Rewatch for Season 4, Episode 22 – The Deconstruction of Falling Stars

Recaps:
Dreamwidth
Livejournal

And more at The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5

And away we go.

I really liked this episode a lot. It looks at B5 through the lens of history from 100, 500, 1000, and 1,000,000 years in the future.

My favorite part is the one from 1000 years on, after the burn with the little monkish man, Brother Owen and his cult of the Alliance (and him being a Ranger). He explains faith to a young man who doubts:



This episode, more than anything else, can show us that history often did not happen as the news and historians would have us think. it was far more complex than that and I expect that is true in the real world as well.

1. What did you think of the Kosh-like man at the ending after 1 million years?
2. Which bit was your favorite?
3. Do John and Delenn really think they’ll be forgotten in 100 years?
4. Did Garibaldi cause the burn?

* Note: I am going into the hospital tomorrow and will be away for a bit but hop to update next week and the week after to finish up our season. If not, I'll pick up when I get back.

~~~

Rewatch for Season 4, Episode 20 – Endgame

Recaps:
Dreamwifth
Livejournal

And some interesting tidbits from JMS at The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5

This was another lightning speed episode and JMS said it was FAST, not hurried.

They’re moving Ivanova back to B5 to die – Delenn basically tells marcus that they can make her more comfortable there. Lennier lets something slip that makes Marcus check medical logs and he finds the Alien Healing Device – the one used as a punishment. He steals away in his ship and heads to B5. John finds out but it’s too late.

John and his fleet are heading for Mars and we finally find out that the Teeps are to be put on Earth ships so they will take over the computer systems of most of them.

The Mars Resistance hits too…and once Mar is done, Sheridan and his fleet head home to free Earth from Clark’s totalitarian control. Clark kills himself and sets the planetary defenses to hit Earth. The Apollo, a ship fighting for Clark at mars, saves Sheridan and the Agamemnon by shooting down the last defense satellite.

John’s speech to Earth:


ISN comes back on with this moving little bit:


Marcus finds and uses the Alien device to save Susan and gives his own life in doing so.

1. Fast or rushed?
2. What did you think, at the time, of Marcus’ sacrifice?
3. Why couldn’t some of the other ships help the Agamemnon shoot down the last satellite?
4. Could you have guessed that there was a device to save Susan from what little Lennier said?
5. Did you notice that Clark’s face was mostly obscured in this episode? Why, I wonder?

Rewatch for Season 4, Episode 18 – Intersections in Real Time

Recaps:
Dreamnwidth
Livejournal

And some interesting stuff from JMS at The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5.

My least favorite episode in the whole series. I do not watch torture and interrogation well. Hell, I can’t even roleplay being tied up online without feeling sick.

Through everything with his banal interrogator, John refused to give in. Period. I did love the line at the end, when the interrogator asked him if he could win and John said “Every time I say no.”



I did not consider it all a hallucination, but it is suggested at the Lurker’s Guide that none of this was real. As someone who suffered a similar thing when taken off a respirator several years ago, I can attest that this could actually be true and John would never know the difference.

I like that Delenn is the thing that he looks to remind him what is real and important.

This episode wore me out. I could not sit still and watch it at all – none of the several times I’ve seen it.

1. Do you think it was real or not?
2. Where is he? Mars? Earth?
3. Did you worry that they would break him?
4. Would forcing him confess really make any difference to Clark? He already rules Earth with an iron hand. Does he fear Sheridan will win the war to free earth?

Rewatch for season 4, Episode 16 – The Exercise of Vital Powers

Recap links:
Dreamwidth
Livejournal

Recap and analysis at The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5

In which we see what a monster William Edgars is and that Garibaldi is still head over heels in love with Lise. And other bad stuff.

More battles have been won, according to Ivanova. Garibaldi meets Edgars and get scanned. They talk about teeps and Clark. We see Edgars and Wade kill telepaths. Garibaldi throws in with them and Edgars says he must bring him Sheridan to show his loyalty.

The Lovely Mr. Edgars:

All you have to do is put ‘immigrant’ in the place of ‘telepaths’ and you’ve got our world today.

Franklin is dinking with the frozen teeps and Lyta wakes one. Franklin says he is trying to make something to wake them. Sheridan put them up to it yet he doesn’t tell Stephen what is going to do with them at first. WE do not find out for a while yet. Stephen asks Lyta to go to Mars with him.

1. Were you surprised at what they did to the telepath who scanned Michael?
2. How can Lise be so naïve?
3. Why all secrecy about Edgars?
4. Did Wade come across as stupid to you as he did me?
5. What does Sheridan want with the teeps? (I really can’t remember)

Rewatch for Season 4, Episode 14 – Moments of Transition

Recaps:
Dreamwidth
Livejournal>
And the Analysis at The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5

And we reach the tipping point!

John is tossing and turning and worrying but there has been no word from Delenn since the got home.

Minbar is a mess with injured and dead all around – obviously religious caste. Delenn has an idea. The leaders of the two castes will meet in the old ritual place where the Starfire Wheel will determine who is willing to die for their people and that side will rule.

Neroon has a talk with Shakiri – the leader of the warrior caste is interested only in power and war… this seems to upset Neroon.

‘Is it wrong to value life? I thought that is why we fought.’ he asks.

Shakiri answers: ‘We fight because it is our nature. It is the calling of our heart. Life and death are simply two possible consequences, each neither valued or feared above the other. For a Warrior, death is simply the release from our obligation.’

We find that Delenn is up to the Starfire Wheel and willing to die. Shakiri is not and Neroon switches sides and saves Delenn at the cost of his own life. Delenn reconvenes the Grey Council with a new balance – 2 Warrior, 2 Religious, and 5 Worker caste. And the center empty in honor of Neroon until the One comes.

Back on B5 – Lyta can’t find a decent job because she’s a rogue telepath and no one will hire her. B5 has given her a smaller quarters because of money issues. Bester offers to take her back into PsiCorps if she’ll let them dissect her when she dies – he knows she is more than just a P5. Garibaldi overhears and offers her a job.

Edgars calls Garibaldi in the middle of the night several times and the last time he calls, he tells him to fire Lyta because he will have NO dealings with telepaths.

Susan comes running to Sheridan in his quarters. She’s so angry that she can barely speak. An EarthForce ship has destroyed 3 commercial liners leaving Proxima 3 with 10,000 civilians aboard. John says it is time to fight back. ‘Starting right now we fight back, and fight back hard. We’re riding in, Susan. If they get in our way we’ll knock them down. If they take out one of our ships, we take out three of theirs. We won’t slow down and we won’t stop. We’re going after the colonies, and Mars, and then Earth. God help anyone who gets in our way.’

It's on.

1. Did Edgars’ demand seem strange to you?
2. Did Bester’s bargain seem barbaric to you?
3. Why doesn’t Sheridan toss Garibaldi off the station? I certainly would.
4. How is John going to attack earth?
5. Who takes the center ring in the Grey Council?

Rewatch for Season 4, Episode 12 – Conflicts of Interest

The recaps:
Dreamwidth
Livejournal

And some analysis and such on The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5.

Garibaldi slips down a little farther into the slime as he gets his first assignment from ‘Wade’. It ends up that he’s playing bodyguard to Lise Hampton Edgars. Sheridan sends Zack to get Garibaldi’s ID, badge and gun. At the end, rich William Edgars offers Garibaldi a job.

Sheridan proposes that the Rangers keep civilians safe from the Drakh and Raiders. Londo and G’kar point out that it sounds like B5 is trying to use its influence unduly.

Susan is trying to figure out how to get the Voice of the Resistance out farther. Franklin points out going down to Epsilon III for a boost to her signal. This creates a facepalm moment. And we get this fantastic scene with Zathras!



*

1. Why didn’t Garibaldi kill the telepaths? Was it his programming?
2. Did you catch that Londo said the Centauri had heard of the Drakh? Interesting…
3. Did you start to smell a deeper conspiracy in this episode?
4. Did you notice any difference in the pronunciation of Zathras?
5. Did you think that using Epsilon III was a bit of a plot device? You know, let’s use this thing again since we made a big deal about it.

Rewatch for Season 4, Episode 10 – Racing Mars

Th recaps are here:
Dreamwidth
Livejournal

And all rest at The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5

Sheridan is having a crappy day. He gets into an argument with Garibaldi, who is getting stranger and stranger. On the bright side, Ivanova gives him the day off and Delenn invites him to a more promising ritual.

Garibaldi is approached by a group who ask him to join them in “getting Sheridan the help he needs”. He, of course, jumps right on that. One point at the Lurker’s Guide was that they (and everyone) kept saying “Are you with us?” to Garibaldi and they speculated that was a code that switched Garibaldi’s programming on. He did start sounding like a right-wing wacko after they said it sooo – maybe it was. At this point, I hated the character and never liked him again, no matter what he did.

Ivanova offered benefits and threats to the smugglers to get them on board to help supply B5 with things they needed. They did seem to take her up on it, not that they had much choice.

Marcus and Stephen arrived on Mars and were taken prisoner but things got cleared up and we met a member of the resistance who’d been given a Keeper. Franklin, of course, got a date out of it.

And they played I Spy.
Marcus Cole: I spy with my little eye something beginning with "B."
Dr. Stephen Franklin: Boxes.
Marcus Cole: Right. I spy with my little eye something beginning with "M."
Dr. Stephen Franklin: More boxes.
Marcus Cole: Two in a row.
Dr. Stephen Franklin: And that's when I shot him your honor.
Marcus Cole: I spy with my little eye something beginning with "E."
Dr. Stephen Franklin: I-I give up.
Marcus Cole: Oh come on.
Dr. Stephen Franklin: This better not be what I -
Marcus Cole, Dr. Stephen Franklin: Even MORE boxes!

*

1. Wouldn’t everyone notice how Garibaldi is acting like a lunatic?
2. WooHoo? LOL
3. Why would the Shadows sabotage the Mars Resistance?
4. Is it possible that no one on Mars knew of the Shadow War? How did they communicate with Sheridan then?
5. The leader of the Mars resistance asks Franklin out on a date? Really?

Footnote: Did you recognize the Brakiri woman in the Zocalo?

Rewatch for Season 4, Episode 8 – The Illusion of Truth

Recap links:
Dreamwidth
Livejournal ‘
And The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5

So we find out that the truth is not only a 3 edged sword but it is also a relative term.

This was probably one of the most disturbing episodes because we know much of this type of thing happened here in the US and perhaps more than once. Many brilliant entertainers, writer and actors were ruined by the House Committee on Un-American Activities, which hunted Communists from 1938 until it was renamed in 1969, and finally disbanded in 1975. We all had Senator McCarthy hunting communists in the early 50s. We just got rid of our latest President Clark though his coup d’etat was less successful than Clark’s was.

The reporter told the truth – from a “certain point of view” to steal a phrase from another sci-fi franchise.

I wonder why John actually thought he’d get a fair shake – why did he believe the reporter? We all knew how bad it was going to be, didn’t we? I actually came to hate Garibaldi during this period and never really got an warm fuzzy feeling about him after this.

It left some big lingering questions:
1. Who showed the reporter the unit where the teeps were stored?
2. Why does Garibaldi hate Sheridan so thoroughly? Is it all programming?
3. Is Clark about to take Mars back? Or is that just a lie?
4. Are you sure your own government isn’t as insidious as Clark’s?
5. And why is the common citizen so gullible as to believe such things as the junk this reporter reported to the people of Earth? It is any different than FOX news?

And with that, I shall stop before I preach an entire sermon!

Rewatch for Season 4, Episode 6 – Into the Fire

Recaps:
Dreamwidth
Livejournal

And analysis and JMS’s comments at The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5

The best moment in Babylon 5:


So it all comes to a head.

The first ones come to the final battle, Lorien speechifies about the old days and gathers all his ‘children’ to him and they leave to go beyond the Rim.

Cartagia is dead. The Shadows are vanquished from Centauri Prime. Londo is Prime Minister and finds out who truly ordered his Adira’s death. And Vir gets his big scene then Londo tells him to go back to Babylon 5.

So what is next? We have the war of wars ended on episode 6 of the season. Remember that no one knew if there was going to be a 5th season the story was all crammed into this one.

"To live on as we have is to leave behind joy, and love, and companionship, because we know it to be transitory, of the moment. We know it will turn to ash. Only those, whose lives are brief can imagine that love is eternal. You should embrace that remarkable illusion. It may be the greatest gift your race has ever received."
-- Lorien to Ivanova in Babylon 5:"Into the Fire"

*

1. What was your favorite moment in this one?
2. I know the CGI was nothing like what we have today and that never mattered to me, but I did love seeing all the different ships in Sheridan’s Army of Light. MY favorite was the one that looked like a flying saucer. What was yours?
3. Did you notice whose voice the Shadow was when they were talking to Lorien just before they left the galaxy?
4. Did nukes seem a little outdated to you?
5. Lorien’s speech about immortality brought to mind Tolkien’s Gift of Illuvatar to his young children – mortality. Are there other obvious references to Tolkien?

Rewatch for Season 4, Episode 4 – Falling into Apotheosis

Recaps:
Dreamwidth
Livejournal

And the analysis and JMS’ comments: The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5

Stuff is happening! Rapidly!

The Vorlons are moving and destroying! Refugees are everywhere. John is back and Michael is weird. Cartagia is still as crazy as a loon and poor old Morden looks like hell (but not as bad as will look!).

Ivanova is the Voice and we see her a lot with reports about the Vorlon damage.

Michael is squirrely and strange.

John and Lorien tell Delenn how long John actually has. And John proposes!

John kicks ass and takes names when he comes back the Vorlon is the first ass he goes after. Franklin and Ivanova look shocked when he discloses that he is going to take out the Vorlon.

Someone mentioned that they, in their true form, look like Shadows and I agree – just a different color.

And poor G’kar’s eye!

Did I mention that Cartagia wants to sacrifice Centauri prime for his deification?

*

1. Was Michael justified in his doubts or were they all his programming? Or both?
2. When John says ‘we’, does he mean him and Lorien?
3. Maybe Zack might have mentioned to someone else how weird Michael is acting?
4. Was Kosh2’s ship trying to rescue him? Or was it going for help?
5. Could Londo have saved G’kar’s eye?