B5 has many groups running around the Earth Alliance doing unsavory things. It remains a question as to how many are connected. I argue it's a reasonable assumption many "independent" groups would trace back to one or two small cabals using/encouraging these groups to do their thing. Homeguard and Nightwatch are certainly related entities. IPX, Psi Corp, and Bureau 13 are entwined. These two groupings may have similar backers - for those "blacklight camouflage" suits use a similar visual effect to Shadows moving in and out of their cloaking fields. It's a good bet that camo is derived from Shadow Tech found on Mars.
We never do find out how poison penetrated Kosh's encounter suit. Nice to acknowledge the mystery, mind you. And a nice reminder about Dr. Kyle and Lyta. I may be wrong here, but I believe JMS initially intended Dr. Kyle to return in s2 ep13 "Hunter, Prey," as the Doctor later hidden in Kosh's ship, which would have played nicely off Kyle's previous experience with Kosh. The actor wasn't available, so, Dr. Jacobs exists. Of course Lyta will return.
While not intended for this episode, the "What about Kyle/Lyta" scene somehow manages to be awkwardly out of place, while perfectly placed. After spending the first few episodes planting seeds and worldbuilding, that scene in this episode marks part of a real "trilogy" of arc movement. "Mind War" built off the Psi Corp seeds planted in "Midnight on the Firing Line," this builds off the pilot, and, next up is "And the Sky Full of Stars," which recalls the Battle of the Line referenced in the pilot and "Midnight," along with more shades of "Satai Delenn" from "Soul Hunter," and "Parliament of Dreams."
After "Sky," we move through "Deathwalker," "Believers," "Survivors," and "By Any Means Necessary," doing more world building, character stories, and thematic setups/echoes before "Signs and Portents" comes in and shakes things up with Mr. Morden and our first glimpse of a Shadow battlecrab take us firmly back into the arc.
Then all forward momentum halts for a week with "TKO," which is my least favorite episode of the entire series. I am not looking forward to that one at all. It's terrible.
War Prayer doesn't make a big deal of it, but it's the first step in Vir's evolution. Besides having passed himself off as the Ambassador in letters home, this episode is the first time we see him stand up to Londo, and actually rebuke him. We also see Vir's concern for Londo, and see Londo emote to Vir in a genuine way. The seeds of their layer friendship and respect are laid here. Vir is now one step above being a "mere" assistant and punching bag, and the Vir/Londo relationship will be a highlight of the series.
IT'S TOTALLY FARAGE. Also, I wish they'd shown us the hijinks that would have ensued had Biggs tried to ambush Kosh, and was then eviscerated in 9 separate dimensions, hopefully in slo-mo.
Also, good catch on the music, because I remember that grating when I first watched - I was at a stage where I was getting into the show but wondering if it was good enough to recommend to friends without it damaging my all-important credibility with them. The comedy music was a clear "nope, this needs some more time in the oven" moment.
Sinclair, while posing as a supporter, should have said "I'll sign up to your cause on one condition. Take out Kosh first. It'll send the loudest message."
Then just 20 minutes of Kosh playing with Biggs and his cronies like a cat plays with a mouse.
Recommending Babylon 5 is a complicated thing: it gets so good, in a cumulative sort of way, that anyone who sticks with it will, I'm fairly convinced, be impressed and enjoy it. But the individual parts, especially in the first season, are really challenging. And not in a good way.
A bit of a heavy handed episode which, sadly, is more relevant today. The episode should hit harder than it does, but, in discussion with Simon on a different platform, I think we've agreed episode director Richard Compton certainly doesn't work much with day players, and isn't giving the best direction to regular and guest stars.
Imagine how horrible the scene with Roberts (the Asian guy with the knife) could have truly been if he'd spoken in a reasonable fashion (under the end "I don't know what's worse, aliens, or...") rather than being so scene-chewingly evil that's he's obviously a "bad guy" from his first close up. Bigotry is a sad fact of life, and I'm sorry to say I know people with bigoted attitudes, whether towards ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual preference, but, when they make their crappy little comments it's not done with a ridiculous sneer and raising their voices to make certain they can be heard in Brown Sector.
Tristan Rogers does much of this too. When he's "playing nice," he's being charming. But as soon as he reveals his nature everything goes sneery and overdone. Although I DO like how he says "Kosh."
Michael O'Hare almost falls into the same trap when he's "playing bad," but just skirts the edge.
Claudia Christian is fantastic in this episode. Although the Malcom/Ivanova relationship is the second one in a row (After Ironheart/Takia) which, to 2024 eyes, is creepy. Some of this discussion slides to the edge of spoiler, so I ask the reader to trust this information will arise later. Ivanova is 18 when she goes to the Earth Force Academy, and is 30 (give or take year) in this episode. Her fling with Malcom ended 8 years ago. His age is never stated, but Tristan Rogers has 20 years on Claudia. I'm calling this a 40ish year old man having an affair with a 22 year old woman. Ick. What a creep.
Besides the murdering asshole bigot thing.
The episode wastes Danica McKellar. She's given little to do but look earnest and set Londo up for good lines.
Stephen Furst is almost used to his dental prosthetics. It's nice to hear Vir speaking without nearly as much wet lisping.
The scene in C&C calling back to the pilot was filmed for "The Parliament of Dreams." In post "Parliament" was running long while "War Prayer" was running short. The scene was dropped into War Prayer, which is why it feels it comes from nowhere. Still, it's good to see that the production changes of two actors got written into the story to crank up the paranoia.
Yeah, I like that cast changes aren't just ignored but dealt with directly. Same reason I really enjoyed seeing Franklin arrive on the station, as well as the ambassadorial aides, Talia and Ivanova. Makes it feel like a real place.
The actual discussion in this episode makes no sense, though.
I don't think it would have fit smoothly in "Parliament" either. The problem is the scene is pure infodump/backstory for the AUDIENCE.
Arguably, there are better episodes for this to arise. "Eyes," for example. Since Col. Ben Zayn is there to railroad Sinclair for past decisions (the entire episode is basically late-season recap for new viewers, but wrapping it in the investigation gives good motivation for the backstory), Ben Zayn could bring this up:
Ben Zayn: "Commander, you're so bad at your job your XO, Doctor and Commercial Telepath were all transferred off Babylon 5 within six months."
Sinclair: "Dr. Kyle works for the President - that's a promotion. Takishima, something something. As for Lyta Alexander, you'd have to ask your friend here about that..."
Telepath Jeffery Combs: *steals the scene with a subtly uncomfortable reaction shot.
Oddly, it DOES ALMOST fit better in "War Prayer." Here we have a potential threat against the non-human Ambassadors, and Kosh had been poisoned a few months before, so there is a tangental link. The convo might have worked better as Sinclair/Garibaldi, as two men who lived through the situation mulling it over, but, nope, it's just using "new girl" Ivanova as audience surrogate for the exposition.
It's still not the most awkward bit in the first half of the season. That's the B-plot in "Believers" where Ivanova leads out a fighter squad to take down Raiders, we have an act end/scene cliffhanger of Ivanova's wing encountering a LOT of Raider ships, and the next time we see her, she's back on B5 with a, "Well, we got out of that OK," line.
Talk about script padding - because it totally is.
I wondered about the ambassador myself, and I agree; that did undercut the conclusion a bit. The thing that hit me about this episode and probably saved it for me was, as is so often, Londo. "My shoes are too tight, but it doesn't matter, because I've forgotten how to dance."
Yeah, all the Londo stuff is brilliant. Slightly overwritten in places, perhaps, but Jurasik utterly nails it regardless.
There are some actors who can take dialogue of any quality, any ripeness, and turn it into magic. I'm thinking Christopher Lee, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen... I always found it interesting that Lee and Ian McDermid were able to have so much fun in the Star Wars prequels with really ropey dialogue, while the younger actors (perhaps with less stage experience?) struggled to make any of it sound good.
Jurasik and Katsulas are like that: they will make literally ANYTHING work.
Mollari's indignant exclamation "LOVE!?!! What does LOVE have to do with it???" is funny every time.
SPOILERS, SWEETIE.
B5 has many groups running around the Earth Alliance doing unsavory things. It remains a question as to how many are connected. I argue it's a reasonable assumption many "independent" groups would trace back to one or two small cabals using/encouraging these groups to do their thing. Homeguard and Nightwatch are certainly related entities. IPX, Psi Corp, and Bureau 13 are entwined. These two groupings may have similar backers - for those "blacklight camouflage" suits use a similar visual effect to Shadows moving in and out of their cloaking fields. It's a good bet that camo is derived from Shadow Tech found on Mars.
We never do find out how poison penetrated Kosh's encounter suit. Nice to acknowledge the mystery, mind you. And a nice reminder about Dr. Kyle and Lyta. I may be wrong here, but I believe JMS initially intended Dr. Kyle to return in s2 ep13 "Hunter, Prey," as the Doctor later hidden in Kosh's ship, which would have played nicely off Kyle's previous experience with Kosh. The actor wasn't available, so, Dr. Jacobs exists. Of course Lyta will return.
While not intended for this episode, the "What about Kyle/Lyta" scene somehow manages to be awkwardly out of place, while perfectly placed. After spending the first few episodes planting seeds and worldbuilding, that scene in this episode marks part of a real "trilogy" of arc movement. "Mind War" built off the Psi Corp seeds planted in "Midnight on the Firing Line," this builds off the pilot, and, next up is "And the Sky Full of Stars," which recalls the Battle of the Line referenced in the pilot and "Midnight," along with more shades of "Satai Delenn" from "Soul Hunter," and "Parliament of Dreams."
After "Sky," we move through "Deathwalker," "Believers," "Survivors," and "By Any Means Necessary," doing more world building, character stories, and thematic setups/echoes before "Signs and Portents" comes in and shakes things up with Mr. Morden and our first glimpse of a Shadow battlecrab take us firmly back into the arc.
Then all forward momentum halts for a week with "TKO," which is my least favorite episode of the entire series. I am not looking forward to that one at all. It's terrible.
War Prayer doesn't make a big deal of it, but it's the first step in Vir's evolution. Besides having passed himself off as the Ambassador in letters home, this episode is the first time we see him stand up to Londo, and actually rebuke him. We also see Vir's concern for Londo, and see Londo emote to Vir in a genuine way. The seeds of their layer friendship and respect are laid here. Vir is now one step above being a "mere" assistant and punching bag, and the Vir/Londo relationship will be a highlight of the series.
IT'S TOTALLY FARAGE. Also, I wish they'd shown us the hijinks that would have ensued had Biggs tried to ambush Kosh, and was then eviscerated in 9 separate dimensions, hopefully in slo-mo.
Also, good catch on the music, because I remember that grating when I first watched - I was at a stage where I was getting into the show but wondering if it was good enough to recommend to friends without it damaging my all-important credibility with them. The comedy music was a clear "nope, this needs some more time in the oven" moment.
Sinclair, while posing as a supporter, should have said "I'll sign up to your cause on one condition. Take out Kosh first. It'll send the loudest message."
Then just 20 minutes of Kosh playing with Biggs and his cronies like a cat plays with a mouse.
Recommending Babylon 5 is a complicated thing: it gets so good, in a cumulative sort of way, that anyone who sticks with it will, I'm fairly convinced, be impressed and enjoy it. But the individual parts, especially in the first season, are really challenging. And not in a good way.
NON SPOILER.
A bit of a heavy handed episode which, sadly, is more relevant today. The episode should hit harder than it does, but, in discussion with Simon on a different platform, I think we've agreed episode director Richard Compton certainly doesn't work much with day players, and isn't giving the best direction to regular and guest stars.
Imagine how horrible the scene with Roberts (the Asian guy with the knife) could have truly been if he'd spoken in a reasonable fashion (under the end "I don't know what's worse, aliens, or...") rather than being so scene-chewingly evil that's he's obviously a "bad guy" from his first close up. Bigotry is a sad fact of life, and I'm sorry to say I know people with bigoted attitudes, whether towards ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual preference, but, when they make their crappy little comments it's not done with a ridiculous sneer and raising their voices to make certain they can be heard in Brown Sector.
Tristan Rogers does much of this too. When he's "playing nice," he's being charming. But as soon as he reveals his nature everything goes sneery and overdone. Although I DO like how he says "Kosh."
Michael O'Hare almost falls into the same trap when he's "playing bad," but just skirts the edge.
Claudia Christian is fantastic in this episode. Although the Malcom/Ivanova relationship is the second one in a row (After Ironheart/Takia) which, to 2024 eyes, is creepy. Some of this discussion slides to the edge of spoiler, so I ask the reader to trust this information will arise later. Ivanova is 18 when she goes to the Earth Force Academy, and is 30 (give or take year) in this episode. Her fling with Malcom ended 8 years ago. His age is never stated, but Tristan Rogers has 20 years on Claudia. I'm calling this a 40ish year old man having an affair with a 22 year old woman. Ick. What a creep.
Besides the murdering asshole bigot thing.
The episode wastes Danica McKellar. She's given little to do but look earnest and set Londo up for good lines.
Stephen Furst is almost used to his dental prosthetics. It's nice to hear Vir speaking without nearly as much wet lisping.
The scene in C&C calling back to the pilot was filmed for "The Parliament of Dreams." In post "Parliament" was running long while "War Prayer" was running short. The scene was dropped into War Prayer, which is why it feels it comes from nowhere. Still, it's good to see that the production changes of two actors got written into the story to crank up the paranoia.
Yeah, I like that cast changes aren't just ignored but dealt with directly. Same reason I really enjoyed seeing Franklin arrive on the station, as well as the ambassadorial aides, Talia and Ivanova. Makes it feel like a real place.
The actual discussion in this episode makes no sense, though.
SPOILERS IN RESPONSE
I don't think it would have fit smoothly in "Parliament" either. The problem is the scene is pure infodump/backstory for the AUDIENCE.
Arguably, there are better episodes for this to arise. "Eyes," for example. Since Col. Ben Zayn is there to railroad Sinclair for past decisions (the entire episode is basically late-season recap for new viewers, but wrapping it in the investigation gives good motivation for the backstory), Ben Zayn could bring this up:
Ben Zayn: "Commander, you're so bad at your job your XO, Doctor and Commercial Telepath were all transferred off Babylon 5 within six months."
Sinclair: "Dr. Kyle works for the President - that's a promotion. Takishima, something something. As for Lyta Alexander, you'd have to ask your friend here about that..."
Telepath Jeffery Combs: *steals the scene with a subtly uncomfortable reaction shot.
Oddly, it DOES ALMOST fit better in "War Prayer." Here we have a potential threat against the non-human Ambassadors, and Kosh had been poisoned a few months before, so there is a tangental link. The convo might have worked better as Sinclair/Garibaldi, as two men who lived through the situation mulling it over, but, nope, it's just using "new girl" Ivanova as audience surrogate for the exposition.
It's still not the most awkward bit in the first half of the season. That's the B-plot in "Believers" where Ivanova leads out a fighter squad to take down Raiders, we have an act end/scene cliffhanger of Ivanova's wing encountering a LOT of Raider ships, and the next time we see her, she's back on B5 with a, "Well, we got out of that OK," line.
Talk about script padding - because it totally is.
I wondered about the ambassador myself, and I agree; that did undercut the conclusion a bit. The thing that hit me about this episode and probably saved it for me was, as is so often, Londo. "My shoes are too tight, but it doesn't matter, because I've forgotten how to dance."
Yeah, all the Londo stuff is brilliant. Slightly overwritten in places, perhaps, but Jurasik utterly nails it regardless.
There are some actors who can take dialogue of any quality, any ripeness, and turn it into magic. I'm thinking Christopher Lee, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen... I always found it interesting that Lee and Ian McDermid were able to have so much fun in the Star Wars prequels with really ropey dialogue, while the younger actors (perhaps with less stage experience?) struggled to make any of it sound good.
Jurasik and Katsulas are like that: they will make literally ANYTHING work.
Mollari's indignant exclamation "LOVE!?!! What does LOVE have to do with it???" is funny every time.
Jurrasik or Katsulas could read a phone book and make it interesting.