"Midnight on the Firing Line" discussion [spoilers]

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 1X01 "Midnight on the Firing Line". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Extra reading:

The article for "Midnight on the Firing Line" at Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[wychwood]

The sense of humiliation and helplessness boiling over in violence. The way this is all intensely personal for him.

Yeah, I thought that was so key here - Londo's terrible frustration. You can really see where his later poor decisions are coming from...

I think part of the reason I'm so fond of G'Kar is exactly that growth. He starts out so unlikeable, so manipulative and arrogant and full of hate, that his changes, even before Dust to Dust, are that much more striking. Londo always has that humanity, that decency, within him - when he volunteers for the machine in A Voice in the Wilderness, it's unexpected, but not implausible. He falls and then rises, but he's always Londo. G'Kar, on the other hand, shows a lot less of his potential at this point - his growth is believable, but it's hard to imagine when we see him like this!

I was struck by Sinclair's attitude to G'Kar, actually. I suppose I'd forgotten that Sinclair only knows Angry!G'Kar, that he doesn't magically watch the changes like the rest of them *g*. It's entirely plausible that he should dislike G'Kar - I mean, G'Kar has more than justified it - but I generally think of Sinclair as being pretty even-tempered and diplomatic, and he's really not here! *g*

a big reason why he eventually is able to forgive Londo. Because he understands him all too well.

That's a good point, and one I hadn't actually thought of. It's clear from Morden's reaction to them that Londo's answer gives him more scope but you're right, it's a difference in degree rather than kind; G'Kar (perhaps because he's been able to do more fighting back himself, and see more actual results from his struggle? The Narn *did* get rid of the Centauri, after all) is less frustrated, less bitter, but the two of them are very similar.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I suppose I'd forgotten that Sinclair only knows Angry!G'Kar, that he doesn't magically watch the changes like the rest of them *g*. It's entirely plausible that he should dislike G'Kar - I mean, G'Kar has more than justified it - but I generally think of Sinclair as being pretty even-tempered and diplomatic, and he's really not here! *g*

Nope. He is when dealing with both Londo and G'Kar being asses in the strike episode in the middle of the season, and in the season finale he really goes out of his way to bring G'Kar around by diplomacy, but early on, especially in this episode, he's indeed downright hostile. As you say, it's understandable given how G'Kar has behaved so far, and that in this episode in particular Sinclair has seen him first insincerly expressing his condolences for the attack and then smugly taking pride in it while enjoying Londo's humiliation (boy, does G'Kar rack up the bad karma there, and boy, does it ever come home soon). But Sinclair rarely is this partisan with his ambassadors.

It's a fascinating what if to wonder how Sinclair would have responded in s2. Because the first thing Sheridan sees Londo doing is to pull a fast one with the technomages, and the first thing he sees G'Kar doing is to warn everyone about the Shadows. It makes it easy to choose whom to side with later on. Not that I don't think Sheridan wouldn't have chosen the Narn anyway, given how the Centauri were behaving in s2, mass drivers and all, and of course Sinclair would have seen a similar right and wrong situation - but with his different relationship with the ambassadors, he might have tried to talk to Londo on a personal level to make him see reason. (Not that he would have succeeded, since Vir didn't, but he probably would have tried.) On the darker side of things, I wonder if G'Kar would have founded it harder to trust Sinclair than Sheridan given their backstory?

[wychwood]

He is when dealing with both Londo and G'Kar being asses in the strike episode in the middle of the season, and in the season finale he really goes out of his way to bring G'Kar around by diplomacy

Yeah, which, again, I'd expect from Sinclair. And - doesn't he actually help G'Kar get the plant he needs for his religious ceremony in Parliament of Dreams? IIRC he's the one who mentions the time delay, too. So he's certainly not anti-G'Kar in that sense. It's perfectly understandable that he's hostile here, either way; G'Kar has more than deserved it! *g*

On the darker side of things, I wonder if G'Kar would have founded it harder to trust Sinclair than Sheridan given their backstory?

Hmm, I don't know... I'm inclined to think that events would have played out pretty much the same way for either captain. With Londo, too. Neither Sheridan nor Sinclair is the type to let personal feelings get in the way of the necessary action, I don't think; we'd have had a few attempts at personal intervention more or less, but the basic outcomes would have been the same. The relationships would have evolved along the same lines...