Now this is a classic episode... I love G'Kar in this, and Na'toth has my adoration right from her first moment onscreen *g*. She's such a fun character, so confident and sarky and all-round great - I love how she sparks off G'Kar, she doesn't take any of his nonsense, and she does enjoy the excuse for kicking him. Plus she's remarkably unfazed by his suspicious glaring earlier in the episode! Katsulas does so much with this episode, it's just wonderful.
Lennier, of course... he's the last one of the main cast to appear, isn't he? He's so sweet and innocent, and I still love Delenn's comment, echoing Dukhat's words to her. Londo and Vir get only a few lines each, but they're classics - and this is an exceptionally quotable episode, isn't it? In purple I am stunning, indeed.
And the B-plot - I actually really like Sakai, what we get to see of her, and her relationship with Sinclair. They start out a bit soap-opera-ish here (the spin and the "don't touch me unless you mean it" are a little too much for me)... but yet it still convinces me. I believe in their history and I like that she retains her independence even while they're deciding to take another risk on each other.
I really like the diversity of faiths Sinclair presents to the ambassadors at the end; it's a nice touch. But at the same time, it does rather point up the way that all the other races have been reduced to a single ceremony; there's an unfortunate tendency in SF for all alien races to be monocultures, single coherent blocks with one language, one belief system, one aesthetic and fashion and music. JMS is better than most at not falling into that trap, of making his alien worlds more than a single culture, but contrasting the Magic Diverse Humans with the Uniform Aliens... jars a little.
Anyway - this is a good solid episode, and I think the show hitting its stride as everyone gets comfortable. It's also eminently quotable, and full of all sorts of little things that will come back later on (Londo's goddess of passion, and the Xon; Delenn's position on the Grey Council; G'Kar's less-than-spotless past; Sakai and her work as a surveyor...).
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branchandroot
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Date: 2009-02-22 10:48 pm (UTC)Lennier, of course... he's the last one of the main cast to appear, isn't he? He's so sweet and innocent, and I still love Delenn's comment, echoing Dukhat's words to her. Londo and Vir get only a few lines each, but they're classics - and this is an exceptionally quotable episode, isn't it? In purple I am stunning, indeed.
And the B-plot - I actually really like Sakai, what we get to see of her, and her relationship with Sinclair. They start out a bit soap-opera-ish here (the spin and the "don't touch me unless you mean it" are a little too much for me)... but yet it still convinces me. I believe in their history and I like that she retains her independence even while they're deciding to take another risk on each other.
I really like the diversity of faiths Sinclair presents to the ambassadors at the end; it's a nice touch. But at the same time, it does rather point up the way that all the other races have been reduced to a single ceremony; there's an unfortunate tendency in SF for all alien races to be monocultures, single coherent blocks with one language, one belief system, one aesthetic and fashion and music. JMS is better than most at not falling into that trap, of making his alien worlds more than a single culture, but contrasting the Magic Diverse Humans with the Uniform Aliens... jars a little.
Anyway - this is a good solid episode, and I think the show hitting its stride as everyone gets comfortable. It's also eminently quotable, and full of all sorts of little things that will come back later on (Londo's goddess of passion, and the Xon; Delenn's position on the Grey Council; G'Kar's less-than-spotless past; Sakai and her work as a surveyor...).