Babylon 5, Soul Hunter, season 1, episode 2
Ok, I didn't live blog this one. For one, it's really distracting. I don't know how all those tweeters do it.
As for my impressions...still having some problems with Sinclair. Hubby said, re: Sinclair and Ivanova, "I don't know which one is stiffer". For my money, Sinclair's a stiff. Ivanova is just uptight. I am certain more will be revealed.
This episode was more existential than action. A mystery alien is grapple-hooked into the station. When I saw the hook, I thought of this:
Come on--you all did too. Then I started saying, tractor beam, super glue...alas, I can't find a video of Crichton saying all that, though I know I could make one if I really wanted to.
Moving on...Ivanova points out this is not a good idea: "if this isn't a clear and present danger, then I need to go back and read the rule book..." or something akin to that. Heh. Gotta love her. Anyway, Sinclair brings this big headed dude aboard, at which time I thought: "he's got a big head, but he's blind. Barring the Yoda factor, if he gives us any trouble, we'll lock him up." Which...never trust a big headed alien? Unless it's Thor. Or ET.
Oh, I also found this: http://www.fiveminute.net/farscape/fiver.php?ep=crackersdontmatter. Hilarious, I might add.
Moving on, they do lock him up. He redshirts someone and gets out. Nefarious big headed alien is a Soul Hunter, which basically means his race gathers worthy souls and saves them up, worships them and apparently learns from them. The other aliens do not like him and some of them start to leave the station. And when they show aliens, I have to admit--those guys look gross and alien. No prosethetic foreheads for these folks.
SH is teed off at the Mimbari (did I get that right), at D'Lenn's people because they apparently operate on some kind of collective/reincarnation deal which means they will keep and worship their own souls, thank you very much. Anyway, some random dude gets killed so we can see the Soul Hunter in action, as far as discerning death is concerned.
As things develop, Soul Hunter 1 decides that he has to take a soul vs waiting around for one to show up. And he wants D'Lenn's because she is special. This whole concept of taking souls reminded me a lot of Stark, but of course Farscape puts a weird twist on it wherein we kind of know that Stark tends to help the dying along without much concern about it. It's more like "oops...yeah, I was in a rush."
At any rate, Soul Hunter 2 (yes, he's actually Soul Hunter 2 in the credits) shows up, enlightens the gang and Sinclair ends up rescuing D'lenn from some storage room like place where SH1 looks like he's really getting his rocks off at the prospect of "saving her soul" aka draining her life's blood. He's got her hooked up to some machine and explains how her life will ebb away, and he looks really excited at the prospect. Very creepy!
Sinclair, the hero, saves the day by turning the milking machine on SH1 after all his little souls come bubbling out of some carpet bag and distract him. SH1 leaves Sinclair with a mystery: what is a Sentai and why is she there on B5 when she's actually a higher ranking official? D'Lenn being the Sentai in question.
Sinclair then tells SH2 to stay off B5 forever. I wonder if this will last....
The mystery I'm left with is will Sinclair ever stop talking like a STARSHIP CAPTAIN! Geez, poor guy.
Overall, I give this one 4/5. The Soul Hunter creeped me out. The theme of souls, learning from the accomplishments of others, how a possibly noble vocation of gathering and preserving souls can turn horribly wrong, are intriguing I loved this small exchange between Ivanova and the new doctor (who I like): Doctor points out that humans live maybe 100 years but it's nothing when you compare it to space. We just get it figured out then it's over. Ivanova, being Russian (heh, loved that earlier reference too), points out that humans could live 200 years and they'd still be human. I like how she doesn't mince words.
As for my impressions...still having some problems with Sinclair. Hubby said, re: Sinclair and Ivanova, "I don't know which one is stiffer". For my money, Sinclair's a stiff. Ivanova is just uptight. I am certain more will be revealed.
This episode was more existential than action. A mystery alien is grapple-hooked into the station. When I saw the hook, I thought of this:
Click to viewCome on--you all did too. Then I started saying, tractor beam, super glue...alas, I can't find a video of Crichton saying all that, though I know I could make one if I really wanted to.
Moving on...Ivanova points out this is not a good idea: "if this isn't a clear and present danger, then I need to go back and read the rule book..." or something akin to that. Heh. Gotta love her. Anyway, Sinclair brings this big headed dude aboard, at which time I thought: "he's got a big head, but he's blind. Barring the Yoda factor, if he gives us any trouble, we'll lock him up." Which...never trust a big headed alien? Unless it's Thor. Or ET.
Oh, I also found this: http://www.fiveminute.net/farscape/fiver.php?ep=crackersdontmatter. Hilarious, I might add.
Moving on, they do lock him up. He redshirts someone and gets out. Nefarious big headed alien is a Soul Hunter, which basically means his race gathers worthy souls and saves them up, worships them and apparently learns from them. The other aliens do not like him and some of them start to leave the station. And when they show aliens, I have to admit--those guys look gross and alien. No prosethetic foreheads for these folks.
SH is teed off at the Mimbari (did I get that right), at D'Lenn's people because they apparently operate on some kind of collective/reincarnation deal which means they will keep and worship their own souls, thank you very much. Anyway, some random dude gets killed so we can see the Soul Hunter in action, as far as discerning death is concerned.
As things develop, Soul Hunter 1 decides that he has to take a soul vs waiting around for one to show up. And he wants D'Lenn's because she is special. This whole concept of taking souls reminded me a lot of Stark, but of course Farscape puts a weird twist on it wherein we kind of know that Stark tends to help the dying along without much concern about it. It's more like "oops...yeah, I was in a rush."
At any rate, Soul Hunter 2 (yes, he's actually Soul Hunter 2 in the credits) shows up, enlightens the gang and Sinclair ends up rescuing D'lenn from some storage room like place where SH1 looks like he's really getting his rocks off at the prospect of "saving her soul" aka draining her life's blood. He's got her hooked up to some machine and explains how her life will ebb away, and he looks really excited at the prospect. Very creepy!
Sinclair, the hero, saves the day by turning the milking machine on SH1 after all his little souls come bubbling out of some carpet bag and distract him. SH1 leaves Sinclair with a mystery: what is a Sentai and why is she there on B5 when she's actually a higher ranking official? D'Lenn being the Sentai in question.
Sinclair then tells SH2 to stay off B5 forever. I wonder if this will last....
The mystery I'm left with is will Sinclair ever stop talking like a STARSHIP CAPTAIN! Geez, poor guy.
Overall, I give this one 4/5. The Soul Hunter creeped me out. The theme of souls, learning from the accomplishments of others, how a possibly noble vocation of gathering and preserving souls can turn horribly wrong, are intriguing I loved this small exchange between Ivanova and the new doctor (who I like): Doctor points out that humans live maybe 100 years but it's nothing when you compare it to space. We just get it figured out then it's over. Ivanova, being Russian (heh, loved that earlier reference too), points out that humans could live 200 years and they'd still be human. I like how she doesn't mince words.