"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

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

Just found this community; glad I can get in early!

Random observations, in no particular order:

- This episode confused the hell out of me when I first saw it – because the TV network that was showing B5 had decided, in their infinite wisdom, to follow up ‘The Gathering’ with ‘Soul Hunter’, and didn’t show ‘Midnight on the Firing Line’ until the week after ‘Chrysalis’. …yeah.

- Do we ever see those blue H-shaped Narn ships again? Every other time Narn warships are shown, they’re the red-black triangular ones.

- I’ve always liked the first season theme music best.

- I’m always really amused about the detail about how the Centauri lied about practically everything when they made contact with Earth…

- Everyone’s TV screens seem to be in really awkward positions – Sinclair’s is behind him, over his shoulder, Londo’s is on a table facing away from all the seats. For that matter, the screen in the council chamber doesn’t seem to be easily viewed from anyone’s seat.
And, man, don't the old TV screens look so much more dated than everything else?

- G’kar: “The wheel turns, does it not?” And the wheel will keep turning; it’s all downhill for the Narn from here.

- The Centauri prophetic dreams bother me somewhat; Londo seems to be the only one who’s foreseen his death. You’d think it’d come up occasionally for other Centauri – was Refa so determined to crush the Narn as pre-emptive revenge for his death at their hands?

- I assume there’s a limbo somewhere where relatives of main characters who get mentioned once and never seen again go. Londo’s nephew can hang out there with Sheridan’s sister and DS9’s General Martok’s son…

- Throwaway line, but – the Narn have only just managed to restore some forests to their homeworld? The Centauri don’t mess around when they conquer places, do they? A good thing the Shadows didn’t come out of hiding a few decades earlier, and form an alliance with a still expansionistic Centauri Republic…
And if Narn is still struggling to recover, annexing agricultural colonies looks less like treachery, and more desperation.

- ‘Refugee export service’? That’s a… rather peculiar phrasing. Who’s seeking refuge, anyway?

- Continuity oddity – Ragesh 3 was Narn before the Centauri invasion? I’m fairly sure this is the only reference anywhere to the Narn having spaceflight or colonies before the Centauri invasion. Granted, G’kar could be making things up, but Delenn does recognise the claim.

- Wondering if it would have been better to leave the non-aligned worlds out of the episode entirely; they don’t get introduced, they don’t get any lines, the Drazi appears to be cross-eyed, and there only seem to be eight of them… including Vir. I guess they hadn’t finished designing or producing the makeup for the full league?

- The dove-tailing of the raiders and Ragesh 3 plots seems a little contrived… Why would a weapons specialist be monitoring military transmissions in another star system?

- Talia: “I don’t feel like a victim.” Awww. *sad*

- I love the delicate way Delenn tries to eat a piece of popcorn.

[widsidh.livejournal.com]

> The Centauri prophetic dreams bother me somewhat; Londo seems to be the
> only one who’s foreseen his death. You’d think it’d come up occasionally
> for other Centauri – was Refa so determined to crush the Narn as
> pre-emptive revenge for his death at their hands?

I think it may be that not everyone pays as much attention to it as Londo does. Refa may well think he is above that kind of thing, for instance. It's one of the things that makes Londo a tragic character, that he is much more sensitive and aware than he admits, even to himself.

> Throwaway line, but – the Narn have only just managed to restore some
> forests to their homeworld? The Centauri don’t mess around when they
> conquer places, do they?

We do get to see that repeated later on, in case anyone was in any doubt...

> I love the delicate way Delenn tries to eat a piece of popcorn.

Yes, me too :-)
And the cautious approach she takes to the film!

[kathrid.livejournal.com]

The H-shaped ships are seen again, I think. They're patroling around one of the Narn stations the shadows attack. I'm not surprised you miss them, they get destroyed in about 5 seconds.