I found myself really enjoying this episode – it’s not one that I’d remembered particularly well, and I think I had mentally placed it in the same category as the other couple of ‘monster of the week’ episodes B5’s done. But, as other people have said, this isn’t an “Infection” or a “Grey 17”, and it’s actually my favourite of the season so far.
It’s got two things going for it – number one, it’s damned atmospheric. The whole episode’s got a real sense of impending doom to it even before the monster is revealed, which is something that episodes like “Infection” or “Grail” desperately needed. Hell, there’s something vaguely creepy about just the Copernicus’ automated greeting in the teaser. It probably helps that we never get to see what the Monster looks like – personally, I’ve always felt “Grey 17” only really falls apart when we actually see the Zarg…
The other thing it’s got going for it is enough appearances by G’Kar and Londo and the League Worlds and ominous foreshadowing to make this feel like a proper part of the series, and not just a standalone that could have happened on any show. It’s rather nice to see a show where the main characters aren’t ridiculously sceptical in the face of pretty clear evidence, and that Sheridan was paying attention to G’Kar in “Revelations”, even if he’s still not sure how much he should believe.
Minor notes:
- Whats-her-name, the Copernicus survivor, must win some sort of award for the least interesting of Franklin’s never-seen-again love interests. Doesn’t help her that the episode itself stops focusing on her fairly early on – understandable; the Amos plot is more interesting and better tied into the B5 setting, but she ends up feeling more like a red-herring than an integral part of the story.
- So, just how intelligent was the Soldier of Darkness? Smart enough to set course for Z’ha’dum, sure, but dumb enough to think hitchhiking on sublight ships was a better option than waiting for another ship to pick up Amos. It would have been lucky to reach the rim before the *next* Shadow War started!
- I really like the look of the picture in the Book of G’Quan at the end of the episode.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-07-20 08:10 am (UTC)It’s got two things going for it – number one, it’s damned atmospheric. The whole episode’s got a real sense of impending doom to it even before the monster is revealed, which is something that episodes like “Infection” or “Grail” desperately needed. Hell, there’s something vaguely creepy about just the Copernicus’ automated greeting in the teaser. It probably helps that we never get to see what the Monster looks like – personally, I’ve always felt “Grey 17” only really falls apart when we actually see the Zarg…
The other thing it’s got going for it is enough appearances by G’Kar and Londo and the League Worlds and ominous foreshadowing to make this feel like a proper part of the series, and not just a standalone that could have happened on any show. It’s rather nice to see a show where the main characters aren’t ridiculously sceptical in the face of pretty clear evidence, and that Sheridan was paying attention to G’Kar in “Revelations”, even if he’s still not sure how much he should believe.
Minor notes:
- Whats-her-name, the Copernicus survivor, must win some sort of award for the least interesting of Franklin’s never-seen-again love interests. Doesn’t help her that the episode itself stops focusing on her fairly early on – understandable; the Amos plot is more interesting and better tied into the B5 setting, but she ends up feeling more like a red-herring than an integral part of the story.
- So, just how intelligent was the Soldier of Darkness? Smart enough to set course for Z’ha’dum, sure, but dumb enough to think hitchhiking on sublight ships was a better option than waiting for another ship to pick up Amos. It would have been lucky to reach the rim before the *next* Shadow War started!
- I really like the look of the picture in the Book of G’Quan at the end of the episode.