"Conflicts of Interest" discussion

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 4X12, "Conflicts of Interest". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Summary:
Garibaldi gets a new job working for William Edgars. The resistance begins their counter-propaganda broadcasts.

Extra reading:
The article for "Conflicts of Interest" at The Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

The person I feel for most in this episode is Zack, caught in the crossfire between Sheridan and Garibaldi. Incidentally, why does Sheridan want the official PPG and link return? It's not like he knows about Garibadi's encounter with the Edgars minions, so "the company he keeps" must refer to the ISN interview, in which case it's a power demonstration/punishment.

Worthy of note: Zack points out that Garibaldi's behaviour is somewhat ooc, that there is something off and they should investigate that... and Sheridan dismisses it. It occurs to me this is one for the "this storyline works better with Sheridan than it would have with Sinclair" column because Sheridan doesn't actually know Garibaldi that well and so his reaction is entirely legitimate.

Ironically, Garibaldi in this particular episode doesn't act so differently than he would without Psi Corps interference, both in the positive sense (finding the missing girl and waiving his fee) and the negative (being so ticked off by Zack's following Sheridan's orders that he agrees to use his access). What is due to conditioning, imo, is his agreement to work for Edgars at the end right after deleting Lise's message unread, because investigating Edgars as we later find out was the primary reason for Bester reprogramming Garibaldi to begin with.

Speaking of: I don't think I bought the "William Edgars wants to save telepaths for philanthropic reasons from a virus" the first time around, either, but I had no idea what he would want.

Lise: got a lot of flak back in the day and still does. I'm Lise-neutral; the relationship with Garibaldi isn't that interesting to me, but neither is it objectionable. The problem is that Lise isn't that memorable a character on her own compared to others, at least not so far; otoh, I think she does come into her own in the s5 episode where she confronts Garibaldi about his drinking.

Zahtras (the other): gets a bit tiring as a running gag at this point.

Londo and G'Kar: back for the first time since Epiphanies and just for one scene, which is cruel. Sheridan's "do you want their blood on your hand" to Londo isn't half-bad as far as manipulation goes, and evidently works, though it's interesting that he assumes it will to begin with, instead of regarding Londo as a hopeless case.

[voxwoman.livejournal.com]

Lise (and Garibaldi's relationship with her) is one of the weakest-written bits in the entire series. She's too whiny, and I'm sorry, but a normal, well-adjusted woman does not marry someone 2 or 3 times her age unless it's for money. (if it's for other reasons, she's not "well adjusted" - she's got a father complex). I find her more annoying than Byron and his entire arc.

Additionally, why didn't she use Edgars' power/money to get custody of her child with Franz? That would be the NUMBER ONE thing a parent would do. I chalk that up to JMS not being a parent on his own, but it says volumes about Lise's character and none of it is good.

(I just "caught up" in my watching the series - acutally, I'm ahead now! So I can finally participate)

[vjs2259.livejournal.com]

"Additionally, why didn't she use Edgars' power/money to get custody of her child with Franz? That would be the NUMBER ONE thing a parent would do."

I've written the story of Lise's daughter twice because this bothers me so much. That includes the aforementioned femgen story coming up. Not a great story, but Lise's lack of gumption needs explanation.
I liked my first explanation better but you'd have to read the whole damn Telepath War to get to the punch at the end which explains what happened to Deborah.

Lise was married to Edgars less than a year btw. And Edgars did not strike me as the type to suffer prior children, or any distraction from his own needs, lightly.

[voxwoman.livejournal.com]

well, you have a point about that (which makes my first premise, that she "married for money" all the stronger, despite her protests). I always wondered if the daughter in Sleeping In Light was Franz's kid and not Michael's.

[vjs2259.livejournal.com]

Mary Garibaldi's only 16 (younger than David Sheridan.)

I always figured Lise married for security. That's why she couldn't stay with Garibaldi; he was too unstable.

[voxwoman.livejournal.com]

married 3 times in as many years? Not exactly "stable" LOL!

[vjs2259.livejournal.com]

I didn't say Lise was stable, I said she craved security (which you know, unstable people might well do). You guys are a little rough on Lise...she was left by Garibaldi, divorced her 1st husband due to his adultery, and her 2nd husband was murdered. A little soap opera-ish, but doesn't exactly indicate she's into casual serial relationships!