B5rewatch: Mind War
So, shall we see how much I find to ramble about now that Bester shows up?
1x06: Mind War
It’s not a bad promo, it might even be a good one in some sense. It’s a teaser of what’s coming, makes it look like an interesting plot, and tells us that Walter Koenig will be there (which to sci-fi fans in the 90s was probably an important draw; I know it got me, just not in this episode). It’s a little weirdly edited to have the characters apparently having discussions with the announcer, but looking back I think that was kind of the style of the time. In spite of including clips from the Catherine plot it doesn’t actually hint at it at all, which I guess is to be expected.
I think I always knew season 1 was shot out or order (at least by the time I saw s1), including that this episode was filmed later than shown; so for going on two decades now I’ve always had in the back of my head to wonder if this is really it’s proper place. As evidenced by the fact that I didn’t make any mention of it when I was laying out my schedule I’ve never given it a lot of thought because mostly this seems the proper placement. I only mention it now because I tend to be of two minds (pun not intended, but I’m leaving it in) whether the placement is right when it comes to the Catherine plot. On one hand it flows nicely having her stick around for the next episode after she’s introduced; on the other, we won’t see her again - and barely have her mentioned - until the end of the season, so it kind of would have been nice if we could have spaced her appearances out. Since they weren’t shot consecutively it’s not like they only had the actress for these couple of weeks, so one further suspects she could have done more; so is this a case of JMS not having others write the character or relationship, or that no one else thought to?
Apparently I do have a few thoughts about the credits whenever I actually watch them, so here’s the one this time. The staging of the window shot is sort of...aesthetically right (short Ivanova in the middle flanked by the taller guys) but not quite in character or presentation (seems Sinclair as the lead should be center, flanked by his two closest supporters). The new thoughts that can occur to one after all these years... (Also if Ivanova is God and Jeff is Minbari Jesus, then is Michael the Holy Ghost in this line up?)
There are some things that on rewatch I can...not forget exactly but put out of mind, and then there are ones that I forget I didn’t always know (or shouldn’t have known). The way I always perk up at the mention of Sigma 957, yeah that’s one of the latter, I forget there was ever a time they didn’t know not to go there (even G’Kar does know better already).
On the flip side, I’m not entirely sure if having instant ‘you’ feelings for Bester are based on my familiarity with the character or his presentation in this episode. Because he looks like a villain, he talks a villain, I’m pretty sure he walks like a villain (all jack booted thug like) that basically sends the long view aspect of me to say ‘you’d catch more flies with honey Al’ (also without Kelsey, who demonstrates no ability to act all episode); and yet that same long view knows that he *is* a villain (a complex and layered one who is easily the hero of his own story and could be at least an anti-hero in a lot of interpretations; and that part isn’t clear in this episode).
A note for the future, the B5 info channel Ironheart watches presents things in a lot more logical order than the one Minbari in ‘Points of Departure’ sees which starts off talking about the ambassadorial wing and how people can’t go there.
Okay, a pair of questions; why did the Psi Cops need to deal with Talia in front of the command staff? And why isn’t Garibaldi at a meeting considering it’s about security? In an effort to answer my own questions...well, there could be a public relations factor to the first, showing the mundanes what Psi Cops are capable of (for good or bad depending on their audience, bad in this case as it makes them look pretty evil, but to some crowds it might play as absolute enforcement of the laws concerning telepaths). I have no explanation for the second, I thought there might be a meta one but it wouldn’t have taken much to shift Jeff’s emotional reaction to things over to Michael while leaving Ivanova to be coldly unsurprised by Psi Corps cruelty, in that case with Jeff balancing the two.
The “No one here is exactly what they appear” bit has been used so much to discuss the show that it’s almost lost meaning within the show itself. I’m not sure if it actually feels as much like JMS talking to the audience as it seems to now eyes, it’s something that isn’t even quite clear to the viewer at this point but that doesn’t make it untrue or something G’Kar wouldn’t be the first to point out (Delenn knows surely, but it’s not in her interests to point it out).
For a lot of years I’d kind of forgotten where it came from, but I love roleplaying telekinetic characters and I think I’ve played every TK trick Ironheart mentions here, including that fine microscopic control is the pinnacle of TK ability. Maybe it’s a natural conclusion to come to, and I probably came across it elsewhere too, but I also wouldn’t be surprised but this is what sat in my subconscious over the years and came out in my teek characters.
Look the acting is in general not very good from the telepaths this episode (I guess excepting Ivanova, CC finally seems to started finding her groove). Koenig is fine most of the time, but there’s a few moments when it doesn’t really work (I’m thinking the “anatomically impossible” line, which would have work better if it had been quippier but it was done with serious threat instead; and hey, Bester will one day cause Garibaldi to fuck himself over so maybe it’s the correct tone). Ironheart is overacting and Kelsey clearly has no idea what she’s doing. And then there’s Talia, many of her lines are pitched wrong, she’s really blank faced when she should be reacting, and then there’s that that scene. The writing on the “when telepaths make love” speech is not JMS’ finest work, and while I get what he was going for, it would have taken a pretty spectacular performance to sell it (I can see Mira pulling it off, and it’s a very Delenn thing to say on top of that) but it is so far beyond Thompson’s ability to act that it’s just *bad*.
(And then Ironheart gets a speech too, and I think how lucky JMS got that Mira and Andreas and Bruce could deliver the JMS speeches so well, this episode is proof of what happens when you give those kind of lines to actors who aren’t so comfortable with JMS talk.)
One thing I do have to give the episode, they set up that Jason could disintegrate someone with a thought, and by gum he does just that. I don’t know why, but that didn’t feel like a gun being set on the mantle (I considered saying Chekhov gun, but maybe not the best time) when he mentioned it just a few moments earlier, it felt like kind of pretentious I-am-beyond-you hooey instead; which isn’t in itself a good thing I suppose, but it ends up seeming like setup-and-payoff instead of setup-for-payoff which is kind of nice. ...Kind of like the whole Sigma 957 plot you could say.
In fact, one kind of weird thing about his episode is that both plot lines are there for setup, but neither are all that important. Although the Talia plot feels like setup, it will ultimately lead nowhere; while the Sigma 957 plot that could be just a random encounter of universe building...well it kind of is, in that these specific First Ones aren’t all that important, but what they represent is super important in that these are the first elder god First Ones we meet openly (the Vorlons not wanting to be seen that way at the moment).
Wait, Garibaldi sends Bester off to catch a transport for Earth, but Bester doesn’t live on Earth. Damn it Michael, don’t be Earth-centrist, some people want to go to Mars.
I know the common fandom term for the Sigma 957 aliens is “the Walkers” (at least until we start calling them something to do with Zog later on) but I would like to propose calling them “the Glove” it just seems appropriate to me.
So I don’t have a lot of closing thoughts. I kind of forget how little we actually get to know the Psi Corps in this story, as it being a Bester and telepath heavy episode it feels like I should have lots of reasons to talk about the Corps, but I don’t. This doesn’t offer a lot different from what we’ve gotten at least from Ivanova so far; the Corps may be represented on the station by the sweet looking (if not well acting) blonde lady, but the idea that there’s a dark side just seems obvious (or is that my long view influence talking?) and already hinted at. Bad acting in that plot aside, it’s still a good story that the acting doesn’t drag down exactly, but it would be interesting to see if could have sung in better hands.
The acting in the B-plot is good, although it really only involves Catherine and G’Kar as far as talent is required. It’s the first hint we have of philosopher G’Kar (and he does make the JMS lines sing, that’s why we all quote these speeches time and again over the years) and it’s important that we did see this early on; it doesn’t change him for us to know it here, but it will echo through his character arc that we saw traces of it so early. It’s also almost annoying how well Catherine so easily fits in as part of the crew, considering how little we’ll end up seeing of her. She doesn’t feel like a special guest star (like say Ironheart and Bester do) she feels like she’s going to be here doing business, being domestic, and playing off the rest of the cast consistently, and she’s good at it. There should have been more Catherine in this season (especially if, as I think JMS has said or at least we mostly all suspect, that she was supposed to fill the Anna role, I don’t know that we saw enough of her to have gained a lot in that original arc form).
This feels like I had shockingly little to say for an episode I really like, plays an important role in the grand tapestry, does have some really good moments, and should have been more important than it actually ends up being (to me this is Talia trying to be Lyta and failing, but that’s just how I came at the story). But I guess I’m not very good at predicting ahead of time how much I’m going to want to ramble about the episodes.
Next time: The War Prayer
1x06: Mind War
It’s not a bad promo, it might even be a good one in some sense. It’s a teaser of what’s coming, makes it look like an interesting plot, and tells us that Walter Koenig will be there (which to sci-fi fans in the 90s was probably an important draw; I know it got me, just not in this episode). It’s a little weirdly edited to have the characters apparently having discussions with the announcer, but looking back I think that was kind of the style of the time. In spite of including clips from the Catherine plot it doesn’t actually hint at it at all, which I guess is to be expected.
I think I always knew season 1 was shot out or order (at least by the time I saw s1), including that this episode was filmed later than shown; so for going on two decades now I’ve always had in the back of my head to wonder if this is really it’s proper place. As evidenced by the fact that I didn’t make any mention of it when I was laying out my schedule I’ve never given it a lot of thought because mostly this seems the proper placement. I only mention it now because I tend to be of two minds (pun not intended, but I’m leaving it in) whether the placement is right when it comes to the Catherine plot. On one hand it flows nicely having her stick around for the next episode after she’s introduced; on the other, we won’t see her again - and barely have her mentioned - until the end of the season, so it kind of would have been nice if we could have spaced her appearances out. Since they weren’t shot consecutively it’s not like they only had the actress for these couple of weeks, so one further suspects she could have done more; so is this a case of JMS not having others write the character or relationship, or that no one else thought to?
Apparently I do have a few thoughts about the credits whenever I actually watch them, so here’s the one this time. The staging of the window shot is sort of...aesthetically right (short Ivanova in the middle flanked by the taller guys) but not quite in character or presentation (seems Sinclair as the lead should be center, flanked by his two closest supporters). The new thoughts that can occur to one after all these years... (Also if Ivanova is God and Jeff is Minbari Jesus, then is Michael the Holy Ghost in this line up?)
There are some things that on rewatch I can...not forget exactly but put out of mind, and then there are ones that I forget I didn’t always know (or shouldn’t have known). The way I always perk up at the mention of Sigma 957, yeah that’s one of the latter, I forget there was ever a time they didn’t know not to go there (even G’Kar does know better already).
On the flip side, I’m not entirely sure if having instant ‘you’ feelings for Bester are based on my familiarity with the character or his presentation in this episode. Because he looks like a villain, he talks a villain, I’m pretty sure he walks like a villain (all jack booted thug like) that basically sends the long view aspect of me to say ‘you’d catch more flies with honey Al’ (also without Kelsey, who demonstrates no ability to act all episode); and yet that same long view knows that he *is* a villain (a complex and layered one who is easily the hero of his own story and could be at least an anti-hero in a lot of interpretations; and that part isn’t clear in this episode).
A note for the future, the B5 info channel Ironheart watches presents things in a lot more logical order than the one Minbari in ‘Points of Departure’ sees which starts off talking about the ambassadorial wing and how people can’t go there.
Okay, a pair of questions; why did the Psi Cops need to deal with Talia in front of the command staff? And why isn’t Garibaldi at a meeting considering it’s about security? In an effort to answer my own questions...well, there could be a public relations factor to the first, showing the mundanes what Psi Cops are capable of (for good or bad depending on their audience, bad in this case as it makes them look pretty evil, but to some crowds it might play as absolute enforcement of the laws concerning telepaths). I have no explanation for the second, I thought there might be a meta one but it wouldn’t have taken much to shift Jeff’s emotional reaction to things over to Michael while leaving Ivanova to be coldly unsurprised by Psi Corps cruelty, in that case with Jeff balancing the two.
The “No one here is exactly what they appear” bit has been used so much to discuss the show that it’s almost lost meaning within the show itself. I’m not sure if it actually feels as much like JMS talking to the audience as it seems to now eyes, it’s something that isn’t even quite clear to the viewer at this point but that doesn’t make it untrue or something G’Kar wouldn’t be the first to point out (Delenn knows surely, but it’s not in her interests to point it out).
For a lot of years I’d kind of forgotten where it came from, but I love roleplaying telekinetic characters and I think I’ve played every TK trick Ironheart mentions here, including that fine microscopic control is the pinnacle of TK ability. Maybe it’s a natural conclusion to come to, and I probably came across it elsewhere too, but I also wouldn’t be surprised but this is what sat in my subconscious over the years and came out in my teek characters.
Look the acting is in general not very good from the telepaths this episode (I guess excepting Ivanova, CC finally seems to started finding her groove). Koenig is fine most of the time, but there’s a few moments when it doesn’t really work (I’m thinking the “anatomically impossible” line, which would have work better if it had been quippier but it was done with serious threat instead; and hey, Bester will one day cause Garibaldi to fuck himself over so maybe it’s the correct tone). Ironheart is overacting and Kelsey clearly has no idea what she’s doing. And then there’s Talia, many of her lines are pitched wrong, she’s really blank faced when she should be reacting, and then there’s that that scene. The writing on the “when telepaths make love” speech is not JMS’ finest work, and while I get what he was going for, it would have taken a pretty spectacular performance to sell it (I can see Mira pulling it off, and it’s a very Delenn thing to say on top of that) but it is so far beyond Thompson’s ability to act that it’s just *bad*.
(And then Ironheart gets a speech too, and I think how lucky JMS got that Mira and Andreas and Bruce could deliver the JMS speeches so well, this episode is proof of what happens when you give those kind of lines to actors who aren’t so comfortable with JMS talk.)
One thing I do have to give the episode, they set up that Jason could disintegrate someone with a thought, and by gum he does just that. I don’t know why, but that didn’t feel like a gun being set on the mantle (I considered saying Chekhov gun, but maybe not the best time) when he mentioned it just a few moments earlier, it felt like kind of pretentious I-am-beyond-you hooey instead; which isn’t in itself a good thing I suppose, but it ends up seeming like setup-and-payoff instead of setup-for-payoff which is kind of nice. ...Kind of like the whole Sigma 957 plot you could say.
In fact, one kind of weird thing about his episode is that both plot lines are there for setup, but neither are all that important. Although the Talia plot feels like setup, it will ultimately lead nowhere; while the Sigma 957 plot that could be just a random encounter of universe building...well it kind of is, in that these specific First Ones aren’t all that important, but what they represent is super important in that these are the first elder god First Ones we meet openly (the Vorlons not wanting to be seen that way at the moment).
Wait, Garibaldi sends Bester off to catch a transport for Earth, but Bester doesn’t live on Earth. Damn it Michael, don’t be Earth-centrist, some people want to go to Mars.
I know the common fandom term for the Sigma 957 aliens is “the Walkers” (at least until we start calling them something to do with Zog later on) but I would like to propose calling them “the Glove” it just seems appropriate to me.
So I don’t have a lot of closing thoughts. I kind of forget how little we actually get to know the Psi Corps in this story, as it being a Bester and telepath heavy episode it feels like I should have lots of reasons to talk about the Corps, but I don’t. This doesn’t offer a lot different from what we’ve gotten at least from Ivanova so far; the Corps may be represented on the station by the sweet looking (if not well acting) blonde lady, but the idea that there’s a dark side just seems obvious (or is that my long view influence talking?) and already hinted at. Bad acting in that plot aside, it’s still a good story that the acting doesn’t drag down exactly, but it would be interesting to see if could have sung in better hands.
The acting in the B-plot is good, although it really only involves Catherine and G’Kar as far as talent is required. It’s the first hint we have of philosopher G’Kar (and he does make the JMS lines sing, that’s why we all quote these speeches time and again over the years) and it’s important that we did see this early on; it doesn’t change him for us to know it here, but it will echo through his character arc that we saw traces of it so early. It’s also almost annoying how well Catherine so easily fits in as part of the crew, considering how little we’ll end up seeing of her. She doesn’t feel like a special guest star (like say Ironheart and Bester do) she feels like she’s going to be here doing business, being domestic, and playing off the rest of the cast consistently, and she’s good at it. There should have been more Catherine in this season (especially if, as I think JMS has said or at least we mostly all suspect, that she was supposed to fill the Anna role, I don’t know that we saw enough of her to have gained a lot in that original arc form).
This feels like I had shockingly little to say for an episode I really like, plays an important role in the grand tapestry, does have some really good moments, and should have been more important than it actually ends up being (to me this is Talia trying to be Lyta and failing, but that’s just how I came at the story). But I guess I’m not very good at predicting ahead of time how much I’m going to want to ramble about the episodes.
Next time: The War Prayer