In this Episode, although we don’t know it yet, Sinclair gives the first direct reference to the Shadows as the name of a race. One may notice in my “non spoiler”comments I have said “enemy,”or “foe,”rather than Shadows. Looking forward to “In the Shadow of Zha’ha’dum” so I can just start saying “Shadows” in the non-spoiler section…
It’s interesting that Sinclair says the Rangers are “Mostly Humans, some Minbari,” as the Rangers were founded by Valen (Sinclair) a thousand years ago. “In the Beginning” discusses how the Rangers have fallen in the eyes of Minbari society over the centuries. Perhaps the humans drawn to Minbar are those with Minbari souls? Yup, it’s another vague thing on the “Soul Question.”
JMS has written elsewhere how tight lipped he was on the arc, overall. Apparently only two actors were given advanced information on their plot lines. One was Michael O’Hare (which can be somewhat ignored as the story changed after he left the show), while the other was Peter Jurasik, so that he’d play the dream sequences in “Coming of Shadows”correctly. Apparently Jurasik was “stunned.” As he should be. No one watching the show for the first time could have predicted how his arc would twist. Even when the audience is given hints of future information - for example, we were told Centauri have prophetic dreams, and we have now seen Londo’s, thus we can guess he will, in fact, become Emperor.
We would never guess it was under duress to prevent the Drahk from setting off nuclear warheads all over Centauri Prime. We could never have guessed Londo would have to accept a Drahk Keeper.
G’Kar’s eyepatch in the dream… Ok, G’Kar loses an eye. But we’d never guess it was due to the petulance of a spoiled, insane depost who just decided to have it plucked out randomly because G’kar glared at him.
As of this episode we pretty much know G’Kar and Londo will now die at each other’s hands. We would never guess by that time they are, in fact, actually friends, and Londo will beg G’Kar to kill him so the Drakh Keeper won’t force Londo to ruin the escape of John, Delenn, and David Sheridan from Centauri Prime - not to mention that a past Sheridan popped into a future Sheridan for a few moments, while Londo was watching on a holomonitor.
And, of course, how Londo narrates the events of “In the Begnining”to a couple of small children and their nursemaid mere minutes before his own death.
That’s a lot of plot baggage all tying back to one little dream sequence.
Blankity-Blank Substack just deleted 45 minutes of typing when I shifted to another tab to check outside reference. AAAAAAAAH!
Still catching up on prior episodes, but had to be current for this, the Hugo-winning episode.
Simon wrote about this being one of the most dense episodes of Babylon 5, and it is… But it’s nowhere near as dense as others. Namely, s1, ep1 “Midnight on the Firing Line.”
“Midnight” has all of this: 1) establishing the Narn/Centauri conflict with the Ragash 3 incident, 2) establishing the threat of the Raiders, 2a) who are being armed by the Narn, 3) defining the form and function of the B5 Advisory Council as they attempt to mediate Ragash 3, 4) the election of Earth Alliance President Santiago, 4a) and the controversial (illegal) endorsement of Vice President Clarke by Psi-Corp, 5) establishing rules of conduct for Psi-Corp telepaths, such as unauthorized scans being inadmissible in court, 6) as well as a plethora of personal backstory, including, but not limited to, 6a) re-establishing the Battle of the Line and Sinclar, 6b) Ivanova’s telepath mother, 6c) Talia’s immediate attraction to Ivanova, 6d) Delenn’s current role as peacemaker, 6e) Kosh being Kosh, 6f) G’Kar’s attitudes towards the Centauri, 6g) Londo’s attitude towards the Narn, and 6h) Londo’s “Centauri Dream of Foretelling TM.” That’s 5 major subplots and a lot of worldbuilding/character exposition in an episode of which my Dad (wrongly) said, “nothing happened.” Dad was a great man, but he couldn’t analyze media to save his life.
So, “The Coming of Shadows” is much less dense, yet mirrors “Midnight” in several ways. Some are reversed - this time it’s G’Kar ready to murder Londo in a fit of rage and given a choice - others twisted - the Centauri attacking the Narn with outside help, rather than the Narn attacking the Centauri while providing outside help to Raiders - while others are linear continuations - as in how we SEE Londo’s “Centauri Dream of Foretelling ®TM.” (Several paragraphs later on in my typing, I went over to the “Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5”to check something. JMS himself noted that “Coming of Shadows” is deliberately structured as a mirror to “Midnight on the Firing Line,” with much of the mirrored beats reversed. It’s a great way to show how much evolution there has been in this show already!” My own analysis of the episodes as mirrors just shows I may have gotten the point.)
Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik absolutely hold this episode together. Both are utterly brilliant. Simon brought up specific scenes already, but I’d like to highlight a few more moments: How JMS thought he could get away with adding in a comic relief scene about an assassination is beyond me - yet Katsulas makes it work. “Maybe he’s feeling better! Just prop him up for a minute and…” Yet, by the end of the scene his quiet reflection on the Emperor’s message brought tears to my eyes. Once again, in a moment of comic relief we have “MOLLARI! I’m going to GET you…a drink.” Again, by the end of the scene, tears - both for the agony we know G’kar will soon face, and for Londo’s utter horror at the realization that he just made the biggest mistake of his life. Finally, the scene in G’Kar’s quarters after the faied assasination. Besides yet another stellar scene from Andreas Katsulas, who, for some reason, didn’t get ALL the Emmys from this episode alone, I’m gonna shout out to director Janet Greek, who produces one of the best visuals of the series. The camera pans across G’Kar’s trashed apartment as he sits, lit in red, cradling the book of G’kar, and the hatch to his room opens, spilling warm light across him. The image has stuck with me for decades, and I’ve verified on this rewatch that this type of lighting has never happened in G’Kar’s quarters before. Director Janet Greek and Director of Photography John Flynn made a conscious choice to have that lighting. It’s a custom setup specifically for that angle, and, when Sheridan exits the room, that spill light doesn’t hit him on the G’Kar POV shot. For those of you who have never worked on a film set, let me break it down for you this way - an additional hour was spent on set setting up and taking down a special light, just to get that highlight in G’kar for that one angle. Totally worth it.
Besides G’kar, there are all those great Londo moments. Jurasik doesn’t get to play the gregarious Londo. Everything Londo has in this episode is subdued. Londo KNOWS he’s stepping in it. He knows it’s not something he’s going to be able to scrape off his boot anytime soon, but he commits to the shit. Refa is beautifully slimy, and Stephen Furst continues to bring colors to Vir, both with his “Londo, DON’T DO THIS…Someday I’m going to remind you of this…” scene, and, at the end of the episode where Refa tries to pass his drink off to the “servant,” and Vir just gives him a look of pure and utter disgust while staying firmly seated.
Substack is making me split this comment, so I continue in a response to myself...
Emperor Turhan (This episode doesn’t name him, but, yes, future episodes name him after his actor) isn’t given much screentime, but we DO care about him. Simon tossed that to the fallout, but credit is due to actor Turhan Bey, and J Michael Straczynski’s script. The Emperor we meet is immediately a gentle man. His rejection of his silly wig and his statement about the Centauri women “being right to shave their heads and rise above all this” shows us he is thoughtful. His farewell to his Prime Minister shows he is kind. His scene with Sheridan in the Sanctuary where he ruminates on his lack of choice shows he is thoughtful. His desire to see a Vorlon hints as a sense of wonder and curiosity. His intended speech and desire to stand next to G’Kar and try to build a bride shows he is GOOD. That’s a lot of heavy lifting for a few minutes of screentime. Well done, Turhan Bey for wringing out every last bit of nuance from the script. If anyone was wondering, at the end of the episode where Emperor Turhan brushes Refa aside and indicates for Londo to approach, one can see his lips form the words, “You are bo-”before the camera cuts away. Just saying.
On Tuhan Bey, JMS wrote: Turhan originally came in to audition for Elric in "Geometry;" we wanted someone with more menace (Ansara), but we were all just blown away by how wonderful and sweet and nice a person he was, and as he left, I told John Copeland, "I'm gonna write a part just for him." So I did, and we cast him, and everyone on the set loved him...to the point that, at the end of the shoot, they were saying, "You BASTARD, how could you bring this WONDERFUL man in here and then KILL HIM OFF SO WE CAN'T HAVE HIM BACK?!"
Well, Turhan Bey will return to the series in season 5. He’ll be playing a Minbari. Technically a spoiler, but not really.
Speaking of the Vorlon, the low angle POV of Kosh with the wide-angle lens REALLY makes that costume look impressive. Kosh has, perhaps, the most chilling line of the episode. “In Fire.”
And we haven’t even gotten to the Ranger subplot yet. “Hello, old friend.” Man, I thought for SURE that was gonna be Simon’s subheader for this episode.” Way back in 1995 that act break brought gasps from my friends and I, and much excited babble during the commercial break. It’s a great little cameo, reminding us that Sinclair is still out there. The great thing about it is, it doesn’t actually tell the audience much new, other than Rangers exist and are training on Minbar. The rest happens during cutaways to other scenes, or is given in vague hints. “Watch out for Shadows. They move when you aren’t looking.” Well, that’s not very helpful, Jeff! But the time isn’t right.
As a side note, Andy Lane wrote a book of analysis on Babylon 5 in the 1990’s. Lane eventually started using “When the time is right” as a running joke. For example, “If the season 5 theme had lyrics, they would begin with ‘When the time is right…”(If you know the s5 Theme, yeah, that phrase scans perfectly with the melody.) There are TWO “When the time is rights” in this episode. One from Refa, one from Sinclair. Now that’s I’ve pointed it out here, you’re not going to be able to help but notice every time that phrase (or a variant) is spoken.
Finally, the Ranger says he and other Rangers have been on the station for a couple of months. Well, on this re-watch I’ve been playing “Spot the Ranger,” and I think I have spotted two, going as far back as “Revelations.” I’m not 100% certain, as the sightings in question are background artists who are out of focus, but I’m 90% certain about the one I think I spotted in “The Geometry of Shadows. ”Simon noted one, and, as I continue catching up to this season (I’ll watch “A Distant Star” after this comment.), I’ll be posting sightings in my comments. There have been Rangers visible on the station before “The Coming of Shadows.”
Which brings up a nit. The Ranger tells Garibaldi not to inform anyone else of their presence, as, for now, they are a SECRET army. Yet Rangers have been visible on the station for several episodes. All I’m saying is, if you’re a member of a secret organization, you probably shouldn’t walk around in your fricking UNIFORM. Just toss on some slacks and a shirt, and keep your Ranger badge in your wallet.
Besides winning the Hugo award, this episode’s shooting script was the first B5 script published, in the 2nd edition of Straczynski’s “Complete Book of Screenwriting.”
This episode features a scene in the Sanctuary, which I’m noting as a 100% virtual set. JMS discusses that, and the relevant quotes can be found in this episode’s page on the Lurker’s Guide. This episode ALSO features Babylon 5’s first and only “Location Shoot.” Out in the parking lot for the studio some sand was thrown down, along with some “Alien” plants, Peter Jurasik shot two of the inserts for the dream sequence. They were just lucky it was a rare California day with some actual cloud cover.
Totally off-topic side note. My preferred word processor, WPS Writer, has been absolutely ruined in it's most recent iterations. They've added a bunch of AI bullshit and charge extra to access it. The problem is they've turned the Spell/Grammar checker into a "Ai" feature, so, typing these comment outside Substack (to avoid Substack erasing the comment field randomly, and making it easier to split comments when Substack fails to tell me when I've hit a character limit) basically required a manual recheck of everything because turning off the "AI" spell checker turns off ALL Spell checking AND the red hash marks indicating errors. Attempting ANY spell check now pops up the "pay us more"dialog.
I was considering switching over to Scrivener. The company that makes WPS Writer just made up my mind for me. They've ruined a good piece of software, and Scrivener is a one-time purchase, not a fucking subscription. Sorry for this little rant, but the bullshit changes to WPS writer added a full 30 minutes to my typing the above. Not counting the six minutes I've spent on this comment.
I don't remember if anything happened to the Emperor's telepathic wives in the show; I hope they ran fast as they could and far, because you know Londo knows that they know that he lied. Unavoidable risk under the circumstances, but they know.
That's really my only comment because the rest.. I mean, that scene with Londo and Mollari drinking, the one where Franklin talks to G'Kar...those are impressive scenes. Oh man.
SPOILER STUFF:
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In this Episode, although we don’t know it yet, Sinclair gives the first direct reference to the Shadows as the name of a race. One may notice in my “non spoiler”comments I have said “enemy,”or “foe,”rather than Shadows. Looking forward to “In the Shadow of Zha’ha’dum” so I can just start saying “Shadows” in the non-spoiler section…
It’s interesting that Sinclair says the Rangers are “Mostly Humans, some Minbari,” as the Rangers were founded by Valen (Sinclair) a thousand years ago. “In the Beginning” discusses how the Rangers have fallen in the eyes of Minbari society over the centuries. Perhaps the humans drawn to Minbar are those with Minbari souls? Yup, it’s another vague thing on the “Soul Question.”
JMS has written elsewhere how tight lipped he was on the arc, overall. Apparently only two actors were given advanced information on their plot lines. One was Michael O’Hare (which can be somewhat ignored as the story changed after he left the show), while the other was Peter Jurasik, so that he’d play the dream sequences in “Coming of Shadows”correctly. Apparently Jurasik was “stunned.” As he should be. No one watching the show for the first time could have predicted how his arc would twist. Even when the audience is given hints of future information - for example, we were told Centauri have prophetic dreams, and we have now seen Londo’s, thus we can guess he will, in fact, become Emperor.
We would never guess it was under duress to prevent the Drahk from setting off nuclear warheads all over Centauri Prime. We could never have guessed Londo would have to accept a Drahk Keeper.
G’Kar’s eyepatch in the dream… Ok, G’Kar loses an eye. But we’d never guess it was due to the petulance of a spoiled, insane depost who just decided to have it plucked out randomly because G’kar glared at him.
As of this episode we pretty much know G’Kar and Londo will now die at each other’s hands. We would never guess by that time they are, in fact, actually friends, and Londo will beg G’Kar to kill him so the Drakh Keeper won’t force Londo to ruin the escape of John, Delenn, and David Sheridan from Centauri Prime - not to mention that a past Sheridan popped into a future Sheridan for a few moments, while Londo was watching on a holomonitor.
And, of course, how Londo narrates the events of “In the Begnining”to a couple of small children and their nursemaid mere minutes before his own death.
That’s a lot of plot baggage all tying back to one little dream sequence.
Blankity-Blank Substack just deleted 45 minutes of typing when I shifted to another tab to check outside reference. AAAAAAAAH!
Still catching up on prior episodes, but had to be current for this, the Hugo-winning episode.
Simon wrote about this being one of the most dense episodes of Babylon 5, and it is… But it’s nowhere near as dense as others. Namely, s1, ep1 “Midnight on the Firing Line.”
“Midnight” has all of this: 1) establishing the Narn/Centauri conflict with the Ragash 3 incident, 2) establishing the threat of the Raiders, 2a) who are being armed by the Narn, 3) defining the form and function of the B5 Advisory Council as they attempt to mediate Ragash 3, 4) the election of Earth Alliance President Santiago, 4a) and the controversial (illegal) endorsement of Vice President Clarke by Psi-Corp, 5) establishing rules of conduct for Psi-Corp telepaths, such as unauthorized scans being inadmissible in court, 6) as well as a plethora of personal backstory, including, but not limited to, 6a) re-establishing the Battle of the Line and Sinclar, 6b) Ivanova’s telepath mother, 6c) Talia’s immediate attraction to Ivanova, 6d) Delenn’s current role as peacemaker, 6e) Kosh being Kosh, 6f) G’Kar’s attitudes towards the Centauri, 6g) Londo’s attitude towards the Narn, and 6h) Londo’s “Centauri Dream of Foretelling TM.” That’s 5 major subplots and a lot of worldbuilding/character exposition in an episode of which my Dad (wrongly) said, “nothing happened.” Dad was a great man, but he couldn’t analyze media to save his life.
So, “The Coming of Shadows” is much less dense, yet mirrors “Midnight” in several ways. Some are reversed - this time it’s G’Kar ready to murder Londo in a fit of rage and given a choice - others twisted - the Centauri attacking the Narn with outside help, rather than the Narn attacking the Centauri while providing outside help to Raiders - while others are linear continuations - as in how we SEE Londo’s “Centauri Dream of Foretelling ®TM.” (Several paragraphs later on in my typing, I went over to the “Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5”to check something. JMS himself noted that “Coming of Shadows” is deliberately structured as a mirror to “Midnight on the Firing Line,” with much of the mirrored beats reversed. It’s a great way to show how much evolution there has been in this show already!” My own analysis of the episodes as mirrors just shows I may have gotten the point.)
Speaking of Londo’s “CDoF ©®TM” we all saw that eyepatch on G’kar, yes? I wonder how THAT might happen? (OK, I know, but this is the non-spoiler comment…) I also saw a great hand, reaching out of the stars…
Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik absolutely hold this episode together. Both are utterly brilliant. Simon brought up specific scenes already, but I’d like to highlight a few more moments: How JMS thought he could get away with adding in a comic relief scene about an assassination is beyond me - yet Katsulas makes it work. “Maybe he’s feeling better! Just prop him up for a minute and…” Yet, by the end of the scene his quiet reflection on the Emperor’s message brought tears to my eyes. Once again, in a moment of comic relief we have “MOLLARI! I’m going to GET you…a drink.” Again, by the end of the scene, tears - both for the agony we know G’kar will soon face, and for Londo’s utter horror at the realization that he just made the biggest mistake of his life. Finally, the scene in G’Kar’s quarters after the faied assasination. Besides yet another stellar scene from Andreas Katsulas, who, for some reason, didn’t get ALL the Emmys from this episode alone, I’m gonna shout out to director Janet Greek, who produces one of the best visuals of the series. The camera pans across G’Kar’s trashed apartment as he sits, lit in red, cradling the book of G’kar, and the hatch to his room opens, spilling warm light across him. The image has stuck with me for decades, and I’ve verified on this rewatch that this type of lighting has never happened in G’Kar’s quarters before. Director Janet Greek and Director of Photography John Flynn made a conscious choice to have that lighting. It’s a custom setup specifically for that angle, and, when Sheridan exits the room, that spill light doesn’t hit him on the G’Kar POV shot. For those of you who have never worked on a film set, let me break it down for you this way - an additional hour was spent on set setting up and taking down a special light, just to get that highlight in G’kar for that one angle. Totally worth it.
Besides G’kar, there are all those great Londo moments. Jurasik doesn’t get to play the gregarious Londo. Everything Londo has in this episode is subdued. Londo KNOWS he’s stepping in it. He knows it’s not something he’s going to be able to scrape off his boot anytime soon, but he commits to the shit. Refa is beautifully slimy, and Stephen Furst continues to bring colors to Vir, both with his “Londo, DON’T DO THIS…Someday I’m going to remind you of this…” scene, and, at the end of the episode where Refa tries to pass his drink off to the “servant,” and Vir just gives him a look of pure and utter disgust while staying firmly seated.
Substack is making me split this comment, so I continue in a response to myself...
Non-Spoilers part 2:
Emperor Turhan (This episode doesn’t name him, but, yes, future episodes name him after his actor) isn’t given much screentime, but we DO care about him. Simon tossed that to the fallout, but credit is due to actor Turhan Bey, and J Michael Straczynski’s script. The Emperor we meet is immediately a gentle man. His rejection of his silly wig and his statement about the Centauri women “being right to shave their heads and rise above all this” shows us he is thoughtful. His farewell to his Prime Minister shows he is kind. His scene with Sheridan in the Sanctuary where he ruminates on his lack of choice shows he is thoughtful. His desire to see a Vorlon hints as a sense of wonder and curiosity. His intended speech and desire to stand next to G’Kar and try to build a bride shows he is GOOD. That’s a lot of heavy lifting for a few minutes of screentime. Well done, Turhan Bey for wringing out every last bit of nuance from the script. If anyone was wondering, at the end of the episode where Emperor Turhan brushes Refa aside and indicates for Londo to approach, one can see his lips form the words, “You are bo-”before the camera cuts away. Just saying.
I speculate that Emperor Turhan had his own “Centauri Dream of Foretelling©®TM” which involved the Vorlon.
On Tuhan Bey, JMS wrote: Turhan originally came in to audition for Elric in "Geometry;" we wanted someone with more menace (Ansara), but we were all just blown away by how wonderful and sweet and nice a person he was, and as he left, I told John Copeland, "I'm gonna write a part just for him." So I did, and we cast him, and everyone on the set loved him...to the point that, at the end of the shoot, they were saying, "You BASTARD, how could you bring this WONDERFUL man in here and then KILL HIM OFF SO WE CAN'T HAVE HIM BACK?!"
Well, Turhan Bey will return to the series in season 5. He’ll be playing a Minbari. Technically a spoiler, but not really.
Speaking of the Vorlon, the low angle POV of Kosh with the wide-angle lens REALLY makes that costume look impressive. Kosh has, perhaps, the most chilling line of the episode. “In Fire.”
And we haven’t even gotten to the Ranger subplot yet. “Hello, old friend.” Man, I thought for SURE that was gonna be Simon’s subheader for this episode.” Way back in 1995 that act break brought gasps from my friends and I, and much excited babble during the commercial break. It’s a great little cameo, reminding us that Sinclair is still out there. The great thing about it is, it doesn’t actually tell the audience much new, other than Rangers exist and are training on Minbar. The rest happens during cutaways to other scenes, or is given in vague hints. “Watch out for Shadows. They move when you aren’t looking.” Well, that’s not very helpful, Jeff! But the time isn’t right.
As a side note, Andy Lane wrote a book of analysis on Babylon 5 in the 1990’s. Lane eventually started using “When the time is right” as a running joke. For example, “If the season 5 theme had lyrics, they would begin with ‘When the time is right…”(If you know the s5 Theme, yeah, that phrase scans perfectly with the melody.) There are TWO “When the time is rights” in this episode. One from Refa, one from Sinclair. Now that’s I’ve pointed it out here, you’re not going to be able to help but notice every time that phrase (or a variant) is spoken.
Finally, the Ranger says he and other Rangers have been on the station for a couple of months. Well, on this re-watch I’ve been playing “Spot the Ranger,” and I think I have spotted two, going as far back as “Revelations.” I’m not 100% certain, as the sightings in question are background artists who are out of focus, but I’m 90% certain about the one I think I spotted in “The Geometry of Shadows. ”Simon noted one, and, as I continue catching up to this season (I’ll watch “A Distant Star” after this comment.), I’ll be posting sightings in my comments. There have been Rangers visible on the station before “The Coming of Shadows.”
Which brings up a nit. The Ranger tells Garibaldi not to inform anyone else of their presence, as, for now, they are a SECRET army. Yet Rangers have been visible on the station for several episodes. All I’m saying is, if you’re a member of a secret organization, you probably shouldn’t walk around in your fricking UNIFORM. Just toss on some slacks and a shirt, and keep your Ranger badge in your wallet.
Besides winning the Hugo award, this episode’s shooting script was the first B5 script published, in the 2nd edition of Straczynski’s “Complete Book of Screenwriting.”
This episode features a scene in the Sanctuary, which I’m noting as a 100% virtual set. JMS discusses that, and the relevant quotes can be found in this episode’s page on the Lurker’s Guide. This episode ALSO features Babylon 5’s first and only “Location Shoot.” Out in the parking lot for the studio some sand was thrown down, along with some “Alien” plants, Peter Jurasik shot two of the inserts for the dream sequence. They were just lucky it was a rare California day with some actual cloud cover.
Totally off-topic side note. My preferred word processor, WPS Writer, has been absolutely ruined in it's most recent iterations. They've added a bunch of AI bullshit and charge extra to access it. The problem is they've turned the Spell/Grammar checker into a "Ai" feature, so, typing these comment outside Substack (to avoid Substack erasing the comment field randomly, and making it easier to split comments when Substack fails to tell me when I've hit a character limit) basically required a manual recheck of everything because turning off the "AI" spell checker turns off ALL Spell checking AND the red hash marks indicating errors. Attempting ANY spell check now pops up the "pay us more"dialog.
I was considering switching over to Scrivener. The company that makes WPS Writer just made up my mind for me. They've ruined a good piece of software, and Scrivener is a one-time purchase, not a fucking subscription. Sorry for this little rant, but the bullshit changes to WPS writer added a full 30 minutes to my typing the above. Not counting the six minutes I've spent on this comment.
I don't remember if anything happened to the Emperor's telepathic wives in the show; I hope they ran fast as they could and far, because you know Londo knows that they know that he lied. Unavoidable risk under the circumstances, but they know.
That's really my only comment because the rest.. I mean, that scene with Londo and Mollari drinking, the one where Franklin talks to G'Kar...those are impressive scenes. Oh man.