muses
There was a brief lull from B5 in my Netflix queue, filled by a few X-Files episodes and a couple movies, but now S5 has begun!
(Although because I am no longer obsessively watching S4, I am now interspersing movies with B5 discs -- I'm charmed by Paul Newman's blue eyes at the moment, after enjoying him and Robert Redford in The Sting on entropydevice's recommendation.)
Of course S5 doesn't inspire the same fascination that S3 did, with the Shadows and Mr. Morden, or the same gripping intensity that S4 did, with the culmination of the Ancients' story arc and Earth's anti-alien feeling. But I've honestly enjoyed all four S5 episodes so far. 'A View from the Gallery' has a particularly fresh and intriguing hook. S5 benefits from a maturity and a familiarity that S1 lacked. And Marcus' longer-haired, equally-English, and equally-Shakespearian replacement is quite the looker!
Speaking of Byron, take a look at Robin Atkin Downes' IMDb page. He's quite the voiceover actor! Seriously, his videogame credentials are impressive -- LOTR games, X-Men games, SOCOM Navy Seals games, a couple FFVII spin-offs, EverQuest, Kingdom Hearts II, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Halo 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, etc. ::nods, impressed:: Huh. And for added local interest to boot, he seems to have gotten an MFA from Temple.
I wish his and Morden's necklaces were explained, though...
And
From the Lurker's Guide --
"Well, actually she still wouldn't discuss [Mr. Garibaldi's new position as head of covert intelligence] in public."
What public?
These are two STATION PERSONNEL, who work for her, who are part of the military command structure, who have the same loyalty oaths as she has. They didn't have this conversation in the Zocalo, in front of civilians, it was in a closed area with two other STATION PERSONNEL, who are entrusted with a high enough security clearance that they can work on C&C firing consoles during heavy action, in a situation where every second counts in getting things ready for the next wing of an imminent attack.
This is a non-starter issue, frankly.
In general, I agree with JMS' main point, made in other comments, that there's no secret to the identity of head of covert intelligence, just like there's no secret to the identity of the CIA's director. However, a niggling objection -- part of the effectiveness for me of that particular elevator scene was the very invisibility of the maintenance workers. It didn't *matter* that they were station personnel with security clearance; the point was, they were *worker caste* who didn't even register to Lochley or Garibaldi. The TV audience got a insect-on-the-wall view of everything the workers hear when no one pays attention to them.
(Although because I am no longer obsessively watching S4, I am now interspersing movies with B5 discs -- I'm charmed by Paul Newman's blue eyes at the moment, after enjoying him and Robert Redford in The Sting on entropydevice's recommendation.)
Of course S5 doesn't inspire the same fascination that S3 did, with the Shadows and Mr. Morden, or the same gripping intensity that S4 did, with the culmination of the Ancients' story arc and Earth's anti-alien feeling. But I've honestly enjoyed all four S5 episodes so far. 'A View from the Gallery' has a particularly fresh and intriguing hook. S5 benefits from a maturity and a familiarity that S1 lacked. And Marcus' longer-haired, equally-English, and equally-Shakespearian replacement is quite the looker!
Speaking of Byron, take a look at Robin Atkin Downes' IMDb page. He's quite the voiceover actor! Seriously, his videogame credentials are impressive -- LOTR games, X-Men games, SOCOM Navy Seals games, a couple FFVII spin-offs, EverQuest, Kingdom Hearts II, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Halo 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, etc. ::nods, impressed:: Huh. And for added local interest to boot, he seems to have gotten an MFA from Temple.
I wish his and Morden's necklaces were explained, though...
And
From the Lurker's Guide --
"Well, actually she still wouldn't discuss [Mr. Garibaldi's new position as head of covert intelligence] in public."
What public?
These are two STATION PERSONNEL, who work for her, who are part of the military command structure, who have the same loyalty oaths as she has. They didn't have this conversation in the Zocalo, in front of civilians, it was in a closed area with two other STATION PERSONNEL, who are entrusted with a high enough security clearance that they can work on C&C firing consoles during heavy action, in a situation where every second counts in getting things ready for the next wing of an imminent attack.
This is a non-starter issue, frankly.
In general, I agree with JMS' main point, made in other comments, that there's no secret to the identity of head of covert intelligence, just like there's no secret to the identity of the CIA's director. However, a niggling objection -- part of the effectiveness for me of that particular elevator scene was the very invisibility of the maintenance workers. It didn't *matter* that they were station personnel with security clearance; the point was, they were *worker caste* who didn't even register to Lochley or Garibaldi. The TV audience got a insect-on-the-wall view of everything the workers hear when no one pays attention to them.