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What a week this is turning out to be! Talia's eyes are opened to the Psi Corp, the Centauri emperor dies, Sinclair leaves some interesting messages for a couple of old friends! Egads!
What an incredible episode: with "The Coming of Shadows" I'm seeing references clear back *and it now seems a long time ago* to the very first epidodes: Londo's dream reiterates something he said about his death, in a future old age, at the hands of G'Kar.
It'll be interesting to see what happens next: will the Rangers flush out the shadows? Will Sinclair & co bluff Londo into confessing his role? He sure looked ready to fall when G'Kar bought him a drink; his face was priceless!
WONDERFUL ep all around!
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Sinclair is back (sighs with a happy smile on her face)
OK so it was one episode but it made me happy. (grins)
Rangers, what are they? huh? You get the feeling that they are an interesting group but I am not sure about how good they are at hiding. I mean Garibaldi caught the one Ranger pretty easily.
Londo takes the dive off of the high dive straight into hell. There is no getting around the fact that Londo is now in for a heap of trouble, both on the giving end and on the recieiving end. I wonder what it would have taken to convince Londo he was wrong.
The try tragedy here is that G'Kar was just begining to open to the idea of talking to the Centauri and figuring out a solution to their historical mess. Hey look the sun is shining, ummm why is there a sudden eclipse....
This is why I watch B5. Not because I like watching depressing shows but because I enjoy a show were almost every episode ratches the intensity up a notch. Where there are no easy solutions and good intentions are tossed aside due to political reality.
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Note on the Rangers. Did you notice the emblem the Ranger was wearing? The pin with the carved green stone? Reminds me of The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn the Ranger, and the green stone he was given by Galadriel. Hmm, just a thought, but did JMS ever say if the Rangers were an influence from Tolkien?
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Merley, sometimes writers are influenced by other writers even when they TRY not to be :-)
Between last night and today, I feel we're getting hip-deep in murky missions. I knew that Sheridan would be in for it when he said "what could possibly go wrong?"
I loved the friction between Franklin Sr. and Jr. last night, and the GROPOS certainly made the station lifely. But poor Garibaldi, he screws up his personal life even when he's TRYING not to, eh? Dodger was a great character, so full of life. This ep is a great anti-war statement.
And today... well, what an interesting development! Delenn's fall was somewhat anticipated, but to be replaced by a member of the Warrior caste doesn't bode well for Earth-Minbar relations, does it?!
And the unfolding of the earthforce resistence efforts to the probable Psi-Corp-instigated assassination of Pres. Santiago. Well boy, howdy, things are getting FUN.
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Nope he didn't and I would be surprised if he did that delibritly. Normally when he did something to honor another author or piece of work he let people know about it.
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It could be a direct acknowledgement to Tolkein. I don't recall JMS ever saying so, though. Also, one of the ways (in the past, anyway) that you could get a response from JMS was alluding to "Babylon 5" as <u>Lord of the Rings</u> with the serial numbers filed off. He went to great lengths one time as how original story lines could be seen as "similar to..." a story made sometime before. Which is true. Worse case was probably the Star Trek references, outside of perhaps DS9. While all this doesn't negate that the emblem the Rangers wear came from Tolkein, I'd be inclined to say that the similarities are probably more coincidence than anything else.
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He did acknowledge some influences from Tolkien though, didn't he? At least I am certain I've read his comments where he's read LotR and is very familiar with it.
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GROPO's was a very strong episode. I like the fact that JMS makes a point to show the deceased instead of just having someone read off their names. It makes a much larger impact that way.
Delenn's fall was impressive, not to mention important. For the first time in 1,000 years one of the Castes holds more power then the others. So now the Warrior caste has 4 members on the Grey Council, while the Worker has 3 and Religious has 2. Not good at all.
It was nice to see Neroon again, even if he is a bit pig headed and anti-Human.
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...and Lennier. Talk about loyalty. I didn't realize how much taller he was than Delenn, either. Elevator shoes? Or, maybe just his stature grew. Too bad he wasn't allowed in the council chambers. Neroon would have had his hands full!
I missed "Gropos". Got home and someone had the VCR recording some movie that went beyond the time Babylon 5 was airing. Just gonna have to find the tape and watch it. I loved the part Marie Marshall played as "Dodger". Poor Garibaldi...doesn't know what he wants, just that he wants it after it's too late. The last scene with the dead soldiers has to be one of the more dramatic scenes to be scripted for a show. Reminds me of the one time there was no music at the end of a Dr. Who episode. Quite an impact.
Was last nights episode the first time we've encountered the Streib? I'll have to say that even though space ships don't have to be symetrical to travel, this ship was one of the goofiest designs I've seen. I also noticed that the Narn Sheridan was fighting is the same actor that played Nelson Drake in <u>Infection</u> (the assistant that was transformed into the ultimate warrior), Marshall Teague.
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Ery, I have to think that the whole concept of "Rangers" protecting the frontiers comes from LotR, despite whatever JMS may say. Heck, Tolkien stole nearly his whole mythology from the Norse.
Gropos - I always, always, always love Paul Winfield. He's a very underappreciated actor. Wonderful job he did in "Darmok" on TNG. I remember him as the Judge in that Harrison Ford movie where he was framed for murder ("Presumed Innocent"?).
Yes, the politics on Minbar are getting nasty. Funny how they act all superior toward humans, and then are all petty toward each other. Neroon's sure a jerk. I'd like to see Sinclair go a few rounds with him.
A pretty good Sheridan episode too. Yup, writing was on the wall when he said what could possibly go wrong? I liked the way he made the Narn stop fighting with him. And the dream was cool. Get to wonder what that all meant, for sure.
