{"id":154953,"date":"2021-08-08T00:42:54","date_gmt":"2021-08-08T06:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=154953"},"modified":"2021-08-09T20:54:12","modified_gmt":"2021-08-10T02:54:12","slug":"b5-rewatch-5x01-no-compromises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2021\/08\/08\/b5-rewatch-5x01-no-compromises.html","title":{"rendered":"B5 Rewatch: 5×01 “No Compromises”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The war to liberate Earth is over. How does the new Alliance actually become a working operation? And how does an unexpected reprieve to Season 5 work after the good stuff got cannibalized for Season 4?<\/em><\/p>\n

A-Plot:<\/strong> The overarching plot is the changing of the guard at B5, and the first part of this is the inauguration of John Sheridan as the first President of the Interstellar Alliance. After having been dragooned into the position, he’s accepted his role and is, in Sheridan fashion, ready to dive into the role whole-heartedly.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, an assassin is determined to take him out, killing a Ranger in the introductory sequence …<\/p>\n

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In case you had doubts the assassin is a stone killer, as they said in the 80s<\/figcaption><\/figure>… then issuing video threats …<\/p>\n

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Stone killer!<\/figcaption><\/figure>… and then offing a Gaim to infiltrate the inauguration.<\/p>\n

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Stone … cold … killer!<\/figcaption><\/figure>All of which is fine, and set up in nicely creepy fashion (complete with an unexplained affection for a ballerina music box).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Alas, the assassin turns out to be a disgruntled war criminal from the Clarke administration on Earth, turning the moral conundrum of “Hey, Sheridan, you led an attack on Earth that killed loyal Earthforce military” into “Hey, I’m a fanatic who has nothing to live for any more so I’m going to kill you …”<\/p>\n

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… defusing much of the emotional conflict. Yes, assassination-by-Starfury is fun, but in the end if feels like a sideshow.<\/p>\n

Still, we get some good characterization on the hero side of things. In the face of an assassin, Sheridan, sporting a spiffy new beard to match his new role, expresses a Quixotic impulse to still mingle with the common folk (which sounds noble, until one considers how improbable that is in an interstellar polity).<\/p>\n