"A Distant Star" discussion

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episodes 2X04, "A Distant Star". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Summary:
A ship commanded by an old friend of Sheridan's becomes lost in hyperspace after a visit to Babylon 5. Meanwhile Delenn is being questioned by the Minbari about her transformation.

Extra reading:

The article for "A Distant Star" at Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[nolivingman.livejournal.com]

Is this the episode where in the commentary JMS apologizes for Delenn's hair? Because he should. I adore Delenn and think that she (and Mira) are beautiful, but the awkwardness of her hair in early S2 makes me cringe like whoa. I know this is the most shallow comment ever, but it really takes away from the episodes to me to see her walking around with that bad hair.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Nah, it doesn't have an audio commentary, but I remember the apology from a later episode. *g* (Not much later, though.)

[vjs2259.livejournal.com]

Not shallow cause it bothers me too. (And I'm not shallow! Really...)

We do get our 'explanation' with her bad hair day coming up, but here's a sciencey one if you like. The changeover from Minbari to partly/mostly human must have had her immune and hormonal system on overload as everything settled into place. Estrogen especially has an affect on hair; amount, consistency, and composition. I like to think that it was fluctuations in hormone level that caused the change in her hair from one episode to the next, with them finally settling down later in S2 and especially by S3.
What bothers me more is how we went from that almost-like-carved-bone look of her crest in S1 to the playdough-stuck-to-her head look in S2. That settles out later as well and I can go into estrogen and other hormones' relationship to bone morphogenic protein...but then again, maybe not. :)