"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

[ruuger]

Out of curiosity, were you satisfied by how the elements of Sheridan's dream were eventually explained? I remember thinking back in the day that Sheridan's PSI Cop uniform in the dream could be foreshadowing some connection that he had with the Corps (this was supported by Bester saying earlier in the season that he had assumed Sheridan to be more friendly towards the Corps), and looking at the Lurker's Guide article, I wasn't the only one. A dropped storyline or just a red herring?

Other notes:
- Were the Streib the same aliens as the ones who sent the quiz show probe in S3?
- I really like the fact that Ta'Lon wasn't just a one-off character, but turned up again in S3 and S5.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

One of the B5 episodes that is interesting in retrospect (the dream, the introduction of Ta'Lon) but still forgettable in itself, with a cliched plot and bad guys who are built up as a big threat but are never even alluded to again.

I always think that the "man in between" is actually Lorien, whatever conclusion Sheridan came to.

[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).

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

Kind of a weak episode for a variety of reasons – mainly because the Streib plot takes time away from the more interesting Delenn and General Hague plots, and also because Sheridan’s dream ends up not really going anywhere.

Then again, even if Sheridan’s dream had proven meaningful, I still wouldn’t have liked it – compare it with Londo’s dream. Londo’s dream works because even on a first viewing it’s fairly clear what it means – the mystery is how these events will come to pass, not what they are. Sheridan’s dream is a collection of random symbolic images that would have been impossible to interpret correctly the first time around even if they were pointing at anything specific.

And if Kosh is sending the dream, as is implied – well, why’d he wait until Sheridan was several sectors away in hyperspace before sending it to him? And how can Kosh know about the things the dream is about? Admittedly, since most of the dream turns out to be not that meaningful after all, that’s not that much of a problem – I guess Kosh just decided to send some random symbols at Sheridan to get his attention.

Delenn plot – same as selenak, I found myself rather more sympathetic to Neroon than I was expecting, and was rather hoping we’d get more of him mocking Delenn instead of yet more “Sheridan tries to lever open a suspiciously slightly open door”. In “Legacies”, Delenn used her power as Satai to force Neroon to assist in her deception; it’s clear he’s quite relishing the opportunity to deliver a little payback. And it’s rather hard to disagree with his assessment that the Grey Council is out of touch with Minbari society.

Random thought – it seems Delenn has never bothered to let anyone know that she consulted with Kosh before undergoing her transformation... you’d think that would carry some weight.

General Hague: Can’t help but feel the tone of the conversation would be a lot less dubious if Hague had been instead a senator or something – hell, they could have used Marie Crane, the opposition leader mentioned in “Midnight on the Firing Line.” Unfortunately there series is fairly consistent in portraying Earth’s entire political class as complicit in Clark’s regime.

Just me, or did the dialogue between Sheridan and Hague need rewriting a little bit? As it is, their conversation can be paraphrased as:
Hague: Your record makes you look like the sort of jarhead who’d go along with Clark’s plans.
Sheridan: How do you know I won’t turn you in, then?
Hague: A man’s record says a lot about him, and yours tells me you’re not the sort to go along with Clark’s plans.
Sheridan: ...alright.

Minor notes:

- Damnit, if you’re going to do an alien abduction episode, give the aliens a flying saucer! I know, I know, the Vree already have them – but the makeup’s the same anyway; go all out! And don't try and do Geiger-esque techno-organic interiors unless you've actually got the budget for it...

- Ramirez seems to get more characterisation and a more meaningful death than Keffer did in an entire season...

[widsidh.livejournal.com]

I had a bit of a deja vu with the dream sequence.

It regards the old French existentialist film Orphee (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041719/), a modern version of the Orpheus myth, in which Orphee, after a traffic accident is carried off by a beautiful and mysterious woman, who then resurrects him, followed by this bit of dialogue:

her: Do you know who I am?
him: I know.
her: Who am I?
him: My death.

This might be coincidence, but with JMS, that is not a concept that often occurs. See also this picture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Casares) of the actress (although in the film, she wears a more severe hairstyle and makeup).

hmmm... just a thought...

[vjs2259.livejournal.com]

This is the episode where I fell in love with Delenn.

I wrote out a whole long screed about it, but I'll keep it to myself. This is also the episode where Lennier begins his fall. Their scenes are the best part.

Minor quibbles:

How does Ta'lon know that's a survival pod and not a garbage chute?
Why is Ta'lon speaking English?
Why do torturing aliens always bring out buzzsaws and never use them?

Minor points:

The Drazi being used against Sheridan in a torture sequence previews Intersections.
Delenn's rescue of Sheridan previews Severed Dreams.
The Streib jettisoning the captives previews the 'raiders' jettisoning Garibaldi in S4.
Whitley Streiber previews the Streib :)