{"id":40882,"date":"2014-01-25T18:54:45","date_gmt":"2014-01-26T01:54:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/25\/b5-rewatch-s2e01-points-of-departure.html"},"modified":"2014-05-30T08:44:54","modified_gmt":"2014-05-30T14:44:54","slug":"b5-rewatch-s2e01-points-of-departure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/25\/b5-rewatch-s2e01-points-of-departure.html","title":{"rendered":"B5 Rewatch: 2×01 "Points of Departure""},"content":{"rendered":"
“Nothing is the same any more,” Sinclair said at the end of the previous episode. \u00a0It’s now eight days later, Delenn’s in a cocoon, G’kar is missing — and Sinclair is gone.<\/div>\n
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Few things happened on B5 that, at the time, were more controversial than the departure of Michael O’Hare from the series. \u00a0Joe Straczynski made creative lemonade out of the lemons, and was able to structure the changes it wrought into the series so successfully that he argued it was a mutually agreed-upon departure for purposes of the story. Which was almost<\/i> the truth, but many naysayers, never happy with O’Hare’s often clunky performance, were\u00a0sure that he’d simply been fired, at Joe’s or Warners’ insistance, and kept pressing for JMS to admit it. (http:\/\/www.midwinter.com\/lurk\/misc\/sinclair-leave.html<\/a> details some of the contemporaneous discussion.)It turns out both sides were right. \u00a0O’Hare had been suffering from increasing psychiatric problems, affecting his work and his ability to continue with the series without treatment. O’Hare’s departure was<\/i> mutually agreed-upon, with JMS signing himself to secrecy about the problem until well after O’Hare’s death, and committing to bring him back to wrap up the character arc (which does, in fact, happen). \u00a0More on this at http:\/\/youtu.be\/mlDghgk9UEI?t=40m35s<\/a> and http:\/\/goo.gl\/ydvfXk<\/a> and http:\/\/wp.me\/prVW2-9ty<\/a>). I’d still love to have the series DVDs from the parallel world where that never had to happen.<\/p>\n

With Sinclair gone (in-show named to be the first permanent Earth ambassador to Minbar), the centerpiece starring role for the series goes to John Sheridan, played by Bruce Boxleitner. Where Sinclair is quiet, Sheridan is brash; where Sinclair is known as a peacemaker and mysteriously beloved of (some of) the Minbari, Sheridan is a war hero on Earth whose reputation among the Minbari is as an ignoble killer.<\/p>\n

This ep throws Sheridan right into the middle of all of that, as a renegade Minbari war cruiser which fled into self-imposed exile after the war, resurfaces as a potential threat to the station. Sheridan establishes himself as heroic protagonist (not just EarthForce goon, as ever other visiting soldier to date has been), managing to resolve the crisis without increasing his warmongering soldier reputation — not that the Minbari seem impressed.<\/p>\n

While the episode is very much about Sheridan’s settling in at the base, as almost a sidelight to all this we get Lennier playing the first major role he’s had to date (aside from B plots), as he reveals to Sheridan and Ivanova why the Minbari quit the war: they discovered that Minbari souls were\u00a0transmigrating to Human bodies, and Minbari do not kill Minbari. That’s also the reason for the growing schism between the Minbari Priest and Warrior castes that drive’s this ep’s action, as the whole soul thing is\u00a0a closely held secret that only the Grey Council know about. Minbari society, with a history of stability, is being shaken apart in a way similar to what’s happening with Earth — only we’re seeing the results sooner.<\/p>\n

It all comes out a little exposition-heavy (though some new footage of the Battle of the Line breaks that up), and I suspect in a universe we still had O’Hare this would all have come a bit later (and from Delenn). \u00a0But Mumy does a decent job of it, and of monologging as he tends to Delenn’s cocoon.<\/p>\n

This is still only Part 2 (originally literally named “Chrysalis Part 2”) of an episode trilogy; left immediately unresolved are what G’kar’s up to, Garibaldi still lying in a coma, and What Lurks Within the Chrysalis. That comes out (so to speak) in the appropriately-named “Revelations”. And, of course, there are other wheels within wheels, related to what’s happening back on Earth, and how that plays into why Sheridan was really<\/i> sent to B5.<\/p>\n

The episode has some clunky bits. Sheridan’s inordinately puppylike in his enthusiasm as he arrives (though that’s worn off by the end. Sheridan is also a mixed bag — one minute being concerned over the Minbari’s reaction to his selection, the next minute defensively yelling at them for dissing his appointment, and then after that wondering if he should have been assigned in the first place. \u00a0His pre-established relationship with Ivanova from an earlier command doesn’t quite gel, veering from explaining stuff to her like she’s a junior officer to their seeming to be near-equal confidants — “Yeah, they had something going,” quoth my daughter. \u00a0The technical bits in the plot are also a bit clunky — they make more sense and are better telegraphed than “Star Trek” deus ex technobabble, but rely on the idea that EarthForce tech hasn’t really changed since the war over a decade before (not just the same inabilities but the same sensor units), which makes no<\/i> sense except to drive the plot forward.<\/p>\n

There are two other significant cast changes in S.2 — Mary Kay Adams as a much less biting (or interesting) Na’toth, and the intro of Robert Rusler as pilot Warren Keffer — a character who will play an interesting role later in the season, but who has to be awkwardly shoe-horned in all the rest of the time (rumor has it because the studio wanted a “Top Gun” type romantic pilot).<\/p>\n

It’s not nearly the WHAM episode of of “Chrysalis,” but it moves things along, it opens the doors for new viewers, it has some great Ivanova lines, and it establishes Sheridan as the new commander of the station. \u00a0A good start.<\/p>\n

Most Dramatic Moment:<\/b> Plenty of drama, but none of it jawdropping. Maybe Sheridan and Ivanova reacting to the Trigati’s<\/i> final decision. Maybe Ivanova talking about her impotence to stop Santiago’s assassination.
\nMost Amusing Moment:<\/b> Ivanova, inadvertently late to meet her new CO, runs into the arrival lounge and yanks the security officer there forward to be an honor guard.
\nMost Arc-ish Moment:<\/b> Lennier infodumps about the Battle of the Line.
\nOverall Rating: \u00a03.9 \/ 5<\/b><\/p>\n

Lurker\u2019s Guide: http:\/\/www.midwinter.com\/lurk\/countries\/us\/guide\/023.html<\/a>
\nBabylon Project: http:\/\/babylon5.wikia.com\/wiki\/Points_of_Departure<\/a>
\nIMDB: http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0517680\/<\/a>
\nAV Club: http:\/\/www.avclub.com\/review\/babylon-5-points-of-departurerevelations-93241<\/a> (spoilers for the next ep)
\nNoise2Signal: http:\/\/noise2sig.nl\/2011\/05\/29\/babylon-5-points-of-departure\/<\/a><\/p>\n

#babylon5<\/a> #b5<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n