s3e5: Voices of Authority
Gives me the screaming willies
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A big, shuffle-the-cards, arrange-the-pieces episode that marks the final shift from season 2-style episodes into what will become season 3’s main drive, ‘Voices of Authority’ relies on some big coincidences and convenient plot devices but just about gets away with it.
It’s useful that Ivanova just happens to stumble upon an incriminating recording of President Clarke, saying exactly the sort of thing they need him to say. Using the Great Machine’s previously undeclared time tunnel/remote surveillance tech is such an overt deus ex machina that it always takes me out of the episode.
Straczynski is using it as a plot accelerator. They could have stumbled upon this recording in various other ways, but it would have taken more episodes. Draal’s solution is fast and efficient, and JMS wraps it up in the search for the First Ones so that we at least don’t see it coming. It’s never really satisfactorily explained why Ivanova happens to stumble upon that specific recording, though, given that she wasn’t even looking for it.
Question, though: is that Morden’s voice on the tape, talking to Clarke? I couldn’t tell for sure.
On the other hand, I’ve always loved that First One ship. It’s clearly riffing on Close Encounters, but it does so in very inventive ways. It’s one of the best uses of mid-90s CG, rendering the ship in ways that would be hard or impossible to do with miniatures and more traditional techniques: the total void that is the back shell of the ship, all the illumination from the whizzy lights: it’s very, very cool. The First One ‘face’ design is less interesting, and it’s a shame we don’t get to see its other sides: it appears to have multiple faces on the one head, Quintesson-style.
We get to see Marcus again. I think this is his first appearance since the season opener? He’s got some amusing lines in here, and Jason Carter does a good job of channelling some British comic sensibility to the role. I’m especially fond of “fine, I’ll go find a bucket.”
On Draal: there are a couple of innovative shots in this episode. The first is when he appears behind Ivanova in the tunnels below Epsilon 3, and his fade-in is done entirely in-camera. He emerges from the shadows, glowing, and then resolves into normality, and it’s really well done. Clever stuff. A subsequent shot is almost as clever, with him and Ivanova standing before the real Draal who is still plugged into the machine. I thought they were going to do a cool switch-up where the hologram Draal fades away and then the real Draal wakes up and steps out, all in one shot: alas, they cut away. Missed opportunity there, as they basically had the setup all good to go.
Back on the station we get Julie Masante showing up and causing complications for everyone. I think Shari Shattuck does a fantastic job with what could have been a very one-note character. It’s laced with 90s sexism but she manages to rise above it, portraying a political operative who doesn’t descend into being A Bad Guy and clearly has her own motivations. The key line is when Sheridan asks her “When did all this happen?”, and she responds with “When we rewrote the dictionary.” There’s an acknowledgement there from Masante that it’s all bullshit, that she knows it’s spin and propaganda, and possibly even that she doesn’t agree with all of it: but she’s going to do her job anyway.
Her arrival ramps up the Nightwatch plot, which has been quietly bubbling away. The long play of that storyline works extremely well over the course of seasons 2 and 3 — especially compared to the other story in this episode, which is powered entirely by a special Draal plot solving contraption, never seen before.
Special mention to Jeff Conaway, who continues to bring a lot of nuance to Zack’s character. He’s come a long way from his walk-on, walk-off parts in season 2. He’s a great counterpoint to Garibaldi, who is becoming increasingly frustrated at being trapped between Nightwatch and Sheridan’s secret movement.
The space tunnel sequence, also, is superb. Going with the wide angle lens makes it distinctive overwhelming and the shot of Earth Force One just prior to its explosion is really stunning.
Next up is ‘Dust to Dust’.
‼️ SPOILER STUFF ‼️
Tons of stuff in here!
We have Clarke’s tape, which vastly accelerates the Nightwatch crackdown, martial law and subsequent breakaway from Earth. Not to mention season 4’s triumphant return to Earth.
The random ship from season 1 at Sigma 957 turs out to be a First One, and more important to the overall fight than we’d thought at the time.
G’Kar is sniffing around, generally stressing everyone out, and that will lead to his eventual inclusion in the army of light. That will have significant consequences for the Narn on the station, especially during ‘Severed Dreams’, and even for the Narn’s fight for freedom. I’d forgotten that this is when G’Kar gives Garibaldi the book of G’Quan: Garibaldi’s line about everyone driving him crazy hits harder when you factor in his arc in seasons 4 and 5.
I suspect Draal takes a liking to Ivanova’s rambling because she reminds him of Zathras.
Anything I missed? It’s a dense episode!
After DOGE and everything else, the Ms. Masante plot comes across way differently now.
Non-Spoilers 2:
HARD disagree with the statement Shari Shattuck avoids portraying Julie Musante as a "Bad Guy." Besides her discussion with Sheridan in the restaurant and her speeches during the Nightwatch meeting (cribbed and adapted from speeches made by Hitler, Stalin, and Billy Graham) having no subtlety at all, she's also got her blatant seduction attempt, and the "rewrote the dictionary" line. On top of that Shattuck very much shows scowling, sneering, and glaring to the camera when not "getting her way" all through the episode. Yes, she's not one-note, but she is VERY clearly playing "a Bad Guy."
The sad thing is, in the 1990's and prior re-watches I truly felt she was written TOO sneering. Surely rational people wouldn't go along when things like, "We're going to restrict Civil Liberties" are flat-out stated. For B5 crew I just figured they're military - they've been trained (I would go so far as to say brainwashed) to follow the orders of superiors without question, especially enlisted ranks like security. Unfortunately, over the last decade, we've seen this type of blatant, unsubtle propaganda - and blatant lies - works on enough people where the Bad Guys win. Now this episode hits hard and a regard the character of Musante with pure loathing and disgust. Musante knows EXACTLY what she is doing and has made that choice willingly, with eyes open. She is evil.
And she's high-level evil. Otherwise she wouldn't be recalled to Earth at the end of the episode. On the passenger liner "LOKI," just in case the audience needed more reminders...
Shattuck, of course, nailed her portrayal, or she'd not cause such a visceral reaction.
On G'Kar's inquiries into Rangers... Perhaps, if one is in a covert organization, said organization shouldn't have a UNIFORM.
Marcus is a nice breath of fresh air in a show where most of our main characters are pretty upright most of the time. Watching him drive Ivanova batty is fun.
Next week, "Dust to Dust," which, for a personal reason, is a special one for me. Glad it's also a Really Good Episode.