{"id":41167,"date":"2014-02-23T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2014-02-23T18:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/02\/23\/b5-rewatch-s2e06-a-spider-in-the-web.html"},"modified":"2014-05-30T08:55:58","modified_gmt":"2014-05-30T14:55:58","slug":"b5-rewatch-s2e06-a-spider-in-the-web","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/02\/23\/b5-rewatch-s2e06-a-spider-in-the-web.html","title":{"rendered":"B5 Rewatch: 2×06 "A Spider in the Web""},"content":{"rendered":"
On another arc-ish episode by someone-not-JMS, Larry DiTillio does a better job than his last outing ("Eyes") with this tale that pulls in Free Mars, the Psi Corps, and the groundwork for some plot twists down the road. It also increases the sense that Something Is Wrong Back on Earth (well, duh).<\/p>\n

As well, it's\u00a0a rare episode when more than one of the guest actors are recognizable stars — James Shigeta (http:\/\/goo.gl\/hAa9ZR<\/a>) and Adrienne Barbeau (http:\/\/goo.gl\/vZATZn<\/a>).<\/p>\n

There's really only a single plot going on here. Future Corp (led by Shigeta's Taro Asogi) is trying to work with the Mars Provisional Government \u00a0(represented by Barbeau's Amanda Carter — think of them as Sinn F\u00e9in, I guess) to provide enough economic development on Mars to help them win their independence without an armed revolt. They're meeting on B5 to discuss the details, with Talia Winters as telepathic moderator (Talia, coincidentally, being an old friend of his (http:\/\/goo.gl\/xuoOaI<\/a>). \u00a0Forces back on Earth (including yet another too-slimy EarthGov Senator) put pressure on Sheridan to Do Something About This (even though it's perfectly legal) because of the political and economic inconveniences to some parties, all labeled as "Earth's security interests".<\/p>\n

Things get interesting when Someone Mysterious under the nuclear-blasted ruins of San Diego (http:\/\/goo.gl\/j9QGjw<\/a>) sets someone in motion — a deadly assassin who kills Shigeta (http:\/\/goo.gl\/zJoXWa<\/a>), shouting out "Free Mars," and then threatens Talia. That he's also Abel Horn (http:\/\/goo.gl\/etLwnt<\/a>), a presumed-dead leader of Free Mars and<\/i> an old flame of Carter (who has old Free Mars connections rattling around in her closet) is a coincidence-too-far, but it does ramp up the tension nicely.<\/p>\n

In the end, the Horn turns out to be the tool \/ victim of an old EarthGov black ops science program (take people near death, stuck a control computer on them (http:\/\/goo.gl\/kgNMQM<\/a>), and get their minds hooked in an endlessly painful loop of their dying), the Someone Mysterious in San Diego is shown to be a PsiCop and apparently a member of the shadowy Bureau 13 (as exposited by Sheridan, who out of the blue turns out to be a conspiracy theorist and collector), and indications are that whoever was the Control for the assassin is still on B5, reporting back …<\/p>\n

Yeah, it's complex, but in a fragile, don't-look-too-closely way, mostly setting up further situations for Our Heroes to face in future episodes. \u00a0Sheridan is earnest and honest and leaderly, and has a long side-digression-reminiscence about his first encounter with a one-off race — but aside from his too-conveniently-revealed hobby of collecting conspiracy theories, not very effective or interesting. Garibaldi continues to stalk Talia, though this time she starts to come around to his creepily winsome ways (http:\/\/goo.gl\/VG9no6<\/a>); aside from that, he doesn't seem to be very effective in security\u00a0(putting a single guard on the threatened Talia (http:\/\/goo.gl\/yZdRuj<\/a>), then later not checking out Carter's quarters (http:\/\/goo.gl\/qPXKre)<\/a>). Ivanova, too, seems to have warmed up some to Talia over time, uncharacteristically calling her "interesting" (heh heh heh); she also demonstrates (in passing) that she's becomming more adept at dealing with diplomatic matters aboard the station.<\/p>\n

Talia, meanwhile, gets a real spotlight in this ep. Unfortunately, this just continues to affirm that Andrea Thompson can't act besides being a hoarse-voiced tragic damsel in distress. \u00a0From a character standpoint, though, Talia plays a tightrope of being both helpful in revealing the conspiracy and conspiratorial herself in hiding from Sheridan her vision of a PsiCop involved in the assassin's creation (http:\/\/goo.gl\/Qlr8GJ<\/a>) — though she does look up the individual later, to find her officially listed as dead (http:\/\/goo.gl\/wiXQyy<\/a>). Her anecdote to Garibaldi about her upbringing reinforces how utterly submerged in the Corps young recruits become, adding to both understanding of psi individuals\u00a0in the Corps and to the overall creepiness factor of that organization (as both ghetto and movement).<\/p>\n

In other characters, we get the first view of Zack Allen, originally meant to be a one-off security character, but eventually to play a much more significant role in the series. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Michael Beck as the cyborg assassin Abel Horn (http:\/\/goo.gl\/Rh4iDe<\/a>), actually does a much better job than I remembered, playing him as alternately menacing, confused, robotic, agonized, crazy, and, ultimately, kind of sympathetic (http:\/\/goo.gl\/IkKfpC<\/a>). It's a nutso role, and he does with it as good a job as I can imagine.<\/p>\n

Bureau 13 is never referred to again by name (after the episode aired, JMS was informed it was the name of a game), but its activities here actually seem tie in to future series events (esp. re Talia). \u00a0DiTillio wrote them as being the same group as had sent Knights One and Two in "The Sky Full of Stars", though not referred to by name. The conspiracies of different forces — political, economic, and social — back on Earth were not always coherently written in B5 (at least in the first two seasons), but that there's more than one, and that there's cross-over (or even competition) between then (is the Psi Corp actually involved in Bureau 13, or just one or more of its members?) is a nicely realistic idea.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, there are too many moving parts here, clicking together in far too convenient a fashion. It's an episode better seen as a setup for things down the road than taken on its own. Within those bounds, it's a decent showing, with not quite as many overacted scenes as one might expect.<\/p>\n

Most Dramatic Moment:<\/b> Well-done drama is missing here, so I'll call it for Horn having a series of personality changes and convulsions in Carter's quarters (http:\/\/goo.gl\/nHBHbn<\/a>).
Most Amusing Moment:<\/b> Not much humor here, either — Sheridan's satisfaction at seeing how well Ivanova is taking on diplomatic issues ("It's good to be the Captain") is probably about it, and certainly feels familiar to any manager with a good team.
Most Arc-ish Moment:<\/b> Sheridan resolves to Garibaldi to do something about the conspiracies back home, putting him on a dozen different collision courses with the next three years.<\/p>\n

Overall Rating:<\/b> \u00a03.0 \/ 5\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lurker\u2019s Guide: http:\/\/www.midwinter.com\/lurk\/countries\/us\/guide\/028.html<\/a>
Babylon Project: http:\/\/babylon5.wikia.com\/wiki\/A_Spider_in_the_Web<\/a>
IMDB: http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0517619\/<\/a>
AV Club: http:\/\/goo.gl\/I0SqVV<\/a> (article is mistitled)
Noise2Signal: http:\/\/noise2sig.nl\/2012\/04\/15\/babylon-5-spider-in-the-web\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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

On another arc-ish episode by someone-not-JMS, Larry DiTillio does a better job than his last outing ("Eyes") with this tale that pulls in Free Mars, the Psi Corps, and the groundwork for some plot twists down the road. It also increases the sense that Something Is Wrong Back on Earth (well, duh). As well, it's\u00a0a … Continue reading “B5 Rewatch: 2×06 "A Spider in the Web"”<\/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":[503,429],"class_list":["post-41167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-media-tv-babylon-5","tag-b5","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":41167,"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":42283,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/30\/b5-rewatch-2x19-divided-loyalties.html","url_meta":{"origin":41167,"position":1},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 2×19 "Divided Loyalties"","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 30-May-14 6:42am","format":false,"excerpt":"As we move into the Final Four of the season, matters continue to escalate. In this episode, Our Heroes have to figure out who's the traitor among them before their conspiracy is brought to light to their enemies back on Earth.This is one of those episodes I remember as mind-blowing\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\/05\/loyalties_337%5B1%5D.jpg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":43692,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/07\/20\/b5-rewatch-3x10-severed-dreams.html","url_meta":{"origin":41167,"position":2},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 3×10 "Severed Dreams"","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 20-Jul-14 3:18pm","format":false,"excerpt":"\"The Babylon Project was a dream given form.\" -- Jeffrey Sinclair, Season 1 intro\"It failed.\" -- Susan Ivanova, Season 3 introThis episode is touted by some as the best of the series, combining various plot lines colliding and realigning, as well as some great (especially for the time, but even\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":41820,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/27\/b5-rewatch-2x14-there-all-the-honor-lies.html","url_meta":{"origin":41167,"position":3},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 2×14 "There All the Honor Lies"","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 27-Apr-14 1:44pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The second Peter David-written episode, and one of the last non-JMS-written eps ever, this could be considered a one-off (there's little here that's an essential part of the arc), but it does a lot of stuff well, and fits in so nicely to the overall story that it's hard to\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\/04\/B5%2B2x14%2BThere%2BAll%2Bthe%2BHonor%2BLies%2B-%2BLondo%2Bdoll%2B.jpg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41409,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/03\/12\/b5-rewatch-s2e10-gropos.html","url_meta":{"origin":41167,"position":4},"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":42443,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/06\/08\/b5-rewatch-2x21-comes-the-inquisitor.html","url_meta":{"origin":41167,"position":5},"title":"B5 Rewatch: 2×21 "Comes the Inquisitor"","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 8-Jun-14 2:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's funny how the amount of imagery and uploaded video varies so much by episode of B5. 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