"A Day in the Strife" discussion

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 3X03, "A Day in the Strife". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Summary:
An alien probe holds Babylon 5 hostage. Meanwhile, the Centauri send a new liaison to replace G'Kar as the leader of the station's Narn population.

Extra reading:
The article for "A Day in the Strife" at Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

To get the nagging out of the way first, Garibaldi's "I looked up Sheridan's files and ZOMG he's such a brilliant military leader and we need a soldier now, not a diplomat!" practically screams "writer tells viewers they're to be impressed by Sheridan". It just feels like an un-Garibaldi statement besides.

On the good side of things: A Day in the Strife is Narn-centric, with Vir and Londo given the subplot, which practically guarantees it's good. I like that Na'Far isn't presented as evil or unsympathetic. (Non-evil characters with different viewpoints to main good guys always being a rarity on this or other shows.) The whole issue - which is more effective, non-stop resistance plus mass executions or time of cooperation, then big strike - also isn't settled, not in this episode and not by the show. (Since the way Narn is freed has nothing to do with the Narn resistance in general and is specifically dependent on Londo's and G'Kar's relationship.) JMS doesn't really deal with the whole planet-under-occupation scenarios intimately; that would be the focus of my other beloved space station show, DS9. (If Na'Toth had continued to be a regular, maybe there would have been a subplot about her on Narn?)

Seeing Ta'Lon back was a welcome surprise during first broadcast and sort of justified the mostly dull episode where he first showed up; I really like the character.

Garibaldi showing up when G'Kar is packing is another building stone for their strengthening friendship. Aw.

This is one of the episodes excellent for demonstrating you can want to punch Londo and hug him within the same episode. His deliberate humilation of Na'Far is arguably his darkest scene on the entire show bar one (the one coming in And the rock cried out, no hiding place); following it up with his scene with Delenn and then the temporary goodbye from Vir was a masterstroke. We had some indications Londo came to care for Vir before, such as his insisting on keeping Vir as his aide in season 2 (and the off screen talk with Vir's uncle), but this is the first time we get proof that what he feels is more than casual affection. His sending Vir away to Minbar is paradoxically the kindest and most selfless thing he's done for Vir. (That it's also wrong for Londo is another matter.)

Every time we get one of the few scenes between Londo and Delenn I'm frustrated the show didn't provide us with more of them, for they are invariably good, and there would have been much more to explore, given the starts-a-bloody-war/ends-up-in-close-relationship-with-archenemy parallels. This scene here is I think where Londo's dream image of Delenn as the not-to-be-swayed truthteller in The Very Long Night Of Londo Mollari hails from. Someone, I forgot who, once pointed out to me that what Londo does here - sending his aide away for what he perceives to be the aide's own good - is what Delenn can't bring herself to do in s5 (though Lennier leaves and then returns on his own). Different reasons, but I thought the comparison was interesting.

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

Not only was the Garibaldi scene totally out of character - seriously, did Garibaldi ever really trust Sheridan? It also felt oddly out of place, like something that belonged in early season two, as part of an attempt to sell the audience on a new character. By this point, surely there's nobody in the audience still on the fence about Sheridan?

And we don't need to be *told* what an awesome commander he is when we saw him as a brilliant strategist two episodes ago...

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I think Garibaldi warmed up to Sheridan during s2 and probably was the closest he got by the end of s3 before the, err, Psi Corps experience, and he probably trusted him a lot in a comrade-in-arms and commander sense - but I never had the impression that trust was ever unconditional. And this kind of fanboying is out of character for Garibaldi and anyone (except Warner Brothers cartoons). He didn't go around randomly telling other members of the command staff what a fabulous guy Sinclair was, either, and he loved Sinclair.

As far as I recall, Sheridan was generally accepted and embraced by fandom at the start of s3, yes, so I have no idea why JMS felt this scene necessary.

On the other hand, both Garibaldi's concern for Franklin and his visit to G'Kar entirely flow from what has been established before.

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

I’d forgotten season three had all these stand-alone episodes at the start. Of course, they’re not really standalone in the sense of being disconnected from the arc – Bezerker probe aside, the episode’s mainly detailing the status quo after the end of season two, giving a change to see how things have changed before they all go to hell in the mid-season episodes. That’s nice – once the arc starts up again in a few episodes, it’s pretty much non-stop until the end of season four, with few opportunities to really reflect on what’s going on.

As selenak has said, Na’Far is a surprisingly likable collaborator. It’s nice that it’s left ambiguous as to how much of a point he had – there’s no evidence that the Narn resistance ever accomplished much, and he is probably correct that Narn really isn’t in a position to continue the fight immediately. And Londo is quite right that Na’Far is only hiding his pride; he sincerely believes his path is the most effective way of ensuring an eventual Narn victory. A shame the character never appeared again – outside of G’Kar, the Narn never really get the same amount of depth as the Centauri.

The Bezerker plot – eh. Why design a bomb with such a specific detonation trigger? Just have it blow up whenever it detects alien spaceships or stations, and who cares if the potential threat only scored nine out of ten on quantum physics? Anyway, pretty forgettable – even the episode trailer managed to work out that it wasn’t the main focus of the episode, and they tend to assume whatever plot has the most special effects must be the only plot worth mentioning.

Minor notes:

- The Narn casualty figures seem oddly low. I’d have thought several days of orbital bombardment would leave millions dead, not merely tens of thousands. Of course the ‘official’ Centauri figures is, no doubt, much lower than the real number...

- B5’s limited pool of actors willing to wear full-face makeup is occasionally irritating, like when the same actor plays multiple League ambassadors, but it does work well in episodes like this as several of the Narn requesting G’Kar remain are members of the Narn community seen in earlier episodes. I think one of them is the Narn whose family G’Kar contacted in “Comes the Inquisitor” for example. Helps establish the Narn on Babylon 5 as a close-knit community.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I’d forgotten season three had all these stand-alone episodes at the start.


Me too. I remembered the upcoming Gethesmane episode because that is one of my favourite standalones in the entire show, but didn't recall there were so many in a row.

Narn community: that's true. I think it's also interesting that G'Kar doesn't bond with any of them, including the new arrival Ta'Lon, beyond his leader-in-exile capacity; instead, his new friendships, now that Na'Toth is gone, are with Garibaldi and to some degree Delenn and Sheridan. In a way, it prepares what happens in s4 and s5; his eventual inability to live among his own people comes not a little from him going from leader to prophet, but he's not really one of a group.

[widsidh.livejournal.com]

I’d forgotten season three had all these stand-alone episodes at the start.

I had forgotten it had this episode - completely!

I'd like to challenge last week's suggestion for least memorable episode. Convictions at least I vaguely remembered as "the one with Londo and G'Kar in the lift", and, quite separately "the one where Brother Theo arrives"...

That said, it does contain some very good scenes in the Narn plotline (as others have commented), and Franklin's problem starts to be spelt out more explicitly.

Ah, but...

[selenak.livejournal.com]

While the Mad Bomber and the berserker probe are equally forgettable, the former gets more screentime than the later. A day in the strife has far more Narn scenes than Convictions does have Londo & G'Kar scenes.

Re: Ah, but...

[widsidh.livejournal.com]

true, but I do remember the lift scene quite distincly as a scene (and also Ivanova/Theo), whereas much of the other arc business from both episodes is in my mind as general information, but I would not have been able to say where I learnt it.

One could of course argue that I *should* have remembered te humiliation scene...

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

The problem with determining the 'least memorable episode' is that the least memorable episode is the one you never remember when you're trying to think of episodes...

I have this nagging sense there's some episode in early season five that's even less memorable than either, but since I can't remember it, well...