As the second season's "chapter" title is the same, you know that this one will advance the plot. The failing Centauri Emperor Turhan, who is bereft of a clear successor, has decided to visit Babylon 5 and make a reconciliation gesture toward the Narn.
G'Kar, knowing only of the visit but not the purpose, reverts to his Season 1 persona, bellowing protests at Sheridan, and, when those fail, decides to martyr himself by assassinating Turhan at the reception gala.
Also receiving top-of-episode attention is a human, dressed in black. He follows Garibaldi, who makes, and then arrests him when no explanation for this is forthcoming.
Emperor Turhan has a brief scene with Sheridan, as they discuss the Choices they made in their life (and we have theme for the day -- choice!) and the associated regrets. It's a nice little scene, Boxleitner playing as out of his depth as a Captain would be when chit-chatting with an emperor. Turhan gets some of the best Momentous Dialogue of the series to date, leaving Sheridan to simply nod along.
Then, just before the reception, the old guy collapses on his way (walking, always walking on B5; here with his ludicrously small honor guard of two), further inflaming G'Kar but delighting Refa and Londo, who can begin to move their project for a new Centauri century to an early timetable. On flimsy pretense, Londo seeks out Morden to attack a Narn colony close to Centauri space; a move that will begin an open war with the Narns. Maybe G'Kar should have just killed the guy anyway?
In Medlab, Emperor Turhan is awake, and since he's only a guest star, dictates a message of apology for Franklin to recite to G'Kar. This is a lame contrivance to give Franklin some material just on its face, but it's worse if you consider how Franklin delivering the message robs us of a scene between one of the series' two strongest regulars and one of its best-ever guests. With its enormous scope, B5 frequently attempted sweeping moments acted out by the larger-than-life; Turhan Bey (he was so well-liked they named the emperor after him -- the best instance of the B5 economy of names) is one of the few bullseyes the show hit in guest casting. The substitution grates even further when Franklin pulls out a little of his dormant moral superiority at G'Kar's shocked, abashed response.
Rather than run off the medlab to see the dying Turhan, G'Kar instead searches out Londo and buys him a drink, noting that perhaps there is some decency left in the Centauri. It's all Londo can do to choke down his liquor as he sees what his -- choice -- has cost.
When the Narns do return to Quadrant 14, they find Centauri warships surveying the wreckage, and the obvious conclusions are drawn. The two governments declare war on each other, and G'Kar goes fully berserk. While Garibaldi is summoned by security, it's Sheridan who responds to the alert and talks G'Kar down from the ledge.
Then Emperor Turhan has his deathbed talk; shoving smarmy Refa away with the last of his strength, he draws Londo close, says something we can't hear, and dies. Londo reports this as "take my people back to the stars," and does it stupidly in front of two powerful Centauri telepaths: for what Turhan actually said was: We are both damned.
And finally, back to Garibaldi's stalker. He bears a recorded message from one Ambassador Sinclair, now far on his way to becoming the series' Gandalf. The new arrival is a, yes, Ranger, a growing army of humans and Minbari coalescing around Sinclair to "fight the coming darkness."
A shadow to the east...
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Pros: Turhan Bey!
Cons: Londo's jump into full evil seems a bit abrupt.
Then: A+
Now: A
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Episode 10: Gropos
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| Outtake from Wing Commander 3 |
While B5 eventually became a leader for virtual CG sets, we sometimes saw awful effects like this shot of General Franklin leaving his transport. Oof.
General Franklin holds a briefing the next morning, and in B5 tradition it's a long string telling without showing, exposition prefaced by "with all due respects," and "that's why we're heres." As use of B5 as a staging base for an assault is a huge imposition on the station, Franklin throws them a bone with an upgrade of the station's defense grid; adding enough firepower to fight off heavier warships.
Given the time of production, it's maybe not a surprise that the police action General Franklin is leading turns into a major bloodbath, with all the Gropos we meet laying dead in an episode-closing Glory-style pan across the battlefield.
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Pros: Illustrating another facet of the B5 universe.
Cons: A corner rife with cliche that's never visited again.
Then: C
Now: C
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Episode 11: All Alone in the Night
The A plot is Sheridan's, his first since A Distant Star. In order to keep his flight status (and why, I ask, do Captains of ships require it?) he volunteers himself to lead a fighter wing ("[two other wings] are on other missions," Ivanova tells without showing) on a milk run nearby.As all milk runs, it goes awry when his ship is destroyed by mysterious aliens and he is taken aboard for study in the best Alien Abduction vein. There he befriends an abducted Narn as their mysterious captors occasionally subject them to automated light torture and psychological experiments.
During a lull in that action, Kosh takes the opportunity to get into Sheridan's head, starting up a Prophetic Dream that's not quite as interesting as Londo's. Ivanova appears once alone (her hair worn to one shoulder like Delenn's Boushh 'do, a hint?) and then later with Garibaldi; raven and dove on their respective shoulders. Sheridan sees himself in a black uniform, and later dressed as a Psi Cop. They tell him the man in between is searching for him. He is the hand. Kosh explains: You have always been here, which prompts the usual prophetic dream wake-with-a-start.Returning to B5, Delenn learns of the abduction and provides much-needed intel. The Captain is quickly located and rescued, and left to reflect on the nature of Script Immunity.
The B continues Delenn's "status" subplot. With a new leader in place, she has been summoned by the remainder of the the Grey Council to determine her future career path as a faux-human. Overplaying the situation for increased drama (drama that later fails to materialize -- I doubt that's a spoiler) she gives Lennier the tried and true "Here are my instructions in case I never see you again," talk. Lennier is horrified at the prospect, but remains steadfastly loyal, accompanying her rather than wait for the axe to fall on B5.Both A and B plots get spoiled by the guest cast credits: A quickly mentioned that General Hague will be arriving for an "informal visit," "after Sheridan gets back" and B is more severely impacted by noting the return of Neroon (from season one's Legacies) in an episode where the Grey Council also makes an appearance. You don't suppose...?
Again the Minbari have shifted their motivations; now Delenn's change was planned, but she rushed the process. They resent her initiative, yet believe in the goal: fighting the Great War with the Shadows. To that end, the have added a fourth Warrior Caste Minbari to take her place as Satai; guess who? She takes this for an outrage, as when Valen created the council, he chose equally from the (now) 3 castes, this episode marks the first mention of the Worker caste.
The outrage bears fruit; Neroon pretty much immediately launches into a hateful rant about the humans and Delenn's own status as an abomination with monkey fever. He effectively exiles her to B5. As is always the case on TV, the other eight Satai, her friends and colleagues for twenty cycles, say nothing at all.
The episode ends with a surprisingly important conversation between the rescued Sheridan and Hague. Sheridan was placed on B5 to hold the place for the EA faction loyal to slain President Santiago -- a faction that buys into the conspiracy theories about Santiago's death near Io. With his "starkiller" record, Sheridan has a solid cover with the Clark government and a distant base of power from which to start moving against Earthgov.
And so, after six months in command, Sheridan brings his staff in on his secret agenda...
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Pros: Official launch of the EA counter-conspiracy.
Cons: Comedy subplot involving the World Series turns tragic.
Then: B
Now: B
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Episode 12: Acts of Sacrifice
The Narn-Centauri conflict continues, increasing tensions among the civilians on both sides. When provoked, the Narn take the law into their own hands, killing one Centauri and begin securing weapons to kill more. When G'Kar attempts to stop them, he receives the same treatment Delenn received from her people -- he has been among the humans too long to have authority. Unlike Delenn, he nips the sedition in the bud by beating the mob leader senseless.
The war has been going against the Narn, of course, and G'Kar appeals to the other ambassadors for intervention. Based on his past bad behavior, he finds war allies hard to come by. Delenn in fact flat-out lies to him in saying that her people are too tired of war to get into one yet again -- even while they prepare for the Shadows. Earth wants no part, and the Narn expended their utility for the Vorlons a thousand years ago. Unofficially, Sheridan and Delenn give humanitarian aid.
The war is not all smiles and sunshine for Londo, either. His rise in the aristocracy has increased the number of favor-seeking groupies around him, but alienated his one, true friend: Meester Garibaldi, who stands him up.
Pros: Garibaldi's Londo voice.
Cons: Three bags full.
Then: B+
Now C
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