{"id":39725,"date":"2013-11-14T21:33:01","date_gmt":"2013-11-15T04:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/11\/14\/b5-rewatch-s1ep10-believers.html"},"modified":"2014-05-30T08:57:14","modified_gmt":"2014-05-30T14:57:14","slug":"b5-rewatch-s1ep10-believers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/11\/14\/b5-rewatch-s1ep10-believers.html","title":{"rendered":"B5 Rewatch: 1×10 "Believers""},"content":{"rendered":"
Wait, this incredibly down-beat, painful , all-the-awful-feels episode was written by the same guy who did "The Trouble with Tribbles"?<\/p>\n

B5 runs one of its "human social issues of the day writ large as weird aliens are different (but not all that different) from human" tales. \u00a0An alien kid is sick. Dr. Franklin can fix him, but the parents refuse because surgery is against their religion. Will Franklin convince them otherwise? How will Sinclair adjudicate? What awful decisions will be made, and what will be the awful outcomes?<\/p>\n

I actually found this episode (somewhat) less cloyingly manipulative than I recalled it being a decade ago. Perhaps because issues of "religious exemption" are so much bigger these days than parental medical treatment rights. Perhaps because David Gerrold (from a plot by JMS) really does try to give everyone a fair shake.\u00a0It would be easy to play it as ignorant hicks vs. compassionate medical scientists, but that easy play is (mostly) ignored, and nobody comes out of this smelling good — especially the various major power ambassadors who all decline to intervene for essentially selfish reasons.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in a largely forgettable B-plot, Ivanova goes off in a Starfighter or (strangely, only) two to rescue a big passenger liner from possible Raider attack.<\/p>\n

Most Dramatic Moment:<\/b> \u00a0Crikey, it's all big, dramatic moments. Call it for the Parents' reaction after the kid's surgery. Or maybe Franklin's reaction when he reads a bit about their culture and clothing.
Most Amusing Moment:<\/b> It's not that kind of episode, but most likely Ivanova's impassioned non-request to get some flight time. "To and fro.."
Most Arc-ish Moment:<\/b> As a personal arc, it's one of the first deep fractures into Franklin's amazing ego that he always knows what's best. From a broader sense, it might be Kosh's "The avalanche has started; it is too late for the pebbles to vote" quip.
Overall Rating:<\/b> 3.5\/5 – a bit too melodramatic at times, but a more nuanced discussion of a no-win situation than 95% of TV, even today, would do.<\/p>\n

Midwinter Guide:\u00a0http:\/\/www.midwinter.com\/lurk\/guide\/010.html<\/a>
Babylon Project:\u00a0http:\/\/babylon5.wikia.com\/wiki\/Believers<\/a><\/p>\n

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

\n

\n \n <\/div>\n

Guide page: “Believers”<\/a>
\n Dr. Franklin asks Sinclair to intermediate with an alien family who, because of their religious beliefs, refuse to allow surgery that would save their dying child. Silvana Gallardo as Dr. Maya Hernandez. Jonathon Kaplan as Shon. Tricia O’Neil as M’Ola. Stephen Lee as Tharg.\n <\/p>\n

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

Wait, this incredibly down-beat, painful , all-the-awful-feels episode was written by the same guy who did "The Trouble with Tribbles"? B5 runs one of its "human social issues of the day writ large as weird aliens are different (but not all that different) from human" tales. \u00a0An alien kid is sick. Dr. Franklin can fix … Continue reading “B5 Rewatch: 1×10 "Believers"”<\/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-39725","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":44026,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/08\/01\/b5-rewatch-3x13-a-late-delivery-from-avalon.html","url_meta":{"origin":39725,"position":0},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 3×13 “A Late Delivery from Avalon”","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 1-Aug-14 6:58am","format":false,"excerpt":"King Arthur has returned from Avalon, in the form of Michael York. Or\u00a0has he? A-Plot: \u00a0This is really most of the plot of this done-in-one episode. \u00a0Arthur -- in chainmail and bearing Excalibur -- comes to B5. Marcus is smitten by the romance of it all. 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This particular ep is an example of why: a tale which should add to the growing sense of menace and doom overhanging the galaxy, and instead comes across as sophisticated as your average\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":44611,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/08\/26\/b5-rewatch-3x21-shadow-dancing.html","url_meta":{"origin":39725,"position":2},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 3×21 “Shadow Dancing”","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 26-Aug-14 9:11pm","format":false,"excerpt":"z MINUS 7 DAYS ... It's the penultimate episode of Season 3! Big external battle! Big internal battle! And the galaxy's most awkward moment! A-Plot: Okay,so the main plotline here is the Big Payoff for all the fanboys and fangirls, as Delenn convinces the allied worlds to contribute Lots of\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\/2014\/08\/Babylon-5-3x21-Shadow-Dancing-Anna-Sheridan.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Babylon-5-3x21-Shadow-Dancing-Anna-Sheridan.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Babylon-5-3x21-Shadow-Dancing-Anna-Sheridan.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Babylon-5-3x21-Shadow-Dancing-Anna-Sheridan.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49637,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/25\/b5-rewatch-4x09-atonement.html","url_meta":{"origin":39725,"position":3},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 4\u00d709 “Atonement”","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 25-Feb-15 4:18pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Delenn finally gets an episode mostly to herself -- though it's also all about her relationship to the men in her life: Sheridan, Lennier, and her mentor, Dukhat. 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