"The Parliament of Dreams" discussion [spoilers]

[ruuger]

This is the discussion post for the episode 1X05, "The Parliament of Dreams". Spoilers for the whole of the series, including the spin-offs and tie-ins, are allowed here so newbies beware.

Extra reading:

The article for "The Parliament of Dreams" at Lurker's Guide.

Comments

[wychwood]

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...).

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

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.

Yes, that bugged me a bit, too. Especially if it was the Earth government that came up with the 'dominant culture' parameter -- then Earth magically gets to break it?

[4thofeleven.livejournal.com]

What's always struck me as a little odd is that on the one hand, B5 makes a big deal out of the special unique humans who build diverse communities... and on the other hand, the Earth Alliance spends most of the series as a xenophobic isolationist totalitarian state that sits out the entire Shadow war.

[kathrid.livejournal.com]

I've always thought that the reason the humans were so important to winning the war against the Shadows (as the Vorlons had said to Dukhat over a decade earlier) was that they could tip either way. Human culture, compared to the other races, is very mixed and very dynamic and there's plenty for both of the Old races to work with. As a result, the humans end up splitting.

Add to this that one major race (Minbari) is definitely mostly pro-Vorlon, and one of the Narn/Centauri will probably go Shadow with the other being conquered as a result, and the only major race left is the key to the whole war.