Pointless goodbyes (TFoCP)

[B5JMS Poster]

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From: beresh at lintilla.ae.utexas.edu (Steve Beresh)
Date: 31 Oct 1998 20:07:39 -0700
Lines: 94


Spoilers for _The Fall of Centauri Prime_
























In the five epsiode arc that culminated with _The Fall of Centauri
Prime_, we were treated to several moving scenes where our heroes
attempted to say goodbye to each other, believing they would never see
one another again.  But, by the end of this episode, they've been
reunited and the story comes right back to where it was.  With the
obvious exception of Londo, every other character ends up where he
started.  This rather cheapens the heartfelt departure scenes we got
earlier.

G'Kar, two episodes ago, had a very moving departure scene with Delenn,
where they realize they may never see one another again, where G'Kar
accepts that he may be trapped forever on Centauri Prime.  But by the
end of _TFoCP_, G'Kar is reunited with Delenn and the rest and leaves
Centauri Prime behind.  Kinda cheapens his moving departure from B5.

Delenn and Lennier are in mortal danger, then they're rescued at the
last moment by the enemy, and Sheridan struggles with the knowledge that
his wife is lost and dying and he must attend to more important duties.
Moving drama for all concerned.  Then, suddenly, as we clean up at the
end of the episode, Delenn is returned to Sheridan and everyone lives
happily ever after.  For a time, anyway.  What the hell was the point of
of all this other than for Lennier to say he loves Delenn, Delenn to be
obtuse to his feelings anyway, and to rehash scenes we've already had?
Felt like a big reset button to me.

Londo presses Vir to remain behind on B5 while he returns to Centauri
Prime.  The concern Vir has for Londo is evident and clearly he has
difficulty accepting that his duties may no longer intersect with
Londo's, that he must distance himself from the path Londo will walk.
But after the bombardment concludes in _TFoCP_, Vir arrives seemingly
in no time at all so that the gang can all be together again.

Overall, a good episode, and the best of season five, but as great as
some scenes were, they were intercut with scenes that fell flat and kept
the momentum from reaching critical mass.  And too many of the threads
built up over this five-episode arc returned right back to where they
started.  What happened to the lasting repurcussions of events of B5?
Here's hoping we'll see them soon, but at the end of, say, _The Coming
of Shadows, or _Severed Dreams_, or _Interludes and Examinations_, we
knew we'd reached a turning and point and what we'd just seen would
reverberate for a long time to come.

Here ... nah.  We knew the fate of Centauri Prime and Londo, and got to
see it played out, but all the other changes set in motion earlier are
blanked out.  G'Kar appeared to be trapping himself on Centauri Prime
in order to be Londo's physical and moral bodyguard, but that didn't
play out.  Sheridan appeared to be struggling with Delenn placing
herself in danger and possibly having died, but then he gets her back
with minimal fanfare and no sacrifice or effort.  Vir is being
distanced from the rest of his people so that he might remain untouched
by the darkness that is slowing befalling them ...  but yet he's back
on Centauri Prime for Londo's darkest hour.

The moving character situations of the past several episodes simply
became pointless when the story moved right back to where it was rather
than yielding a stunning payoff.

--Steve


-- 
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Steve Beresh                       *
Dept of Aerospace Engineering      *  "I hate quotations."
University of Texas at Austin      *       --Ralph Waldo Emerson
beresh at cfdlab.ae.utexas.edu        *
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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 2 Nov 1998 14:47:24 -0700
Lines: 11

If you want goodbyes, you should be happy soon.

 jms

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




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