I don't think I caught the Ranger guy in the Zocalo.
Anyway, ....yeah. That was... yikes. I think even Garibaldi called Franklin out a bit as well on that. And I'm not even sure how they could tell at the end that they'd gotten the Invisible Bad Guy for good. How did they even know? I would've expected some sort of body, a passing attempt at remains even.
I think the main and possibly only thing I liked about this was G'Kar's riposte when Amis was ranting about how he'd walked in the valley of shadow, and G'Kar just went, "Good! Keep on walking!" I have to remember that.
Still behind, and, since I fly out to the US in a few hours, I'm just gonna fall MORE behind.
This isn't a great episode by any means, but "worst so far?" When TKO is sitting right there?
I dunno - maybe the Franklin stuff will hit harder this time. I've never liked the "romance" plot to begin with.
Yeah, Dwight Schultz needed to be reined in.
The "Soldier of Darkness" is a good try, but it won't hold up. There actually was footage shot of a man in a suit for it. Obviously replaced in post. Yeah, all that arcing electricity outlining it at the end was hand animation. Respect for the roto artist who gave it a go, but wasn't quite able to pull it off.
The SPOILER guy is in the Zocalo scenes, hanging out in the background.
As you know, I don’t mind ‘TKO’. It’s entirely pointless and the Walker plot is very cheesy, but it achieves what it sets out to do better than ‘The Long Dark’. And the Ivanova plot is pretty decent.
‘The Long Dark’ fails on multiple levels, and I think I have maybe overrated it in the past due to its links to the main story arc.
I STILL think TKO is worse, but, Lordy, this episode doesn't work.
And the pieces are there. It's got the setup of a good space-horror movie. Director Mario di Leo pulls off a few excellent shot sequences (moving Mariah off Copernicus to Medlab and coding in the transport tube as an example). Anne-Marie Johnson's performance is incredible. She's got some really questionable material, but look at her when she awakes and learns she's in the future how she's smiling at her adventure, then transitions to shock when learning of the death of her husband. Her joy and awe the first time in the Zocalo. She even ALMOST pulls off the "Oh, that's all right then" crap of "we had marital problems, so decided the best thing to do was venture off into deep space, alone together for the rest of our lives."
But there are some huge script issues - like creepy Franklin, the aforementioned, "Oh, that's all right then," scene, and a poorly staged, rushed pace climax (Sheridan orders Ivanova to NOT come to his position, yet, seconds later, there she is with the troops?).
There is a huge performance issue with Dwight Schultz, who can move from an effective quiet desperation to laughable chewing the scenery in 3 frames.
The CG is inconsistent - even JMS has noted the "Soldier of Darkness" didn't work, yet the composite shot of Copernicus in the docking bay as it's boarded has an absolutely seamless transition between practical door and virtual set. Copernicus itself is a solid design.
There's plenty of foreshadowing, from the Soldier heading to Zha'ha'Dum to, "It'll take a lot more than a hundred years to evolve a better human" (try a million...), which at least keeps the forward momentum of the season rolling along.
Yes, Londo and G'kar steal the episode. What else do we expect from those two amazing actors?
But, yeah, this is absolutely among the weakest episodes of B5. It's a script from an outside writer, and Dittilio and JMS needed to be more aggressive on the rewrite. Especially with Franklin.
I don't think I caught the Ranger guy in the Zocalo.
Anyway, ....yeah. That was... yikes. I think even Garibaldi called Franklin out a bit as well on that. And I'm not even sure how they could tell at the end that they'd gotten the Invisible Bad Guy for good. How did they even know? I would've expected some sort of body, a passing attempt at remains even.
I think the main and possibly only thing I liked about this was G'Kar's riposte when Amis was ranting about how he'd walked in the valley of shadow, and G'Kar just went, "Good! Keep on walking!" I have to remember that.
And now I want to go back and rewatch ALL of the series! And not just because I don't remember this one...
There’s still time to catch up! :)
Still behind, and, since I fly out to the US in a few hours, I'm just gonna fall MORE behind.
This isn't a great episode by any means, but "worst so far?" When TKO is sitting right there?
I dunno - maybe the Franklin stuff will hit harder this time. I've never liked the "romance" plot to begin with.
Yeah, Dwight Schultz needed to be reined in.
The "Soldier of Darkness" is a good try, but it won't hold up. There actually was footage shot of a man in a suit for it. Obviously replaced in post. Yeah, all that arcing electricity outlining it at the end was hand animation. Respect for the roto artist who gave it a go, but wasn't quite able to pull it off.
The SPOILER guy is in the Zocalo scenes, hanging out in the background.
Reckon you’ll try to catch up properly, or just hop back on board at whichever point we’re at?
Did you get your laptop situation resolved?
As you know, I don’t mind ‘TKO’. It’s entirely pointless and the Walker plot is very cheesy, but it achieves what it sets out to do better than ‘The Long Dark’. And the Ivanova plot is pretty decent.
‘The Long Dark’ fails on multiple levels, and I think I have maybe overrated it in the past due to its links to the main story arc.
Just watched the episode.
Not too much to add, but assume this is spoilery.
I STILL think TKO is worse, but, Lordy, this episode doesn't work.
And the pieces are there. It's got the setup of a good space-horror movie. Director Mario di Leo pulls off a few excellent shot sequences (moving Mariah off Copernicus to Medlab and coding in the transport tube as an example). Anne-Marie Johnson's performance is incredible. She's got some really questionable material, but look at her when she awakes and learns she's in the future how she's smiling at her adventure, then transitions to shock when learning of the death of her husband. Her joy and awe the first time in the Zocalo. She even ALMOST pulls off the "Oh, that's all right then" crap of "we had marital problems, so decided the best thing to do was venture off into deep space, alone together for the rest of our lives."
But there are some huge script issues - like creepy Franklin, the aforementioned, "Oh, that's all right then," scene, and a poorly staged, rushed pace climax (Sheridan orders Ivanova to NOT come to his position, yet, seconds later, there she is with the troops?).
There is a huge performance issue with Dwight Schultz, who can move from an effective quiet desperation to laughable chewing the scenery in 3 frames.
The CG is inconsistent - even JMS has noted the "Soldier of Darkness" didn't work, yet the composite shot of Copernicus in the docking bay as it's boarded has an absolutely seamless transition between practical door and virtual set. Copernicus itself is a solid design.
There's plenty of foreshadowing, from the Soldier heading to Zha'ha'Dum to, "It'll take a lot more than a hundred years to evolve a better human" (try a million...), which at least keeps the forward momentum of the season rolling along.
Yes, Londo and G'kar steal the episode. What else do we expect from those two amazing actors?
But, yeah, this is absolutely among the weakest episodes of B5. It's a script from an outside writer, and Dittilio and JMS needed to be more aggressive on the rewrite. Especially with Franklin.