b5_revisited | "The Parliament of Dreams" discussion [spoilers]

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"The Parliament of Dreams" discussion [spoilers]

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.

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I was happy to get to this episode, because this is where I remember falling in love with the show -- specifically, with the scene of Londo at the banquet telling everyone they were cute. That was such a fun, spontaneous- seeming bit of characterization and it's the moment I remember thinking for the first time, "I'm really going to enjoy getting to know these people."

On rewatching, I was surprised how comedic the G'Kar assassination plot played out. I think that made up for it being a bit predictable -- the writers must have realized it was pretty obvious G'Kar wouldn't be assassinated, and just decided to have some fun with how he would react to those situations. Of course, there is a darker theme underneath, as we learn some sobering things about how Narn politics are conducted. But mostly it was just fun.

The Catherine/Sinclair romance, on the other hand, was stiff stiff stiff. I thought there was some decent writing in their exchanges, but it would have needed a lighter touch to come off well. Points for the Tennyson though; totally overdone, but as a 'Ulysses' fan I still enjoyed it.

It'll be very difficult to do this episode justice because it is without doubt one of the best -if not the best - in the season. Just for starters, I love the plot with G'Kar and the assassin, which though it's basically comic relief, does a nice job not only of filling in more details about Narn culture but also of 'humanising' G'Kar. He's not yet past the stage of being the 'villain' but this episode adds layers to him, and Julie Caitlin Brown is splendid as Na'Toth.

I think I saw someone say on a previous post that they didn't see any chemistry between Sinclair and Catherine Sakai, but I have to disagree. I think they have loads. I love Catherine and am very sorry that we never got an end to the Sinclair/Catherine story onscreen. I've read the novel written by JMS's wife, but unfortunately cannot remember the story and don't know how it was resolved, but that line of hers to Sinclair, "Don't touch me unless you mean it," still sends chills down my spine. Over the years, I'd forgotten who said that and it was a revelation to hear to it again. I felt their relationship was very believable.

Which segues in to the Minbari religious ceremony scene, because there's no doubt in my mind that at this point Sinclair and Delenn were meant to end up a couple. They go through a marriage ceremony in this episode. I can't believe that wasn't meant to mean something. I like Sheridan very much, but one thing this rewatch has really brought home to me is how much JMS's original ideas were messed about by the constant coming and going of various actors - in this case, not Michael O'Hare's fault, as I understand it.

The Centauri religious ceremony is completely hilarious. Peter Jurasik is at his absolute best as early season Comedy Londo. Wonderful, wonderful stuff. In fact, the only quibble I have with the episode is that in the long parade of Earth religions at the end, my own is not included.

Edited 2009-02-22 22:49 (UTC)

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...).

I agree with the earlier assessments that this is really one of the best of early season 1, if not the best. You got another dose of utter awesome that is Londo and G'Kar, and the introduction of Na'Toth is perfectly done. I also enjoyed the deeper look into the insights of the intricacies of Narn culture and how much of that has survived the Centauri takeover of their world. Under the proud exterior that G'Kar constantly shows, you can see just how much he wants to live. We get our first true glimpse of how much his religion is a part of his life, and we know how much the words of G'Quan are going to play into later events.

I had heard about the rebirth/marriage ceremony aspect of this episode long before I actually saw it for the first time, and maybe it's because I looked at this from a perspective of having Sheridan/Delenn together that I just could not see it. I've read about the original JMS plans and this episode drives home for me the lack of chemistry in that area that I felt regarding Sinclair and Delenn. Even back at this point in season one when the original plans were probably somewhat intact, I just never got that sense that they were supposed to be together. I do wonder if that's part of what TPTB saw in this as well, realizing that Sinclair and Delenn didn't have the right sort of chemistry to pull off such a major relationship critical to the core of the show, and to find someone else that had better chemistry with Mira Furlan on that level. They really hit the mark with Bruce as Sheridan.

Likewise with Sinclair and Catherine Sakai. It was the ninth novel that made me really fall for this pairing, because again I really wasn't sensing the chemistry. The line from Catherine Sakai, and many apologies to those who did enjoy this scene, sounded very forced to me. I actually enjoyed the aftermath more than the build-up to Sinclair and Catherine sleeping together.

The end of the episode where Sinclair introduces all of the major religions of Earth is just beautiful and really shows us just how diverse our own world is and how it is going to become even more so in the future. I love how JMS really shows a great amount of respect to all faiths and it's greatly making me look forward to seeing Brother Theo in season 3. Oh, how I wish more had been done with Brother Theo!

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?

Parliament of Dreams: is a shining, shining example of what's best about B5 this early on. It introduces two more regulars - Lennier and Na'Toth, starts their relationships with their respective ambassadors, showcases one of JMS' strengths - giving different aliens their own cultural backgrounds and religions, and using humanity's own, and managing to avoid to present any of them as superior to the other -; but most of all, this is the episode which starts to flesh G'Kar out as a character.
Until then, we did get some background information on G'Kar that made his motivations understandable - i.e. the century of Centauri occupation on Narn - but we only ever saw him from other characters' povs, and his function in the narrative seemed to be a sometimes funny villain. Parliament of Dreams brings us in G'Kar's pov and without suddenly making him a saint shows us there is much more going on with him. There is also some neat foreshadowing, whether or not that was intentional at this early point.
G'Kar refusing to scream for the assassin is an obvious parallel to G'Kar refusing to scream for Emperor Cartagia in s4. It's all the more effective because the episode showed earlier that G'Kar has a healthy sense of self-preservation and is indeed afraid for his life. His bravery, endurance and stubbornness isn't because of a complete lack of fear, it's despite the fact he wants to live as much as anyone. The episode also showcases G'Kar's joie de vivre (when not being threatened); him singing to his food was a brilliant stroke (and as I seem to recall an addition by Andreas Katsulas?). It's picked up much later in s3 in a far more twisted context, when he's locked in a turbo lift with Londo.
Parliament of Dreams is the episode that gives us more about the Narn than just the fact they're the current rising power and former victims of Centauri occupation. They seem to have gender quality (Na'Toth, like Ko'Dath before her, wears the same type of body armour G'Kar does and is certainly talking to Tu'Pari as an equa), a ruling council instead of a sole head of state, and, interestingly, an assassin's guild with strict rules. (This is interesting because given that the Centauri have something very simular - they seem to have guilds for everything, including torturers, who as Cartagia complaints insist on the new name pain technicians - I rather suspect the Narn adopted this from them during that century of occupation.)
As far as the attachés are concerned: it was a stroke of luck the actress for Ko'Dath didn't cope with the Narn make-up, because Julie Caitlin Brown is brilliant as Na'Toth, giving her a sardonic sense of humour and exuding intelligence; her toughness comes across as impressive, not as a caricature as with the earlier attaché. And it's my ongoing regret she didn't stay; Mary Kay Adams simply wasn't as good as Na'Toth, and so it's not surprising JMS eventually wrote her out. I'm still torn as to whether or not this benefited or lessened the overall story - on the one hand, Na'Toth returning to Narn heightens G'Kar's isolation, and makes his breakdown-plus-epiphany-plus-path-to-wisdom in season 3 all the more effective. And of course finding her a Centauri prisoner in s5 was an effective way of demonstrating that just because he found wisdom, he doesn't feel less fiercely about this type of outrage. On the other hand, if Na'Toth had remained on the station, the relationship between her and G'Kar might have become the equivalent of the one between Londo and Vir in terms of emotional importance, and it would have provided us with an alternate Narn pov on events, and more background information on the Narn.

Lennier's first encounter with Delenn later (in the show; earlier in the actual timeline, of course) is mirrored by her first encounter with Dukhat, which underlines the interpretation that Delenn intended for Lennier to become her protege and successor, as Dukhat had with her, and also begs the question whether Delenn's feelings for Dukhat were similar to those Lennier will eventually harbour for her. Rewatching the episode, it strikes me that her scene with Lennier her is the first one in this season where Delenn appears fully formed to me, as the character I remember from the show, and maybe it's not a coincidence it's a scene with another Minbari and not with Sinclair.
Speaking of whom: JMS and his fondness for certain initials strikes again, as Catherine Sakai shows up and we hear her predecessor in Sinclair's affections from the pilot is out of the picture. Catherine is of course another archaeologist, and given what later happens with Anna Sheridan, as well as the Minbari ceremony with its doubling of a marriage/rebirth ritual, it very much looks to me that if Sinclair had remained the show's leading man Catherine would have ended up disappearing at the end of s1 or in early s2 and would have returned, same as Anna did, at the end of s3, while Sinclair and Delenn became an item. The switch of leads means Catherine got a kinder fate in the novels - in "To Dream in the City of Sorrows" it's very much hinted that the time crack through which she disappears brought her a thousand years into the past where she would find Sinclair-as-Valen. But on the show, she simply doesn't show up anymore after s1. I must say I liked her; the actress sells the confident explorer bit to me. (And I still want a crack fic with all the B5 and Crusade archaelogists running into each other.)
Londo just has one scene in this episode (well, except for being present in the last scene), but it's so outrageously funny when watched first and so moving when watched with the whole show in mind (because this is the scene Londo flashes back to before accepting the Keeper) that it only doesn't steal the show because G'Kar is so good. (Sidenote: isn't it interesting that of the three B5 staff officers, Ivanova is the one who has the most fun and is the most relaxed during the Centauri party, err, ceremony? Which makes sense if you think it through - Sinclair's mind is on his returned immamorata, and Garibaldi is an alcoholic on the wagon who is bound to feel uncomfortable surrounded by people getting smashed.) As always, it's amazing that this light relief scene actually manages to convey a lot of Centauri background, and not just the fact they see a party as the best way to conduct a religious ceremony. There's also the fact they once fought a genocidal war with the other species on their planet. (Bet Vir doesn't find the "last Xorn" joke funny any more a season or two later.) Londo's declamation of the gods makes it clear he doesn't really believe in any of them; the statue of Li, the goddess of passion, has both female and male attributes though at this point in the show the viewers don't know yet what the tentacles mean. We can see Vir has grown far more confident in his relationship with Londo, and utterly comfortable around him. Oh, and I get the two lines that I recently quoted as an example of why a characterisation of Londo as a homophobe doesn't work for me - his telling both Delenn and Garibaldi they are cute.
(On that note: we get Londo/G'Kar slash joke number #2 as Sinclair, upon being told the Minbari ceremony he attended can also work as a marriage ceremony, says "so that's why G'Kar looked to anxious; funny, I didn't think Londo was his type".)
The final scene, with Sinclair having decided to demonstrate Earth's dominant belief system by lining up representatives from every human religion is just beautiful, and this time it really struck me that the first representative he introduces is an atheist. (Upon first watching I hadn't found it particularly noteworthy, but after all the comments about Obama naming atheists along with Christians, Muslims and Jews in his inauguration speech I realized how unsual this was for an American show.)

You have to give JMS his endearing Tennyson fanboying; even when Sheridan showed up, and he couldn't just transfer literary fondnesses, he had Sheridan finding "someone's" copy of Ulysses in his quarters to quote from...

Ha ha -- I'd forgotten that, how awesome!

I feel like I read something else where JMS quoted Ulysses recently. Maybe an issue of 'Thor.' Or maybe that was Lincoln (Sheridan's obsession) that he revisited. Either way, I do adore his earnest fanboying.

Not much to add that hasn't been extensively discussed already. This is one of my favorites from S1 as well, and begins a run of four important episodes (to my mind at least).

I have to admit, the most important thing for me, is the arrival of Lennier, as he is one of my favorite characters. Such lovely innocence and curiosity. Delenn finally shows more of herself, especially her humor and empathy, but also some steel and authoritarianism.

I liked Catherine and Sinclair, or rather Catherine mostly. The 'can't live with you, can't live without you' relationship is more than adequately portrayed to my mind. (Has anyone ever written anything about her aunt and his brother, and why they only ever inquire about those relatives? Inquiring minds want to know.)

When we first watched this, my then-three-year-old, who was fixated on G'Kar, referred to the Narn ever afterwards as 'the man who was afraid of a flower.'

The rebirth ceremony (which apparently has many aspects, and will show up again in Ceremonies of Light and Dark, or rather won't show up) is fascinating, and that's the sexiest bit of ritual ever. Do Minbari really get married with an exchange of meaningful looks? After forty or fifty rituals leading up to the finale, I suppose a look might do.

The first time I really liked the parade of religions at the end, but this time it only raised questions. First, I don't think we can assume that the other races only had one demonstration each; the thing went on a whole week after all. The ambassador's presentation would be the most important, but there could well have been more. I also wonder that EarthGov would declare such an event and not dictate what Sinclair should do. It seemed to me that he was doing this on his own (Susan and Garibaldi didn't know what he was up to) and that this was a compromise on his part. It seemed more of a showcase for the whole 'humans build communities' riff that comes up later.

Do you think the aliens saw it as a comeuppance (we can tolerate more diversity than you) or evidence of the human's youth and unseriousness (they can't even settle to one religion!) And where did all those people come from? Were they all on the station? Was the delay in Earth's presentation due to their having to get there? I also wonder at the contrast between how humans are presented as tolerant of diversity within our own species, but then we're xenophobic and intolerant of aliens. Or at least some of us are.

Well, to be fair with the last...

All the races have their tendencies towards xenophobia. They don't usually like each other all that much. Humans are presented as more diverse than the other races, but I think that is a sign of our youth: we didn't band together in a one world government, IIRC, until first contact with the Centauri. It's a thing: the bigger the community gets, the larger the important subsets are. I think I'm blithering, but I hope the point gets across.

Frankly, though I love Lennier, and I love Delenn, and I love this episode, whenever I see their first meeting my thought is, "No! Don't look up! She will destrooooy you!"

I think the real reason G'Kar gets tortured so much in this series is because Andreas Katsulas does *pain* so very, very well. He totally deserves the fixation of all three year olds, everywhere.

As for the Minbari ritual, I think it might be one option for secret marriages. In Europe they used to allow those, no clergy or witnesses required. Can't imagine anyone really getting married without informing the person they're getting married *to*, but then this was back when they were still working with the plot of Sinclair and Delenn getting together and producing Alien Hybrid Time Jesus, so...

I call this episode the real first episode, and I always start the noobs on it rather than Midnight on the Firing Line.

Hi, I've been lurking. This is one of my favorite episodes in B5.

Commentary!

Loved the little background details, like the screens.

The anthropologist in me is not a fan of Garibaldi's lack of respect for other people's belief systems. It's a common fault of many, however.

Centauri culture notes: I think I saw that Morgoth statuette in a catalogue once. I do so love the design of Centauri women, both the upper class and the dancers. "He has become one with his inner self" is the best euphemism for being passed-out from drunkenness ever.

Na'Toth's backhanded comment on how anything gets into G'Kar's bed = win.

It's interesting to see how the relationships between the ambassadors and their attaches change and strengthened over the course of the show.

Wished there would have been more of N'Grath.

Little detail I missed the first time: G'Kar swapping his red fruit for Ivanova's during the Minbari ceremony. Someone needs to make an animated icon of him waving around his panties.

I do like the little detail of the near-sighted Narn with reading glasses.

G'Kar's refusal to cry out for his tormentor strikes me as foreshadowing of when he was refusing to scream for Cartagia.

While I did like that Sinclair's idea of demonstration was introducing the ambassadors to representatives of many faiths on Earth, I do agree with other commentators that it does make it look like all the other non-human peoples are mono-religious or mono-ethnic, which may not be correct (especially given on-screen time restraints, and who knows what cultural restraints those peoples may have?). We're not really in a position to know (and, well, it is fiction). Plus JMS covered this in the link in the OP anyway ("jms speaks" segment).

This comment by JMS: "I would think that Londo and G'Kar might actually find something in common in appreciation of Gilbert and Sullivan. In fact, G'Kar's "little fishie" song in "Parliament of Dreams" was intended to be a bit G&S in nature." It sorta makes me wish to see their reactions to, say, Pirates of Penzance or HMS Pinafore.

Overall, excellent episode. I really do appreciate the opportunity to rewatch.

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.

He did revisit Sheridan quoting his father on "never be the one to start a fight; always be the one to win it" in The Changeling, when Angelina Jolie quotes it to her son early on. It made me grin. Aw, JMS.

Catherine is of course another archaeologist, and given what later happens with Anna Sheridan, as well as the Minbari ceremony with its doubling of a marriage/rebirth ritual, it very much looks to me that if Sinclair had remained the show's leading man Catherine would have ended up disappearing at the end of s1 or in early s2 and would have returned, same as Anna did, at the end of s3, while Sinclair and Delenn became an item.

Isn't Catherine a surveyor rather than an archaeologist? In the Babylon 5 universe, archaeologists get a pretty raw deal, but I thought that Catherine was more of a scientist.

(As an aside, my favorite bit characters in this episode are the guys she gets the good-news-Q40 payoff from. They're incredibly cute.)

From what I read in JMS' notes, Catherine would have wound up mind-wiped and unable to remember her and Jeff's relationship. It makes JMS' later comments in Thor about how silly that plotline is rather amusing!

how much JMS's original ideas were messed about by the constant coming and going of various actors

I'm sure Sinclair was to marry Delenn, and Catherine was intended to be the Anna character, with her explorations in search of old civilisations and tech which would eventually lead her to the Shadows, just as more was planned for Talia, with her gift of telekinesis.

Humans are presented as more diverse than the other races, but I think that is a sign of our youth

That's sort of what I was trying to say; that I wouldn't think demonstrating our immaturity would be a positive. Maybe we're sought after as Shadow fighters cause we're too young and stupid to know we can't win?

"No! Don't look up! She will destrooooy you!"

And so she does. It was tragic for both of them, but then, I love tragedy, you see. Watching Lennier unravel in the background is fascinating to me. I think the ambassador who does best by his attache is Londo, who tries to protect Vir throughout.

He totally deserves the fixation of all three year olds, everywhere.

I heard an interview with Bruce once where he said his newborn was fascinated by G'Kar on set...maybe he's a baby whisperer.

Secret marriages! Oh, now that's a concept I could run with!

Alien Hybrid Time Jesus *shudder*

I liked Sinclair, but sometimes things happen for the best. They really, really do.

Surveyor, right you are! Though I still say she'd have found Z'ha'Dum.

Incidentally, Catherine mentioning how expensive the food she bought to celebrate with Jeff was reminds me that this used to be an issue in s1 - the price for fresh food, and for example Franklin being able to order meat for medical purposes, but not Garibaldi - but not in the later show. Since G'Kar, Londo and Delenn never seem to have a problem getting the food they want, I assume the ambassadors get their supplies from home?

the only quibble I have with the episode is that in the long parade of Earth religions at the end, my own is not included.

Mine, either (Wicca/NeoPaganism). Which I find quite ironic, given that the Declaration of Principles has been adapted by 3/4 of the local groups into their rituals, and the entire series is required watching for new members in at least one coven that I know.

this used to be an issue in s1 - the price for fresh food, and for example Franklin being able to order meat for medical purposes, but not Garibaldi - but not in the later show

Maybe the hydroponic gardens weren't yet in full use back in S1? I think fresh vegetables were seen a lot in later seasons, but bacon and eggs were still a rare treat in "Messages from Earth".

I was going to point out the fruit swapping business in the background, but you beat me to it :)

That's one of my favorite bits, BECAUSE nobody ever catches it the first time through - you're paying way too much attention to what's going on in the foreground.

To be fair, though, we don't hear the full list of names! I'd expect there to be a Wiccan (or similar) in there somewhere.

It's picked up much later in s3 in a far more twisted context, when he's locked in a turbo lift with Londo.

Yes! I was struck by that, I'd forgotten it was the same song as he sang to his dinner. I'm sure you could make something shippy out of the reuse *g*, if it weren't so creepy in context...

The not-screaming thing was something I never really noticed before, but, yes: nice foreshadowing again.

I hadn't thought of Garibaldi's alcoholism in the context of the banquet! Good catch. We don't know about that yet, do we? So foreshadowing again...

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