{"id":39071,"date":"2013-10-06T21:20:16","date_gmt":"2013-10-07T03:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/06\/b5-rewatch-1-07-the-war-prayer.html"},"modified":"2014-05-30T08:48:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-30T14:48:00","slug":"b5-rewatch-1-07-the-war-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/06\/b5-rewatch-1-07-the-war-prayer.html","title":{"rendered":"B5 Rewatch: 1×07 "The War Prayer""},"content":{"rendered":"
It's hard to tell where this episode falls flattest: with D. C. Fontana's preacherly story, or\u00a0Richard Compton's flat, broad direction.<\/p>\n

A-Plot: \u00a0Earth-Firsters (the "Home Guard") are trying to rid humanity of alien influences, and B5 is one of their battlefields. A Minbari poet (and friend of Delenn) is attacked, as are some Centauri \u00a0(see B-Plot). \u00a0This gives all of our lead human cast to be very PC and anti-xenophobe, which is nice but way too simple a way to paint white and black hats.<\/p>\n

It would have been nice to see some conflicts here — "Hey, beating up on aliens is obviously wrong, but doesn't it seem to you that alien influence on Earth politics and B5 administration is really kind of a problem?" \u00a0Instead, we get naked, ugly racism against fervent protectors of sentient rights. Ho-hum.<\/p>\n

This is all mingled with a C-Plot of Ivanova meeting up with an old flame of hers, whom she left behind in her desire to pursue her career and duty. Again, a nice opportunity to explore more about the character, which gets squandered on cheap drama.<\/p>\n

B-Plot: Two Centauri young'uns are fleeing their parents in order to get hitched, arranged marriages be damned. \u00a0Londo starts off being all "Hey, if I got trapped into loveless marriages in pursuit of political stability, you have to be trapped, too," and then gets shamed into figuring out a way to have the young'uns live happily ever after.<\/p>\n

It's nice character-building for Londo — and Vir — but it's mostly played as a bald-faced morality play, like the A-Plot, where the sympathies of the audience are obviously meant to run in a specific direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All of this is one amidst mostly clumsy direction, odd use of spaces (scenes in the MedLab in particular feel much more staged than cinema), and a flat presentation that takes cliched plots and turns them into something even less convincing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also … what does this have to do with Twain's story of the same name? (http:\/\/www.midwinter.com\/lurk\/making\/warprayer.html<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Most Dramatic Moment:<\/b> Londo gives his "My shoes are too tight, but it's okay because I've forgotten how to dance" speech, which is no less railroaded than the rest of the episode's plot, but is at least poetic.
Most Amusing Moment:<\/b> There are a few scenes meant to be amusing, but all of them come across a bit flat. "Okay, I'll chuckle here" kind of stuff.
Most Arc-ish Moment:<\/b> Sinclair notes (for not many good reasons) to Ivanova that the folks who learned the most about Kosh in the pilot episode — Doctor Kyle and telepath Lyta Alexander — both got transferred off the station with a few weeks. [Note: this was originally filmed for a different episode, but added in here because of the episode running short.]
Overall Rating:<\/b> 2 of 5 – It's not so much a bad ep, as it is simply not good. All of the points advance themes about Earth and B5 and xenophobia and the Centauri and duty-over-happiness … but do so in a really annoyingly dull and predictable fashion.<\/p>\n

Midwinter Guide\u00a0: http:\/\/www.midwinter.com\/lurk\/guide\/007.html<\/a>
Babylon Project:\u00a0http:\/\/babylon5.wikia.com\/wiki\/The_War_Prayer<\/a><\/p>\n

#babylon5<\/a> \u00a0<\/div>\n

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

Guide page: “The War Prayer”<\/a>
\n A violent attack on a Minbari poet rocks B5 and leaves Sinclair scrambling to flush out a vicious pro-Earth group. Two star-crossed young Centauri lovers seek Londo’s protection. Ivanova is shaken when a man from her past arrives at the outpost. Nancy Lee Grahn as Shaal Mayan.\n <\/p>\n

View this post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It's hard to tell where this episode falls flattest: with D. C. Fontana's preacherly story, or\u00a0Richard Compton's flat, broad direction. A-Plot: \u00a0Earth-Firsters (the "Home Guard") are trying to rid humanity of alien influences, and B5 is one of their battlefields. A Minbari poet (and friend of Delenn) is attacked, as are some Centauri \u00a0(see B-Plot). … Continue reading “B5 Rewatch: 1×07 "The War Prayer"”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,362],"tags":[429],"class_list":["post-39071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-media-tv-babylon-5","tag-babylon5"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43621,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/07\/16\/b5-rewatch-3x08-messages-from-earth.html","url_meta":{"origin":39071,"position":0},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 3×08 "Messages from Earth"","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 16-Jul-14 11:53pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So far, the B5 team have just been quiet conspirators regarding the problems back on Earth. Now they find themselves having to take action ... A-Plot: \u00a0Our Heroes learn (http:\/\/goo.gl\/jOqLHz) that an abandoned Shadow vessel was found on Mars (http:\/\/goo.gl\/urQGxN) several years back, and that Earth Gov and Psi Corps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39953,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/12\/09\/b5-rewatch-s1e14-tko.html","url_meta":{"origin":39071,"position":1},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 1×14 "TKO"","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 9-Dec-13 5:35pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Sigh. After the cosmic goodness of \"Signs and Portents,\" we get an episode that's ... eminently missable. \u00a0No, I mean it -- I rewatched it myself just to make sure it was as vapid as I remembered, and have been convinced it is.A-plot has an old boxing buddy of Garibaldi,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38786,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/09\/21\/b5-rewatch-1-05-parliament-of-dreams.html","url_meta":{"origin":39071,"position":2},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 1×05 "Parliament of Dreams"","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 21-Sep-13 12:37am","format":false,"excerpt":"Ah, now this is what B5 is about -- a chewy, cross-cultural, multi-plotted episode with aspects that will echo into the future ... A-Plot: G'kar is under threat of assassination from an old political rival! B-Plot: An old flame of Sinclair's visits the station! C-Plot: The different alien races on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41409,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/03\/12\/b5-rewatch-s2e10-gropos.html","url_meta":{"origin":39071,"position":3},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 2×10 "GROPOS"","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 12-Mar-14 10:15pm","format":false,"excerpt":"After the WHAMfest that was \"The Coming of Shadows,\" \"GROPOS\" couldn't possibly measure up. And it doesn't. But it's a decent enough episode, with some minor bits of continuity addition and the next-to-last writing job by Larry DiTillio .The basic setting is that a military convoy descends on the station,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/210_cap0315B15D.jpg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":137503,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/12\/29\/b5-rewatch-4x19-between-the-darkness-and-the-light.html","url_meta":{"origin":39071,"position":4},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 4×19 “Between the Darkness and the Light”","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 29-Dec-18 2:23pm","format":false,"excerpt":"[For Christmas, my son gave me a \"Okay, I'll watch the rest of B5 with you\" as a gift. Woo-hoo! So, I'm picking up after the last review I did (in July of 2016(!)), skipping forward a few eps I never wrote down commentary for.] The war to retake Earth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Babylon 5"","block_context":{"text":"Babylon 5","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/media-tv-babylon-5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Babylon-5-4x19-Darkness-and-Light-shadow-tech-cruisers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Babylon-5-4x19-Darkness-and-Light-shadow-tech-cruisers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Babylon-5-4x19-Darkness-and-Light-shadow-tech-cruisers.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Babylon-5-4x19-Darkness-and-Light-shadow-tech-cruisers.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Babylon-5-4x19-Darkness-and-Light-shadow-tech-cruisers.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Babylon-5-4x19-Darkness-and-Light-shadow-tech-cruisers.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40884,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/25\/b5-rewatch-s1e21-the-quality-of-mercy.html","url_meta":{"origin":39071,"position":5},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 1×21 "The Quality of Mercy"","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 25-Jan-14 6:27pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A fairly solid episode that suffers mostly from being in the middle of the end-of-season WHAM-fest, \"The Quality of Mercy\" combines a decent A-plot with a hilarious B-plot.On the \"A\" side, Dr. Franklin tries to uncover a medical fraud in Down Below, only to discover that June Lockhart actually has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39071"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42302,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39071\/revisions\/42302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}