"TKO" discussion [spoilers]

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 1X14, "TKO". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Extra reading:

The article for "TKO" at Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

This is, I would argue, the single worst episode of Babylon 5. “Infection” and “Grey 17 is Missing” are both at least entertaining in a b-movie sort of way, while “Deconstruction of Falling Stars” at least has a few good ideas. “TKO”, though? It’s just plain dull.

And it feels like a particularly pointless dull at that – Surely B5 has a large enough cast without devoting an entire episode to Garibaldi’s never-before-seen, never-seen-again friend? The fact that said friend is an arrogant dick who never refers to aliens with anything other than racial slurs doesn’t help things, of course… I’d have been quite happy to see him lose.

As for the Ivanova plot – well, it’s better than the Mutai plot. Still doesn’t strike me as great though – I don’t know, it all feels very artificial and calculated. Of course she’s going to initially reject the Rabbi’s offer, and of course she’s going to change her mind at the last minute… the story never feels like it’s doing anything but going through the motions. Plus, the mood shift is a little too abrupt when the episode cuts between Ivanova sitting shiva and Smith beating the crap out of someone in the Mutai.

- I feel the episode would make more sense if Smith was initially rejected because he was an jerk to the Mutai-Do, not because he’s human; the other competitors seem to come from five or six different species. There’s no evidence anywhere else in the series that there’s any sort of pan-League identity that would lead to humans being specifically excluded, and the Mutai already seems cosmopolitan enough that a Narn and a Centauri are standing side by side as spectators!

- The intial appearance of the Mutai is a little disappointing, considering how much Garibaldi built it up as a bloodbath. The actual fight between Smith and the Sho-Rin is brutal, but the first fight with the Drazi doesn’t look any tougher than regular boxing.

- My old nemesis, alien races who never show up again, makes two appearnces here – the Mutai themselves, and the alien with the bad skin who tries to shoot Smith during the fight. For that matter, are the Mutai-Do and the Sho-Rin meant to be the same species? They look pretty different.

- I find myself in complete sympathy with Ivanova. I don’t have a particularly good relationship with my father, and if he died and someone else decided to go behind my back and talk to my boss about my handling of the situation – well, hell, I suspect I wouldn’t be talking to that person again for a very long time.

- What is the significance of a sanovar (sp.?) ? Are they specifically Jewish, or Russian, or what? Neither are cultures I’m particularly familiar with…

- So what was the grey-haired alien’s motivation supposed to be? He got his ass kicked in the Mutai, so now he helps out random aliens who want to compete? Having him turn out to have some hidden agenda would have been a bit predictable, but hell – this episode needs all the plot it can get.

- It feels somewhat off to have Sinclair and Ivanova as particularly close friends. If anything, it seems to me like it’d make more sense if Garibaldi dropped by to show his respect at the shiva. Of course, he had much more important things to deal with…

- One thing which does rather work is the place of the episode in the arc. Last week saw the Raiders destroyed as an organised force, so I think it’s rather nice as a bit of continuity that this week both plots rely on the senior staff having a lot of free time to focus on personal issues and interests; something of the calm before the storm, as it looks like things are settling down a bit. Of course, apparently this episode was actually meant to air when “Quality of Mercy” did, so that’s not actually intentional.

[ruuger]

What is the significance of a sanovar (sp.?) ? Are they specifically Jewish, or Russian, or what? Neither are cultures I’m particularly familiar with…

Russian. JMS taks about it and Ivanova's Russian heritage here.