Another combined report. It’s hard to just watch one episode at a time these days, y’know? Compared to the two previous episodes, however, I found Walkabout and Grey 17 Is Missing a wee bit of a letdown though both had some great scenes.
I could tell from Lyta’s questions about Kosh’s death that she was trying to find out specific info rather than just sentimental reasons. So it looks as if Sheridan has a “piece of Kosh” in his mind?!? Don’t tell me.
I’m still not sure if I trust Lyta.
I hope we eventually get to find out what this Vorlon writing means. Don’t tell me.
Hey, there’s that “fabric sale” sign again!
I was already familiar with the concept of the aboriginal walkabout because of this 1971 movie.
The new Kosh is crabbier than the old Kosh, isn’t he? I can’t see the old Kosh lashing out at Lyta like that unless hugely provoked. And what the heck was that weird light vision that Kosh #2 saw just before Lyta appeared?
Also, I don’t know much about Vorlons, but wouldn’t people notice that the new Kosh is different with the different voice and different environment suit (more like horns than angel wings)?
Although I still don’t completely trust Lyta, at least I know she’s on Sheridan’s side (for now, anyway), else she wouldn’t have risked her life by fighting the Shadow ship.
Yay, G’Kar comes through for Sheridan! Good for Garibaldi for telling G’Kar off earlier on, convincing him to help.
Cool how the Shadow ships sort of crumple up when they die.
Have to say that I wasn’t too crazy about the little romantic interlude between Franklin and the actress who played Cocoa in the tv series Fame. I would have been more interested in this sort of plot thread in the first season, but now I’m much more interested in the bigger plot arc.
In “Grey 17 Is Missing,” B5 is recruiting telepaths.
When Delenn examines Sinclair’s few possessions, I was confused — didn’t he wear his Ranger pin back into the past? What’s it still doing in the box?
Franklin’s going through withdrawal from the stims, but still cares enough about what’s going on to help Ivanova find the backup list of the telepath directory…on the condition that no one else comes to look for him.
Garibaldi finds an entire floor of Babylon 5 that somehow was never discovered except by some misfits and a scary puppet. And a badly-costumed monster that looked like it belonged in the first season.
Fortunately it was easy to be distracted by that somewhat cheesy and superfluous plot thread by a great fight between two characters I’ve come to really like in the series: Marcus and Neroon…
Despite that scene, however, I have to say that I was less than impressed with this episode, particularly after the brilliance of War Without End and some of the earlier episodes in this season.
I’m hoping that we get back to the bigger story arc in the next episode. Only three episodes left in this season!
Next episode: And The Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place.
[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]
16 comments ↓
JMS on the Zarg (the monster): “I just have this constant desire to go to everyone’s house and personally apologize…. ”
Grey 17 isn’t B5’s brightest hour, I think that much is uncontroversial. IMO the idea of confronting Duffy Duck fan Garibaldi with pretty much the same beliefs about the universe that Delenn holds isn’t too bad in principle, but the execution left a lot to be desired and perhaps it would have been better if all that had turned out as a hallucination on Garibaldi’s part.
As for the stand-alone plot threads, though they may seem distracting from the bigger picture in a first-time watch of the show, some of them are excellent episodes - not Grey 17, but for instance Gethsemane, or Avalon. When you rewatch the show, I think you’ll come to really appreciate them.
JMS recognized that Grey 17 Is Missing looked good on paper, but just did not come together on the stage…not the fault of the actors, directors, art department, etc, but takes the fault back on himself as an Executive Producer.
Still, the parts with Marcus and Neroon and the Rangers was good. Did Neroon Pass Through his Gethsame?
JMS wrote the songs in Walkabout. For the first time, a song from within was continued in the end credits.
…Rock… is much better.
The B plot of Grey 17 was a lot better than the A plot.
Oh, man, the Zarg was bad.
I would agree that both Walkabout and Grey 17 Is Missing are not the strongest episodes of the series but coming off the high of the two parter it would be hard to match them.
But not to worry the rest of the season is great!
I’m pretty sure that the “weird light vision” is intended to be some kind of silhouette trace left by the Shadows that attacked (the original) Kosh, as seen by (the new) Kosh.
As you’ve noticed, the new Kosh has a rather darker disposition than the old one — one nickname I recall is “Kosh Vader”.
Specially for you - http://www.altrion.org/phoenix/audio/AllOfMe.mp3 - Phoenix covering that very song.
Geh. I tend to fast-forward a lot through Grey 17. “plot plot plot OH, this is interesting.”
The US run went on hiatus for several months after WWE, so these were the first episodes after that break. I guess it was good to end on the high, but Grey 17 in particular was very disappointing. I think I would have been even more upset if I’d had to wait months for them. (I was part of a tape tree fed from the UK, where there was no hiatus, so I only waited a few weeks.)
I do love the Neroon and Marcus plotline, though, and I love Lennier’s part in it, too- how he is able to keep his word to Delenn and still have her protected, too. I like the relationship they build up between Marcus and Lennier in the series, it works so nicely. And Marcus is just so wonderfully noble in this episode…
“I am a Ranger. We walk in the dark places no others will enter. We stand on the bridge and no one may pass. We live for the One. We die for the One.”
No Tolkien influence, my ass.
There’s one bit in one of the special features were JMS says that the best episodes tend to be easy to write - they just flow off the typerwiter, so to speak, in a few days. “Grey 17″ took 3 weeks.
Geh. I tend to fast-forward a lot through Grey 17. “plot plot plot OH, this is interesting.”
Funny, I feel the same way about Walkabout (the 1971 movie). “Fast forward, fast foward, oh, naked Jenny Agutter…”
One thing JMS does say is that the scenes with the Zarg were specifically described in the script as *dark*, so that you couldn’t see more than a fraction of the rubber suit at any one time. Why it was actually shot in full light…well, as Sheridan says, the universe is full of mysteries. Suffice to say that it was actually one of B5’s brightest moments that shouldn’t have been.
Yeah the A plot of “Grey 17 is Missing” is not stellar. Though it does give an explanation to all the weird things that have happened in Grey sector over the years. Remember the B5 triangle?
On the other hand the B plot is lovely. I love the little bonding scene between Sheridan and Delenn when she talks about her father and they kind of cuddle. And the bit where Marcus makes Neroon laugh at the end and Delenn and Lennier are completely befuddled.
I don’t think there’s another weak episode for… well let’s just say a long, long time.
I think I’d personally rate Grey 17 is Missing as pretty much the worst episode since (way back) Infection - though I’ll confess that Late Delivery from Avalon made me cringe a lot and so ran it close. But on the bright side, I’m not sure there’s anything worse in the remaining 2.5 seasons!
Oh, and Garibaldi’s improvised gun - think about it. If you apply heat to the back of a column of bullets, which one is going to explode first and with what effect…? Oops.
JMS on Patrica Tallman’s eyes:
—
Pat has interesting eyes…they’re slightly larger than is the norm, and they take some getting used to. Those eyes are one of the things that beckoned to me to cast her…they’re the eyes of a telepath, who sees more than should be seen. They’re terrific eyes.
—
Deb, did you stop between episodes to indulge in a bit of breen?
At the risk of incurring the Wrath of Debbie™ for spoilery talk, I do feel you should at least know this much: Trust me, you can trust Lyta. She’s good people, and one badass telepath to have on your side—and one you do NOT want on the other side from you…as you will learn in the remaining episodes. (And no, I’m not just saying this because Pat Tallman is a smokin’ hot redhead. Watch. You’ll see.)
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