"All Alone in the Night" discussion

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 2X11, "All Alone in the Night". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Summary:
Sheridan is abducted by a mysterious alien ship. Meanwhile, Delenn travels to Minbar to find out if the Grey Council will allow her to continue as an ambassador after her transformation.

Extra reading:
The article for "All Alone in the Night" at Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Watchable episode, but not a favourite, neither back in the day nor now. What struck me immediately upon rewatching it was that the Delenn subplot evokes different emotions now than it did then. Back then, I reacted as I think we're supposed to; I felt sorry for Delenn and was enraged at what I saw as a display of Minbari racism, plus I was worried about the Grey Council now being dominated by the Warrior Caste. Rewatching, I have a lot more sympathy for Neroon, especially since it's not too long since we rewatched Legacies. By treating him - and come to think of it, also the Minbari in the earlier s2 episode who just wanted an explanation why Delenn changed, which she denied pulling status on him - unnecessarily arrogant, Delenn certainly created her own enemy and her own ostracism, in parts at least. Here we see her for the first time exlain to other Minbari why she changed, and what she wants to achieve in terms of reconciliation, and I think it's significant it's the council she explains herself to. Delenn until this point still displays very much an hierarchic mind set; nobody but her fellow council members are her equals. Thinking about it, I also realized that until this ostracism by the council, Delenn never had an experience where she wasn't part of the upper hierarchy, an outsider instead of an insider. She excelled as a student, she was Dukhat's chosen successor, she was the youngest member of the Grey Council, and yet they not only followed her lead in the war but in the peace, and wanted to make her leader; to be rejected instead of praised and obeyed by other Minbari is completely new.

Something else: it's interesting that Delenn's worry about the military caste now dominating the Council leading to renewed war turns out to be a red herring. I mean, yes, we get the Minbari civil war in s4, but not only is that, when it comes, presented as being as much the religious caste's fault a it is the warrior caste's, but it happens after the Shadow War; during the Shadow War, instead of, say, taking advantage of the situation to expand territory or something like this, the council members first follow Delenn's lead in breaking the council in s3 and then also follow her lead to support Sheridan with military help.

Speaking of red herrings: the first time around, I expected Robert Foxworth's character to become more important than he actually did. (I know, there was a casting problem, i.e. he also got a guest role on DS9 by the time B5 seceeded from Earth, but still.) Rewatching, I can't help but notice a certain irony in the whole "several higher uppers in the military get together in a conspiracy to depose Clark" thing, even while he and Sheridan talk about Clark's assumption of power being a coup. I mean, yes, there is "something nasty going on" back home. And we know Santiago was indeed assassinated. But these gents here aren't exactly talking about new elections either, are they? One assumes WWII-obsessed JMS might have been going for a parallel with the July 20th conspirators against Hitler, who came near exclusively from the army, with some diplomats thrown in, but even these guys, who weren't stellar democrats but originally monarchists, thought of having a civilian chancellor prepared to take over from Hitler and NOT someone from their own ranks.

Red Herrings, III: Sheridan and his friend talking about Psi Corps as the prime mover and shaker behind Clark. We've discussed the question whether this means JMS changed his mind later or whether it was a deliberate red herring before, and while not being entirely sure, I'm still leaning on the "red herring" side, simply because, as I said earlier, Psi Corps as the Big Bad on Earth (instead of part of Psi Corps being in bed with Clark, but as one of his tools rather than vice versa) wouldn't have been as interesting; it would have amounted to Sheridan & Co. just having to remove the Eeeevil Telepaths (tm) instead of having to fight a civil war.

Like the other commentators, I'm really happy Ta'Lon (yay!) was not a one shot character and came back, because that story with Sheridan was exceedingly predictable (Star Trek did these type of scenarios so often you can practically decide every moment and every line by heart).