B5 Rewatch: 3×11 “Ceremonies of Light and Dark”

(Rather than writing this post in G+ and having it flow to my blog, I’m going to try it the other way around — I’m finding, for long-format posts, G+ is annoyingly limited.)

It’s time for a new status quo, with Babylon 5 newly declared independent.  Some are celebrating this time of “rebirth” — others are looking to turn back the clock.

A-Plot: Garibaldi has booted all the known Night Watch types, but he’s pretty sure there are more lurking around. And, of course, he’s right. One of them nearly snipes Sheridan, before being stopped by his leader, who has bigger fish to fry. His scheme is to kidnap Delenn, and leave it to Sheridan to get rid of the Minbari cruisers. That will free the way for the EA warships to come back and settle things.

The plot proceeds apace, with Delenn, one of the Minbari captains, and an aide being captured — the aide making a convenient redshirt for the NW thugs to kill to demonstrate their ruthlessness. Ultimately, Marcus beats the information out of some other criminal types on the ship (“Bugger! Now I have to wait for someone to wake up.”) as to where the NW thugs are hiding out. A reasonably done ploy flushes them from their hidey-hole, followed by the inevitable firefight, Delenn saving Sheridan’s life while being seriously wounded, and  Sheridan then beating the snot out of the would-be killer.

All in all, it’s a logical development, handled in a workmanlike fashion, but the Night Watch remnants are so much the semi- or totally-crazed killers that there’s no nuance; it’s all about the danger, just like a ticking bomb or an approaching meteor. It would have been nice for some motivation other than bloodlust or xenophobia (though those are what would be most likely to see among active Night Watch conspirators). There will be time later in the series to address differing opinions about the secession, but that opportunity is skilled here.

B-Plot: The above plot is against the backdrop of Delenn wanting to get everyone involved in a “rebirth” ceremony, very Minbari, where people meditate on how things are changing, how they are aligned to that change, and how it is changing them. And, just to give it some plotty goodness, everyone is to bring something of value to give away, and to share one secret nobody else knows.

Woo-hoo! Manipulated (but still fascinating) character development!

Problem is, nobody wants to play along. G’Kar, for all he’s gotten all contemplative of late, simply claims to be too busy running the Narn security on board to spare the time, and basically has his spiritual growth under control. “I have already been born once, and quite sufficiently.”

Londo effectively tells her and Lennier to pound sand — he’s already painfully aware of the changes that have taken place in him and his life, and has no intention of dwelling on them publicly.

DELENN: It is time for us to come together, to restore that which has been torn apart, and to heal the wounds we have suffered.

LONDO: With everything that has been going on, I’m surprised you invited me.

DELENN: In the matter of confessions, meditation and the closing of past wounds, Ambassador, you were at the top of my list.

LONDO: I’m already attending to my past, my present and what remains of my future. I do not require your assistance. Or your approval. Enjoy your ceremony, Delenn. I intend to have other plans.

Marcus, apparently, never went through a similar ceremony as part of his Ranger training — quite intentionally. He and Delenn chat, and it becomes (even more painfully) obvious that he’s carrying a huge load of survivor guilt from ignoring his brother and getting him, his family, and his settlement all killed (well, he didn’t get them killed, of course, but he wasn’t there, so it was all his fault for surviving). Marcus is motivated by trying to make up for all of that, and if that means his death, so be it.  Yeah, we’ll see that theme continuing in Marcus’ character arc.

That leaves the command crew, who end up bringing the ceremony to Delenn while she recovers in MedLab. That turns it into a confessional, as each of them give up their EA uniform, and share their secret directly with Delenn (GIFfy).

For Sheridan, it’s obvious — he’s fallen in love with her.

SHERIDAN: I’ve never told anyone before now. When you were hurt, when you were in my arms, I was ready to kill that guy with my bare hands. I realized I have never told you how much I cared about you, how much you mean to me. I think it’s time you knew that. I can no longer imagine my world … without you in it. I don’t know exactly when or how it happened, but I’m glad it did.

In this rewatch, I’ve found that development unconvincingly uneven, but, hey, whatever, I’ll go along with it. B5 is Myth, and one can accept things that happen in myth at face value without their necessarily making sense.  Anyway, he love her, yeah, yeah, yeah. That will certainly make the coming crises more convenient, but also more (politically) complicated.

For Ivanova, it’s a different romantic confession. “I think I was in love with Talia.” Ivanova’s bisexuality was strongly indicated but never stated in “Divided Loyalties“; here it’s finally confirmed, for those viewers who were on the fence. The question is, can Susan get past yet another disastrous relationship?

For Garibaldi, the secret is that he’s terrified of losing control.  “No one knows, but I’m afraid all the time. What I might do if I ever let go.” Presumably the focus is on his sobriety, but by extension it’s his temper, and even (fitting for a security man) the people and events around him. That Garibaldi is a control freak with alcohol issues is not a terribly new revelation, but it’s a reminder, and a portent of things to come.

Franklin’s confession is no great surprise — “I think I have a problem” (with stims) — but his self-awareness of it is, and that’s a welcome thing. I don’t recall with fondness how that arc gets settled, but it’s a good development nevertheless.

In exchange for what they’ve given up, Delenn has a gift back to them — new spiffy space-uniforms for the command crew. I honestly was never a huge fan of the changed uniforms; granted, they were (presumably) designed by a Minbari, but it would have made more sense to me (or for the characters) to wear something more — human, more an evolution than a revolution. It is a revolution, of course, but it’s not clear the characters themselves would recognize that yet, let alone what it would all mean to the folk around them.  But, hey, it’s another mythic element, so I won’t be too picky.

Oh, that leaves one other character who’s been running around in the show to tell his secret. That’s Lennier, who confesses to Marcus that he, too, is in love with Delenn — “a pure, perfect love, as it were” — though he realizes that prophecy means that love can never be requited. “I know that Delenn is fated for another, and I have accepted that, in my heart. But I have vowed to stay at her side through all things for as long as I live.” Oh, Lennier — it’s going to be a hard, hard road ahead of you. Bill Mumy does another stand-up job here, showing the passions — including simmering anger — that run below that calm, not-quite-so-naive surface. (See the Marcus video below for this bit.)

Delenn? She never does share a secret. That’s very Delenn. Unless this serves as her confession, earlier on:

DELENN: Among Minbari, one individual leads, but we move as one. We are at our best when we move together, and we are at our worst when we move together. When our leader was killed by your people, we went mad together. We stayed mad for a very long time, a madness that almost consumed your world, until finally, before it was too late, we woke up together. But you, you are alone, you have no one to awaken you from your madness. For this, and nothing else, I feel pity for you.

This plotline, as a whole, runs pretty smoothly. As I said, it’s a bit contrived of a trope, but it still works as the characters move on to the next stage of their development, here at the half-way point of the series.

C-Plot: Londo invites Lord Refa to B5. He’s concerned that Refa is still entangled with Morden and his “associates,” and that the Emperor is spreading Centauri forces too thin. “Is there anyone along our border with whom we are not currently at war? Only an idiot fights a war on two fronts. Only the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Idiots would fight a war on twelve fronts.” He demands Refa sever ties with Morden and cut back on some of the random fighting.

REFA: Oh Londo, you are a fool. You walked away from the greatest power I have ever seen. Now you expect me to do the same? They are the key to my eventual rise to the throne! Why would I abandon them?

LONDO: Because I have asked you. Because your loyalty to our people should be greater than your ambition. And because I have poisoned your drink.

With a binary poison, the actual lethal dose to be supplied sometime in the future if Londo is not convinced that Refa is doing his bidding.

It’s a nice scene, with Londo finally beginning to take control of matters into his own hands, and with the ruthlessness of the “old days.”  His concerns are solidly for Centauri security — and, secondarily, to make sure (his own recent prophecy from Lady Morella notwithstanding) that Refa doesn’t take the throne.  It’s a neat little package, laying the groundwork for Londo’s own development, which will, one can count on it, include some opposition from his new enemy, Lord Refa himself.

D-Plot: Garibaldi resets all the main computer passwords, so Earth can’t lock them out. When he reboots the computer, it comes back up with an experimental but obnoxious artificial personality  that Garibaldi spends the rest of his free time in the ep hunting down and removing.

Meh. Obnoxious computer AI were almost old-hat in Star Trek: TOS.  Here, even with Harlan Ellison as the voice of “Sparky,” it feels like forced humor.

Meanwhile: The B5 dead are shot into the sun (GIFfy). It’s a moving ceremony, though it raised the issue (among us at home) as to what sorts of ceremonies were held for the non-B5 dead of last episode’s battle, both rebel and loyalists in Starfuries or in the ships that were destroyed.

In addition to new uniforms (indeed, even prior to them), the internal B5 logo changes from having an olive branch to being backed by a sword, as seen both on the wall in C&C and on one of the conference tables.  Weird — nobody notices, it just happens, which makes it a production decision — maybe nobody thought of obsessive Internet fans and people rewatching the episodes on tape and (woo, future!) disc.

Overall:  After the big epicness of the past three episodes, this one, even with its action, is a chance to step back and breathe, to understand the new status quo and where things might head from here.  Most of those confessions (all but Ivanova’s, oddly enough) signal  pretty clearly where their characters are going, and the actions of the Night Watch baddies make it clear that the Earth government Our Heroes now oppose is truly made of of baddies who will stop at nothing to destroy B5 and Our Heroes.

The acting involved (aside from some scene-chewing from Night Watch) is all solid — the ensemble is working well, and even the weakest of the actors early on is now firing on all cylinders. Jason Carter as Marcus, Bill Mumy as Lennier, Peter Jurasik as Londo, and Bruce Boxleitner as Sheridan (when he’s not being puppy-eyed toward Delenn) are all stand-outs for their work.

Here’s some nice Marcus (and Lennier) action:

The episode is marred a bit by convenience — the uniform changes, the Sheridan/Delenn romance — and the A-Plot is pedestrian and the D-Plot is just dumb — but overall it’s a decent outing, especially if considered as an extension of the previous three. It ends with Sheridan declaring “Babylon 5 is open for business,” just as Laurel Takeshima did at the end of the pilot episode. It’s a brand new day to start the second half of the series.

Most Dramatic Moment: Sheridan pummels the snot out of the Night Watch goon who almost killed Delenn. “No more! No more of you! No more Night Watch! No more hostages! No more LIES! Not on my station! Not on my watch! NO MORE!”

Most Amusing Moment: Not a lot of notable humor here (particularly in the ostensibly humorous D-Plot) — probably Marcus working out his frustrations in the bar brawl (see the video above or this GIFfy).

MARCUS: Well they said I was carrying around a lot of repressed anger?

LENNIER: And?

MARCUS: I’m not repressed anymore.

Most Arc-ish Moment: I’ll spread it to a scene — the walk-in confessions of the command staff to Delenn (GIFfy). For the most part, you can see here what’s going to be happening with them for at least the rest of the season.

Overall Rating: 3.6 / 5 — Solid entertainment, with some reasonably big revelations, ultimately something of a filler while we catch our breath. (Rating History)

Other Resources for this episode:

• Lurker’s Guide
• Babylon Project Wiki
• IMDb
• AV Club (includes next ep)
• Kay Shapero
• TV Tropes

Next episode: “Sic Transit Vir,” a more humorous ep all about our favorite Centauri diplomat.

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