Well, I don't think I can put it better than anyone else already has here: it's a great episode for S1, but has many of the flaws common to the show.
Interesting things -- well, everyone else has already mentioned these: Minbari political intrigue, commentary on many of the races, and talk about different ways telepaths are dealt with.
Had we heard, before this episode, that Narns don't have telepaths? Wait, was that in "The Gathering?" Yes, that's it.
I have to get my two cents in about REALLY loving seeing Delenn's sneaky side. I mean, really sneaky! She did a number on Neroon, and manipulated the hell out of pretty much everyone else too. IMO that's the single most pleasing thing about this episode.
I was actually wondering if, when Alyssa was "peeking" in Delenn's mind (which Delenn obviously knew was happening) if Delenn possibly gave her a "suggestion" to go with the Minbari option. That was my read on why Alyssa might have chosen Minbar. Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? (OK, just dated myself there.)
I totally agree with 4thofeleven (sorry, I don't know how to put in those nifty icons in a comment) on the inherent dissonance between the fact that telepathy is an inborn trait vs. the claim that telepathy is a "calling" on MInbar. Very problematic.
One final thing I really enjoy about rewatching S1 is hearing how differently Mira Furlan "does" Delenn's accent and speech patterns. In S1, there is much more to Delenn's ways of pronouncing English consonants than can be accounted for by a Serbo-Croatian accent. In later seasons, these characteristics are damped down quite a bit. I'll keep an ear open for whether it happens gradually, or whether it happens all at once post-metamorphosis.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-05-20 01:55 am (UTC)Interesting things -- well, everyone else has already mentioned these: Minbari political intrigue, commentary on many of the races, and talk about different ways telepaths are dealt with.
Had we heard, before this episode, that Narns don't have telepaths? Wait, was that in "The Gathering?" Yes, that's it.
I have to get my two cents in about REALLY loving seeing Delenn's sneaky side. I mean, really sneaky! She did a number on Neroon, and manipulated the hell out of pretty much everyone else too. IMO that's the single most pleasing thing about this episode.
I was actually wondering if, when Alyssa was "peeking" in Delenn's mind (which Delenn obviously knew was happening) if Delenn possibly gave her a "suggestion" to go with the Minbari option. That was my read on why Alyssa might have chosen Minbar. Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? (OK, just dated myself there.)
I totally agree with 4thofeleven (sorry, I don't know how to put in those nifty icons in a comment) on the inherent dissonance between the fact that telepathy is an inborn trait vs. the claim that telepathy is a "calling" on MInbar. Very problematic.
One final thing I really enjoy about rewatching S1 is hearing how differently Mira Furlan "does" Delenn's accent and speech patterns. In S1, there is much more to Delenn's ways of pronouncing English consonants than can be accounted for by a Serbo-Croatian accent. In later seasons, these characteristics are damped down quite a bit. I'll keep an ear open for whether it happens gradually, or whether it happens all at once post-metamorphosis.