Babylon 5 - "Deathwalker" and "Believers"
Just watched episodes 9 and 10 of season 1. After reading short intros to both episodes on an overview page and seeing that both had pretty low ratings, I didn't expect much, but was pleasantly surprised.
"Deathwalker" shows us a war criminal - unusually enough this war criminal is a woman who proudly calls herself "War Lord". There's no doubt that she should be brought to justice for her crimes; she clearly feels no remorse whatsoever. And yet, nearly everybody gets sidetracked by her promise of immortality... Very chilling, very realistic.
(Personally, I'd not be keen on immortality. Life after death is intriguing, but immortality? Nah. Picturing a world where noone ever dies, that gets totally overcrowded and stagnant, holds no appeal for me. Plus: If immortality could be achieved, it would come at a high cost - and only the rich and famous could afford it anyway.)
"Believers":
I expected this to be a rather boring morality play, but I really like this episode. It's main plot centers around a family with a sick son. Their son can only be cured if he has an operation, however, his parents believe that he will lose his soul as soon as he's operated on.
Now religious beliefs versus medicine are a topic in our world; there are always some religious groups who think medical intervention is against God's will.
I was really intrigued by how Babylon 5 handles this conflict. The strength of the episode is that noone gets dissed. All opinions are treated with respect: It's clear that the parents really care for their child, it's clear that the doctor desperately wants to save his patient. The discussions between parents and doctor, the doctor and his assistant, Sinclair and the doctor are wonderfully written. Everybody wants to do what's best - and yet there's no easy way out, there's no miraculous solution.
What's also poignant is how the parents plead for justice with all ambassadors and how they get refused by them all. Once again it's striking how similar Londo and G'Kar are in their reactions. Yes, G'Kar is more blunt and Londo tries to come across as sympathetic, but both lack empathy in their refusal. They just can't be bothered with a plight that's so immaterial to them.
p.s. Can anyone point me to some nice Babylon 5 icons for my collection? :-)
"Deathwalker" shows us a war criminal - unusually enough this war criminal is a woman who proudly calls herself "War Lord". There's no doubt that she should be brought to justice for her crimes; she clearly feels no remorse whatsoever. And yet, nearly everybody gets sidetracked by her promise of immortality... Very chilling, very realistic.
(Personally, I'd not be keen on immortality. Life after death is intriguing, but immortality? Nah. Picturing a world where noone ever dies, that gets totally overcrowded and stagnant, holds no appeal for me. Plus: If immortality could be achieved, it would come at a high cost - and only the rich and famous could afford it anyway.)
"Believers":
I expected this to be a rather boring morality play, but I really like this episode. It's main plot centers around a family with a sick son. Their son can only be cured if he has an operation, however, his parents believe that he will lose his soul as soon as he's operated on.
Now religious beliefs versus medicine are a topic in our world; there are always some religious groups who think medical intervention is against God's will.
I was really intrigued by how Babylon 5 handles this conflict. The strength of the episode is that noone gets dissed. All opinions are treated with respect: It's clear that the parents really care for their child, it's clear that the doctor desperately wants to save his patient. The discussions between parents and doctor, the doctor and his assistant, Sinclair and the doctor are wonderfully written. Everybody wants to do what's best - and yet there's no easy way out, there's no miraculous solution.
What's also poignant is how the parents plead for justice with all ambassadors and how they get refused by them all. Once again it's striking how similar Londo and G'Kar are in their reactions. Yes, G'Kar is more blunt and Londo tries to come across as sympathetic, but both lack empathy in their refusal. They just can't be bothered with a plight that's so immaterial to them.
p.s. Can anyone point me to some nice Babylon 5 icons for my collection? :-)