Wowza. This was, as someone in comments mentioned, a mind-blowing episode.
The episode opens with Sheridan giving tips to the pilots in preparation for possible conflict with the Centauri. Sheridan’s certainly a much more hands-on commander than many of the Star Trek captains, isn’t he? Reminds me more of Kirk that way.
Great scene between Vir and Lennier.
VIR: People coming and going, with secret meetings…
LENNIER: You never know what it’s all about. Until later, when it’s too late.
VIR: And they never listen to us.
VIR and LENNIER: Makes me nervous.
Looks like the war is spreading, with the Centauri preparing to attack other races. I don’t blame Sheridan and Ivanova for looking nervous.
Interesting to hear Garibaldi’s observations about Londo, when he’s talking to Sheridan, saying that Londo is afraid.
GARIBALDI: Look into his eyes sometime. You can see fast things are moving. For Londo, it’s like being on a wild horse. You don’t want to get thrown off, so you hang on even harder. He’s trapped. You know, half the time, I’m so furious with the guy I could break his neck. The other half, I feel sorry for him.
Then Keffer talks with Mitch about the “ghost” and gets confirmation that he wasn’t just imagining the Shadow ship…then later gets a data crystal from Mitch with readings about the mystery ship that could help Keffer find it again. Uh oh.
The Ministry of Peace guys are creepy in a 1984 Big Brother sort of way, aren’t they? I find Lantz creepier because he comes across as so benevolent and nice, like in his feelgood chat with Ivanova about grandkids and winter solstice celebrations.
The other Ministry of Peace guy, the Nightwatch fellow (Mr. Welles), is more openly evil. Trying to convince Ivanova to spy on her crewmates, for example, in return for promising her command of her own ship sooner than later. I wasn’t surprised when Ivanova kicked him out of her quarters. I love Ivanova.
Looks like Zach is starting to regret his enthusiasm about joining Nightwatch. Can’t blame him. I’ll be curious to see what he does in upcoming episodes.
And a Narn heavy cruiser survived! Giving G’Kar some much-needed hope…
Except he doesn’t realize that an Earth-Centauri Peace Alliance treaty in the works! AUGH! WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?!?
Ivanova gives Sheridan some shrapnel from the Black Star. I like the natural way the friendship has developed between Ivanova and Sheridan. She has enormous respect for Sheridan, but is still comfortable enough with their relationship that she can offer advice and support, and sometimes criticism. Reminds me of the relationship between Zoe and Mal in the Firefly series.
Ivanova: Everyone said it was impossible to take out a Minbari war cruiser, but you did it. The way things are going, I thought it would be nice to have a reminder that the impossible is sometimes possible.
I freaked when the Centauri warship appeared out of the jumpgate. NO WAY! THEY CAN’T DESTROY THE LAST NARN WARSHIP AND CRUSH G’KAR AGAIN!!
Good for Sheridan keeping his word about protecting the Narn ship, and warning Londo that B5 would retaliate if the Centauri ship or the Starfuries was attacked.
But HOLY COW, the Centauri DO attack, and all hell breaks loose…
Sheridan yells, “Launch everything we’ve got!” and the Narn cruiser makes it to the jumpgate, just barely, and then the Centauri cruiser explodes.
Sheridan: Scramble all medical ships; there’s still time.
Ivanova: It’s too late.
Sheridan: My god.
I love Sheridan’s ‘practice’ speech in front of the mirror:
Sheridan: I apologize. I’m sorry. I’m sorry we had to defend ourselves against an unwarranted attack. I’m sorry that your crew was stupid enough to fire on a station filled with a quarter million civilians, including your own people. And I’m sorry I waited as long as I did before I blew them all straight to hell. As with everything else, it’s the thought that counts.
Meanwhile, Keffer is (of course) ignoring Sheridan’s request and pursuing his own investigation of the Shadow ship. He’s scanned and then screams when the ship fires on him (with WHAT, I’m not sure exactly — don’t tell me).
But Sheridan doesn’t know about this because he’s busy jumping out of his transport shuttle to avoid being blown up by a Centauri bomb.
He’s saved, however, because KOSH FINALLY REVEALS HIMSELF. Holy toledo. Cool how different shots of Kosh in flight showed him portrayed differently, depending on who was looking at him from the ground.
Except…how intriguing that Londo saw nothing.
Is it because he’s Centauri? Or because of the darkness in his soul? Don’t answer me. I would have loved to know what was going on in Londo’s head at this moment:
WOW. Great episode. Great season. I have so many questions…none of which I want anyone to answer, of course. Questions like:
Is Londo going to continue to let himself be manipulated by the Shadows, or is he going to do something about it, now that he’s starting to regret some of his decisions?
How much more powerful is the Ministry of Peace going to get, particularly the Nightwatch? What’s Zach going to do?
What’s going to happen with the Narn warship? When will it decide to start wreaking revenge?
How far will Sheridan and the others go to help the Narn?
What happened to Keffer? And what will the Shadows do now that they know they’ve been tracked?
What about Kosh? Is he going to continue to wear his environment suit, or is he going to start flying around the station? Will they improve his special effects so he doesn’t look quite so cheesy?
Is Ivanova really only a P1, or are her latent telepathic abilities much more than she realizes? When will the Psi-Corps discover her?
When are we going to see Bester again?
And who is the strange woman I saw on the cover of the Season Five box on Allison’s shelf last night at Urban Tapestry practice before she snatched the box away?
When are Draal and his planet going to get involved?
When will we find out more about the Rangers?
Are we going to see Sinclair again?
What about that weird dream of Sheridan’s, with Ivanova and that black bird?
What about that nightmare of Londo’s, with a one-eyed G’Kar strangling him after Londo becomes Emperor?
When are Garibaldi and Ivanova going to finally smarten up AND FALL IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER?
Is Talia going to come back so she and Ivanova can have a torrid affair together until Ivanova realizes she’s in love with Garibaldi?
When is Lennier going to realize that Delenn prefers Sheridan over him, and go on a Minbari killing rage of jealousy?
When are Delenn and Sheridan going to consummate their relationship so Delenn can have a human-Minbari peace-child?
Don’t tell me.
Next: Matters Of Honor, Season THREE!
[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]
22 comments ↓
The thing that got me about the end of Season 2 was Ivanova’s narration at the end. “We came to this place because Babylon 5 was our last, best hope for peace. By the end of 2259, we knew that it had failed.”
That’s when I knew the game had changed completely.
Dear gods, you’re making me want to watch it again!
Now imagine yourself having to wait a few months to see the next episode.
JMS comments on the episode style:
Yeah, this is the other structure that’s kind of a favorite of mine. I used it also in “Coming of Shadows.” It starts out kind of slow, it lulls you into a sense that this is going to be a fairly ordinary story, nothing major…allowing me to sneak up behind you in the story and just *whack* you real hard when you’re not expecting it.
and on the whole second season
Imagery in Season Two episode titles?
Yes; work it out as you have, but take it further…we start with a point of departure…then after some revelations, examine the geometry of shadows, then begin to more forward, a race through dark places. We come toward the long dark, our past a distant star. We carry the motif of a world getting dark. The coming of shadows that darkens into the long twilight struggle, the last period between day and night…and we end the season on…the fall of night.
=====================================
Of course you, Debbie, have a lot of great questions. Aren’t you glad you don’t have to wait 4 months or so to see more?
Will Sheridan get a piece of Centari warship shrapnel to go with his Minbari shrapnel?
Yes, I teared up when Londo saw nothing. Is it that his soul is so dark, or have the Centari made so many of their own gods that they can no longer see a what the Vorlons planted in their history?
Gods, it’s so much fun re-living all of these episodes in your blog. I’m definitely going to have to watch the show a 4th (or so) time, when I can get a chance.
Isn’t it wonderful how the show sets up tantalizing long-term questions (such as “what does Kosh look like?” and “What does he mean that he would be recognized by ‘everybody’?”) and then eventually ANSWERS them in the best way possible? Virtually every question you ask above WILL be answered by the time the show wraps up.
(My favorite such payoff, by the way, of the was set up in the first half of this season, but you’ll need to until the first half of season Four to see it wrap up. It’s just a little thing, but unbelievably satisfying. You’ll know it when you see it. It’s SO damned good.)
I too would love to get into Londo’s head at that moment. Personally, I think he saw something, but that he won’t admit to it, that he finds it easier to pretend he didn’t.
I agree with Nathan. It is great to re-live this show. I remember just being blown away when it was fist on the air and how I hated to wait months before new episodes would arrive. Also the fear that the show would be canceled before it would be over.
Season one was fun and season two, ending with this episode, was great. But season 3 and 4 I was just amazed what this TV show did.
Re: Kosh and special effects. Please to remember that this was the first show to go all-digital for effects. Things were extremely primitive at the time, so it doesn’t all hold up well. At the time, it was bleeding-edge.
Please keep your seat belts fastened and your trays in the upright position. We are currently experiencing some turbulence. You will be free to resume normal activities when this vessel has navigated past the current disturbances.
In the commentary, JMS speculated on who Garabaldi would see….he’s see Garabaldi.
he’she’dOther familiar voices:
KIM STRAUSS played the Drazi Ambassador in this episode, a Narn (#2) in last week’s episode (Comes The Inquisitor) and was Green Leader Drazi in The Geometry of Shadows. Though I’m sure the Green Drazi Leader was not the same character as the Drazi Ambasador. I thought that Narn sounded familiar.
OKay, after checking imdb.org, he was also in:
Confessions and Lamentations & The Long Dark - Markab Ambassador
The Coming of Shadows - Narn Pilot #1
Points of Departure - Ensign
With that last maybe being his human face. It came down to once an actor was know as going good in masks and make-up, you use them again without fear of them freaking out in a mask. Of course, being a good actor that learns the lines and hits their marks help. He will play the Drazi Ambassador in future episodes.
My favourite line from the epilogue:
“…because, sometimes, peace is another word for surrender.”
The Chamberlain parallels with the “peace in our time” bits about the Earth-Centauri treaty were quite deliberate.
You’ve got some great questions there, especially about the “Minbari killing rage of jealousy!” I laugh everytime I read that!
Some of your questions will get answered fairly quickly I think, while others could take a season or three… you’ve got it good because you don’t have to wait full three years to see them all play out ;P
Oh, and you may not have recognized John Vickery (Welles) out of make-up. Vickery also plays Neroon.
Interesting. I thought his voice was familiar! I didn’t recognize his face though. Yet I did recognize the Narn
character (G’Kar’s uncle?) who was the Soul Hunter actor. Hmm. I guess I’ve been watching Trek too long! I can catch alien to alien but I wasn’t paying attention to alien to human!
Just wanted to ask people here an important question r.e. the opening credits of season 3. I just watched them and they have a few spoiler-ish bits, but because of the much darker tone, I think they’re a pretty important part of season 3.
What do people here think? Should Debbie skip them to avoid spoilers?
I played the music for Debbie over the phone, so at least she knows that the music is very different. Did they hire a new composer or anything? Hm, we haven’t really talked about the music of B5. .. checking ..
According to IMDB Christopher Franke http://imdb.com/name/nm0006081 did the music for the enter series. Franke was in a group named “Tangerine Dream” and the group did music for movies and TV shows, most famously (for me) “Risky Business”. Franke’s movie and TV credits include:
Universal Solider (1992)
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1993)
Babylon 5 (1994-1998)
Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight (2002)
What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004)
Babylon 5: The Lost Tales - Voices in the Dark (2007)
The Amazing Race (118 episodes, 2002-2008)
Supernanny (49 episodes, 2005-2008)
Hm, what’s that 2007 B5 thing? .. checking ..
Ok, here’s some non-spoiler comments about “The Lost Tales - Voices in the Dark”:
“the new CGI gave a heck of youthfulness to the ships and to our good old station which are both wonders to behold”
“The story takes its time, detached from Hollywood standards. In view of the amount of dialogs, we can feel that Straczynski kept control ’till the end. Questionings, qualms, and dreams filled with beautiful SFX follow one another in a dramatically efficient story, although far from the epic scale of the show. The conclusion too fall a little flat. It doesn’t matter, it wasn’t Straczynski’s goal to do something spectacular. His goal was to bring the franchise back to life and let the door open to future wonders, and as far as that is concerned, The Lost Tales is a success.”
Hm. Will have to look for this..
re: JMS and Franke and the music from the lurkers guide:
Q: On each season’s music for the opening credits reflecting the mood of the season
A: What do I have in mind for season three? What I indicated to Chris Franke was to look at a piece of music he did in “The Long, Twilight Struggle” and interpolate some elements of that into the main theme, with a very hard sound. The piece in question is about the middle of the first really…um…busy scene after the act break.
I have yet to rewatch season 3, so I can’t review the music. It’s PenguiCon eve, so I won’t get to that until next week.
Reid: I don’t think the Season 3 credits are as spoilery as the unedited Season 2 ones were. Yeah, there are bits that are from later episodes, but really… they set the scene so well.
And one of the cool things about them is the “Was that really… WAITAMINUTE, that was–” that gets set up and then paid off later. I’d recommend watching them. Besides, they’re awesome.
The music for the second part of the S3 credits (with the actors’ names) is the Requiem for the Line, the Battle of the Line music. It’s some of my favorite music from the series.
Though I think my favorite opening sequence is Season 5–both in terms of just the music and the way they pulled the audio and the visuals together. Though if you want a real treat see if you can track down the extended version of the Season 1 opening credits music, without the voiceover mix. Franke does some absolutely beautiful things with the melodic line that didn’t make the cut.
I do highly recommend The Lost Tales. Of all the secondary Babylon 5 projects (Well, okay, Crusade and Legend of the Rangers) it feels the most like coming home after ten years away. It’s not perfect (I have a spoilery in theme but not in detail review up at http://aris-writing.livejournal.com/13954.html - and by nature of the beast it’s quite spoilery for the show itself) but it’s really, really enjoyable. And we wants more precious yes we does.
The music of the opening credits changes every season; it also changed between season 1 and 2, although not as drastically.
I don’t think the credits are spoilerish.
re TLT: recommended for people who don’t expect an epic scale and flashy space battles. I’ve found those who like the theatre-like stuff in B5 and enjoy stand alone episodes like “Inquisitor” enjoy them the most.
You can get the instrumentals (and the extended Franke theme for Season 1) off http://www.babylonsounds.com/en/index.html - it’s arranged by season, so you can avoid spoilers for ones you haven’t seen.
My favourite title sequence, though, is still Season 4. It promises so much, and the season actually delivered.
Happened to check an old B5 file and found some humor from Season 1 (and the Pilot): B5 Computer Viruses:
The following information was originally posted on the GEnie network, and is reposted (on alt.tv.babylon5) with the permission of the original compiler (G.PLANA [Gary]):
If you don’t watch BABYLON 5 on TV (you _should_) then ignore the rest of this message. If you enjoy B5 as much as I do, … enjoy!
==========================
BABYLON 5 Computer Viruses that have been collected from the NET.
==========================
Babylon 4 Virus: Disappears without a trace 24 hours after activation.
Bester Virus: Runs the program you want before you can touch the keyboard.
Changeling Net Virus: Can emulate any software, but quickly burns out your computer’s power supply.
Deathwalker Virus: A virus that makes an infected file
undeleteable. Every time you try to delete an infected file, some other file gets deleted instead.
Del Varner Virus: It mimics several other viruses, then
self-destructs.
Dr. Kyle Virus: Inspects other viruses, then turns into Stoned.
Drazi Virus: Takes everything you type personally.
Franklin Virus: Doesn’t consider you competent enough to run your own programs, and will run what it thinks is for your own good.
Gray Council Virus I: It draws holes in your graphics files.
Grey Council Virus II: Positions itself to completely wipe out everything on your hard disk; at the last moment, it becomes benign and dormant.
Grid Epsilon Irregular Virus: It swaps the index pointers between Imodium and Ex-lax.
Home Guard Virus: Only infects non-humans’ computers.
Infection Virus: The longer it runs, the more powerful your computer becomes.
Ironheart Virus: Turns your computer into a Cray.
Ivanova Virus: Makes your computer feel like it’s not performing up to your standards, then refuse to do anything it thinks it’s being pressured to do.
Ivanova Virius II: Does 15 different unpleasant things to your system before breakfast and hopes it offers resistance.
Ivanova Virus III: makes long-distance phone calls via your modem, but quits whenever you run a security program.
jms virus: Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
JMS Virus: Only infects files created by word processing (Works, Word, WordPerfect). Re-arranges the storylines to make them unbelievably complex and extremely entertaining. No known anti-viral agent known, but most researching the problem(?) could
care less.
J. Michael Straczinski, Executive Producer Virus I: Creates all the previously mentioned viruses and then answers all requests for data with “Wait and see”.
J. Michael Straczinski, Executive Producer Virus II: Occasionally causes an “*EEP*!” to appear on your terminal screen where you can’t see it, while it’s doing something wonderful.
Knight Virus: Accuses you of treason, then destroys your hard drive trying to prove it.
Ko’dath Virus: Appears briefly, and then is forced out the parallel port.
Kosh Virus I: Yes.
Kosh Virus II: Related to the Stoned virus. It will destroy files it thinks you’re not ready for, makes your computer speak in riddles, and exiles any virus checkers that have examined it.
ViCaR Virus: Subjects your computer to all sorts of confusing input, records the responses that show where it’s most vulnerable, and passes the information on to the Kosh virus.
Londo Virus I: A cute virus that turns your screen stunning shades of purple. Annoying because it borrows memory from other programs and never gives it back, but otherwise harmless.
Londo Virus II: Viruses by the bushel, viruses by the score. It becomes one with the universe, and then passes out.
Londo Virus III: Disassembles your computer and sells the pieces as “trinkets” on the internet.
G’Kar Virus: Tries to link with other viruses and keeps getting rejected.
Na’toth Virus: Seeks and destroys the Deathwalker Virus. Then will link up with the G’Kar virus and both will try to create general havoc with your system and then blame it all on the Londo virus.
Morden Virus: Won’t go away until you tell it what you want.
PsiCop Anti-Virus scanner : It knows about all the other viruses, but it isn’t telling.
Raider Virus: Waits until you leave the room, then steals your files.
Shadow Virus: Tracks down the Raider virus, destroys it, and restores all the files it stole.
Sinclair Virus: Takes total command of your system, but can’t find 24K of its own code.
Delenn Virus: Follows the Sinclair Virus around and kills it if it finds that missing 24K of code.
Lennier Virus: Only follows the Delenn virus’s orders.
Minbari Virus I: Wipes out all files from the last 24 hours, then deletes itself. If your system has previously been infected by the Soul Hunter Virus, it will find the hidden files and delete them.
Minbari Virus II: decides at the last moment *not* to infect your computer, but refuses to explain why. (Waitaminnit…what the hell am *I* doing contributing to this…?! jms)
Soul Hunter Virus: Appears on your system whenever you try to delete a file. It grabs the file and puts it in a secret location on your hard drive with all the other files you thought you deleted.
Sigma 9 Virus: It appears out of nowhere, knocks your computer off the desk, and you’re left yelling, “What the hell was THAT?!”
Takashima Virus I: Pretends to be a virus checker, but lets in other viruses intended to make the operating system look like a virus itself.
Takashima Virus II: Won’t allow access to your systems, until all incoming data is checked. It does, however, draw a nice fruit basket on your screen while you wait…
Thenta Makur Virus I: Deletes a file every time you come within ten feet of your computer. Wipes your hard drive if you venture closer than five feet.
Thenta Makur Virus II: You will know corruption, you will know deletion, and then, you will crash.
Vir Virus: Claims to be the operating system, but only plays video games.
Walker Smith Virus: Walks up to your virus checker, and they beat each other up for an hour or two.
Uncle Usel Virus: Convinces your computer to spend three days mourning for every file you delete.
————
*sigh*
Nathan, when Debbie gets to the payoff you mention, would you please elaborate if she does not?
Once again, someone makes reference to something I
have no memory of whatsoever.
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