But there is a price to pay. I will not be there to help you when you go to Z'ha'dum.
For those B5 (and Grease and Taxi) fans who may have missed the news, Jeff Conaway died Friday at the age of 60.
On Babylon 5 he played Zack Allen, and one of the joys of that show was watching Zack grow from Security Guy #2 to Chief by the end of the series. Zack didn't have an epic destiny, he didn't face down gods or lead armies or become a prophet. He didn't even get the girl (although I would have liked that story for Lyta a whole lot better than the Byronic mess her life turned into.)
Zack's role was more important than that. Zack was us, the audience, the guy who went to work everyday, tried his best, and had to make all those everyday decisions that come with that. How good intentions can go south, and how much it sucks to have to stand up to your peers and coworkers and tell them they're wrong.
You were the best, Zack. When B5 was put in your hands we knew she'd be all right.
***
Doing the rewatch and seeing Kosh again in all his cryptic glory really struck home for me that the reason Dean/Cas pinged so hard for me was because it reminded me so much of Sheridan and Kosh. (Which just means I have a type.) The cryptic, unknowable orders! The frustrations and misunderstandings and ~destingy~ and tragic sacrifices!
I wish Sheridan and Dean could sit down and talk. John could probably give him some good advice.
***
Watching All Quiet On The Western Front on TCM, a movie that frankly is kind of a miracle. This is a war epic made one year after the advent of sound and so much of the vocabulary of modern cinema is already there. You can see so many war tropes --- the salty scrounger, the naive recruits, the corrupt, distant officers and jaded veterans --- being codified right before your eyes.
The 30's were a fantastic time for film, sheer experimentation in the beginning and subversion at the end.
On Babylon 5 he played Zack Allen, and one of the joys of that show was watching Zack grow from Security Guy #2 to Chief by the end of the series. Zack didn't have an epic destiny, he didn't face down gods or lead armies or become a prophet. He didn't even get the girl (although I would have liked that story for Lyta a whole lot better than the Byronic mess her life turned into.)
Zack's role was more important than that. Zack was us, the audience, the guy who went to work everyday, tried his best, and had to make all those everyday decisions that come with that. How good intentions can go south, and how much it sucks to have to stand up to your peers and coworkers and tell them they're wrong.
You were the best, Zack. When B5 was put in your hands we knew she'd be all right.
***
Doing the rewatch and seeing Kosh again in all his cryptic glory really struck home for me that the reason Dean/Cas pinged so hard for me was because it reminded me so much of Sheridan and Kosh. (Which just means I have a type.) The cryptic, unknowable orders! The frustrations and misunderstandings and ~destingy~ and tragic sacrifices!
I wish Sheridan and Dean could sit down and talk. John could probably give him some good advice.
***
Watching All Quiet On The Western Front on TCM, a movie that frankly is kind of a miracle. This is a war epic made one year after the advent of sound and so much of the vocabulary of modern cinema is already there. You can see so many war tropes --- the salty scrounger, the naive recruits, the corrupt, distant officers and jaded veterans --- being codified right before your eyes.
The 30's were a fantastic time for film, sheer experimentation in the beginning and subversion at the end.