B5 Rewatch: "Point of No Return" and "Severed Dreams"
Point of No Return
THIS is what I've been waiting for. (Well, okay, technically I was waiting for "Severed Dreams," but it's basically a two-parter, so.) How so awesome, show?
Aside from the impending war with Earth, the big thing in this episode is Lady Morella's prophecy for Londo. (I like the balance among the characters they strike in this series, and especially this season. That must have been difficult to do.) I've read various explanations of it, but most of them are less than satisfactory. I can, for the most part, get behind Morden as the man who's already dead and the Keeper as Londo's greatest fear, but G'Kar's eye as the one that doesn't see...I dunno. I wish she'd just said he has three more chances, and he'd know then when he saw them. But aw, things get awkward between Vir and Londo because of the rest of her prophecy. *g*
Lady Morella says that we can't tolerate greatness in our midst, and she says it in a condemnatory way. I agree with the sentiment, but not necessarily the condemnation. I think we should always keep leaders'/"great people"'s flaws in mind while they're still around, lest we give them too much license. If that's what she means by not tolerating greatness in our midst, then...yeah? I mean, try not to be unnecessarily obstructionist when they're right, but no need to put them on pedestals.
We also have G'Kar being ridiculously awesome, getting Narns to provide security for the station when Our Heroes take things back over from Night Watch. I guess his pronouncement of humans as the key is based essentially on the fact that Sheridan's charisma is what eventually unites all the races against the Shadows, although it's interesting that he says "we," meaning all the aliens, I think, "will turn that key." Hmm. That sounds a little ominous now that I think about it, actually.
Speaking of Sheridan, he takes a page out of Sinclair's book when he splits hairs over the Night Watch takeover order not coming through the proper chain of command. Heh, he's learned a few things in the past year and a half. And Zack gets to help! Yay Zack! I've been waiting for his return to the fold. (You know, I think it's not so much that I like Zack as a character, but I like the idea of Zack as this regular schmoe caught up in all this, not exactly in the loop but willing to do what needs to be done because although he doesn't think they're perfect, he believes the people in charge know what they're doing. He's a great minion, basically.)
And Michael seems to be a pretty great guy to be a minion of. While Delenn in particular, and Sheridan and Ivanova to lesser extents, have to be concerned with the principles these wars are being fought on, Garibaldi really just cares about his people. I wonder if he got that from Sinclair giving him a second chance. I like his scene where he tells various security folks all the things he's done for them, particularly the guy he set up with his future wife. (Hahaha, now I want fic where Ivanova finds out and teases him mercilessly about his romantic streak.)
Severed Dreams
aka the episode where everyone is SO INCREDIBLY BADASS that I'm surprised the screen doesn't spontaneously combust from their awesome. Yeah, I'm sure it's not fun to be a human during this episode, but from an audience perspective, it's definitely the high point of the series.
Delenn, in particular, is made of 100% gold-plated awesome in this whole episode. She's not going to let the Grey Council stand idly by like Tolkien's elves while a war goes on; no, she is going to blast right through the acolyte at the door ("You will step aside in [Dukhat's] name and mine or, in Valen's name, I will tear this ship apart until I find them. MOVE. ASIDE.") and yell at them and break the staff that's probably a thousand or so years old, and break the council as well.
(Which, uh. Come to think of it, does Minbar have a government anymore? I mean, I get why she did it, and cheered, but how are they running their planet now? Maybe the Grey Council is like a semi-ceremonial thing--since all they seem to do is stand around in those spotlights--and the real governing gets done at the lower levels. I know they come to the brink, or possibly tip over the brink, of civil war in S4, but with everything that went on in these two seasons, my memories of specifics are pretty hazy.)
And she's not done once she finishes with the Council. Nope, she comes in with the White Star and three Minbari cruisers, and makes me wish I could be even a tenth as badass as she is. "Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else." Yeah, I rag on JMS for dialogue a lot, but that line will never get old.
Speaking of dialogue I liked, Sheridan's version of "I love you" is pretty cute: "I want you to know that seeing your face at that moment was probably the single finest moment in my life." Goes rather nicely with it taking until she gives him a fleet of ships for him to kiss her. ;)
But speaking of dialogue I hate, let's talk about that pointless scene where Sheridan talks to his father. It reeks of telling without showing, because, seriously, John's dad is all, "You always make the right decision when you need to," and we've...just seen him doing that. And will see him doing that again not long after this. So what was the point? Aside from reminding us that the dad is alive so that certain things in S4 will make logical sense and have emotional resonance, anyway. Mostly I just found his father's accent offputting and overdone. Maybe he cultivated it so that in his career as a diplomat, other people would underestimate him because of the cornponiness, but eeeecchh. It's the one bad spot in an otherwise perfect episode.
I am still not entirely certain why this episode was supposed to have a higher personal cost to Delenn than the one where she gets kicked off the Council.
I'm looking forward to the episode where the ISN newscaster comes back on air. I remember it being really emotional, after the way in which they were forced off in this episode. (Didn't someone write a fic about her experiences during the war? Maybe that was just an idea someone floated.)
Other things...I still love the random junior officer using a fire extinguisher on the burning console in C&C. Heh.
Delenn's "It seems that this is the only home we have left" made me think of Farscape for a moment. (Possibly because this weekend would've been ScaperCon weekend. I miss yooooouuuu!) I love it when characters on my shows create their own communities.
I've been in a mood lately to write fill-in scenes for the first year of my AU (which takes place in the third season), and this one offers an interesting example...apparently Susan and Michael were in the infirmary together for a while at the end. Hmmm. I could do something with this...
This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/714034.html. It has
comments over there.
THIS is what I've been waiting for. (Well, okay, technically I was waiting for "Severed Dreams," but it's basically a two-parter, so.) How so awesome, show?
Aside from the impending war with Earth, the big thing in this episode is Lady Morella's prophecy for Londo. (I like the balance among the characters they strike in this series, and especially this season. That must have been difficult to do.) I've read various explanations of it, but most of them are less than satisfactory. I can, for the most part, get behind Morden as the man who's already dead and the Keeper as Londo's greatest fear, but G'Kar's eye as the one that doesn't see...I dunno. I wish she'd just said he has three more chances, and he'd know then when he saw them. But aw, things get awkward between Vir and Londo because of the rest of her prophecy. *g*
Lady Morella says that we can't tolerate greatness in our midst, and she says it in a condemnatory way. I agree with the sentiment, but not necessarily the condemnation. I think we should always keep leaders'/"great people"'s flaws in mind while they're still around, lest we give them too much license. If that's what she means by not tolerating greatness in our midst, then...yeah? I mean, try not to be unnecessarily obstructionist when they're right, but no need to put them on pedestals.
We also have G'Kar being ridiculously awesome, getting Narns to provide security for the station when Our Heroes take things back over from Night Watch. I guess his pronouncement of humans as the key is based essentially on the fact that Sheridan's charisma is what eventually unites all the races against the Shadows, although it's interesting that he says "we," meaning all the aliens, I think, "will turn that key." Hmm. That sounds a little ominous now that I think about it, actually.
Speaking of Sheridan, he takes a page out of Sinclair's book when he splits hairs over the Night Watch takeover order not coming through the proper chain of command. Heh, he's learned a few things in the past year and a half. And Zack gets to help! Yay Zack! I've been waiting for his return to the fold. (You know, I think it's not so much that I like Zack as a character, but I like the idea of Zack as this regular schmoe caught up in all this, not exactly in the loop but willing to do what needs to be done because although he doesn't think they're perfect, he believes the people in charge know what they're doing. He's a great minion, basically.)
And Michael seems to be a pretty great guy to be a minion of. While Delenn in particular, and Sheridan and Ivanova to lesser extents, have to be concerned with the principles these wars are being fought on, Garibaldi really just cares about his people. I wonder if he got that from Sinclair giving him a second chance. I like his scene where he tells various security folks all the things he's done for them, particularly the guy he set up with his future wife. (Hahaha, now I want fic where Ivanova finds out and teases him mercilessly about his romantic streak.)
Severed Dreams
aka the episode where everyone is SO INCREDIBLY BADASS that I'm surprised the screen doesn't spontaneously combust from their awesome. Yeah, I'm sure it's not fun to be a human during this episode, but from an audience perspective, it's definitely the high point of the series.
Delenn, in particular, is made of 100% gold-plated awesome in this whole episode. She's not going to let the Grey Council stand idly by like Tolkien's elves while a war goes on; no, she is going to blast right through the acolyte at the door ("You will step aside in [Dukhat's] name and mine or, in Valen's name, I will tear this ship apart until I find them. MOVE. ASIDE.") and yell at them and break the staff that's probably a thousand or so years old, and break the council as well.
(Which, uh. Come to think of it, does Minbar have a government anymore? I mean, I get why she did it, and cheered, but how are they running their planet now? Maybe the Grey Council is like a semi-ceremonial thing--since all they seem to do is stand around in those spotlights--and the real governing gets done at the lower levels. I know they come to the brink, or possibly tip over the brink, of civil war in S4, but with everything that went on in these two seasons, my memories of specifics are pretty hazy.)
And she's not done once she finishes with the Council. Nope, she comes in with the White Star and three Minbari cruisers, and makes me wish I could be even a tenth as badass as she is. "Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else." Yeah, I rag on JMS for dialogue a lot, but that line will never get old.
Speaking of dialogue I liked, Sheridan's version of "I love you" is pretty cute: "I want you to know that seeing your face at that moment was probably the single finest moment in my life." Goes rather nicely with it taking until she gives him a fleet of ships for him to kiss her. ;)
But speaking of dialogue I hate, let's talk about that pointless scene where Sheridan talks to his father. It reeks of telling without showing, because, seriously, John's dad is all, "You always make the right decision when you need to," and we've...just seen him doing that. And will see him doing that again not long after this. So what was the point? Aside from reminding us that the dad is alive so that certain things in S4 will make logical sense and have emotional resonance, anyway. Mostly I just found his father's accent offputting and overdone. Maybe he cultivated it so that in his career as a diplomat, other people would underestimate him because of the cornponiness, but eeeecchh. It's the one bad spot in an otherwise perfect episode.
I am still not entirely certain why this episode was supposed to have a higher personal cost to Delenn than the one where she gets kicked off the Council.
I'm looking forward to the episode where the ISN newscaster comes back on air. I remember it being really emotional, after the way in which they were forced off in this episode. (Didn't someone write a fic about her experiences during the war? Maybe that was just an idea someone floated.)
Other things...I still love the random junior officer using a fire extinguisher on the burning console in C&C. Heh.
Delenn's "It seems that this is the only home we have left" made me think of Farscape for a moment. (Possibly because this weekend would've been ScaperCon weekend. I miss yooooouuuu!) I love it when characters on my shows create their own communities.
I've been in a mood lately to write fill-in scenes for the first year of my AU (which takes place in the third season), and this one offers an interesting example...apparently Susan and Michael were in the infirmary together for a while at the end. Hmmm. I could do something with this...
This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/714034.html. It has
comments over there.