Something's new about this season (AToT * Spoliers *)

[B5JMS Poster]

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From: jhk1 at cec.wustl.edu (Jonathan Howard Krivitzky)
Date: 26 Mar 1998 12:27:28 -0700
Lines: 73

Damn good episode this was by the way.  Wowsers.
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v

I'm telling you this was a great episode, but I can't compare it to others.
And I've tried.  If this episode fell into season 2, it would get high ratings
all around for plot involvement.  If it fell into last season, it would get
panned for including a little too much side-showing (the Na-toth stuff seems
rather extraneous for now).

I'm beginning to realize that this season is just *different* from the rest.
Something in the air, in the mood, in the plots.  In some ways it's starkly
bare, in others it's mature and rich.  I can't put my finger on it.

That aside, this episode felt much more like part of a movie than an episode of
a series.  I feel like if you took out Lochley's voiceover, you could paste it
onto the end of Kingdom without break.  In this way, it's much more like season
4 than anything else so far.  Still... something's odd about the whole thing.

Try this on for size.  Some perspective perhaps...

Ancient enemies - they destroy all sentient beings.  Defeated.  Good riddance.

Earth conspiracy - bad people beating up good people.  Must be stopped, and
then they were.  Excellent work.  We're great.

Both of these conflicts brewed over four years of development... traced back
to episode 101!  Both were HUGE movements that took time to even figure out
what they *were* before we could stop them.
 
Now... we are being presented with an internal struggle with some people
against others... it's not as vast as the other conflicts, so the details
become MUCH more important.  I feel like while previous seasons were painted
with broad strokes, this one is drawn with fine lines and number two pencils.

There really aren't any major forces left moving the pieces around.  Except the
Drakh and maybe the Drazi.  What's left is everyone (the member races, the
Centauri, the Narn, the telepaths) trying to work out who's lying, who's
breaking the rules, and what to do about it.  Basically, group dynamics.  No
great enemies.  No ancient forces.  Just people.

It's not as easily identifiable of a conflict.  It's certainly different.
I am really liking it.

Jon Krivitzky
-- 
-Member of the Unofficial Internet Luc Longley Fan Club!-
|   Jon Krivitzky  | Ex-Ex-Ex-Ex-Pitch of the Washington|
|jhk1 at cec.wustl.edu|    University MOSAIC WHISPERS      |
--- WHISPER EMAIL ADDRESS: whispers at rescomp.wustl.edu ---

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 26 Mar 1998 15:30:10 -0700
Lines: 18


>What's left is everyone (the member races, the
>Centauri, the Narn, the telepaths) trying to work out who's lying, who's
>breaking the rules, and what to do about it.  Basically, group dynamics.  No
>great enemies.  No ancient forces.  Just people.

After any big war, that's the big battle that still awaits...how do we work out
living together?  Do we fall apart, or stay together?  Wars of revolution have
traditionally been followed by civil wars because the new dynamics are changing
and people take a while to adjust.  And this show has always been about
process: before, during and after.


 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
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