s1e1: Midnight on the Firing Line

A dream given form

We’re watching the pioneering 90s TV show Babylon 5. If you want to join us, hit subscribe then go to your account and turn on the Let’s Watch notifications.

Now, that’ a bit more like it.

After the false start that was ‘The Gathering’, ‘Midnight on the Firing Line’ is an improvement in just about every area. It’s still early days and there are a lot of rough edges, but this immediately feels like the show I remember loving from my teenage year.

Last week I was pondering whether the core issues, especially the performances, were down to weird directing, but this first episode has the same director as the pilot and the problems are all far reduced. Acting is better across the board, including from the cast who were present in the pilot. 🤷

Thsi is a great scene between Londo and G’Kar. G’KAR!

The first thing that grabbed me here is that it isn’t a story about assassinations and changeling nets and obscure mysteries. Instead we have an almost alarmingly relevant political situation: a rogue state indulging in a sneak attack, verging on terrorist action, against a largely civilian settlement. Inflicting massive casualties. And then a ton of posturing and gnashing of teeth and a desire for revenge.

Like all the best sci-fi, it feels as if it was written about 2023. Watching this as a 13-year old I didn’t really have any real world comparisons to draw. Now, the episode hits much harder. And while the Narns are absolutely the villains again, they’re given justification through their 100-year enslavement to the Centauri. The reactions to the attack from the different governments and characters are a great way to get an immediate handle on where everyone is positioned.

I was surprised to see Londo and G’Kar at each other’s threats so early! There’s a palpable sadness to Londo Mollari - the best thing about the pilot - that makes all of his scenes sing. When played off against G’Kar in full-on revenge mode, it makes for great viewing. The political shenanigans feel more plausible than in the pilot, too.

This is a great scene between Londo and Garibaldi. MR GARIBALDI!

Running in the background are couple of B plots: the raider attacks, and the Earth gov election. The raider plot is a chance to check out the much-improved visual effects - still hugely dated, but in this episode they work well with the storytelling. The moody investigation of the smashed-up cargo vessel floating in space, and the zero-G space battle that makes a point of not being Star Wars. Using CGI in the pilot felt like a mistake at times, whereas here you can really see the storytelling potential it opens up.

The election is very much background, but it lends a mundane reality to events. That there are still elections matters to the fabric of the show. That was see Garibaldi eating matters to the verisimilitude of the setting. The station feels like a functioning bureaucratic endeavour.

Oh! And we get to meet Susan Ivanova and Talia Winters and Vir. Ivanova immediately makes a strong impression. To this day I often still use the phrase “I’m in the middle of fifteen things, all of them annoying.” Takashima’s departure is barely touched upon (“Oh, you’re new here,” from Garibaldi is about all we get). Vir’s shock at the Ragesh 3 attack is a good counterpoint to Londo’s bitter reaction. Talia’s introduction does a much better job of explaining the Psi Corps than the pilot - combining her intro with Ivanova’s mother’s story is efficient exposition. In fact, the world building is much more natural and subtle and feels less rushed overall.

Michael O’Hare is noticeably more comfortable in the role than in the pilot.

Structurally this has the classic Babylon 5 dual plot design: the main plot and the b-plot run side by side, until the end at which point they become somewhat inter-connected. In this case, the Narns having a reputation for being arms dealers unlocks the political stalemate over Ragesh 3.

I thought this was a big step up. How about you?

‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️

Well. There’s a lot in here. It’s slightly mad how much is in play right from the off.

We hear about Londo’s vision of his and/or G’Kar’s death. We get that entire relationship set up, with G’Kar as the aggressor and Londo as the victim. Which is amazing, given where it’s going to go.

At this point, and especially on a first watch back in the 90, there would have been no indication that these two characters were going to flip roles and embark on such an incredible storyline.

One thing that did strike me is how Sinclair paints ‘the Narns’ in general as being duplicitous and prone to selling to the highest bidder. More nuance will come later of course, but that defining of an entire species as having a single characteristic feels very 90s. I’m reminded of Marty in Back to the Future shouting “LIBYANS!” as code for ‘bad guys’. I’m not sure whether this is Sinclair’ prejudices/annoyances coming out, shorthand writing from Straczynski or deliberate wrong-footing of the audience ahead of the switch to Narns as victims in season 2. I’m inclined to give JMS the benefit of the doubt here, and assume he’s playing off audience assumptions based on the appearance of Centauri (entirely human-like, with funny hair, like having fun) compared to Narn (lizard-like, non-human, physically intimidating).

Running in the background of the episode is the election. Anyone here who reads my Tales from the Triverse serial might recognise a bit of that, in that there’s been a similar election playing out in the background there for a while, too. In this case it’s setting up the season finale in the very first episode, which I find rather thrilling in retrospect.

OK, next time we have ‘Soul Hunter’, which I’m rather looking forward to.