Soul Hunter and Born to the Purple - spoiler edition
A double dose since my thoughts on Soul Hunter were pretty short. Born to the Purple less so.
So ‘Soul Hunter’ or ‘Jedi lacks a creative title this time’
You know I really don’t have much to say about this one. It’s a decent, solid episode, but it’s not all that special. I give it about a 4/10 this time, I guess.
The writing is what makes this ep as good as it is. The directing is kind of awkward and the acting it definitely showing its growing pains (if I’m not mistaken this was actually the first ep shot...not wait that was Infection wasn’t it? Anyway, it’s still early). But it is a *really* well-constructed story, even if it doesn’t have the multiple plotlines that B5 so often does.
It has the fringe failing of making reminding me of how much I hated River of Souls. I’m pretty sure I’ve never rewatched that one, but it sticks in my head.
clockwork_sky’s main observation during the ep was that she didn’t feel like she could trust Delenn, which I’m not sure how to respond to. I can kind of see where that would come from, but I’m a pretty much a Delenn fangirl so it’s a bit of work to let her figure out her own thoughts while I sit on my hands to keep from spoiling how much I hope she’ll come to love Delenn.
But then, that’s part of the fun of watching with newbies, they make/allow one see the story with fresh eyes rather than just the opinions I’ve held for so many years.
On to 'Born to the Purple’ or ‘Going by how much I say you’d think it was better than this’
Let’s get this out of the way: this is not a great episode, maybe a 3 on the B5 scale of awesomeness. The thing is, I remember this being a good episode because I’ve only ever judged it having seen a lot more of Londo’s character arc.
That’s the thing about watching with a newbie, I suddenly become aware of how this episode might look from her perspective., and I find it wanting (early warning, as of writing this we haven’t had much chance to talk about the ep so I’m not sure what her opinions actually are). Not bad really, just not something I think a newbie would be drawn to.
But oh, man, let’s talk about it from the perspective of this old hat. Oh Londo. Like the early part of the show itself this isn’t *exactly* part of Londo’s character arc, but it’s necessary to see who he *IS* at this point. This episode isn’t about changing that, it’s so that we can have a clear picture of who he was before events change him as much as they will.
And again I’m hit with half wishing Sinclair would stick around longer By the time John shows up Londo has clearly moved on to a different path but Jeff was fully on Londo’s side early on. For him to see the changes Londo goes through would have been interesting to see (we get that through Michael and Delenn and obviously Vir, but I’m noting lost chances with Jeff this time through).
On its own in the episode, Londo and Adira’s parting isn’t all that interesting, but knowing it’s the last time they’ll see each other gives it that weight. Knowing it *matters* that it’s the last time they’ll see each other I suppose I mean; people come and go all the time and the fact that they may not see each other again doesn’t necessarily give it weight, but this does. Oh Londo. I’'s part of the weakness of this episode on its own, but why it is interesting in the grander scheme of things.
Okay, other things about the episode: I love Vir here. Our little moon-faced assassin of joy is so much fun this episode.
And Ko’dath, even if she doesn’t have Narn looking eyes, inspired a few thoughts. I remember some things Julia Caitlyn Brown (and no I’m not looking that up to make sure I spelled it right or if Im completely misremembering this) said about how she thought Narn females had been the dominate gender during much of Narn evolution, and the funny thing is Ko’dath kind of fits with that too. While coming off a bit more shrewish than I think she needed to, using JCB’s ideas on the subject I can make it work. Even if mainly she’s there to show how alike Londo and G’kar are in treatment of their aides.
And then there’s Susan. One thing I do think Di’tillio (again not looking up spelling) deserves credit for is early development of Ivanova. Not that JMS didn’t write her well, but Di’tillio did do more to focus at least B-plots around her. At this point I think JMS was more concerned with the ambassadors, Jeff, and maybe Michael; basically establishing the aliens and how humans related to them, less about the humans relationships to each other. And I’m not saying that’s the wrong approach for the guy with the long game in his head; knowing he needs to have the audience on board with the world they don’t know before blending it all together later on.
Anyway Susan’s story is sad, Vir is funny, and Londo’s story hasn’t even really started yet. Well Susan’s story is usually sad, and Vir is often funny, but the other thing will definitely change.
So ‘Soul Hunter’ or ‘Jedi lacks a creative title this time’
You know I really don’t have much to say about this one. It’s a decent, solid episode, but it’s not all that special. I give it about a 4/10 this time, I guess.
The writing is what makes this ep as good as it is. The directing is kind of awkward and the acting it definitely showing its growing pains (if I’m not mistaken this was actually the first ep shot...not wait that was Infection wasn’t it? Anyway, it’s still early). But it is a *really* well-constructed story, even if it doesn’t have the multiple plotlines that B5 so often does.
It has the fringe failing of making reminding me of how much I hated River of Souls. I’m pretty sure I’ve never rewatched that one, but it sticks in my head.
clockwork_sky’s main observation during the ep was that she didn’t feel like she could trust Delenn, which I’m not sure how to respond to. I can kind of see where that would come from, but I’m a pretty much a Delenn fangirl so it’s a bit of work to let her figure out her own thoughts while I sit on my hands to keep from spoiling how much I hope she’ll come to love Delenn.
But then, that’s part of the fun of watching with newbies, they make/allow one see the story with fresh eyes rather than just the opinions I’ve held for so many years.
On to 'Born to the Purple’ or ‘Going by how much I say you’d think it was better than this’
Let’s get this out of the way: this is not a great episode, maybe a 3 on the B5 scale of awesomeness. The thing is, I remember this being a good episode because I’ve only ever judged it having seen a lot more of Londo’s character arc.
That’s the thing about watching with a newbie, I suddenly become aware of how this episode might look from her perspective., and I find it wanting (early warning, as of writing this we haven’t had much chance to talk about the ep so I’m not sure what her opinions actually are). Not bad really, just not something I think a newbie would be drawn to.
But oh, man, let’s talk about it from the perspective of this old hat. Oh Londo. Like the early part of the show itself this isn’t *exactly* part of Londo’s character arc, but it’s necessary to see who he *IS* at this point. This episode isn’t about changing that, it’s so that we can have a clear picture of who he was before events change him as much as they will.
And again I’m hit with half wishing Sinclair would stick around longer By the time John shows up Londo has clearly moved on to a different path but Jeff was fully on Londo’s side early on. For him to see the changes Londo goes through would have been interesting to see (we get that through Michael and Delenn and obviously Vir, but I’m noting lost chances with Jeff this time through).
On its own in the episode, Londo and Adira’s parting isn’t all that interesting, but knowing it’s the last time they’ll see each other gives it that weight. Knowing it *matters* that it’s the last time they’ll see each other I suppose I mean; people come and go all the time and the fact that they may not see each other again doesn’t necessarily give it weight, but this does. Oh Londo. I’'s part of the weakness of this episode on its own, but why it is interesting in the grander scheme of things.
Okay, other things about the episode: I love Vir here. Our little moon-faced assassin of joy is so much fun this episode.
And Ko’dath, even if she doesn’t have Narn looking eyes, inspired a few thoughts. I remember some things Julia Caitlyn Brown (and no I’m not looking that up to make sure I spelled it right or if Im completely misremembering this) said about how she thought Narn females had been the dominate gender during much of Narn evolution, and the funny thing is Ko’dath kind of fits with that too. While coming off a bit more shrewish than I think she needed to, using JCB’s ideas on the subject I can make it work. Even if mainly she’s there to show how alike Londo and G’kar are in treatment of their aides.
And then there’s Susan. One thing I do think Di’tillio (again not looking up spelling) deserves credit for is early development of Ivanova. Not that JMS didn’t write her well, but Di’tillio did do more to focus at least B-plots around her. At this point I think JMS was more concerned with the ambassadors, Jeff, and maybe Michael; basically establishing the aliens and how humans related to them, less about the humans relationships to each other. And I’m not saying that’s the wrong approach for the guy with the long game in his head; knowing he needs to have the audience on board with the world they don’t know before blending it all together later on.
Anyway Susan’s story is sad, Vir is funny, and Londo’s story hasn’t even really started yet. Well Susan’s story is usually sad, and Vir is often funny, but the other thing will definitely change.