(no subject)
Happy birthday asta77! Of all the good things I've found through LJ, your friendship tops the list. I can't wait to see you in a month! If it were at all in my power, I would get you one of these for your birthday. Fortunately, it's not.
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Babylon 5 1.07 - "War Prayer"
In this edition of Smart Women Who Make Foolish Choices, Ivanova's ex-boyfriend is a terrible, terrible actor. (Seriously, when he and Sinclair were pontificating to each other, it was like the matter and antimatter of terrible acting had finally come together and I was afraid the universe would end.) Also, he apparently has the power to render her face and neck two different colors. But now that I have gotten the snark off my chest...
I am becoming increasingly fascinated by the hints we're getting of Earth politics, and felt like this episode provided some significant pieces of information. There is some form of formal cultural exchange between Earth and the Minbari, at the same time that the extremist fringes of the xenophobic movement on Earth have found expression in a radical, violent human supremacist movement. Even more chillingly, this movement has clearly gained the sympathy and support of some very well-placed individuals who are able to acquire advanced military technology. The issue of who is really in charge on Earth becomes even more blurry. (I can't remember whether it's in this episode or the next that we see Garibaldi reading the front page of a newspaper and--setting aside the absurdity of a paper newspaper on a space station several centuries in the future--one of the headlines is about the Psi Corps being involved in an election controversy.)
I thought it was interesting that G'Kar immediately perceived what a questionable position the non-humans (argh! That term is so problematic!) on the station could be in if the Earth contingent that runs Babylon 5 has any sympathies with the Home Guard's cause. I don't know a ton about the Narn, but that strikes me as a valid reaction for someone who is familiar with the nuances of powerlessness. He wasn't going to wait until things got dire; he was going to start raising a stink immediately. I especially liked that he did not automatically trust Sinclair simply because they're both series regulars. Why would he? One of the things that has struck me about the show so far is that it's not forcing all of the regular characters to interact and bond immediately; they're often off in their own plots and sub-plots. There's no attempt here to force a trust that hasn't been earned. There is a faction of humans--some of them quite highly-placed, apparently--that hates all the other races, and is prepared to make its point through violence, and G'Kar's concerns are legitimate. The crew of Babylon 5 ends up proving that they don't share those beliefs in the end through their actions. This was particularly sad in Ivanova's case, with her stone-faced assertion to Malcolm that she'd never known him, her palpable disappointment in him for what he was and in herself for ever having found part of that appealing.
And in the B plot--accompanied by Whimsy Music, as laurashapiro pointed out--we had the Centauri version of Romeo and Juliet. I had perceived Londo as much more of a romantic, without really twigging to how much of a traditionalist he is as well, and how those two strains have led him to categorize love as something entirely independent of marriage. There was something of the hide-bound traditionalist's "I had to suffer through it in my time, now it's your turn!" attitude in Londo's impatience with the young couple, so it was lovely the way he tied that attitude, implicitly, to his own father's regrets, and the different perspectives of youth and middle-age, and Vir's unsurprising inability to understand the metaphor about shoes and dancing, at least yet.
Babylon 5 1.08 - "And the Sky Full of Stars"
I think it is an enormous tribute to this episode that it made me sit up and go "OOOOOH!" despite the fact that it's about Sinclair and his past trauma, and therefore required Sinclair to express a subtle range of emotions that were painfully, obviously out of Michael O'Hare's range.
I think I've had an erroneous impression about the Minbari. What I've seen most of them so far is embodied by Delenn, who is intellectual and spiritual and emotionally tuned to those around her, and who values aesthetic forms, art and poetry and ceremony. She is also, apparently, a participant in torture during wartime. I have been very curious about what caused the Earth/Minbari war in the first place, and I think I had a vague idea that Earth blundered into something by accident, out of ignorance and youth and arrogance. That may be the case, but the Minbari also have a warrior caste, and we haven't seen much of it. Delenn was horrified at the idea of the Soul Hunter taking Minbari souls without their consent, but the Minbari don't seem to have any problem torturing captured enemy soldiers, or stealing time from their memories--putting holes in their minds. (Delenn didn't seem thrilled with the memories of her participation in whatever happened with Sinclair, but on the other hand she seemed to feel that it was necessary to go along.) Why did the Minbari, with their military superiority, surrender after the Battle of the Line? Did they learn something from Sinclair that changed their view of the situation? And Sinclair clearly remembers something about Delenn's presence, then; what is he going to do with that going forward? On top of that, the plot to get Sinclair to remember the day he went missing was put into motion by some faction on Earth that wants, it seems, to cast doubt on the Minbari surrender and subsequent peace, or to promote a stabbed-in-the-back narrative about the treaty. Are these people related to the Home Guard movement, or do they have their own agenda? So many questions, and the fun thing is that I have high confidence they'll get answered. I can enjoy seeing the hints getting strung out through the episodes like so many beads on a necklace, knowing it's all going somewhere.
The writers tried valiantly to graft some personality onto Dr. Franklin, with his stories of "hitchhiking" across space before the war, but it didn't work. I think he's made of teflon. On the other hand, while most of Sinclair's personal history came across as pretty sterile, it's interesting that he ended up on Babylon 5 because the mysterious incident on the Line had effectively blocked his path to further advancement in the military. Maybe the place really is a dumping ground.
One final note about Jeffrey Sinclair: the man sleeps wearing a belt. Who does that?
* * * * *
Babylon 5 1.07 - "War Prayer"
In this edition of Smart Women Who Make Foolish Choices, Ivanova's ex-boyfriend is a terrible, terrible actor. (Seriously, when he and Sinclair were pontificating to each other, it was like the matter and antimatter of terrible acting had finally come together and I was afraid the universe would end.) Also, he apparently has the power to render her face and neck two different colors. But now that I have gotten the snark off my chest...
I am becoming increasingly fascinated by the hints we're getting of Earth politics, and felt like this episode provided some significant pieces of information. There is some form of formal cultural exchange between Earth and the Minbari, at the same time that the extremist fringes of the xenophobic movement on Earth have found expression in a radical, violent human supremacist movement. Even more chillingly, this movement has clearly gained the sympathy and support of some very well-placed individuals who are able to acquire advanced military technology. The issue of who is really in charge on Earth becomes even more blurry. (I can't remember whether it's in this episode or the next that we see Garibaldi reading the front page of a newspaper and--setting aside the absurdity of a paper newspaper on a space station several centuries in the future--one of the headlines is about the Psi Corps being involved in an election controversy.)
I thought it was interesting that G'Kar immediately perceived what a questionable position the non-humans (argh! That term is so problematic!) on the station could be in if the Earth contingent that runs Babylon 5 has any sympathies with the Home Guard's cause. I don't know a ton about the Narn, but that strikes me as a valid reaction for someone who is familiar with the nuances of powerlessness. He wasn't going to wait until things got dire; he was going to start raising a stink immediately. I especially liked that he did not automatically trust Sinclair simply because they're both series regulars. Why would he? One of the things that has struck me about the show so far is that it's not forcing all of the regular characters to interact and bond immediately; they're often off in their own plots and sub-plots. There's no attempt here to force a trust that hasn't been earned. There is a faction of humans--some of them quite highly-placed, apparently--that hates all the other races, and is prepared to make its point through violence, and G'Kar's concerns are legitimate. The crew of Babylon 5 ends up proving that they don't share those beliefs in the end through their actions. This was particularly sad in Ivanova's case, with her stone-faced assertion to Malcolm that she'd never known him, her palpable disappointment in him for what he was and in herself for ever having found part of that appealing.
And in the B plot--accompanied by Whimsy Music, as laurashapiro pointed out--we had the Centauri version of Romeo and Juliet. I had perceived Londo as much more of a romantic, without really twigging to how much of a traditionalist he is as well, and how those two strains have led him to categorize love as something entirely independent of marriage. There was something of the hide-bound traditionalist's "I had to suffer through it in my time, now it's your turn!" attitude in Londo's impatience with the young couple, so it was lovely the way he tied that attitude, implicitly, to his own father's regrets, and the different perspectives of youth and middle-age, and Vir's unsurprising inability to understand the metaphor about shoes and dancing, at least yet.
Babylon 5 1.08 - "And the Sky Full of Stars"
I think it is an enormous tribute to this episode that it made me sit up and go "OOOOOH!" despite the fact that it's about Sinclair and his past trauma, and therefore required Sinclair to express a subtle range of emotions that were painfully, obviously out of Michael O'Hare's range.
I think I've had an erroneous impression about the Minbari. What I've seen most of them so far is embodied by Delenn, who is intellectual and spiritual and emotionally tuned to those around her, and who values aesthetic forms, art and poetry and ceremony. She is also, apparently, a participant in torture during wartime. I have been very curious about what caused the Earth/Minbari war in the first place, and I think I had a vague idea that Earth blundered into something by accident, out of ignorance and youth and arrogance. That may be the case, but the Minbari also have a warrior caste, and we haven't seen much of it. Delenn was horrified at the idea of the Soul Hunter taking Minbari souls without their consent, but the Minbari don't seem to have any problem torturing captured enemy soldiers, or stealing time from their memories--putting holes in their minds. (Delenn didn't seem thrilled with the memories of her participation in whatever happened with Sinclair, but on the other hand she seemed to feel that it was necessary to go along.) Why did the Minbari, with their military superiority, surrender after the Battle of the Line? Did they learn something from Sinclair that changed their view of the situation? And Sinclair clearly remembers something about Delenn's presence, then; what is he going to do with that going forward? On top of that, the plot to get Sinclair to remember the day he went missing was put into motion by some faction on Earth that wants, it seems, to cast doubt on the Minbari surrender and subsequent peace, or to promote a stabbed-in-the-back narrative about the treaty. Are these people related to the Home Guard movement, or do they have their own agenda? So many questions, and the fun thing is that I have high confidence they'll get answered. I can enjoy seeing the hints getting strung out through the episodes like so many beads on a necklace, knowing it's all going somewhere.
The writers tried valiantly to graft some personality onto Dr. Franklin, with his stories of "hitchhiking" across space before the war, but it didn't work. I think he's made of teflon. On the other hand, while most of Sinclair's personal history came across as pretty sterile, it's interesting that he ended up on Babylon 5 because the mysterious incident on the Line had effectively blocked his path to further advancement in the military. Maybe the place really is a dumping ground.
One final note about Jeffrey Sinclair: the man sleeps wearing a belt. Who does that?