{"id":44512,"date":"2014-08-22T13:31:48","date_gmt":"2014-08-22T19:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=44512"},"modified":"2014-08-22T13:44:13","modified_gmt":"2014-08-22T19:44:13","slug":"b5-rewatch-3x20-and-the-rock-cried-out-no-hiding-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/08\/22\/b5-rewatch-3x20-and-the-rock-cried-out-no-hiding-place.html","title":{"rendered":"B5 Rewatch: 3×20 “And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place”"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, yes, I confess I am a sucker for the ominous count-down: Z MINUS 14 DAYS …<\/p>\n

The first of the Final Three for the season, this episode jettisons the smaller, lighter stories we’ve recently had and dives back into the epic.<\/p>\n

\"Refa<\/a>
Refa springs the trap. But\u00a0not the one he thought he was springing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A-Plot<\/strong>:\u00a0Centauri politics come to a head, as Lord Refa and Minister Virini arriving on B5. The Emperor, are concerned that the conflict between the houses and allies of Refa and Mollari are getting to the point of being disruptive to the Republic, and Virini basically demands they settle it, one way or the other. Refa is more than happy to make the case that he’s been more useful, and Londo’s clearly “gone native” hanging out on B5. Londo, for his part, offers to get rid of a major thorn in the Centauri’s side, and puts in motion a plan to capture G’Kar.<\/p>\n

Londo, of course, is driven by multiple motives. He thinks Refa is a threat to the Republic with his war-mongering. He’s concerned about his own position and personal safety. And, of course, Refa was (he believes) the person who had Londo’s love, Adira, killed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His plan\u00a0is both\u00a0brilliant and fiendish, executed ruthlessly by Londo — and is, in fact, a plan within a plan, not to snag G’Kar, but to kill Refa. Refa thinks\u00a0he’s intercepted and usurped Londo’s scheme, but\u00a0finds himself stuck on Narn, in the catacombs, with Centauri troops whose loyalty is to House Mollari, and a bunch of angry Narn whom he thought he<\/em> was going to capture. A beating to death ensues, but only after G’Kar plays a holographic Londo\u00a0message<\/a> to him, listing out his crimes against the Narn as well as his \u00a0role in the death of Londo’s beloved Adira.<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/div>\n

Londo is bitterly ruthless throughout this storyline — given his anger and grief over Adira, that’s hardly surprising\u00a0— and\u00a0willing to go to any extent for his revenge. He enlists G’Kar in the plot (though we never actually see how and when that happens). More importantly, Londo\u00a0(ab)uses Vir on multiple counts: first, viciously blackmailing him into (Vir\u00a0thinks) betraying G’Kar<\/a>, then letting Vir\u00a0be captured and interrogated<\/a> by Refa’s forces to let the latter “discover” the plot. By the end, even though it was for a good (well, good-ish) cause , Vir’s majorly torqued, and the relationship between him and Londo may be broken beyond repair.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Londo gets\u00a0just what he wanted: revenge on the killer of Adira<\/a>, stability and safety for the Republic, and security for his own position. Little does he know that he’s only truly gotten the latter. Adira’s true killer, Morden, is still at large. And things are hardly stable or safe back at the Imperial Court, as we’ll discover next season …<\/p>\n

\"Exit<\/a>
Exit Lord Refa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

G’Kar gets a bit of what he wants, too, though it give him little joy, perhaps because he has to work with Londo to make it happen, acting as his adversary’s hands. He sees his homeworld again<\/a>, but it’s a devastated, chilled place. He gets revenge on Refa, though in the end he merely instructs the other Narn to make sure the head and face are identifiable<\/a>, then walks away during the killing<\/a>. He gets two thousand of his race freed, but has to hope that the Centauri will decide to cover up what has happened, rather than follow through on the standard retribution of 500 Narn for every Centauri killed. \u00a0It’s \u00a0bittersweet set of accomplishments, which may be why Katsulas plays G’Kar so quiet, withdrawn, through this entire scene.<\/p>\n

Everyone else here performs\u00a0excellently as well, comfortable in their parts and adjusting accordingly.\u00a0Jurasik and Furst as Londo and Vir, of course, steal the show, though special mention needs to be made of William Forward’s fine, and final, turn \u00a0as Lord Refa, out-ruthlessed and out-smarted by the man he sought first to control, then destroy.<\/p>\n

\"Oh,<\/a>
Oh, look, we’re doing that religious diversity episode again.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

B-Plot<\/strong>: Brother Theo (in, sadly, his last appearance on the show) has arranged for a visit by a number of clerical brethren (though no sistren): a black baptist preacher, a rabbi, an imam, and a Buddhist priest. (Alas, the latter two show up only briefly, then vanish). The plot is not much as such. \u00a0It’s mostly way to exposit about what’s going on back on Earth (the tightening reins of power, control of the media, misinformation about B5, but a growing underground movement).<\/p>\n

At one point, the preacher wanders (?) into Sheridan’s office, to find the Captain\u00a0working late (again), and gives him some unsolicited sage counsel on sharing the burden of leadership (and on how obvious it is that Delenn is smitten with him, a subject that makes Sheridan very<\/em> uncomfortable).<\/p>\n

The last use of this portion of the story is as a counter-point to the A-Plot. As the baptist preacher holds a raucous service (though oddly\u00a0the traditions haven’t changed much at all in 250 years), and a singer belts out a joyful, get-up-and-clap-your-hands old gospel\u00a0hymn<\/a>\u00a0“No Hiding Place Down Here<\/a>,” (passage from Revelations<\/a>; here’s a different cover<\/a>) we cut back repeatedly to Refa trying to flee the Narn, being corralled by them, and then disappearing into a mob of fists and kicks.<\/p>\n