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Ery, you are hooked now, for sure. When you get to "Sky Full of Stars", well, then the hook is set deeply and permanently.
I didn't find B5 until sometime in Season 2, and got hooked then. Missed all the Sinclair eps, which was too bad. Good character, bad actor. At least his haircut was better after "The Gathering."
Very good start Ery.
Keep looking at the series in that way and enjoy the ride as you find out what you got right, what you got wrong and what changed later in the series to turn out to be the other after all.
I'm almost jealous. You don't have the constantly changing, channel, time of day or night (not ungodly hour, if you were lucky), 6 month hiatus's. Uncertainty after almost every season if it was gonna make it all the way to season 5 episode 22.
You get to see in 22 weeks what it took us 6 years to get through and our 8 weeks at a time of episodes (When we were lucky) was never enough.
Thanks Ran, at least I am teachable (I think) And Sindatur, to hear you guys talk, it must have been like walking 10 miles to school uphill both ways first time around.
O well, however late I am, at least I've got a start now! Blame it on the fact that I rarely get hooked on TV shows!
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The Red Witch
True Names by Vernor Vinge
[email protected]
[This message has been edited by Erythrina (edited March 15, 2001).]
Rantarn and Sindatur...keep in mind, too, that Erythrina doesn't get what the rest of us had the opportunity to deal with...that being the the behind-the-scenes discussion that took place on the net with the fans and JMS. Misleading clues, Vorlon-esqe responses, etc. were part of the fare as well.
Ery, on the other hand, has x number of people hanging over her shoulder, silently saying "Did you catch that? That'll be really really relevant in season Y"
Finally (well, this soap box is getting kinda wobbly), the actors are fairly good, but like most series shows, you get to see how the actors themselves get better as they get used to their "character". The story only gets better as it progresses, some of it due directly to the subtle but noticable improvement in the calibre of acting. Londo and G'kar's relationship from here on out is an excellent example...and I'll leave it at that. http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/smile.gif
heheh the great Sinclair debate, Excellent character, good actor. (grins)
Sinclair and Ivanova do seem a wee bit repressed, keep watching. One of the beautiful things about B5 is that it takes a while to get to know the characters and their motivations.
Also, keep an eye on who the characters seem to respond to. Sinclair is really repressed, except when Garibaldi is around. Ivanova jokes around with Garibaldi, in her own way, in this episode. Garibaldi seems to be the comic relief with something really dark lurking in the background.
I loved the scene with Garibaldi and Delenn watching Duck Dodgers. Garibaldi has this knack for introducing Delenn to the strangest aspects of Human culture... I always lose it when I watch Delenn sitting there holding one piece of popcorn, you can see her trying to figure out what this is and what she should do with it.
The title, according to JMS, has something to do with how he was feeling with the series starting and no other real meaning. (shrugs)
Tonights episode, Soul Hunter, is a wee bit different.
Ery,
I'm really looking forward to watching the next 6 episodes with you 'cause I keep missing them and have only seen them, just the very first airing. Can't wait for Mind War, this time I will tape these 6 and then I will only be missing the ones that flaked on me the last time through (Power went out on one ep., VCR was set wrong speed so cutoff another ep, SCIFI channel changed My area to the West coast Feed, so that's another I missed getting, and plain stupidy on a few more)
Yah know, I am close to keeping a pad of paper and a pencil nearby to count the number of times Delenn makes vague references to Sinclair. We hear them in the pilot, in Midnight on the Firing Line, and now in Soul Hunter. (grins)
I wanted to come here and talk right after watching "Soul Hunter" yesterday, but the site was down. WOW what an ep. I found the Soul Hunter mythos fascinating, especially since only the alien nations seem to be aware of them (how Earth escaped this I don't know, is it a statement about the calibre of Earth's leaders?)
The whole issue of soul collections was handled so interestingly: the Soul Hunter's contention that the soul dies with the body, and Delenn's (a nearly hysterical Delenn! Quite amazing!) assertion that the souls were 'stolen' though to judge by the Soul Hunter's inteaction with his 'collection' (OK yeah he WAS crazy but...) he really seemed to cherish them. And he certainly thinks the minbari are selfish for having forbidden collection of their leader's soul. "Jealous" he said. Interesting. Do the Minbari compete with Soul Hunters?
The whole philosophical discussion this one-hour show raises is fascinating, and a classic. Do souls die with the body, as the new Dr Franklin says? Or are they reborn, as Delenn and her people believe?
And the hint about the Grey Council which was whispered in "The Gathering" certainly dropped like a brick, particularly when the Soul Hunter recognises Delenn as a member, then exclaims "You would plan such a thing? You would do such a thing?" while taking her soul, and clearly seems surprised that she's stooping to play ambassador.
Sinclair saves Delenn, and in the process, turns the Soul Hunter's machinery on him. Delenn exclaims, "I knew you would come. We were right about you," and THAT seems to be a BIG hint that something pivotal must have happened when Sinclair lost those 24 hours just before the end of the Earth-Minbari war.
Golly this show gives a person a lot to think about!
------------------
The Red Witch
True Names by Vernor Vinge
[email protected]
(Grins) Soul Hunter is an interesting episode, mainly because it does make you think about your beliefs regarding the soul.
I do believe that the Soul Hunter said that it had collected some Human souls but it does sound like for the most part, Humanity has been left alone by the Hunters.
The Minbari reaction to the Huntes has always amazed me. Normally they are so calm and controlled, yet with the very presence of a Soul Hunter, Delenn freaks out. Her discussion of how they were able to save Dukhat's soul, by building a wall of bodies, demonstrates the importance that the Minbari place on protecting the soul.
Ery, we will learn more about the Minbari's belief on the soul as the series progresses, it is actually a pretty inteesting concept.
This is one of the things I like about B5, it poeses questions but does not provide an answer. Which is cool.
Ery,
I'm with you. I thought I had seen Soul Hunter once, but, I must not have seen all of it, 'cause there's very little I remember from it. And yes, the early episodes are very heavy with clues about whats coming. This was an intense episode as far as making you think and question. And just think, the later episodes in this vein are even better, because the mistakes that were made in this one (No I don't see any, but JMS is so critical of things the first time he does them)have been learned from the next time he does a philisophical episode. And yes the little pieces you are putting together will begin to payoff with even more questions everytime you get an answer, you'll have 2 more questions. This series is very layered.