Sorry about the delay; been flat out this week with essays and didn’t get the chance to sit down and watch the show until today. Not sure where everyone else is, though…
This is, of course, one of if not the most important single episode of the whole show* – and I was very pleased to see it come up in the list, since I thought we still had a couple of forgettable stand-alones before we got to the real meat of the episode. Selenak’s already covered most of the importance of the episode, but I thought I’d throw out a few minor bits.
It’s interesting that when Sheridan talks to G’Kar at the reception, G’Kar says he “makes no promises, but I will hear what he has to say” – when his contact on Narn had advised he assassinate the Emperor before the speech. Had G’Kar already decided to at least delay his attack until after the speech?
Londo, I feel, seems to be as much motivated here by a desire to look cool in front of Refa as an actual desire to see the Narn crushed. He admits he’s just as uncomfortable as Vir, but he’s not willing to back out and look like the weaker man when this is his chance to be recognised as something other than a joke by the powerful. I agree with the comparison to Macbeth.
The Rangers – man, I’d forgotten they were introduced here too. I wonder, exactly what sort of human heads to Minbar and agrees to join a new secret intelligence/paramilitary organisation there? Later on, once the Shadows are striking fairly openly, sure, but right now? You’d kinda have to be some sort of nut, yes?
Incidentally, if you’re doing covert operations and observation, the large shiny insignia/cape combination might be something you want to avoid. Then again, nobody on B5 seems to know how to keep a low profile – Refa and Londo discuss the potential fallout of the Quadrant 14 attack in a crowded corridor with a Narn standing barely a foot behind them!
Minor notes:
- There’s something vaguely amusing about how much G’Kar wanders about, gestures wildely and so forth while talking to the Narn government guy over the communicator. I really have to wonder if the other guy can even see him half the time, and is just trying to resist the urge to tell him to just sit down while they’re talking…
- Just me, or is the bigger Centauri warship really, really ugly? The small ships with the curved fins are nice, as are the crescent shaped fighters, but the capital ships look like something the Earth Alliance would reject as ‘too inelegant’.
* Other candidates – Chrysalis, Severed Dreams… Season 4’s episodes are so intertwined that it’s hard to single one out as especially important.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-08-20 07:48 am (UTC)This is, of course, one of if not the most important single episode of the whole show* – and I was very pleased to see it come up in the list, since I thought we still had a couple of forgettable stand-alones before we got to the real meat of the episode.
Selenak’s already covered most of the importance of the episode, but I thought I’d throw out a few minor bits.
It’s interesting that when Sheridan talks to G’Kar at the reception, G’Kar says he “makes no promises, but I will hear what he has to say” – when his contact on Narn had advised he assassinate the Emperor before the speech. Had G’Kar already decided to at least delay his attack until after the speech?
Londo, I feel, seems to be as much motivated here by a desire to look cool in front of Refa as an actual desire to see the Narn crushed. He admits he’s just as uncomfortable as Vir, but he’s not willing to back out and look like the weaker man when this is his chance to be recognised as something other than a joke by the powerful. I agree with the comparison to Macbeth.
The Rangers – man, I’d forgotten they were introduced here too. I wonder, exactly what sort of human heads to Minbar and agrees to join a new secret intelligence/paramilitary organisation there? Later on, once the Shadows are striking fairly openly, sure, but right now? You’d kinda have to be some sort of nut, yes?
Incidentally, if you’re doing covert operations and observation, the large shiny insignia/cape combination might be something you want to avoid. Then again, nobody on B5 seems to know how to keep a low profile – Refa and Londo discuss the potential fallout of the Quadrant 14 attack in a crowded corridor with a Narn standing barely a foot behind them!
Minor notes:
- There’s something vaguely amusing about how much G’Kar wanders about, gestures wildely and so forth while talking to the Narn government guy over the communicator. I really have to wonder if the other guy can even see him half the time, and is just trying to resist the urge to tell him to just sit down while they’re talking…
- Just me, or is the bigger Centauri warship really, really ugly? The small ships with the curved fins are nice, as are the crescent shaped fighters, but the capital ships look like something the Earth Alliance would reject as ‘too inelegant’.
* Other candidates – Chrysalis, Severed Dreams… Season 4’s episodes are so intertwined that it’s hard to single one out as especially important.