Rather a weak episode; it spends too long beating you over the head with the message that bigotry is bad. Well, sure, but a little subtlety is nice; everyone pretty much agrees the KKK aren’t nice people.
- One of the few times we see an ordinary Minbari. It’s nice to see a civilian Minbari – and to see Delenn does have friends. I wonder if Mayan knows Delenn is Satai – Lennier knew, but he was presumably briefed when he was assigned to Babylon 5. How well known are the Grey Council’s members to everyday Minbari?
- Is poet considered a specifically religious caste role? Or are the three castes separate enough that they have their own culture and entertainment? I’d assume they would – they have their own languages, after all.
- The ‘branding’ looks to me less like ‘a painful and permanent disfigurement’ and more like ‘a rubber stamp of some sort’. Kinda takes away from the scene…
- Hey, it’s our second unconvincing former lover in two weeks! This one’s actually less believable than Talia/Ironheart was. Susan’s sense of betrayal would probably come across stronger if a, they hadn’t already broken up eight years before, b, they had any chemistry whatsoever, and c, if he hadn’t come across as a slimy loser right from the start already…
- Vir claiming to be the ambassador seems a little out of character, particularly for season 1 Vir. I’m going to personally assume his relative merely misinterpreted his messages…
- Dear god, the ‘comedy’ music in this episode is irritating.
- Also one of the few times we see ordinary Centauri. I wonder, are Kiron and Aria – and Vir for that matter – more in line with mainstream Centauri society than Londo or the other major Centauri we see in the series? Is there a generational difference? The new generation, who never knew a time when the Centauri were the dominant power, not seeing the point in holding to the old traditions and power structures?
- The Kosh scene doesn’t do much for me. We get a reminder of one of the pilot’s biggest plot holes – which considering we never get an explanation, is arguably worse than never mentioning it – and an attempt to build the mystery of Kosh and the Vorlons by showing how he’s… studying the history of the people he’s living among. Not exactly the most cryptic thing Kosh has ever done.
- Sinclair infiltrating Home Guard has, I think, the same problems as him going into the club with Londo in “Born to the Purple” – when you think about it logically, it does make some sense – why would a club owner know the station commander on sight, and hate groups tend to assume they’re just saying what everyone’s thinking – but from a dramatic point of view, it feels too easy to accept on a first viewing.
- Sinclair’s ‘plan’ seems to me like it would cause more trouble that it would solve. He deliberately snubs an alien ambassador, mutters about how ‘the only good alien’s a dead one’ at a diplomatic function, then decides to give the B5 council the impression that he’s intentionally sheltering the perpetrators of the attacks – god knows why, I doubt Home Guard follows the meetings of the council closely. This is in an atmosphere where retaliatory attacks are already taking place, and crowds of aliens are apparently already convinced that security is unwilling to act against human criminals. Sure, they catch Home Guard in the end – but I doubt the arrest of four individuals is enough to defuse the toxic environment Sinclair helped to create. Hate groups *thrive* in environments where the authorities are perceived as being sympathetic to them – both because it emboldens their own people, and makes minority groups less likely to report attacks, since they think there’s no point. I somehow doubt a quick announcement that “It’s OK, I was just trying to fool the bad guys!” will do much to eliminate those perceptions.
- I also rather wonder what Delenn made of all this – she was already furious that Sinclair hadn’t done enough to prevent the attack on her friend.
no subject
- One of the few times we see an ordinary Minbari. It’s nice to see a civilian Minbari – and to see Delenn does have friends. I wonder if Mayan knows Delenn is Satai – Lennier knew, but he was presumably briefed when he was assigned to Babylon 5. How well known are the Grey Council’s members to everyday Minbari?
- Is poet considered a specifically religious caste role? Or are the three castes separate enough that they have their own culture and entertainment? I’d assume they would – they have their own languages, after all.
- The ‘branding’ looks to me less like ‘a painful and permanent disfigurement’ and more like ‘a rubber stamp of some sort’. Kinda takes away from the scene…
- Hey, it’s our second unconvincing former lover in two weeks! This one’s actually less believable than Talia/Ironheart was. Susan’s sense of betrayal would probably come across stronger if a, they hadn’t already broken up eight years before, b, they had any chemistry whatsoever, and c, if he hadn’t come across as a slimy loser right from the start already…
- Vir claiming to be the ambassador seems a little out of character, particularly for season 1 Vir. I’m going to personally assume his relative merely misinterpreted his messages…
- Dear god, the ‘comedy’ music in this episode is irritating.
- Also one of the few times we see ordinary Centauri. I wonder, are Kiron and Aria – and Vir for that matter – more in line with mainstream Centauri society than Londo or the other major Centauri we see in the series? Is there a generational difference? The new generation, who never knew a time when the Centauri were the dominant power, not seeing the point in holding to the old traditions and power structures?
- The Kosh scene doesn’t do much for me. We get a reminder of one of the pilot’s biggest plot holes – which considering we never get an explanation, is arguably worse than never mentioning it – and an attempt to build the mystery of Kosh and the Vorlons by showing how he’s… studying the history of the people he’s living among. Not exactly the most cryptic thing Kosh has ever done.
- Sinclair infiltrating Home Guard has, I think, the same problems as him going into the club with Londo in “Born to the Purple” – when you think about it logically, it does make some sense – why would a club owner know the station commander on sight, and hate groups tend to assume they’re just saying what everyone’s thinking – but from a dramatic point of view, it feels too easy to accept on a first viewing.
- Sinclair’s ‘plan’ seems to me like it would cause more trouble that it would solve. He deliberately snubs an alien ambassador, mutters about how ‘the only good alien’s a dead one’ at a diplomatic function, then decides to give the B5 council the impression that he’s intentionally sheltering the perpetrators of the attacks – god knows why, I doubt Home Guard follows the meetings of the council closely. This is in an atmosphere where retaliatory attacks are already taking place, and crowds of aliens are apparently already convinced that security is unwilling to act against human criminals. Sure, they catch Home Guard in the end – but I doubt the arrest of four individuals is enough to defuse the toxic environment Sinclair helped to create. Hate groups *thrive* in environments where the authorities are perceived as being sympathetic to them – both because it emboldens their own people, and makes minority groups less likely to report attacks, since they think there’s no point. I somehow doubt a quick announcement that “It’s OK, I was just trying to fool the bad guys!” will do much to eliminate those perceptions.
- I also rather wonder what Delenn made of all this – she was already furious that Sinclair hadn’t done enough to prevent the attack on her friend.