s1e5: The Parliament of Dreams

"I think of you in the fall..."

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This episode at long last answers a big question hanging over from the pilot: whatever happened to Carolyn Sykes?

OK, nobody was actually asking that question. The character didn’t make much of an impact and felt like a weird fit with Sinclair in the pilot. But at least we now know! She wanted to go into business with Sinclair, he said no, she left.

On the one hand, it’s a random bit of throwaway dialogue. On the other, it’s a good demonstration of the show’s commitment to a living universe and having events connect. They could have forgotten all about Sykes, but in this episode we get an explanation, creating a story-compatible explanation for what is essentially a recasting. We’ve had the same for Ivanova’s appearance (“Oh right, you’re new here,” says Garibaldi in ep1) and Franklin arriving on the station in ep2.

I like that the station feels like a place where people are coming and going, whether it’s Sinclair’s partners or station staff. We’ve also had Londo and G’Kar have their assistants arrive (and, in the case of G’Kar, fall out of an airlock off-screen). This week we have the arrival of Lennier, Delenn’s assistant.

Characters arrive and depart for a reason. I like that. Sure, there might be a behind-the-scenes production explanation, but Straczynski goes to the effort of making it work in the story. I find it challenging enough writing a prose fiction serial that goes direct from my brain to the page, let alone having to juggle the infinite complexity that is actor schedules and practical shooting concerns on a TV show.

This isn’t a big or important episode but I really like it. I think the ‘feel’ of the show finally hits its mark here. Performances are improved across the board, from main cast to supporting roles. There’s no weird acting from extras or background players to spoil an other wise good scene (as in ‘Soul Hunter’). The way the episode of shot and edited feels tighter, and like the show has a sense of its own style. It feels more comfortable in its own skin.

The main plot with G’Kar being targeted for assassination is compelling and amusing without undermining its own drama. Katsulas is brilliant, of course, and this is the first time G’Kar’s had a storyline of his own. That means we see him less as a moustache-twirling villain causing trouble and more as a rounded character: there’s a brilliant mix of strength and campness to the performance. Katsulas can shift between silly to aggressive to sly all in the same scene.

All the other ambassadors make a return. The Centauri feast is typically debauched. I like that the total genocide of another species on their planet is a point of celebration. They clearly have a history of this sort of thing - dominating other races, as they did in the recent past with the Narn. Jurasik’s performance as he crawls along the table is hilarious: the laughter from the rest of the cast looks legit (I’m not sure how Mira Furlan kept Delenn so straight-faced).

Pretty much ever scene has a good character moment. Right at the start we have Garibaldi irritated and intolerant of the religious festival. He’s not interested in building bridges or learning about other cultures - he just wants a secure station and doesn’t give a damn about respecting the silly aliens. It’s something I didn’t really pick up on when I watched as a teenager, but Garibaldi is very much of a political bent that doesn’t align with my own. That B5 can accommodate all those different voices without painting anyone as right/wrong is good stuff.

The Sinclair/Sakai stuff is clearly written to evoke 1940s-style romantic dramas (I think JMS once pitched Babylon 5 as ‘Casablanca in space’). Some of it lands, some of it doesn’t. It tips over into cheese more than once. But! The relationship feels much more real than with Sykes, and I like that it’s presented as a messy on/off relationship. Clearly Sinclair and Sakai don’t really understand their attraction or what to do about it, and it plays convincingly for that reason. Michael O’Hare feels much more natural and comfortable in this episode generally. It helps perhaps that Londo even calls him out for being a bit stiff in the banquet scene - this ep feels like one where the writing is aware of how the actors are each performing.

The final scene with all the Earth religions is about as on the nose as it gets, but it works for me. I loved it back in the 90s and still like it today. The central message is key to Babylon 5’s story and its appeal, to me - that our differences are our strength, and that we can still work together despite them. Or even that we work well together because of them. Clearly something we still haven’t worked out in 2024. That B5 acknowledges that all these messy religions and cultures still exist on Earth but that they’re no longer at each other’s throats is about as optimistic as it gets.

We also get a bit more of the mystery of what Delenn is up to. We don’t yet know what the ‘Grey Council’ is, exactly, or why one of their top players is bimbling about on Babylon 5. They’re clearly up to something.

No great revelations in this one, then, but it’s a solid hour of sci-fi drama. Next week we have ‘Mind War’, which I’m excited about.

‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️

It’s a fairly quiet episode in terms of big arc plot stuff, but there’s a few bits and pieces in there. For starters, the ongoing hints that the Minbari are up to something. Nobody did actually get married, as far as we know, but that look from Delenn is intense: we already know she’s part of the Grey Council and is watching Sinclair. That’s the central mystery of the show so far.

We get the introduction of Catherine Sakai (a weirdly similar surname to ‘Satai’). She never quite gets to develop the character in the way that was presumably planned, due to O’Hare’s exit from the show at the end of the season. It’s a shame, as I like Nickson’s performance here and later in the season. One of the comics does weave her story back in to Sinclair’s eventual fate, which I always found rather touching. We’ll get to that later in the show.

Anything I missed? Most of the arc-relevant stuff in this one is, I think, more about laying the foundation for what’s to come: the Narn, the Centaur, the Minbari and so on.

Right, see you down in the comments.