"The Long Dark" discussion

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episodes 2X05, "The Long Dark". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Summary:
A ship with a cryogenically frozen crew, sent out to search for extraterrestrial life over a hundred years ago, arrives on B5.

Extra reading:

The article for "The Long Dark" at Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

You know, I had no memory of this episode and might actually have not watched it during the original run (and when rewatching, I usually go directly from Geometry of Shadows to Soul Mates, skipping the in betweens).

A better episode than last week's; I found several of Garibaldi's scenes with Amis genuinenly moving (this episode showed Garibaldi at his best), and well, I have a soft spot for Dwight Schultz in Sci Fi anyway (Barclay!). The Londo and G'Kar cameos are short but very them. On the other hand, the Franklin part of the plot suffers from the problem I tend to have with poor Steven's love interests of the week, i.e. that, except for Number One, I don't find them very interesting. Also, and here's a problem I would not have had had I watched this ep during the original run, I've seen the "woman/man out of time" plot done on various sci fi shows now, and several times found it more affecting then here. (Two Torchwood eps from s1 and s2 respectively come to mind, as well as good old TNG's Relics.)

In tandem with other early s2 episodes, this one strikes me as emphasizing how dangerous and full of mysteries unexplored space can be; a theme abandoned once we've actually met the Shadows, probably because they're supposed to be the climax of the strange old beings waiting out there, or maybe because B5 is a space station, and not a ship (presumably he'd have gone back there a lot more for Crusade if it hadn't been cancelled).