For the first time, I noticed that there are Markab in the opening credit scenes. That's... I honestly don't remember if I saw them or if I didn't notice before now, and I knew the episode after this was coming. Man.
...
I'd actually forgotten the Big Twist, so yikes. This episode really does introduce so much. The Night Watch guy talking about the dangers of misinformation comes off...if I didn't know what the intent was, I could see that being a good idea, except the Ministry of Peace name is just a tick on the nose.
For the last time I say "I miss Lou Welch." But, Zach is starting to get some plot development, and no-one knew who Actor David Crowley was, while Jeff Conaway had "Grease" and "Taxi" behind him. With Conaway you've got another "name" in your cast. Also, Welch, Zach, and Garibaldi are all obviously New Yorkers. When you've got to represent the population of a galaxy, you can't have three New York beat cops, so... Bye, Lou.
I said to Simon elsewhere I was surprised he didn't use a screencap of Vir waving to Morden in this newsletter, so he could then use Vir waving in season 4 when Morden's head is, in fact, cut off and stuck on a pike as a warning...
In this newsletter Simon said "It’s the episode in which JMS reveals all, lays out exactly what is going on and what the stakes are..." Well, no... But, of course, Simon was avoiding spoilers. It's the episode which lays out what DELENN thinks is going on. There are still many more layers to the onion, and a lot Kosh has withheld.
Like, say, the fact there are at least five other First Ones floating around - Lorien, the Walkers at Sigma 957, the "Zog," and two others which show up to battle the Vorlons and Shadows in season 4. Yeah, the Vorlons know those species are around...
Like, say, the Vorlons and Shadows are having a philosophical dispute over the best way to progress, so get the rest of the galaxy into proxy wars every few millenia for bragging rights.
Like, say, there's an unresolved Time Loop waiting to be closed in season 3, and Sinclair was Valen, and Delenn's great-to-the-nth-grandfather, AND Minbari "prophecy" is future knowledge.
Although Delenn knows about the "Angel" thing. Here is a weakness in Delenn... Her faith in prophecy and the Vorlons doesn't make her think, "Um, you bastards basically influenced every religion in the galaxy, and made sure every species would look upon you with holy awe? What other unethical things do you do?" *I* sure as hell stopped trusting the Vorlons on first viewing after the double-wham of "Angel" and JACK THE FUCKING RIPPER. She'll learn.
Gee, anyone else think the double whammy of babysitting a bunch of dying Narn, followed by failing to save an entire species (next week) might have something to do with Franklin's growing drug problem?
Simon, in his recap, for obvious reasons, has focused on the rather stunning revelations about Morden and the Shadows. And it really is the writer slapping the audience around the face a few times. Still, most of my discussion on that will be in my SPOILERS post. For now - the CG sequence of Za'ha'dum is another visually brilliant sequence for mid-90s, low budget TV. The rocks of Za'ha'dum are covered in glyphs and runes, the Icarus is a gorgeous design, there's some lovely ground hardware (which looks to me like Ron Thornton was honoring the design work of the brilliant Derek Meddings on all the 1960's Gerry Anderson shows) we'll never see again, along with some EVA suits, painstakingly hand-animated, and, of course, our first close-up look at the Shadows. The Shadows are just freaky, and the detail attained on a low poly model with low resolution textures is a fantastic achievement. They have such beautifully detailed, pebbly skin. Mira Furlan's line readings suck the viewer in, and Ardwight Chamberlain gives Kosh's lines more gravel and gravitas than air and mystery. It's actually a surprisingly short scene, but it sears into the mind.
The plight of the Narn refugees tells us how badly their war efforts are going. We don't see a hundred wounded Centauri after all. Overlooked here is Sheridan's insistence the terminally wounded receive medical care. Screw the money, screw the resources, Sheridan's empathy means he won't let Narn die abandoned, alone, and forgotten. Yet, this, too, hints at the single-minded drive which leads to Sheridan holding Morden... Transferring terminal patients to Medlab saddles Franklin with the guilt of their deaths... Because FRANKLIN will take that guilt on himself.
Simon discussed Morden nearly cracking under interrogation - I see you and raise Morden absolutely cracking under Vir's taunts. Multiple times Morden comes close to raising his voice, and is visibly annoyed by Vir. Simon brought up the bravery of Vir confronting Morden - which is echoed by Vir's resolve when he meets Sheridan. It's a great episode for Vir. He's doing jobs he absolutely doesn't want do - talking to Morden and demanding his release (despite Vir himself being perfectly happy to see Morden in a cell). Why does Vir do this? Loyalty to Londo. Vir has come a long way from the complete fool of season 1.
We also see Garibaldi's resolve. He cannot go along with Sheridan's plan and resigns over ethics.
Then there's Ivanova, who shows HER resolve in confronting her Captain and warning him she, as well, may have to follow her service oath, follow regs, and report Sheridan.
There's a hell of a lot of strong-willed characters displaying their absolute ability to do what they think is RIGHT in this episode.
Plus Talia giving Sheridan a deserved slap across the face. He knows he deserved it. Which, of course, leads into Franklin giving Sheridan a piece of his mind. More strong-willed ethical people doing what they think is right.
It's all foreshadowing, innit?
Possible continuity glitch. Back in s1 "Believers," Franklin basically mocks two aliens over their religious beliefs. I sure as hell thought Franklin was an atheist... Now he's a Foundationist, with a deep faith, but a belief God cannot be defined. Retroactively that makes his actions even MORE arrogant in "Believers." Oh, well. These things happen.
Zach... Is the odd man out here. As of this episode Zach isn't a strong-willed, ethical man willing to do anything for what he feels is right. Oh, well. He's got some extra spending money.
"Ministry of Peace," and, "Minipax," are, of course, Orwell references. It's no spoiler to say, given what we know is happening on Earth, the "1984" terms, and what the Knightwatch spokesman says about the need to control thought and opinion that Knightwatch is not a good thing. At all.
I'm sad I haven't been able to keep up with these but really loved this recap. This was an amazing episode and I appreciate how the show finally lays its cards out on the table.
I do wonder how much the story of Sheridan's wife being linked with Morden and the Shadows was a rethink of Sinclair's storyline with his wife Catherine, who vanished from the series after S1 along with Sinclair.
Yeah, was discussing this with @Mike Miller. It’s hard to imagine how this story would have worked without Sheridan and his backstory. It’s such a perfect framework for the episode, and feels like surely it was always intended? But clearly it couldn’t have played out this way if Sinclair had stayed.
For the first time, I noticed that there are Markab in the opening credit scenes. That's... I honestly don't remember if I saw them or if I didn't notice before now, and I knew the episode after this was coming. Man.
...
I'd actually forgotten the Big Twist, so yikes. This episode really does introduce so much. The Night Watch guy talking about the dangers of misinformation comes off...if I didn't know what the intent was, I could see that being a good idea, except the Ministry of Peace name is just a tick on the nose.
Non Spoilers 2:
For the last time I say "I miss Lou Welch." But, Zach is starting to get some plot development, and no-one knew who Actor David Crowley was, while Jeff Conaway had "Grease" and "Taxi" behind him. With Conaway you've got another "name" in your cast. Also, Welch, Zach, and Garibaldi are all obviously New Yorkers. When you've got to represent the population of a galaxy, you can't have three New York beat cops, so... Bye, Lou.
Yeah, it's a shame there wasn't space for both of them!
SPOILERS:
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I said to Simon elsewhere I was surprised he didn't use a screencap of Vir waving to Morden in this newsletter, so he could then use Vir waving in season 4 when Morden's head is, in fact, cut off and stuck on a pike as a warning...
In this newsletter Simon said "It’s the episode in which JMS reveals all, lays out exactly what is going on and what the stakes are..." Well, no... But, of course, Simon was avoiding spoilers. It's the episode which lays out what DELENN thinks is going on. There are still many more layers to the onion, and a lot Kosh has withheld.
Like, say, the fact there are at least five other First Ones floating around - Lorien, the Walkers at Sigma 957, the "Zog," and two others which show up to battle the Vorlons and Shadows in season 4. Yeah, the Vorlons know those species are around...
Like, say, the Vorlons and Shadows are having a philosophical dispute over the best way to progress, so get the rest of the galaxy into proxy wars every few millenia for bragging rights.
Like, say, there's an unresolved Time Loop waiting to be closed in season 3, and Sinclair was Valen, and Delenn's great-to-the-nth-grandfather, AND Minbari "prophecy" is future knowledge.
Although Delenn knows about the "Angel" thing. Here is a weakness in Delenn... Her faith in prophecy and the Vorlons doesn't make her think, "Um, you bastards basically influenced every religion in the galaxy, and made sure every species would look upon you with holy awe? What other unethical things do you do?" *I* sure as hell stopped trusting the Vorlons on first viewing after the double-wham of "Angel" and JACK THE FUCKING RIPPER. She'll learn.
Gee, anyone else think the double whammy of babysitting a bunch of dying Narn, followed by failing to save an entire species (next week) might have something to do with Franklin's growing drug problem?
Non Spoiler:
Simon, in his recap, for obvious reasons, has focused on the rather stunning revelations about Morden and the Shadows. And it really is the writer slapping the audience around the face a few times. Still, most of my discussion on that will be in my SPOILERS post. For now - the CG sequence of Za'ha'dum is another visually brilliant sequence for mid-90s, low budget TV. The rocks of Za'ha'dum are covered in glyphs and runes, the Icarus is a gorgeous design, there's some lovely ground hardware (which looks to me like Ron Thornton was honoring the design work of the brilliant Derek Meddings on all the 1960's Gerry Anderson shows) we'll never see again, along with some EVA suits, painstakingly hand-animated, and, of course, our first close-up look at the Shadows. The Shadows are just freaky, and the detail attained on a low poly model with low resolution textures is a fantastic achievement. They have such beautifully detailed, pebbly skin. Mira Furlan's line readings suck the viewer in, and Ardwight Chamberlain gives Kosh's lines more gravel and gravitas than air and mystery. It's actually a surprisingly short scene, but it sears into the mind.
The plight of the Narn refugees tells us how badly their war efforts are going. We don't see a hundred wounded Centauri after all. Overlooked here is Sheridan's insistence the terminally wounded receive medical care. Screw the money, screw the resources, Sheridan's empathy means he won't let Narn die abandoned, alone, and forgotten. Yet, this, too, hints at the single-minded drive which leads to Sheridan holding Morden... Transferring terminal patients to Medlab saddles Franklin with the guilt of their deaths... Because FRANKLIN will take that guilt on himself.
Simon discussed Morden nearly cracking under interrogation - I see you and raise Morden absolutely cracking under Vir's taunts. Multiple times Morden comes close to raising his voice, and is visibly annoyed by Vir. Simon brought up the bravery of Vir confronting Morden - which is echoed by Vir's resolve when he meets Sheridan. It's a great episode for Vir. He's doing jobs he absolutely doesn't want do - talking to Morden and demanding his release (despite Vir himself being perfectly happy to see Morden in a cell). Why does Vir do this? Loyalty to Londo. Vir has come a long way from the complete fool of season 1.
We also see Garibaldi's resolve. He cannot go along with Sheridan's plan and resigns over ethics.
Then there's Ivanova, who shows HER resolve in confronting her Captain and warning him she, as well, may have to follow her service oath, follow regs, and report Sheridan.
There's a hell of a lot of strong-willed characters displaying their absolute ability to do what they think is RIGHT in this episode.
Plus Talia giving Sheridan a deserved slap across the face. He knows he deserved it. Which, of course, leads into Franklin giving Sheridan a piece of his mind. More strong-willed ethical people doing what they think is right.
It's all foreshadowing, innit?
Possible continuity glitch. Back in s1 "Believers," Franklin basically mocks two aliens over their religious beliefs. I sure as hell thought Franklin was an atheist... Now he's a Foundationist, with a deep faith, but a belief God cannot be defined. Retroactively that makes his actions even MORE arrogant in "Believers." Oh, well. These things happen.
Zach... Is the odd man out here. As of this episode Zach isn't a strong-willed, ethical man willing to do anything for what he feels is right. Oh, well. He's got some extra spending money.
"Ministry of Peace," and, "Minipax," are, of course, Orwell references. It's no spoiler to say, given what we know is happening on Earth, the "1984" terms, and what the Knightwatch spokesman says about the need to control thought and opinion that Knightwatch is not a good thing. At all.
I'm sad I haven't been able to keep up with these but really loved this recap. This was an amazing episode and I appreciate how the show finally lays its cards out on the table.
I do wonder how much the story of Sheridan's wife being linked with Morden and the Shadows was a rethink of Sinclair's storyline with his wife Catherine, who vanished from the series after S1 along with Sinclair.
Yeah, was discussing this with @Mike Miller. It’s hard to imagine how this story would have worked without Sheridan and his backstory. It’s such a perfect framework for the episode, and feels like surely it was always intended? But clearly it couldn’t have played out this way if Sinclair had stayed.