Back when news got out that Sinclair would be replaced as lead by a new character in the s1 hiatus, my first thought was "damm, now we'll never find out what Babylon Squared was all about!" It was definitely one of the s1 seasons that most impressed me and had me hooked. Rewatching it is impossible without keeping War without End in mind, so I won't even try. So, observations:
1) The opening sequence with Sinclair and Garibaldi pranking Ivanova and later the fasten/zip conversation between Garibaldi and Sinclair reminded me again of one of the key differences in senior command staff dynamics from the first season compared to the later ones. In s1, Ivanova is very much the junior member, both in the sense that it's noticable she's younger than Sinclair and Garibaldi (who tend to treat her like a younger sister they're very fond of), and in the sense that Garibaldi and Sinclair are closer friends than either Sinclair and Ivanova, or Garibaldi and Ivanova. Meanwhile, Sheridan and Ivanova knew each other pre-B5, so from s2 onwards, Ivanova is the one closer to the captain, and Garibaldi is the one a bit on the outside at first. And while Garibaldi and Sheridan do become friends, they never share the easy intimacy Garibaldi and Sinclair do, which is why the big "Judas" comparisons later in s4 don't have the wished for emotional resonance for me.
2) War without End does a great job of retconning and papering over the problem the change of lead leaves, but at two points it's really noticable: Sinclair and "the One" in the suit touching, since if this is Delenn (who has already swapped with Sheridan) it makes no sense, and Babylon Squared obviously is going for a "the same person from different time periods" effect here; and Sinclair's flash forward to Garibaldi fighting off unnamed invaders, which is something that never happens. (Yes, you can declare it never happened because Sinclair prevented Garibaldi from returning to B4 in War without End, but every other flash forward on that station does happen. So it glares.) There is also the blooper of Delenn's sleeve at the end scene not matching what she's wearing in War without End, but that's just a production screw-up. *g*
3) Otoh, what was clearly already planned is Delenn's transformation (hence us not seeing her face when older Sinclair takes off his helmet, and she talks to him); one of the great things about Babylon Squared is that when you first watch it you think the Delenn subplot is not connected to the Babylon 4 main plot, when in fact it is.
4) The Minbari are at their most (Tolkien) Elves in Space here, with JMS making it really evident where he got his inspiration from. It occurs to me that this is already where Delenn refuses to diminish and go into the West, and chooses a mortal life, to quote Galadriel and Arwen. More seriously, Delenn not accepting the leadership position within the Grey Council but choosing to remain on B5 and fulfill that prophecy herself is typical for her mixture of altruism and ego. Though you can argue that she might also have in mind what happened the last time she was in a sort of leading position within the Grey Council. (To wit, a genocidal war.)
5) "Either way, is bad for Zathras." Tim Choate cracks me up.
6) "You've met this Sinclair character twice." This assertion that Sinclair and Garibaldi didn't really know each other very well - only from two meetings - pre B5 is something that regularly gets chucked out in fanon, and I must say it also goes against the impression given in canon in other episodes, where it's "old friend" all the way.
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branchandroot
Let's do the Time Warp Again
Date: 2009-06-01 07:34 am (UTC)1) The opening sequence with Sinclair and Garibaldi pranking Ivanova and later the fasten/zip conversation between Garibaldi and Sinclair reminded me again of one of the key differences in senior command staff dynamics from the first season compared to the later ones. In s1, Ivanova is very much the junior member, both in the sense that it's noticable she's younger than Sinclair and Garibaldi (who tend to treat her like a younger sister they're very fond of), and in the sense that Garibaldi and Sinclair are closer friends than either Sinclair and Ivanova, or Garibaldi and Ivanova. Meanwhile, Sheridan and Ivanova knew each other pre-B5, so from s2 onwards, Ivanova is the one closer to the captain, and Garibaldi is the one a bit on the outside at first. And while Garibaldi and Sheridan do become friends, they never share the easy intimacy Garibaldi and Sinclair do, which is why the big "Judas" comparisons later in s4 don't have the wished for emotional resonance for me.
2) War without End does a great job of retconning and papering over the problem the change of lead leaves, but at two points it's really noticable: Sinclair and "the One" in the suit touching, since if this is Delenn (who has already swapped with Sheridan) it makes no sense, and Babylon Squared obviously is going for a "the same person from different time periods" effect here; and Sinclair's flash forward to Garibaldi fighting off unnamed invaders, which is something that never happens. (Yes, you can declare it never happened because Sinclair prevented Garibaldi from returning to B4 in War without End, but every other flash forward on that station does happen. So it glares.) There is also the blooper of Delenn's sleeve at the end scene not matching what she's wearing in War without End, but that's just a production screw-up. *g*
3) Otoh, what was clearly already planned is Delenn's transformation (hence us not seeing her face when older Sinclair takes off his helmet, and she talks to him); one of the great things about Babylon Squared is that when you first watch it you think the Delenn subplot is not connected to the Babylon 4 main plot, when in fact it is.
4) The Minbari are at their most (Tolkien) Elves in Space here, with JMS making it really evident where he got his inspiration from. It occurs to me that this is already where Delenn refuses to diminish and go into the West, and chooses a mortal life, to quote Galadriel and Arwen. More seriously, Delenn not accepting the leadership position within the Grey Council but choosing to remain on B5 and fulfill that prophecy herself is typical for her mixture of altruism and ego. Though you can argue that she might also have in mind what happened the last time she was in a sort of leading position within the Grey Council. (To wit, a genocidal war.)
5) "Either way, is bad for Zathras." Tim Choate cracks me up.
6) "You've met this Sinclair character twice." This assertion that Sinclair and Garibaldi didn't really know each other very well - only from two meetings - pre B5 is something that regularly gets chucked out in fanon, and I must say it also goes against the impression given in canon in other episodes, where it's "old friend" all the way.