B5 Rewatch: 2×14 "There All the Honor Lies"

The second Peter David-written episode, and one of the last non-JMS-written eps ever, this could be considered a one-off (there’s little here that’s an essential part of the arc), but it does a lot of stuff well, and fits in so nicely to the overall story that it’s hard to complain.

A Plot: Sheridan is set up for the murder of a Minbari (http://goo.gl/05lyP9), as witnessed by another Minbari.  Lots of good plottiness here as Sheridan’s old rep as “Starkiller” comes back to haunt him, we get more indications of how out in the cold Delenn is with (at least some of) her people (http://goo.gl/LRkZpZ), we get indications of how EarthGov probably wouldn’t mind it if Sheridan lost his job, we see Julie Caitlin Brown again (the original Na’Toth, now back as Sheridan’s EarthGov-appointed attorney http://goo.gl/XC4nAH), we learn a lot more about Minbari culture (including how the “Minbari never lie” thang is not quite true), and Lennier gets some great lines (Billy Mumy was excellent in the ep http://goo.gl/VBpNhi http://goo.gl/qzoNKU).

In the end it’s all wrapped up fairly nicely and neatly (too much so, in fact), but it does ratchet up the tension and isolation for Sheridan and Company. As a plot line, it’s a bit too contrived and constructed — in many ways it’s the weakest part of the episode — but it does allow for some good moments.

B Plot: Vir discovers his replacement is being sent to B5, since being Londo’s assistant has suddenly become an important and prestigious job, and the folks back at court had agreed on someone new to take the role, leaving Vir to be cast out again. It’s a nice story line for Vir, and Stephen Furst does a great job with it (http://goo.gl/GQjtoq http://goo.gl/r3Vmfk).

Londo, of course, does the right thing, bucking the orders from back home to keep Vir on (http://goo.gl/ZSM0HT), for both sentimental and pragmatic reasons — Vir does a good job, Londo can trust his discretion, and, more importantly, can trust him to be the voice of his conscience (even if he does ignore that voice most of the time).

C Plot: This is the humor plot. EarthGov has decided that B5 can make some money by opening a gift shop to sell souvenirs and branded toys (http://goo.gl/NUuCDi). Ivanova, who’s horrified by the indignity of this, of course gets roped into managing the process (http://goo.gl/knwrMY). Hilarity ensues when Londo discovers that dolls of him are being sold, too (http://goo.gl/6InI4U http://goo.gl/NYEF07) — and, just like Ken dolls, these have no “attributes” (http://goo.gl/hrV5FD) a grave insult in Centauri culture (for all that their “attributes” are supposedly a cultural secret).

The shop finally gets shut down when Sheridan discovers that a teddy bear in baseball garb (“Babearlon 5”) is being sold with his initials on the jersey (http://goo.gl/zgEw9W http://goo.gl/ZdqJR5) (why this should draw his ire is unclear, but it leads to a very amusing final scene http://youtu.be/SCbOmYJ7IU0 and http://youtu.be/WxUdEsxajjY).

D Plot: Sheridan, in-between crises, is now getting lessons from Kosh on … something (http://goo.gl/SA4B3j). In this case, it’s “a moment of perfect beauty,” obtained by Kosh leading him down to a cargo net-festooned chamber Downbelow (http://goo.gl/IIKVUp), where he get a Gregorian chant (lyrics http://goo.gl/kmhmwO) and light/shadow show. (http://youtu.be/Jli3ruqWYlc) It actually is quite lovely, if not all that connected to anything else (even as it begs the question of how Kosh knew about it in the first place).

One interesting bit is that, in order to get that beauty, Sheridan has to give a donation — and the only thing he has is the staff bar off his uniform (http://goo.gl/1WvRMX). A giving up of personal identity in order to see something greater, a bit of foreshadowing, or …?

Overall, that’s a lot of plottiness, and the episode does keep things moving at a rapid clip. The acting is uniformly good from regulars and guests alike. The direction by Mike Vejar is notably well-done by B5 standards. And the writing is just what I’d expect from Peter David — neat character bits with plot lines that are sometimes a bit too clever for their own good. (It’s worth noting that both the D Plot and the final scenes with the teddy bear were actually written by JMS; the bear was actually a “cute” gift sent from Peter to Joe, for which Joe had to take appropriate revenge by the end. http://goo.gl/n09lWm http://goo.gl/3GTiX9)

For all the focus on the main cast, it’s the scenes with the sidekicks that are most interesting to me. Lennier’s love of honor and devotion to Delenn is on full display here (http://goo.gl/kF4Vsj), and he’s passionate in pursuit of both ends. And Vir’s backstory and his increasingly explosive present story are handled perfectly.

In all, even the daughter admitted it was entertaining.

Most Dramatic Moment: Ashan, the Minbari witness, gets all snarky at Delenn, and Lennier had words with him.
Most Amusing Moment: Londo registering his formal protest about the “attributeless” doll to Sheridan and Ivanova. “Do I have to spell it out for you?” “Oh, so you feel like you’ve been symbolically cast–in a bad light.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S6Ka7dM0Qs)
Most Arc-ish Moment: As noted, there’s not a lot here that’s directly arc-related. I’d make it a toss-up between Vir’s tipsy rant to Londo about being strangled by secrets (http://goo.gl/2KznC5), or else the whole D Plot (http://youtu.be/Jli3ruqWYlc), including Sheridan’s dialog with Kosh.

Overall Rating:  4.0 / 5

Lurker’s Guide: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/036.html
– Babylon Project: http://babylon5.wikia.com/wiki/There_All_the_Honor_Lies
– IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517718/
– AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/babylon-5-there-all-the-honor-liesand-now-for-a-wo-96869 [includes next episode]
– Kay Shapero: http://www.kayshapero.net/b5review/AllTheHonor.htm

Next ep is “And Now for a Word,” as a news crew invades the station to shoot a documentary about it. I recall it alternating between silly and fun, so we’ll see how it goes.

#babylon5 #b5