The year is 2261. The place: Babylon 5.
S4 was quite a disappointment. with the riveting conclusion to a 2-yr-long storyline, we start almost anew with episode 4x07 Epiphanies. The Garibaldi/Mars arc would've been good for a few eps arc, not an entire season! by the time the resolution came, I felt so detached from the character, I no longer cared.
Although the ep when Garibaldi goes to Mars and his storyline finally picks up pace, felt at times during his narration like a movie styled in a fashion of Total Recall, most especially due to the visual prompts of shots of what essentially is a barren planet with tubes and globes where life can only exist.
4x16 The Exercise of Vital Powers begins with:
Garibaldi: "Mars. I can't believe I'm back on Mars. Three times before this place almost killed me. I swore I'd never give it another chance to finish the job. Humans got no business being here, no business at all."
and ends with:
Garibaldi: "Mars. Three times before this place almost killed me. And now, I'll finally finish the job. I can't feel anything anymore. I don't know what I care about anymore. Except Lise. I screwed up both our lives pretty good, now I get to make up for it. Assuming any of us can ever make up for anything we've done in the past. Maybe we can't. Maybe we just have to live with it. Get on with it. Do what we have to. Never what we want to. It has to be done. I hope he can see that someday. "
And I only wish we got more of the mind boggling, thought inspiring conversations between Sheridan and Lorien at Z'ha'dum, such as these from 4x02 What ever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?:
(a dream sequence)
A Being of Light: "Who are you? What do you want? Who are you? What do you want? Who are you? *Who* are you?!"
(Sheridan wakes up)
Lorien: "You were dreaming?"
Sheridan: "Yes."
Lorien: "About what? ...You're thinking about escape again, aren't you? Don't. There's no way off Z'ha'dum. Might as well give up. Reconcile yourself, as I did"
Sheridan: "First obligation of a prisoner is to escape!"
Lorien: "Ah! So, ...if one is a prisoner of love, one must escape to solitude? If one is a prisoner to joy, must one escape to sadness?"
Lorien: "I see you're still upset, that I won't tell you my name. But what does it matter? If I tell you my name is Lorien, what good is that? It tells you nothing, but leaves me at a disadvantage. Words have meaning, and names have power. The universe begun with a word, you know? But which came first, the word or the thought behind the word? You can't create language without a thought, and you can't conceive a thought without language. So, which created the other and thus created the universe? No, ...I see you're far too wrapped up in your question to consider the larger issues."
Sheridan: "What question?"
Lorien: "Who are you."
Sheridan: "How did you know about it?"
Lorien: "It's a dangerous question, isn't it? There is never a good answer to it. I suppose, that's the point. Now, what you are, that's a question I can answer, at least in your case. You're dead."
Sheridan: "That's enough!"
Lorien: "How long have you been here?"
Sheridan: "I don't know. A day, maybe two?"
Lorien: "The sun has risen and set nine times. You haven't eaten. You ought to be starving. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Does blood still flow through your veins? Does it?"
(Sherdan checks his pulse)
Sheridan: "There's no pulse."
Lorien: "Because my reluctant friend, you are quite, quite dead."
I remember reading JMS's posts from early 1992 where he mentions these exact same thoughts. the musing on the concept of which came first, language or thought. that's 4 yrs before the episode aired! man, he rally did plan every detail well in advance! and never lost a thought once conceived.
the same can be said for the reappearance of Zathras. in posts during season 3 he makes an off hand remark about how Zathras is a favorite of his and how he sometimes has a mind for the B5 crew to meet Mathras - Zathras' brother who would mention that Zathras was the quiet one in the family and lo and behold, come season 4, it's almost exactly what happens!
Lorien: "Nothing to say about being dead?"
Sheridan: "It's a trick."
Lorien: "Is it? what is the last thing you remember before waking up?"
Sheridan:"I was falling. I fell ...long way. It seemed to go on forever."
Lorien: "Nothing goes on forever. Not fall, not you, not I, not love, not life. Entropy consumes everything. We all hit bottom, sooner or later. Did you ...hit bottom?"
Sheridan: "I ...don't remember."
Lorien: "There are only two possibilities. If you hit bottom, then you are dead. If you did not hit bottom, you are still falling and all of this is a dream. Unless, ...you're in between."
Sheridan: "Between what?!"
Lorien: "Between moments. When we are born, we're allocated a finite number of seconds. Each tick of the clock slices off a piece of us. Tick, a possibility for joy is gone. Tock, a careless word ends one path, opens another. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Always running out of time. Yours is almost used up. You're between seconds, lost in the infinite possibilities between tick and tock. Tick, you're alive. Tock ...well, it was a good life, but a short one. Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick..."
Sheridan: "How do I know you're not behind all of this, huh?! Just what are you up to? Who are you?"
(Lorien peers deep into Sheridan's mind)
A Being of Light: "Who are you? What do you want?"
(Sheridan looks in horror)
Lorien: "You're closer now, aren't you? Yes, I see you are. But closer to tick, or closer to tock? I don't know. Only time will tell. And here, between the moments ...we have all the time in the world."
Sheridan: "This is the fire I set when I woke up down here. Ahh, I've come full circle."
Lorien: "Don't we all?"
Sheridan: "Look, you've been down here longer than I have."
Lorien: "Oh much, much longer."
Sheridan: "There must be some way out of here!"
Lorien: "Tick, you're alive. Tock, you're dead. The only way out is to surrender ...to tock."
Sheridan: "No. No, I can't *do* that! Don't you understand?! There's a war on out there. If we don't do something, billions of people are going to die. Now, don't you care about that?"
Lorien: "Yes, of course I care. It's a terrible thing when your children fight. I warned the others, but they didn't listen. They never listen."
Sheridan: "Your ...children?"
Lorien: "Metaphorically speaking. Those who came after me, children, younger siblings."
Sheridan: "How long have you been here?"
Lorien: "A long time. So long... I was old when the molecules of your world joined and called themselves land and see and fish and man."
Sheridan: "You're one of the first ones?"
Lorien: "No, not one of the first ones. I *am* the first one."
Sheridan: "You know a way out of here, don't you?"
Lorien: "Perhaps."
Sheridan: "Why are you still here?"
Lorien: "I'm waiting."
Sheridan: "For what?"
Lorien: "Someone to talk to. You're the first to make it this far."
Sheridan: "Do They know?"
Lorien: "Of course. That's why they come back to Z'ha'dum every time they're driven off, because I'm here. They think they're showing respect. They don't understand. They used to, but that was a long time ago. A million years..."
Sheridan: "You don't look..."
Lorien: "No, I don't. Well, not at the moment"
(Lorien looks intently at Sheridan)
A Being of Light: "Who are you?
(Sheridan has a realization)
Sheridan: "That was you?"
Lorien: "Perhaps. We all have secrets, surprises... Did you know, you have a Vorlon inside you? Well, a piece of one?"
Sheridan: "Kosh."
Lorien: "Is that it's name? I think I met it once long ago."
Sheridan: He told me to jump. Did he know..?""
Lorien: "That I was here? Almost certainly."
Sheridan: "How'd..?"
Lorien: "They can brake off pieces of their consciousness and put it into other organisms. It allows them to travel hidden through the galaxy, using others as their eyes and ears. ...Kosh is in you, and he's part of the problem. You're the other part. You're both still clinging to life, both afraid to let go. You must lay down the burden of life, both of you. And surrender yourself to tock."
Sheridan: "No, I can't. The others need me."
Lorien: "You can't turn away from death simply because you're afraid of what might happen without you. That's not enough! You're not embracing life, you're fleeing death. So you're caught, in-between, unable to go forward or backward. Your friends need what you can be when you are no longer afraid, when you know who you are, and why you are, and what you want. When you are no longer looking for reasons to live, but can simply be."
Sheridan: "I can't. I don't know how to do that!"
Lorien: "Then I cannot help you, and you will be caught forever in-between. You must let go. Surrender yourself to death, ...the death of flesh, the death of fear. Step into the abyss and let go."
Sheridan: "It's ...getting darker."
Lorien: "I know. You're close, friend, ...very close. It's easy to find something worth dying for. Do you have anything worth living for?"
Sheridan: "I can't see you anymore..."
Lorien: "As it should be."
Sheridan: "What if I fall? How will I know if you'll catch me?"
Lorien: "I caught you before."
Sheridan: "What if I die?"
Lorien: "I cannot create life, but I can breathe on the remaining embers. It may not work."
Sheridan: "But I can hope?"
Lorien: "Hope is all we have."
(Sheridan falls)
A Being of Light/Lorien: "Do you have anything worth living for?"
Vision of Delenn: "Sleep now and I will watch and catch you if you should fall."
Sheridan: "Delenn!"
The 6 episode arc that began the season is nth short of brilliant!! with the following ep, 4x07 Epiphanies, providing a tantalizing conclusion to the Centauri Prime arc and a titillating beginning for a new arc, that unfortunately was ultimately poorly executed. the Mars storyline was a long time coming, it was hinted at since season 1, so it gives this nice continuity flavor. though however intriguing, it felt too prolonged to it's own undoing, especially when coupled with the disturbing and infuriating plotline with Garibaldi.
to be perfectly honest the first 7 episodes are beyond perfection in terms of storytelling! the dialogs, the story arc, the depth of emotions, the turns of the tide for each and every character & the music!!
the resolution to the Shadow War is nth if not surprising. this show sometimes pulls such an ace out of it's sleeve, i.e. one cultivated for 3 seasons such as this one, that sets the standard so high, I'm afraid none of the current airing shows on tv will ever reach... sadly.
the arc on Centauri Prime with Londo, G'Kar and Cartagia was extremely powerful and one of the more difficult in terms of themes such as morality and politics. I wasn't very much captivated by the portrayal of Cartagia, however the Minister was perfectly cast! loved him since that dreadful joke he made about a room full of Narns.
this season also marks a point in the series where all the supporting cast get to shine beautifully. Vir steps up to the ocasion, marking a bittersweet change for the character.
also Lyta grew on me this season. she gave a convincing portrayal as early as in 1x00 The Gathering and I was rather disappointed to see her replaced in S1 but then I quickly grew to like Talia - oh, that voice! - so when Lyta came back, I then couldn't shake the feeling of how I missed Talia on the show - a nice reversal there! it took me quite some time, but now I feel I genuinely care what happens to her character.
same goes for Zack. he's started kind of irritating and suspiciously unnerving, yet turned all kinds of sweet and generous - most especially in B5: Thirdspace - oh, that elevator scene! - love this cast and it's transformations!!
what's also different about this season is that I've grown to really enjoy Sheridan and Ivanova's relationship and their frequent banter. after all they've been through, this past 2,5 yrs it's only natural they're so unceremoniously comfortable with each other. Ivanova never looked better than this season! she's so much more comfortable and I think it comes across as much from the actress herself as from Claudia Christian's acting skills.
This season also brought the return of the powerful Delenn we've got to know during season 1 before her transformation.
Overall I was disappointed with how weak this season felt compared to the previous one. However, while writing this review and thinking about all these powerful moments such as the one with Delenn in the starfire circle (4x14 Moments Of Transition) or with Sheridan in captivity (4x18 Intersections In Real Time), I seem to waver in my strong convictions about the inequality of this season to the previous ones.
Sheridan in captivity is the result of the greatest betrayal I could never have even imagined possible within this canvas of characters (4x17 The Face Of The Enemy). I wonder if this isn't the idea mentioned by JMS in his post before he even began shooting 1x00 The Gathering, that he came up with an idea that sth unprecedented would happen to one of the main characters and that it was so good, he was a a bit disappointed that he'd have to wait at least a few more yrs to execute this idea, because for him to be able to pull it off, it'd have to happen in the show's 4th season.
This is also an instance of quite a remarkable concept for an episode with only one of the characters from this huge ensemble cast in it and driving the entire story.
I believe what was wrong with this season is that it had many exceptional moments, but the overall story was stumbling. When in previous seasons, even though many weak scenes could occur, the overall story was so strong, the overall impression for a season was considerably higher. Even the outstanding Season 1 has two or three weak episodes, however the overall mystery and the tensions surrounding it is almost unimaginably strong!
In all sincerity, S4 improves on second viewing. Sheridan even got me goosebumps and in tears with his speech in 4x20 Endgame when he arrives at Earth at the helm of his armada, although the former might have been due to the music.
Sheridan: "This is Cpt. John Sheridan. We are here on the authority of a multi-planetary force, that can no longer stand by and watch one of their greatest allies falling into darkness and despair. We are here on behalf of the thousands of civilians murdered, under orders, from the current administration, who have no one else to speak for them; and on behalf of the Earth Force units that have joined us to oppose the tyranny that has darkened Earth ever since President Santiago was assassinated three years ago. We are here to place President Clark under arrest, to disband Night Watch and return our government to the hands of their people. We know that many in the government have wanted to act, but have been intimidated by threats of retaliation against your families, your friends. You're not alone anymore. We call upon you to rise up and do what's right. We have drawn their forces away from Earth and disabled them. The time to act is now. This is not the voice of treason, these are your sons, your daughters; whose loyalties have never wavered, whose beliefs in this alliance has forced us to take extraordinary means - for justice, for peace, for the future. We have come home."
on a side note, I liked the new president, Susanna Luchenko; so I checked her on imdb and guess what!? she was born in my city!! Gdansk. here's my personal connection to B5!!! *giddy*
In addition to all the foregoing, there's the ingenious finale (!), 4x22 The Deconstruction Of Falling Stars. being a flawless epilogue to a somewhat uneven season; showing us events in a 1, 100, 500, 1000 and then 1,000,000 yr future (!) in an enticing B5 fashion.
I especially liked the scene between the monks of the order of preserving past knowledge and pursuing science and technology, that ended on this hilarious note:
Brother Alwyn: Alwyn Macomber reporting in. Nothing of substance to report since my last... We *think*, we may have gathered enough information from the time pre-Burn to assemble a *working* gasoline engine! Obviously there's no gasoline in this part of the country, therefore we ask the Supply Department if they could *arrange* to have a suitable supply of gasoline found in the vicinity near the Abbey in a few days. only this time - for Valen's sake! - *please* make it look like an *old* container. the last one could've been produced a 100 years ago!
Although the ep when Garibaldi goes to Mars and his storyline finally picks up pace, felt at times during his narration like a movie styled in a fashion of Total Recall, most especially due to the visual prompts of shots of what essentially is a barren planet with tubes and globes where life can only exist.
4x16 The Exercise of Vital Powers begins with:
Garibaldi: "Mars. I can't believe I'm back on Mars. Three times before this place almost killed me. I swore I'd never give it another chance to finish the job. Humans got no business being here, no business at all."
and ends with:
Garibaldi: "Mars. Three times before this place almost killed me. And now, I'll finally finish the job. I can't feel anything anymore. I don't know what I care about anymore. Except Lise. I screwed up both our lives pretty good, now I get to make up for it. Assuming any of us can ever make up for anything we've done in the past. Maybe we can't. Maybe we just have to live with it. Get on with it. Do what we have to. Never what we want to. It has to be done. I hope he can see that someday. "
And I only wish we got more of the mind boggling, thought inspiring conversations between Sheridan and Lorien at Z'ha'dum, such as these from 4x02 What ever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi?:
(a dream sequence)
A Being of Light: "Who are you? What do you want? Who are you? What do you want? Who are you? *Who* are you?!"
(Sheridan wakes up)
Lorien: "You were dreaming?"
Sheridan: "Yes."
Lorien: "About what? ...You're thinking about escape again, aren't you? Don't. There's no way off Z'ha'dum. Might as well give up. Reconcile yourself, as I did"
Sheridan: "First obligation of a prisoner is to escape!"
Lorien: "Ah! So, ...if one is a prisoner of love, one must escape to solitude? If one is a prisoner to joy, must one escape to sadness?"
Lorien: "I see you're still upset, that I won't tell you my name. But what does it matter? If I tell you my name is Lorien, what good is that? It tells you nothing, but leaves me at a disadvantage. Words have meaning, and names have power. The universe begun with a word, you know? But which came first, the word or the thought behind the word? You can't create language without a thought, and you can't conceive a thought without language. So, which created the other and thus created the universe? No, ...I see you're far too wrapped up in your question to consider the larger issues."
Sheridan: "What question?"
Lorien: "Who are you."
Sheridan: "How did you know about it?"
Lorien: "It's a dangerous question, isn't it? There is never a good answer to it. I suppose, that's the point. Now, what you are, that's a question I can answer, at least in your case. You're dead."
Sheridan: "That's enough!"
Lorien: "How long have you been here?"
Sheridan: "I don't know. A day, maybe two?"
Lorien: "The sun has risen and set nine times. You haven't eaten. You ought to be starving. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Does blood still flow through your veins? Does it?"
(Sherdan checks his pulse)
Sheridan: "There's no pulse."
Lorien: "Because my reluctant friend, you are quite, quite dead."
I remember reading JMS's posts from early 1992 where he mentions these exact same thoughts. the musing on the concept of which came first, language or thought. that's 4 yrs before the episode aired! man, he rally did plan every detail well in advance! and never lost a thought once conceived.
the same can be said for the reappearance of Zathras. in posts during season 3 he makes an off hand remark about how Zathras is a favorite of his and how he sometimes has a mind for the B5 crew to meet Mathras - Zathras' brother who would mention that Zathras was the quiet one in the family and lo and behold, come season 4, it's almost exactly what happens!
Lorien: "Nothing to say about being dead?"
Sheridan: "It's a trick."
Lorien: "Is it? what is the last thing you remember before waking up?"
Sheridan:"I was falling. I fell ...long way. It seemed to go on forever."
Lorien: "Nothing goes on forever. Not fall, not you, not I, not love, not life. Entropy consumes everything. We all hit bottom, sooner or later. Did you ...hit bottom?"
Sheridan: "I ...don't remember."
Lorien: "There are only two possibilities. If you hit bottom, then you are dead. If you did not hit bottom, you are still falling and all of this is a dream. Unless, ...you're in between."
Sheridan: "Between what?!"
Lorien: "Between moments. When we are born, we're allocated a finite number of seconds. Each tick of the clock slices off a piece of us. Tick, a possibility for joy is gone. Tock, a careless word ends one path, opens another. Tick, tock, tick, tock. Always running out of time. Yours is almost used up. You're between seconds, lost in the infinite possibilities between tick and tock. Tick, you're alive. Tock ...well, it was a good life, but a short one. Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick..."
Sheridan: "How do I know you're not behind all of this, huh?! Just what are you up to? Who are you?"
(Lorien peers deep into Sheridan's mind)
A Being of Light: "Who are you? What do you want?"
(Sheridan looks in horror)
Lorien: "You're closer now, aren't you? Yes, I see you are. But closer to tick, or closer to tock? I don't know. Only time will tell. And here, between the moments ...we have all the time in the world."
Sheridan: "This is the fire I set when I woke up down here. Ahh, I've come full circle."
Lorien: "Don't we all?"
Sheridan: "Look, you've been down here longer than I have."
Lorien: "Oh much, much longer."
Sheridan: "There must be some way out of here!"
Lorien: "Tick, you're alive. Tock, you're dead. The only way out is to surrender ...to tock."
Sheridan: "No. No, I can't *do* that! Don't you understand?! There's a war on out there. If we don't do something, billions of people are going to die. Now, don't you care about that?"
Lorien: "Yes, of course I care. It's a terrible thing when your children fight. I warned the others, but they didn't listen. They never listen."
Sheridan: "Your ...children?"
Lorien: "Metaphorically speaking. Those who came after me, children, younger siblings."
Sheridan: "How long have you been here?"
Lorien: "A long time. So long... I was old when the molecules of your world joined and called themselves land and see and fish and man."
Sheridan: "You're one of the first ones?"
Lorien: "No, not one of the first ones. I *am* the first one."
Sheridan: "You know a way out of here, don't you?"
Lorien: "Perhaps."
Sheridan: "Why are you still here?"
Lorien: "I'm waiting."
Sheridan: "For what?"
Lorien: "Someone to talk to. You're the first to make it this far."
Sheridan: "Do They know?"
Lorien: "Of course. That's why they come back to Z'ha'dum every time they're driven off, because I'm here. They think they're showing respect. They don't understand. They used to, but that was a long time ago. A million years..."
Sheridan: "You don't look..."
Lorien: "No, I don't. Well, not at the moment"
(Lorien looks intently at Sheridan)
A Being of Light: "Who are you?
(Sheridan has a realization)
Sheridan: "That was you?"
Lorien: "Perhaps. We all have secrets, surprises... Did you know, you have a Vorlon inside you? Well, a piece of one?"
Sheridan: "Kosh."
Lorien: "Is that it's name? I think I met it once long ago."
Sheridan: He told me to jump. Did he know..?""
Lorien: "That I was here? Almost certainly."
Sheridan: "How'd..?"
Lorien: "They can brake off pieces of their consciousness and put it into other organisms. It allows them to travel hidden through the galaxy, using others as their eyes and ears. ...Kosh is in you, and he's part of the problem. You're the other part. You're both still clinging to life, both afraid to let go. You must lay down the burden of life, both of you. And surrender yourself to tock."
Sheridan: "No, I can't. The others need me."
Lorien: "You can't turn away from death simply because you're afraid of what might happen without you. That's not enough! You're not embracing life, you're fleeing death. So you're caught, in-between, unable to go forward or backward. Your friends need what you can be when you are no longer afraid, when you know who you are, and why you are, and what you want. When you are no longer looking for reasons to live, but can simply be."
Sheridan: "I can't. I don't know how to do that!"
Lorien: "Then I cannot help you, and you will be caught forever in-between. You must let go. Surrender yourself to death, ...the death of flesh, the death of fear. Step into the abyss and let go."
Sheridan: "It's ...getting darker."
Lorien: "I know. You're close, friend, ...very close. It's easy to find something worth dying for. Do you have anything worth living for?"
Sheridan: "I can't see you anymore..."
Lorien: "As it should be."
Sheridan: "What if I fall? How will I know if you'll catch me?"
Lorien: "I caught you before."
Sheridan: "What if I die?"
Lorien: "I cannot create life, but I can breathe on the remaining embers. It may not work."
Sheridan: "But I can hope?"
Lorien: "Hope is all we have."
(Sheridan falls)
A Being of Light/Lorien: "Do you have anything worth living for?"
Vision of Delenn: "Sleep now and I will watch and catch you if you should fall."
Sheridan: "Delenn!"
The 6 episode arc that began the season is nth short of brilliant!! with the following ep, 4x07 Epiphanies, providing a tantalizing conclusion to the Centauri Prime arc and a titillating beginning for a new arc, that unfortunately was ultimately poorly executed. the Mars storyline was a long time coming, it was hinted at since season 1, so it gives this nice continuity flavor. though however intriguing, it felt too prolonged to it's own undoing, especially when coupled with the disturbing and infuriating plotline with Garibaldi.
to be perfectly honest the first 7 episodes are beyond perfection in terms of storytelling! the dialogs, the story arc, the depth of emotions, the turns of the tide for each and every character & the music!!
the resolution to the Shadow War is nth if not surprising. this show sometimes pulls such an ace out of it's sleeve, i.e. one cultivated for 3 seasons such as this one, that sets the standard so high, I'm afraid none of the current airing shows on tv will ever reach... sadly.
the arc on Centauri Prime with Londo, G'Kar and Cartagia was extremely powerful and one of the more difficult in terms of themes such as morality and politics. I wasn't very much captivated by the portrayal of Cartagia, however the Minister was perfectly cast! loved him since that dreadful joke he made about a room full of Narns.
this season also marks a point in the series where all the supporting cast get to shine beautifully. Vir steps up to the ocasion, marking a bittersweet change for the character.
also Lyta grew on me this season. she gave a convincing portrayal as early as in 1x00 The Gathering and I was rather disappointed to see her replaced in S1 but then I quickly grew to like Talia - oh, that voice! - so when Lyta came back, I then couldn't shake the feeling of how I missed Talia on the show - a nice reversal there! it took me quite some time, but now I feel I genuinely care what happens to her character.
same goes for Zack. he's started kind of irritating and suspiciously unnerving, yet turned all kinds of sweet and generous - most especially in B5: Thirdspace - oh, that elevator scene! - love this cast and it's transformations!!
what's also different about this season is that I've grown to really enjoy Sheridan and Ivanova's relationship and their frequent banter. after all they've been through, this past 2,5 yrs it's only natural they're so unceremoniously comfortable with each other. Ivanova never looked better than this season! she's so much more comfortable and I think it comes across as much from the actress herself as from Claudia Christian's acting skills.
This season also brought the return of the powerful Delenn we've got to know during season 1 before her transformation.
Overall I was disappointed with how weak this season felt compared to the previous one. However, while writing this review and thinking about all these powerful moments such as the one with Delenn in the starfire circle (4x14 Moments Of Transition) or with Sheridan in captivity (4x18 Intersections In Real Time), I seem to waver in my strong convictions about the inequality of this season to the previous ones.
Sheridan in captivity is the result of the greatest betrayal I could never have even imagined possible within this canvas of characters (4x17 The Face Of The Enemy). I wonder if this isn't the idea mentioned by JMS in his post before he even began shooting 1x00 The Gathering, that he came up with an idea that sth unprecedented would happen to one of the main characters and that it was so good, he was a a bit disappointed that he'd have to wait at least a few more yrs to execute this idea, because for him to be able to pull it off, it'd have to happen in the show's 4th season.
This is also an instance of quite a remarkable concept for an episode with only one of the characters from this huge ensemble cast in it and driving the entire story.
I believe what was wrong with this season is that it had many exceptional moments, but the overall story was stumbling. When in previous seasons, even though many weak scenes could occur, the overall story was so strong, the overall impression for a season was considerably higher. Even the outstanding Season 1 has two or three weak episodes, however the overall mystery and the tensions surrounding it is almost unimaginably strong!
In all sincerity, S4 improves on second viewing. Sheridan even got me goosebumps and in tears with his speech in 4x20 Endgame when he arrives at Earth at the helm of his armada, although the former might have been due to the music.
Sheridan: "This is Cpt. John Sheridan. We are here on the authority of a multi-planetary force, that can no longer stand by and watch one of their greatest allies falling into darkness and despair. We are here on behalf of the thousands of civilians murdered, under orders, from the current administration, who have no one else to speak for them; and on behalf of the Earth Force units that have joined us to oppose the tyranny that has darkened Earth ever since President Santiago was assassinated three years ago. We are here to place President Clark under arrest, to disband Night Watch and return our government to the hands of their people. We know that many in the government have wanted to act, but have been intimidated by threats of retaliation against your families, your friends. You're not alone anymore. We call upon you to rise up and do what's right. We have drawn their forces away from Earth and disabled them. The time to act is now. This is not the voice of treason, these are your sons, your daughters; whose loyalties have never wavered, whose beliefs in this alliance has forced us to take extraordinary means - for justice, for peace, for the future. We have come home."
on a side note, I liked the new president, Susanna Luchenko; so I checked her on imdb and guess what!? she was born in my city!! Gdansk. here's my personal connection to B5!!! *giddy*
In addition to all the foregoing, there's the ingenious finale (!), 4x22 The Deconstruction Of Falling Stars. being a flawless epilogue to a somewhat uneven season; showing us events in a 1, 100, 500, 1000 and then 1,000,000 yr future (!) in an enticing B5 fashion.
I especially liked the scene between the monks of the order of preserving past knowledge and pursuing science and technology, that ended on this hilarious note:
Brother Alwyn: Alwyn Macomber reporting in. Nothing of substance to report since my last... We *think*, we may have gathered enough information from the time pre-Burn to assemble a *working* gasoline engine! Obviously there's no gasoline in this part of the country, therefore we ask the Supply Department if they could *arrange* to have a suitable supply of gasoline found in the vicinity near the Abbey in a few days. only this time - for Valen's sake! - *please* make it look like an *old* container. the last one could've been produced a 100 years ago!