backwards.
Phil: Hey, I’ve heard of Peter David (first heard his name in the Ookla song “Aquaman” :-))! And yes, the changing characters and their relationships is a lot of what I’m so enjoying about this show so far.
Chris C: I changed the episode numbers because those are what TV.com uses (the episode list YOU pointed me to :-)). I kept losing track of which episode number I was on and made several typos as a result — keeping the ep # the same as TV.com makes things simpler for me.
Bruce & Beatrice: Thanks for the clarification re: the Delenn bone.
Steve: I just finished watching the “Dark Places” episode and it’s clear that Psi Corps has a ton of internal problems!
Allison: I *loved* the interaction between Londo and his wives.
Erin: Thanks for the reminder about Adeera. Hey, and nice to hear from another Ivanova fan!
Tirtzah: re: Timov — LOL!!!!
Timov doesn’t appear in the series again, sadly, but she does appear as a character in the Centauri Prime trilogy of novels set after the series ends.
Peter David commented that when he was writing Trek novels, people kept asking him when he was going to write an episode. And when he did write an episode of B5, people kept asking him when he’d do a B5 novel. Aaaaagh!
IIRC, Peter David is the only author besides JMS himself whose novels JMS considers to be B5 canon…
A couple of more notes:
London’s love from “Born to the Purple” is Adira Tyree.
As pointed out way back when the episode aired, Delenn’s throwaway line about cramps at the end implies that more than just her appearance has changed, which led to some speculation about just how close is her change supposed to bring Minbari and Human together…
This time, a couple of comments from Peter David:
On names:
“Daggair is Pestilence, Timov is Famine, and Mariel is Death.
At first I was going to have all their names be reflections of the titles “assigned” them by Londo, but I decided that would be too cutesy. The only holdover from that idea is Timov, whose name backwards is, of course, Vomit. (I’ll never forget Jane Carr coming over to me the fifth day of shooting and saying in that accented voice of hers, “Peter…did you *know* that my character’s name is vomit spelled backwards?” Uhhhh…well, yeah…) ”
and on how much freedom the outside writers were given (and early encounters with the Internet age):
In response to someone who thought JMS wanted a line of dialogue inserted
“This is a total misinterpretation of a statement I made, and yet another example of how the information age can also be the misinformation age. Incorrect “facts” can make the rounds at light speed and stay there.
I did *not* say that Joe wanted one particular line put into the script. What I *said* (in response to a question some time ago of “How much did JMS tell you to put into the script? How much of the events were dictated) was that all I was given was one line of *description* (much like a log line you’d see in TV Guide). The line was something to the effect of, “Londo’s wives show up on B5 and, in the way that Londo handles the difficulties that ensue, we learn something about the type of man that he is.” I explained this in order to make clear how much latitude JMS gives writers on the show, as opposed to the omnipresent smothering hands-on attitude of other programs.”
and some JMS comments:
Originally, “Soul Mates” was intended to be broadcast after “A Race Through Dark Places.” ARTDP required a rather substantial amount of post production work and audio design; “Mates” did not. Rather than rush “Race,” we decided it was okay to air those two in reverse order. If they have aired with “Race” first in the UK, then yes, it’s different than the US order, but it *is* the correct production and story order.
All things considered, the episode went through fairly cleanly, script- wise, not much in the way of revision. Peter has a good ear for dialog (not surprising). So for the most part it was little stuff; for example…Peter came up with, “Either I’m in hell or in medlab,” to which I appended, “…either way, the decor needs work.” Which is kind of the fun in getting an outside script; you can hear the first part of a line you’d never considered, and knowing the character, you can take it just a little further.
Timov’s “WHO IS THIS?!” in that high-pitched voice would also be a great one for an answering machine.
What I love best about this is that given the time of year [of its North American premiere], “Soul Mates” is basically our Christmas episode. I mean, are we perverse or what…?
At the time Peter David wrote this episode, he was also doing a weekly column for Comic Buyers Guide, in which he gave great behind the scenes details. Wonder if I still have my old CBGs…
I do recall that there was a planned prank, in which the moment that Lando was going to collapse, everyone was planning to play dead in tandem. But they were running just a bit behind schedule and so the cast abandoned the plan. However… things were running late, and everyone was tense as all heck. Lando collapses and Bruce hits his link to call for help, calling out “THIS IS SINCLAIR…” >pause< blink blink … “…oh crap”
Claudia can be heard crying gleefully ‘Christmas tape - that cut goes on the Christmas tape’. Gotta say, there were some gems in the B5 blooper reels.
Do any of the blooper tapes exist in someplace accessible to downloads? I never saw them. Husband and I would love the chance to compare them to those from “Firefly.”
Google Video appears to have a collection of them - careful not to download a Season’s worth until you’ve watched it … always the chance of inadvertant spoilers
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1909091565319683144
Rob:
Thanks! (I’m catching up, as you can see …)